Closed Love Unrequited (and a Very Pointed Conversation)

[Annika Nightray]

Nik had told herself she wasn't going to care. She wasn't going to say or do anything that would cause any kind of commotion, but honestly that just wasn't her vibe and never had been. She had always been confrontational. It was in her DNA. She knew he was older, too much older probably, and he probably had dozens of admirers (none of them would be nearly as charming as her of course, or as pretty or as coordinated as she was), but she'd sent a rose anyway, because she'd always believed in being bold and going after whatever she wanted. That was also in her DNA - on the other side though probably. She hadn't realised how much it would suck to send a rose and not have one sent back to her. Maybe he just hadn't thought about it? Maybe he just thought that she would have enough or too many that he didn't send her one so he didn't overwhelm her. And maybe that was true, but that didn't mean she didn't want a rose from him.

But then he'd given her absolutely nothing. Not a note in return, not a smirk or a smile in the hallway, he didn't even answer the door to his dorm when she banged on it earlier, and for Nik that wasn't just disappointing, that was unforgivable. She had looked everywhere for him since that discovery, and she'd only just now managed to find him in the student lounge. She figured she was lucky, because he probably would have been leaving soon since it was getting later in the day, and he would probably try to get to the dorm before the rush. She tilted her chin defiantly upwards now that she blocked some of the light streaming down onto him, where she hoped it was enough shadow to interrupt his reading. She tried to hide the slight tremble in her lower lip, and she refused to let him see it.

"You didn't send me a rose." she told him, her voice soft. Maybe she was wrong and he had sent one and she had just missed it, or maybe she just hadn't gotten it yet, but she didn't want to accuse him outright. That wouldn't be fair. "I sent you a rose, with a pretty red colour on it, and the petals were all nice and everything, and you... you didn't send me one at all did you?" Maybe it was time to face the fact that he hadn't sent her one at all, but she couldn't understand why he wouldn't. He was Kael's friend wasn't he? So he should have sent her one.

@Horror Zhefarovich​

 

[Horror Zhefarovich]

Horror Zhefarovich never truly liked the day. Valentine's Day. A waste of time. He once delivered roses out of a loss of a bet and then sent Astraea some, just so she can remove the petals and keep the thorns - if they had any. That was why he was lounging on a couch in the Student lounge, with a book open in both hands. A shadow casted over his pages as his red eyes looked up to see that little first year that was frankly... just annoying. And loud. He received a rose from her which was nice kindling for the fire in the common room. It wasn't until then when he realized that this first year had a crush on him.

He prepped for this, just in case, but to happen on Valentine's Day, well, this was going to be rather amusing for the seventh year. His eyes went back to his book as she droned on and on about the rose she sent. "Wouldn't know. Didn't give it a good look after I threw it into the fireplace," Horror stated coldly, as he flipped the page. "You are correct. I didn't send you one. I sent a bouquet to my girlfriend." Lies. He didn't send a bouquet to her. They were not in that sort of relationship. But it was needed. He even had a band around his ring finger - also fake. So long as she stopped chasing him around like some puppy, he would go to any lengths to completely crush it.​

 

[Annika Nightray]

Nik blinked. Once. Twice.

Her mouth opened in shock - then closed again. For a second she thought she must have heard him wrong. She just stood there like someone had slapped her too hard and her body hadn't quite caught up to that fact yet. She moved her hand up to her face actually, just to check, but her cheeks were not heated like they should have been if he'd physically slapped her. She took a second to process what he'd said, and then when she spoke she desperately tried not to allow her voice to crack. "You- you threw it in the fireplace?" Why would he do that? She didn't know what to say, her voice stuck somewhere between pitchy and squeaky, and her eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. She thought he would have at least kept it.

"You didn't even read it? You weren't even a little bit curious? How do you know it was from me then? Did you look at it long enough to see my name and then just throw it in the fire? Why?" She frowned when he said he had a girlfriend, well clearly that was a lie. “You have a girlfriend?!” Her whole body jolted like she’d just stubbed her toe on reality. “That’s a lie! You don’t! No one’s even seen her!” How could he have a mystery girlfriend no one's even seen?​

 

[Horror Zhefarovich]

Even after that, Annika did not seem to get it whatsoever. Horror didn't even move his eyes from his book as she went on about it. He did vaguely see her name, and then that was it. That was all he needed to see before he tossed it. "I saw your name, yes. Then tossed it. I didn't care what you wrote on it because you are insignificant to me." Horror only knew her as Mikael's little sister, but he really needed to reign in his siblings. They were out of control, it seemed. Then she even questioned about the validity of his girlfriend. He did not have any of her letters (not that they exchanged many anyway) so it was not like he could prove it. "She goes to Beauxbatons. Vannes Vittori is her name." Horror finally looked at the first year and closed his book. He stood up to his full height so that he could look down at her. "Are you done with this childish tantrum?" Horror used emphasis on the word childish so that she understood that she was just that - a child.​