in which bella dearly wishes to be less interesting

[subtly_artistic]

Bella successfully manages to stay in all weekend except for when she joins packs of students headed for the dining hall. If the elves are still stalking her, she doesn't notice them. On Monday, the subtle artist elf is present in their shared course, and looks at her, but doesn't bother her - Bella leaves with another classmate anyway.

Traveling in packs is quite effective, she decides.

Except she doesn't do it in her own dorm.

It's pouring rain outside Tuesday afternoon and Bella doesn't want to go to the dining hall. She has some stuff in her room - not serious groceries, but enough that she can heat up some broth and noodles, liven it up with a handful of miscellaneous dried herbs, and call it soup. She is hanging out in the kitchen doing this when Brad from down the hall, the same fellow who attempted to interrupt Celo at his baking, chooses to bother her.

"Hey, Isabella."

"It's Bella."

"But your full name's so pretty," says Brad. "You should go by that instead. So Isabella, let's go out tomorrow, I'll show you a good time in town, we'll have some fun."

"No," says Bella, "thank you, and it's still Bella."

"Isabella's prettier. Like you, you're pretty. It's not like I asked you to make like a nymph or something, I just want to take you out," says Brad. "Is it the money, I bet it's that, I can cover it, we can go someplace nice and you can get whatever you want."

"It's still no. It's still Bella."

"Don't be such a bitch, you never have plans," snaps Brad, "what are you going to do, eat at the dining hall and re-read your textbooks, you can come out with me."

Comments

[alicornucopia]

"Fuck off," Brad tells Celo again.

[subtly_artistic]

"Well, I'm sure you can have a nice time by yourself, or perhaps with someone more enthusiastic, but I have apparently gone stark raving mad, because I continue to decline," says Bella.

[pythbox]

Celo laughs.

[alicornucopia]

"Dude," says Brad, "I'm not gonna tell you again to get out of here, you can eat your fucking soup in your room. Or the lounge if you can't stand to pass up any opportunity to run into somebody who might fuck you."

[pythbox]

"You're not gonna tell me again? Good, it was getting annoying," he says, and he stays right where he is.

[alicornucopia]

Brad stalks in Celo's direction and grabs him by the hair.

[pythbox]

Celo carefully puts down his soup.

[subtly_artistic]

If you're planning to fight him right here in the kitchen, I could just knock him out, I'm not screened.

[pythbox]

No point yet, says Celo.

To Brad, he says mildly, "You wanna let go of me?"

[alicornucopia]

"I want," says Brad, "for you to quit interrupting my conversation with Isabella." His grip on Celo's hair tightens and he starts pulling in a less than chair-sitting-compatible direction.

[pythbox]

"No," says Celo, "actually, I think you wanna let go of me. Right now."

He stays sat. There's some tension involved, but he's not that easy to haul around.

[alicornucopia]

Brad hauls harder. He's not a martial combat major, but delving majors take plenty of the same classes.

[subtly_artistic]

Is there some reason I shouldn't just down him right now?

[pythbox]

Celo doesn't answer for a moment. He still seems strangely relaxed for someone getting yanked around by his hair, but the way he's staring into the distance is at odds with that calmness.

[alicornucopia]

Brad successfully hauls Celo off his chair. It's largely up to Celo whether he ends this maneuver standing or sprawled on the floor.

[pythbox]

Standing. Definitely tense now. Also definitely not looking at either Brad or Bella.

If any subtle artists were to peek into his mind right now, they would find he was concentrating very, very hard on not killing Brad. It's taking a lot of effort.

[subtly_artistic]

Bella doesn't look into people's minds without permission.

"Brad, let him go, it's a public kitchen," says Bella. "He can be in it."

[alicornucopia]

"Not a public conversation," says Brad, "and he was interrupting."

[pythbox]

Celo doesn't respond. He seems - frozen. Frozen is a good word.

[subtly_artistic]

"Let him go," says Bella darkly.

[alicornucopia]

"Or what? He's a walking fuckhole, you think Law's gonna come after me for hauling him around a little? Anything anybody gets off on applies to nymphs, anyway, he probably likes it."

Brad pulls on Celo's hair a little harder.

[pythbox]

Well, he's breathing a little hard. Interpretations may vary.

[subtly_artistic]

"Well, if that's what you're up to I can go eat in my room."

[alicornucopia]

"What, no," says Brad, "I just want him out of here, I want to talk to you, I want to take you out, come on."

[subtly_artistic]

"I don't," says Bella clearly, "want to go out with you, so if that's your purpose here perhaps you should go and he should stay."