[Ania] Carried in his Arms

Fidget · Feb 27, 2014

Allowing Hadrian to curl under her blanket with her, Ania moved closer as well, rearranging it so he had a bit more to cover himself. She shook her head in defeat when he made another remark about age. There really was no helping it. Feeling a weight settle on her knee, her head swung around to find Altair suddenly at her site. Her hand buried itself in the fur around his neck, petting and playing with the soft undercoat.

"Oh, no. He can stay. You can go home, though." Giving him a cheeky smile, she really didn't mind having the both of them stay. It was especially nice to have a cat to play with, even though this cat was unusually big.
Turning her attention to Jacob when he announced that he had come up with a dare, she waited patiently. When the dare was placed, her hand came up to cover her mouth. A little unsure and very embarrassed, her face immediately flushed. Her gaze shifted to Hadrian, and she could just about feel his irritation at that dare.

Biting her lip, Ania was a bit conflicted. Was Jacob really hitting on her? But he did mention having those unteacherly thoughts, in his words. She wanted to keep the peace, of course, but she also didn't want to fuel those thoughts. She thought they had been doing so well, too. Taking a chance, she kissed Hadrian on his cheek. "It's just a gaaame. I'm sure nothing was meant by it. I think." Standing, she wavered before hopping to sit next to Jacob. Tentatively, she placed one leg over his thighs. That was about the most amount of effort she was willing to expend in the deal. "I don't want anyone to get into trouble ... Or make those ah, 'unteacherly thoughts' worse." Sending an apologetic look to Hadrian, she hoped that he wouldn't mind if she tried to go along with it. If they could just.. play in relative peace, she would be so pleased.

Critical · Feb 28, 2014

Yeah. Go on home, boy. Jacob felt himself smirking at Hadrian, and his Truth.

"Maybe. Maybe. But who says I'm hitting on Ania? This IS Truth or Dare. You have to keep things interesting or the game would just be no fun."

He was, however, going to ignore the young man's repeated jabs at his age. Hadrian was almost on the money regarding the age differences. Jacob did not know Ania's exact age, nor Hadrians, but there was a safe bet that both of them were in their early twenties, or very late teens if he wanted to go out on a limb. But Jacob was not going to let the boy in on how accurate he was with his remark. He had not revealed his true age to Hadrian yet, and he wished to keep it that way.

Ania did not sit fully on his lap like he had hoped, but it was a start. He tousled her hair and smiled at her, with a real smile, not the competitive smirk he had been shooting Hadrian. When his fingers touched the circlet, he ran over it, admiring the accessory and realizing that it was more than he had originally thought. It was actual metal, possibly actual silver. Then everything he had mentioned about it started to come together. He started to wonder where he got it...

"Everything is alright, Ania. We're just playin' around. Your boyfriend just needs to calm down and get in the right Truth or Dare mood.

He shot another look at Hadrian.

"My turn. Tell me, where did you actually come upon this circlet? I have a hard time believing you stole it from Leonidas's wife or something."

Knox! · Feb 28, 2014

<div align=center>Something snapped in Hadrian's mind, the expression on his face did not betray him though, it was rather the anger that flashed up in his eyes. Altair sensed this change in mood, a low, rumbling growl sounded from the back of his throat, and his ears flicked backwards. Hadrian placed a hand on the animal's neck and murmured something soft, the creature relaxed, and dropped his chin to the carpet. How about a truth. How do you think it'd feel to have your arm ripped off? Hadrian wasn't nearly so stupid as to command the animal to actually do that, regardless of the fact that he quiet easily could. He trusted Ania enough not to do that. He was just feeling ratty and over protective. This guy was straight up creepy, he wondered briefly if he was the only one that thought that. He almost clicked his tongue at Altair to take Ania's place, I wonder what would happen. I've never seen someone squashed to death before. The thought made him titter. Altair was large, even for a tiger. He'd been forbade from sitting on anyone from a young age.

This guy's a bigger slut that you used to be. There had been no mention of him before now, Hadrian assumed they'd probably only met earlier that day. Far less attractive, though. Hadrian wasn't sure why he'd been told to calm down. If he was any calmer he'd be dead, aside from that nasty turn his thoughts had taken. Leonidas' wife? "Are you stupid?" He asked, very plainly, locking onto the man's gaze and lifting an eyebrow. "Don't you know anything? Then again, you did say you were only a swim teacher..." He shrugged, couldn't anyone be a swim teacher if you knew how to swim? "Arachidamia was not the wife of Leonidas."

She was in fact the wife of Eudamidas, though Hadrian didn't expect Jacob would know anything about that, so there was no point telling him. "Do you want to find out?" He asked flatly, a sarcastic smile spread across his handsome features. "I'm not going to splash out on some cheap copy when I can go and get the real thing. Where's your plume hat, Ania? We brought that back, too, didn't we?" They'd also seen a man's stomach cut open, but he made no mention of that part. That had been in Rome though, the circlet was Greek through and through.</div>

Fidget · Feb 28, 2014

She wanted to believe that everything was alright. Ania hadn't ever seen Hadrian this mad before, though. It was rather scary, to say the least. when Altair growled. Shuddering violently at Altair's growl, Ania was seized with the desire to withdraw her leg and perhaps hide under her blanket once more. She blinked, her attention shifting between the two men. Hadrian wasn't going to deposit him in the ancient times, was he? The school probably wouldn't appreciate one of their teachers being dispatched, and with so little chance of him coming back.

Broom hat! She still had that one. "Yes! It's in the closet!" Retracting her leg, she bounced over to her destination. Yanking the closet doors open, she took the metal helmet with the bright red plume. It had acquired dust and bits of lint, but a quick shake got rid of that problem. Grateful for the excuse to settle back next to Hadrian, she quietly shut the doors and found her way back to his side. Plopping back down with her helmet in hand, she turned over her prize into Hadrian's lap.

Pulling the blankets over her head, Ania sat with her knees to her chest, and chin on her knees. The game had turned into some strange battle of wills, and she decided that she would rather back out on a dare than risk the wrath of Hadrian. Hoping to lighten the mood a little, she raised her head and nudged Hadrian. "Truth, what's your most interesting story from traveling?"

Critical · Feb 28, 2014

A growl from the tiger. Jacob's gaze snapped to the beast, eyeing it carefully. There was no need to lie about his trepidation regarding the animal. It was natural to fear such a large furry predator. But as more time passed without a mauling, Jacob grew used to the idea that Altair had been properly trained and/or tamed. When the animal did growl and tuck its ears back, however, Jacob wondered just HOW tamed it was or... His eyes flicked back to Hadrian, and how his hand settled on the tiger to calm it. There was the tell. Perhaps the tiger was sensing something in its master, much as a dog might sense the little emotional changes in its own master. If that were true, that meant that Hadrian was feeling agitated to some degree.

Good.

The boy was good about covering his expressions. But there was no hiding his tone and his choice of words. Jacob had unintentionally struck something regarding the origin of the circlet and its history. It was hardly a victory though. Hadrian's response typified the snotty youngster attitude he was putting out, and it drew a momentary stink eye from Jacob. Watch your tongue, boy... He wanted to snap back. But that would be fodder for Hadrian's use and Jacob wasn't about to give that to him.

"You askin' me out, son?"

Ania was possibly the only thing keeping him and Hadrian from just going at each other. Her little trip to the closet broke the tension for a moment, and he silently watched her pull out some plumed helmet. He refused to move or look in Hadrian's direction while she wasn't between them. More gifts? Is that all you do for her? He was disappointed to not have her closer to himself when she came back, but there was little he could do about it.

"Ah, so he travels, huh? Does he ever take you anywhere nice, Ania?"

Knox! · Feb 28, 2014

<div align=center>Hadrian probably could have snapped his fingers and Altair would have willingly ripped out the man's throat, but then of course he'd get blood all over poor Ania's bed sheets. That wasn't fair, blood was awfully difficult to scrub out of fabrics. He knew that from times Altair had dragged whole deer back to his home, he'd had to end up getting the whole carpet replaced, since it had looked like someone had been murdered in there. He didn't want any nasty rumors being spread about him, at least not ones like that. Hadrian could have a foul mouth from time to time, but he certainly wasn't a murderer. At least, I'm not a murderer just yet. That was a fun idea. Hadrian could drop Jacob in the middle of a gladiator fight, I could keep my hands nice and clean.

He smiled to see that Ania still had the guard's hat. He picked it up when she placed it in his lap, and looked it over. She'd looked after it very well, perhaps one day he could find her a full outfit, though it might not fit very well, Roman men were a lot bigger than her. He fumbled around underneath the blanket briefly, before finding her hand and weaving his fingers through hers. Maybe he'd take her to dinner today, that would be nice. "I'm asking you if you want me to drop you in the middle of ancient Rome, old man. Or perhaps the Jurassic period would suit you better?"

He had to think about that for a moment, his most interesting story? There were an awful lot. He picked on one that he thought she might like. "I once won a bet with a famous king?" He laughed softly, "A while ago, I must have been seventeen, posing as a merchant, I think, perhaps a squire, I don't remember." He shifted his position ever so slightly, pulling his knees up to his chest. "I made bets on knights with Henry VIII, the one I wagered on unhorsed the other, and I won the bet." He shrugged, "there was also a time where I supped with Emperor Nero, we had grapes and drank wine. The Romans ate some strange things, did you know they ate dormice? They were a delicacy." Hadrian hadn't eaten any mice though, he didn't really plan on it, either. </div>

Fidget · Feb 28, 2014

"Oh, yes. Rome was fun! The zoo was fun, too, but I don't think that would count... Going anywhere is fun for me!" Any type of adventure would satisfy her, really. She could be taken out to the grocery store and still have the time of her life. Of course, that also reminded her that she should probably take a trip there sometime soon. She felt her hand being held, and she looked over shortly before settling closer. She was quite relieved that he wasn't angry with her for taking up the dare.

Hadn't he said that he couldn't go back to the dinosaurs yet? Maybe he had recently been — oh, it could also just be another age thing. "A king!" It must have been very interesting, to be so close to a king. Especially to interact and actually bet with him. A king and an emperor. She had to admit, that was rather impressive. "Dormice...? How curious, I hope you tried one. It might have tasted good, if it was a delicacy." Her nose wrinkled despite her words. She didn't really think dormice had the potential to taste good, but one never knew. Romans were incredibly weird, she could agree on that one. She still hadn't been able to get over the communal sponges. Gross.

Flopping over onto Hadrian, Ania set her head on his knees. She wasn't able to crawl on top of him, with his legs like that, but this was the next best idea she had. He was warm, and her heater was looking like it was beginning to see the last of it's days. "Okay, um. Truth, Jacob, what was the most interesting student you've ever had?"

Critical · Feb 28, 2014

It was a strange feeling wanting to throttle the presumptuous glare right off Hadrian's face. Normally Jacob was a nonviolent, pacifist kind of man. The kind of many that preferred diplomacy and understanding over rash actions, such as putting a spoiled rich boy in a headlock. Yet there Jacob sat, feeling his old man resentment. There was no better description of what he felt, unfortunately. Suddenly he understood, truly understood, the reasons why so many of his elders seemed to be generally annoyed at him when he was young. At the time, it had seemed to be for no reason at all besides just being who he was. But now it was clear. Young people could be so goddamn full of themselves. They thought they knew everything, and knew how to do everything.

That epiphany was followed by two smaller ones: He was getting old, and that Hadrian resembled young Jacob more than he cared to admit.

"I'd prefer to be dropped off in a time period where you could learn some manners, boy."

Biting back at Hadrian occupied more of Jacob's mind share than the fact that the boy seemed to be casually capable of time travel, a guess that was further cemented by his tale of kingly bets and dining with Nero. Of course he would dine with Nero. Artsy AND crazy. I'm surprised the boy didn't get a right buggering while in Rome considering his baby face. Jacob himself was surprised at his cutting thoughts about Hadrian.

That was the beginning of Jacob's gradual slide back towards reality. He was not a mean man by nature. In fact, he was quite the nice guy at his core. Feeling such malice towards Hadrian was almost alien to him, and when he saw Ania lay her head so casually on his lap, it was time to start wondering if this "battle" for male dominance was even winnable for him.

He seemed to slump a little and his eyes turned away to look elsewhere, at the wall or Altair. Defeat was not at hand just yet, but it was time to start considering a retreat.

"Hmm... Well, I'd say it's obviously you, Ania. I've never met a student who turned into a fish with a kiss. Plus, you're so chipper and cute. But... That one student who made an ice castle out of nothing is a close second, I suppose."

This time, he gave a more honest answer than one that tried to one-up Hadrian. It was a pretty futile move anyway...

Knox! · Feb 28, 2014

<div align=center>Hadrian shifted and stretched out his legs again to allow Ania just that little bit more room. He shook his head when she asked if he had eaten dormouse, he didn't really fancy it, besides they couldn't really be called filling. Perhaps he'd take her to see knights and castles one day, it was fun to watch knights joust with wooden lances at tourneys, less fun when they died, but fun all the same. When Jacob spoke, Hadrian almost laughed. He turned his head back to look at him, lifted an eyebrow and smiled, though it was far from genuine. "Watch your mouth." He stated, softly. "It would take me less than five minutes to go back and stop you from even being born." That sounded like a fun idea, "so I suggest you either shut your mouth or get out before I do exactly that." His tone of voice was so calm that it was strange to think that he'd just threatened to remove someone's existence.

Hadrian was a nice boy, stubborn and arrogant, but a nice boy. His treatment of authority was genereally respectful, though, this man was behaving like a ten year old, therefore Hadrian had decided to treat him like one. God knows how he even got a job. He didn't think a man like this ought to be anywhere near a school. "Or if you don't like that idea, how do you feel you'd do in a fight against him?" He gestured at the lazing tiger, "that would be fun to watch." It was evident that Hadrian had snapped, though his demeanor remained incredibly calm.

He placed a hand on the top of Ania's head, petting her softly and murmuring something sweet in her direction. The boy was in fact, protecting the girl rather than anything else. The thought of something happening to her made Hadrian feel very uncomfortable indeed, and it was very likely that he would do everything in his power to stop anything bad happening to her. Jacob wasn't even a threat in Hadrian's eyes, more like an irritating problem who he didn't trust one bit. He'd heard far too many horror stories involving men like Jacob. "You wanna stay at my house, tonight?" He asked Ania, glancing down to meet her eye, "I tidied for you."</div>

Fidget · Feb 28, 2014

Ania was rather flattered when she turned out to be the most interesting student. Of course, she hadn't heard of anyone else with a similar catalyst or power, but she didn't think it was all that interesting. Of course, ice castles sounded much cooler than being a fish. You could probably live in an ice castle. As an ice queen. She would probably like that.

She did take the opportunity to inch herself further on top of Hadrian, and sighed faintly at the insults still being hurled across the room. It didn't really seem like anyone was going to get along today. This was perhaps a bad idea to trap them into a game if they were just going to say mean things. Well, at least she didn't set her heart on playing it. Feeling a hand on her head, she was close to purring. Wasn't quite sure why, but being pet always gave her the nicest feeling. Perhaps she had been a cat in a past life.

"I suppooose. As long as it isn't messy." It hadn't started as much of a game, and in reality, was more of a stand-off with insults being tossed around. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to irritate Hadrian further by inviting Jacob over for supper, but she smiled at the thought regardless. "Does that mean the game has to end soon? Oh, I was having such a nice time, too. Watching everyone get along so dearly."

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[Ania] Carried in his Arms

Fidget

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Critical

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Knox!

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Fidget

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Critical

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Knox!

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Fidget

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Critical

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Knox!

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Fidget

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