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Post by Ailith Rayner on Oct 29, 2007 17:49:37 GMT
Ailith sat at a table with her back to the wall, pulled out her maths book and small pencilcase and groaned inwardly. She disliked maths. A fair bit. She was good at it but unless it was like physics and it was applied to something real she found it hard to care and therefore concentrate. Take trigonometry for example, the homework she had to do now, had this been physics it would have been something like "A gun was fired from a window at 35 degrees to someone on the ground 12 metres away. The sniper missed by one point 5 metres in front of the target what angle should the sniper have taken?" but this endless drawing of circles and meaningless calculations felt pointless and detached from the real world. To cut a long story short, Ailith found maths boring.
She drew and labeled the first triangle and set about using cos when the Common Room door opened. A welcome three second distraction. Or it would have been, had the person entering not been Jude. She raised her head totally and smiled as he looked in Ailith's direction. The smile was not whole-heartedly returned and he twisted his way through the clash of chairs and tables towards her. Oh yes he went to see Madeleine. She can't be that bad can she?
"Hey Jude." Ailith sang as he got within easy earshot. She made a half-smile and watched to see if Jude had perked up any.
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Post by Jude Dorrian on Oct 29, 2007 18:07:30 GMT
ooc: Madeleine, just so you know, this is set after the Blue Storm.
Ailith.
Jude felt a wave of relief wash over him as he spotted her sitting over some books, her pencil case set out ominously. He was just back from visiting Lee- and Madeleine, of course- in the Hospital Wing, and everything Lee had said to him was bouncing like mad around his head.
"Fall in love, Jude. Fall in love, and be stupid, and crazy and completely ga-ga. Be thick, Jude, and let her into your heart. Ha! The minute you let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better."
Funny that song should be in his head now.
"Hey Jude," Ailith sang at him as he approached.
He flashed her a grin, picking up where she left off. "Don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart... or well, you get the jist," he said a little sheepishly. "Hi, Ailith."
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Post by Ailith Rayner on Oct 29, 2007 18:43:22 GMT
Jude sang back to her in his fun Texas accent and Ailith beamed. He had a great singing voice and somehow the accent suited the song. It suited him. Ailith felt the high-pitched squeaking errupt in her head and her breath was hovering around in her chest. But then Ailith considered Jude's face and body language and her smile decreased to neutral.
"Well, how's the patient? Any better?" Ailith hoped she would not get the news that the worst had happened and so offered the positive but expected the opposite.
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Post by Jude Dorrian on Oct 29, 2007 19:00:10 GMT
Which one?
"According to Lee, Madeleine's getting worse," Jude said heavily, his gaze sliding from Ailith's. "Of course, I think Lee's recently done his nut, so I can't be sure..." He winced. "Sorry. That was harsh."
Lee had every right to go crazy, after all. If someone Jude cared about that much went into a coma... if Tameron...
Well, that just didn't stand thinking about.
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Post by Ailith Rayner on Oct 29, 2007 20:11:37 GMT
Jude wasn't himself. Well, he wasn't his normal self. He was all grim and there was a hint of sadness. "What do you mean he's done his nut? I know he's been up there everyday all day if he can help it and obviously he's not got too much sleep and that but ... what do you mean?" I didn't think he was that bad that Jude would say something like that. What the hell happened?
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Post by Jude Dorrian on Oct 29, 2007 20:24:21 GMT
"I mean he's kind of zonked out," Jude muttered. "I mean, he kept going on and on about what could've been. He seems pretty hopeless, and all he does is stare at Madeleine. And then, when I tried to get him talking he just started going on and on about you and me-"
He stopped, cut short, and felt a faint pink colour his cheeks.
"It's just bad."
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Post by Ailith Rayner on Oct 29, 2007 20:47:34 GMT
Ailith frowned. "Oh." Ailith loved that word, it meant so much in just one syllable and two letters. She also didn't fail to notice the sudden stop and his blush. "You haven't fallen out with him have you? He's not himself, you know that. And whatever he said ... erm what did he say?" Ailith thought as soon as she started saying that Do I want to know? I kinda do but ... no.
"Actually it's ok. It's between you and him, but I'm sure ... sorry, I suck at this."
Ailith bit her tongue. You have the worst genuine people skills ever. You're fine when you're undercover but when it comes to being yourself you are rubbish!
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Post by Jude Dorrian on Oct 29, 2007 20:55:03 GMT
He looked upwards, and met her eyes, smiling at her. It was nice to see her squirm a little. It was kind of funny. She was fine about asking the questions though. He didn't really have to tell her any lies. He didn't like liars. Ruddy fakes- nobody had any right to be that way, no matter what they might be going through.
Maybe it was just because he'd lied one too many times himself...
But he was a different person now. He was.
"He just quoted 'Hey, Jude', to me," he muttered, hoping she'd catch his meaning.
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Post by Ailith Rayner on Oct 29, 2007 21:13:07 GMT
Ailith looked back at the desk thinking and humming slightly, Hey Jude, don't make it bad, take a sad song, and make it better, remember to le... oh "Oh." She said aloud. "Erm ... do you erm ... did you ..." She coughed and tried again. "Are you OK?"
Her mouth had dried slightly and she felt warm all of a sudden and her heart jumped. She began to sing the whole song to herself and with every line she almost twitched.
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Post by Jude Dorrian on Oct 29, 2007 21:22:07 GMT
Jude shrugged awkwardly. "Just... a bit upset by it, I guess. But it'll be fine."
It'll be fine...
"What are you doing?" Jude said after a tense pause. "Homework? History?" The last word was a little more hopeful than necessary.
Leaning forward, he took one look at the open pages of calculations and hissed. Maths. Oh, gee. The worst goddam piece of dirt ever to be flicked out of Satan's fingernail, and tossed upwards into some idiot of a caveman who couldn't work out how many sheep he'd lost.
How the heck had that little speckle of blackness grown into such a messy, mucky monster?
"Okay, you're screwed," he said unhelpfully.
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Post by Ailith Rayner on Oct 30, 2007 16:51:09 GMT
Ailith dropped her jaw in mock outrage, "Actually I'm not screwed. According to my teacher I am quite capable of completeing these..." She looked back at her work and picked up her pencil. "... I'm just totally lacking in any motivation whatsoever. No big deal though, I'll just ... who am I kidding? It's as boring as hell, I'm screwed." She threw down her pencil again and folded her arms pursing her lips in silent annoyance at the unfinished question. If maths questions could smirk this one would be sniggering itself to the fireplace.
Ailith looked back at Jude, "Tell me you have homework you don't mind doing now. If I saw at least one other person working it might help."
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Post by Jude Dorrian on Oct 30, 2007 21:36:48 GMT
He laughed. "Um... an big long, long essay about the golden years of Weimar... which I should really do... and get out of the way... but..."
But yuck! How could he be bothered with all that lark? Nah, it was far more fun to sit here and tease Ailith about her maths. Probably the less sensitive option, but it was definitely more fun. But...
"I'll go get my stuff then," he sighed, pretending to be annoyed with her. "Or my brainy whiz-kid of a sister. She'll sort your maths out in a jiffy... once you explain the theory to her."
Jumping up, he rushed off and returned promptly with his schoolbag and a file block. Taking out his questions, he wriggled his nose at them, then glanced up at Ailith.
He could try, he supposed, but he got the feeling he wouldn't end up doing much work.
"Okay, d'y'all want me to try and help you?" he said, half-hopefully. "I'm a bit wick... but I can try..."
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Post by Ailith Rayner on Nov 3, 2007 19:06:09 GMT
Ailith smiled at Jude sympathetically. "You really don't want to do that do you?"
"Well, maybe not the maths part..."
"I can do the Maths it's just motivation. Even if you just even pretend to work I wouldn't mind! Or else suggest something for me to do after I'm finished 'cause I'm at a loss. Anything to make me concentrate, please!" Ailith was vebally on her knees. It sickened her slightly when she thought back.
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Post by Jude Dorrian on Nov 3, 2007 19:28:56 GMT
"Motivation...?" Jude pondered her for a couple of seconds, his brow furrowing. "Um... motivation. Motivation. Mo... tiv... ation... this isn't working for you is it?"
"Not so much." She wrinkled her nose and shook her head smiling.
Gosh, that was weird. Actually, it was really weird. Just... the way she did that; wrinkled her nose and smiled at him. It was really... really cute. Maybe it was better she couldn't hear his thoughts. Cute was hardly the word Ailith would want to be described by. But it was. Cute; quirky; sweet; endearing? He liked it, at any rate.
He really, really liked it.
"Okay, then," he sighed, pressing his fingertips together. "If I were to... make you some sort of promise... like, a gift or something- which you will get the moment you finish your homework- would that work?"
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Post by Ailith Rayner on Nov 3, 2007 20:51:53 GMT
Ailith squinted, "That probably would work. But it's not necessary. Why? You have something in mind?"
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