(Student)
SHSL Trickster
(Year 2)
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Post by Willow Fey on Feb 24, 2016 7:43:10 GMT
Already the library had become a bit of a refuge for Willow. Reading was important for a persons mind, and research provided much of the ammunition he used in his tricks as well as a platform to better himself in other ways. It was also a quiet place where he could relax in a different energy space from his room.
However today he hadn't come here for either study, escapism or relaxation. Today he was meeting someone. A brave, daring, cute police officer that reminded him a lot of his sister. One Alexia Takana. They had met on the first day of school and from that meeting there were several others. These subsequent meetings gave him little additional evidence as to her character other then confirming that she was indeed like his sister and that Willow liked her.
The trickster did have things to discuss with the cop, after all she did have the power to arrest him. It was best to clear up things quickly before anything got out of hand.
So he wrote a note and slipped it under her door. It read:
Ms.Takana,
Come to the library at 3:00 today. We have some things we should discuss.
Signed, Willow Fey
The trickster positioned himself in an alcove where he could easily hear someone enter, but that was discreet enough that it would be hard for someone to eavesdrop. He currently had several books with him. Some books of law, several occult texts, and a cheap paperback mystery novel. They were all laid out in a stack in front of him. He also had a notebook where page numbers had been written down.
In essence, he had prepared for their meeting. Now all he had to do was wait for here to enter.
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(Student)
SHSL Police officer
(Year 3)
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Post by Alexia Takana on Feb 24, 2016 8:43:31 GMT
"Hopes peak academy will supply top of the class education and it's staff will always look after your needs" Alexia, with her feet up on her desk and listening to the local news on her computer, was silently repeating what was said in the brochure she obtained before she came to Hope's peak. She had just unpacked her things in a orderly fashion and she was still eager to see who her roommate was... But, It had been two days now and Alexia believed that she could have a room for herself.
Not that it was bad or anything... She just enjoyed a little company.
Alexia took off her glasses and placed the brochure back down on her desk. She didn't really believe that she needed them for a while. She was in a secure place where everyone should treat each-other the same way, right? So there was no point into wearing them if she was supposed to trust others. But still... She could use them anyway, they were expensive.
She stuffed her glasses in her pocket and then drew her attention to a breaking news story where an armed robber had stolen a police car and the police were in hot pursuit. She snickered at how long they were taking, if this ever happened to her, she would shoot the wheels or speed up behind him. To be the ultimate police officer doesn't always require following the rules.
"..." It was getting too isolated for Alexia. She had to get out and talk sooner or later rather than hang out in her room waiting for it to come. She already met a bunch of people during her classes, but perhaps she could get to know more about them? Especially him...
So, with the thought fresh in her mind Alexia got up from her seat and changed into some casual clothes. She didn't really fancy wearing a heavy police suit all day. She wasn't one of those dedicated for life sort of people. She just went the way the wind blew.
But on the way out, she noticed a small note on the ground.
"Huh?" She picked it up and in outstanding handwriting, it directed her to go to the library at 3:00. "3 O'clock?" She looked at her watch. It was only 2:53 pm. She had some time. But she was quite eager to get there early. She had never revived any notes like this in her life.
But, filled with determination, she stuffed the note in her pocket and walked to the library (Which, lucky for her, she remembered where it was). Thoughts were swimming inside her head about what he wanted to talk about. Was it something bad? She hoped not. She didn't want getting any bad impressions on anyone the first week...
Alexia eventually reached the library. The door was slightly ajar, possibly meaning that Willow was here already. So, she took a deep breath and opened the door.
She never realized how packed the library was with all kinds of books. From huge thick books ranging to short stories. She also noticed Willow sitting down with a couple of books laid out in front of him. Alexia waved nervously and headed over to him.
"Hey Willow!" She quickly noticed most of the books laid out on the table, they all were related to the law somehow, with mystery novels and books of occult texts and whatnot. Was she going to be interrogated in some way? Surely not, Willow wouldn't do something like that right?
"How have you been?" Alexia asked with a smile, trying not to be paranoid. "I got that note you got." She pulled out the crumpled letter in her pocket showing it to Willow. "You wanted to talk?"
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(Student)
SHSL Trickster
(Year 2)
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Post by Willow Fey on Feb 24, 2016 9:34:26 GMT
"Yes Ms.Takana. Please feel free to sit down. This may be a long conversation. This is normally the part where I would reassure you that this isn't about anything bad. Alas, I find I can not." Willow said, shrugging and looking honestly regretful.
"This may very well be an unpleasant conversation. I have no idea how this will progress and what your reactions may be. In fact it is my uncertainty that compelled me to invite you here." Willow said, his voice was grave and serious. In stark contrast to his usual light tone.
"However this conversation isn't going to be focused around you. Fact of the matter is that I like you. I would very much like us to be friends. However you are an officer of the law and I have not always been on the right side of it. I need to know if we can truly be friends while remaining true to ourselves and our beliefs. It is not my objective to trick or trap you here. If anything I will err on the "friendly" side, as the outcome where we can proceed with our friendship is my preference. If the two of us determine that a friendship would be a conflict of interest or that we are incompatible in some way, I hope we can shake hands and part on pleasant terms. That we can still be friendly even if we are not able to get closer." Willow said.
He had weighed these words carefully. This was a challenging situation. Fact of the matter was that if he misjudged Alexia he could be spending the night in jail. Best to start with something easy. If she rejected him here...they could never be friends. And regardless this was a safe one. The statute of limitations was up and nobody cared anymore. No names had to be changed to protect the innocent or the guilty.
"When I was young my family and I struggled. My Mother had to support us on her own with her wit and charm. My sister was too deep in her own world to pay much attention to her kid brother, and then their was me. Alone most of the time I turned to my natural talent. Tricking people. Mostly they were childish pranks and caused at the worst annoyance but...I also began pickpocketing. At first it was fairly small amounts and I would use it for selfish purposes. Then I managed to stumble across a much bigger payday and tried to give it to my mother. She scolded me and told me to give it back but as I had dumped the wallet there was no way to know who it belonged to or how to find them. So I stashed it under my matress. Eventually things got worse for us and my mother, in moments of weakness, would take my ill gotten gains. I stopped pickpocketing a couple months before I was 8, when our circumstances were starting to get better and things were settling down." Willow said. He concluded the story with a small sigh and turned to look Alexia directly in the eye.
"Thoughts?" Willow asked, scrutinizing the police officer carefully.
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(Student)
SHSL Police officer
(Year 3)
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Post by Alexia Takana on Feb 25, 2016 8:24:23 GMT
Of course... Of course it wasn't going to be good. What was Alexia expecting? Hanging out with Willow would of been much better then dealing with high school drama on the first day of high school! But it wasn't ethical to ignore someone who had took the time to arrange a 'meeting', so Alexia was forced to listen to what he had to say. It couldn't be that bad, right?
The first thing she noticed is that Willow was taking this 'friendship' thing waaay to seriously. He was acting as if it was a matter between life and death. Surely it could not be that bad... A person who (Alexia assumed) had a very high sense of intelligence, should have known this by now. Alexia began wondering if Willow had some trust issues, or something that made him think this way. She didn't want to pry, she was just curious...
Judging from what Willow had said about how he wanted to 'can shake hands and part on pleasant terms.' She also got the feeling that Willow was the least bit scared of Alexia. As if he was thinking she could arrest him at any moment. Alexia wanted to say how absolutely wrong he was, but he let him talk.
When Willow finally got to the end of his 'heartwarming' story. It also became clear that he was trying to guilt-trip her into taking her mind off the subject at hand and direct it to the matter of the 'young family who struggled'. She had to admit, she did feel sorry for Willow... But the fact that he believed she was 'just like the rest' seemed to piss her off. Of course she wasn't like the rest! She broke rules in order to get killers caught, she would fly solo from time to time because she didn't trust the 'rest'. Those guys were too into being an officer of the law. They believed that they were the heroes in there own little fantasy world in their heads. Sure, if it was any other police officer, Willow would be arrested. But Alexia was not 'just another officer'.
"Thoughts??" Alexia repeated the words Willow had just muttered. She put her hands on the table. "Well, I think you are afraid of me... Am I right?" She giggled as she sat down in the chair opposite to Willow. "Hey... I mean, I know what you are trying to do here. You are trying to make me not arrest you, and in order to do that, you try to make me feel sorry for you right? Well, let me tell you this..."
She rested her arms on the table and leaned in a bit close to Willow, her voice changed to a somber, more quiet tone. "I do feel sorry... I really do. I think was happened to you was just awful and nobody should live like that..." She sat back up again and she spoke her normal tone once again. "But! Either way, I am not going to arrest you, or charge you or anything in that category because firstly: It would be a ugly thing to do and I don't think the school would appreciate what I did, Secondly: I call you a friend... And I wouldn't do that to a friend. Unless it was something really bad. And Finally..." She pause and glanced at Willow. "I am not like the rest. Trust me... I am far from those useless attention seeking cops."
She glanced away for a moment and waited for Willow to respond.
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(Student)
SHSL Trickster
(Year 2)
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Post by Willow Fey on Feb 26, 2016 3:22:16 GMT
She thought he was looking for her pity? That wasn't what he intended at all. He had to clear this up, being misunderstood was one of the things he hated most.
"Afraid? Yes I suppose. You are a good person Ms. Takana. However you wouldn't be the first good person to hurt me, even if only on accident. Though I must protest your later claim. I was not trying to make you feel sorry for me. I was simply explaining the situation in the best way I could. My life circumstances were hardly unique. All and all I had a good family and we were able to work our way up the ladder a bit. That makes me luckier then most." He said calmly. However below his mask he was panicking a bit at the idea of his intentions being misunderstood.
"I thank you for your offer of friendship. However I can't guarantee that I don't have something in my past or in my present for that matter, that you would find really bad. I learned long ago to not assume others have the same moral values as me. I am an unconventional person and we all have our differences. There are things you can do to me Ms.Takana, that would hurt far worse than arresting me. If you are going to turn on me then I would rather have it happen now, as opposed to later when the wound would cut deeper. " Willow said.
What should he go for next? It was a difficult question. How many secrets did he want to put on the table for someone he hardly knew? Start with the shallow outline perhaps, the bare facts of himself. Go deeper if necessary. He made a plan but he could abort it at any time.
"I am a bisexual, scheming, pagan mystic with trust issues. My Mother has resorted to dubious means to survive and my sister has been in and out of juvie since I can remember. I am preserving secrets that would ruin people I care very much about if I were to speak them aloud, and my father was taken from me before I could form memories of him. I apologize if I have difficulty believing that you can get close to me." Willow said. He seemed genuinely regretful, almost as if he didn't want to go through this process either.
"Once again I must emphasise that I don't want your pity. I don't even feel bad for myself anymore. I simply want your understanding." He concluded. Then he began to examine the girl closely.
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(Student)
SHSL Police officer
(Year 3)
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Post by Alexia Takana on Feb 29, 2016 7:48:35 GMT
The truth is Alexia didn’t want to be enemies with anyone. She knew she had a duty that she had to fur fill with her job as an officer, but for Willow… For Willow it was different, it seemed as though he was trying his hardest not to create a misunderstanding between the two of them. All he wanted was them to stay friends...
Willow had also seemed that he had suffered a lot of hardship through his life, ranging from family problems to financial struggle. It was no wonder he resorted to half-criminal acts as a child. Alexia didn’t blame him, and she was willing to put her duty behind her for him. She had heard stories like this from many criminals before, but this was different. It wasn’t a criminal this time… It was a friend.
“Ah… Right.” Of course Alexia took it the wrong way. She was a police officer, so used to deception and trickery that from someone like the ultimate trickster. She didn’t really know what to expect. Next time, she wouldn’t act before she said anything.
“Listen Willow… I know I’m a cop and to most, all they would expect from us is ‘justice’…” She was pondering about how to respond to Willow’s statement about friendship. It was tricky, because she knew she couldn’t deny the fact that if he had done something extremely bad. But… She couldn’t help but feel like he was the type of person that no matter what he may or may not have done. She wouldn’t be mad at him. At least, that’s what she was thinking. She didn’t want to lie to Willow.
“I just… I don’t think there is something worse I can do then arrest you, and there is a very very unlikely chance that would happen…” She leaned in close to Willow, if they were going to be on the same page, she may as well have told him this. “Trust me…” She said under her breath “I have done something much worse. Something so bad that you cannot even begin to imagine.”
She cleared her throat and sat back up. “I will not turn on you Willow… Even if we have just met, I see no reason as to why I should do such a thing, no matter how big this ‘incident’ may be. You can…” She sighed, there was no turning back. “You can trust me on that”.
She turned away and she closed her eyes. “I know you don’t want my pity, but I cannot deny the fact that it isn’t a bad thing and I should not feel sorry for you. You’ve had a tough life Willow, tougher than mine it seems, so I understand what you are trying to say, but I can’t help but mourn your cause.”
All Alexia wanted was to have a nice and simple chat with Willow. She supposed that this was now part of becoming friends with him. She was willing to give up all ethics and ‘rules’ she had learnt just so she could gain a friend…
Was it really worth it…?
She dammed well hope it was.
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(Student)
SHSL Trickster
(Year 2)
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Post by Willow Fey on Mar 4, 2016 12:17:31 GMT
Listening to Alexia talk about how she would never turn on him and that there wasn't anything she could do worse then arresting him, brought the trickster back. The shallow, petty, mundane despair of being disappointed welled up inside him. All those selfish desires that had brought pain to him and those around him. Yet here he was trying to make a friendship work with someone whose profession was so interlinked with tragedy in his past.
What the hell was he even doing here?
"Earth to Willow. Hey dummy, you can't change the world if you lock yourself away from it. It's always worth the risk to take a chance for happiness." That had been Karen.
"Optimism is what keeps us moving forward. Never lose that. We can't go anywhere if we always are flinching away from pain." that had been her.
"People are mostly good sweetie. The bad things they do are usually out of hardship or ignorance or pain." His Mother.
These voices echoed in his head. Memories rising to the surface. School ground confessions and an office full of packed supplies were not grounds to give up on everything he had ever believed in.
What he had to do was assume her intentions were pure and prepare himself for if they are not.
"I hope their isn't. It is impossible to truly know the future. Glimpses and guesses are all we are allowed to know of our fates. Caution is always advisable." He said.
Then his demeanor lightened and a smile was once again on his face.
"Still trust has to start somewhere. And as crazy as it sounds I do trust you. I was going to ask more questions, maybe probe into your past further. Now I see little point. We can talk further here but I am satisfied for now. Ms.Takana it would be my honor to be your friend." Willow said.
"As for...the incident. There is only one big concern that I have. However it is on the part of another and not myself, and much of the damage has already been done there. Maybe one day I shall tell you." Willow said, lapsing into a melancholic tone.
"That only tells me you have empathy dear. Thank you for the kindness you have shown me. You remind me a bit of home." He concluded.
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(Student)
SHSL Police officer
(Year 3)
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Post by Alexia Takana on Mar 8, 2016 10:29:51 GMT
Willow had seemed to zone out for a while… Was that a good thing? Alexia started to believe that she might have screwed up, big time. Usually after saying something kind, or accepting which is followed by a silence, it doesn’t usually end well. She knew from experience. But Alexia just had to wait as Willow was daydreaming, He had probably recalled something terrible from the past, or he is weighing up the possibilities whether or not to become friends with each other.
Alexia braced herself as Willow finally responded.
To her surprise, it wasn’t bad at all! In fact, it was good! Willow had responded positively to Alexia’s statement, and she was happy about it! There still was the fact of the incident in Willows life, but she decided to leave it alone. She did not want to cause more stress onto Willow.
“Y-You do?” Alexia acted surprised. “Hehe! Ehh, it’s not that much of an honour…” She giggled softly, “I mean, It’s not like I’m the fucking president or something… B-But yes, I would be honoured to be your friend as well!” She smiled and scratched the back of her head, processing what else Willow had told her.
“I-I don’t really mind if you do or do not tell me what had happened Willow, it obviously haunts you in a not-so-good way…” Alexia bit her lip… “But if you ever need to get it off your chest… I suppose you could hit me up sometime. I’m mostly available after school, It’s not like there is anything better to do.” She laughed.
In the concluding sentence Willow had stated, Alexia was left subtly blushing. She tried to look away and block any emotion from her face, she didn’t want to be embarrassed when she just met him a couple of minutes ago! “Uh, Y-Yeah…” She said cautiously “I-It wasn’t a problem!”
When she had finally got a grip on herself Alexia wanted to ask a couple of questions about Willow herself… He was extremely mysterious, and they had time to spare. So, Alexia asked him a couple of questions about himself and Willow remarked back with interesting answers. But none of these questions seemed to make him more ‘known’ to Alexia. It didn’t bother her that much anyway.
Finally, with the most important question stored in the back of her head, Alexia thought it was finally time to ask it…
“Oh! By the way, do you know what subjects you have?”
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(Student)
SHSL Trickster
(Year 2)
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Post by Willow Fey on Mar 9, 2016 15:44:49 GMT
Alexia was acting pretty nervous. Probably as a result of him putting her on the spot like this. He hated to do it but it was necessary. With his fears for the moment laid to rest they could actually move forward. He especially understood it was odd giving the short time they had known each other, only a few days of bumping into each other and making conversation. Still he felt a connection to her that was hard to deny.
They spent some time talking about various things. Getting a bit better acquainted with one another.
"My classes? Besides the mostly boring normal subjects they have got us enrolled in and the testing and honing of our ultimate abilities the Academy is conducting, I am studying the social sciences mostly. Psychology, Sociology, history, Anthropology, Parapsychology, Theology and religious studies, philosophy. I have been studying these subjects more or less on my own but now that I have the extraordinary facilities provided by this school I can't help but take full advantage. " Willow said.
"What are you studying?" The trickster asked.
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