Marla shook her head quickly at the sight of the bill, taking a moment to find her balance. "No, it's fine, it was completely my fault, don't worry about it. I'm late for class too– History of Magic?" She bit her lip anxiously, wishing she could crawl into a hole in embarrassment. The fact that the girl's hand was trembling as she spoke only caused a twinge of guilt to arise– what had she done to mess things up this time?
Gwen shoved the bill back into her pocket, adjusting her bag. “That’s where I’m heading too.” She steadied herself, feeling a blush rising to her cheeks. “I-uh… sorry for bumping into you and stuff. Didn’t want to be late.” She silently cursed herself for being awkward. “We can walk together if you’d like? Or run, we might end up being late either way.”
"We should probably– We should probably run," Marla agreed, biting her tongue to keep from saying anything stupid. God, she's cute… She blinked, realizing what her treacherous mind had just whispered. Stop. No. Sit your gay ass down for five minutes without hitting on anyone. "And it's– it's fine, don't be sorry."
"We should probably– We should probably run," Marla agreed, biting her tongue to keep from saying anything stupid. God, she's cute… She blinked, realizing what her treacherous mind had just whispered. Stop. No. Sit your gay ass down for five minutes without hitting on anyone. "And it's– it's fine, don't be sorry."
“Right, yeah.” Gwen cleared her throat, worried she was building up tension. “We can go now, yeah?” I said yeah too many times! Say something else! Fix this! “I don’t want to miss the Mage Revolution of 1784, pretty good reading. Interesting stuff.” She rambled, her face growing red from embarrassment.
And… now the cute girl was blushing. Blushing. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what kind of effect that was currently having on Marla. “Yeah, agreed. Um, lets, uh— let’s go.”
“Just one sec, I think I dropped something.” Gwen bent down to the grass, quietly whispering an apology to it, hoping she didn’t look totally insane. She moved her hand carefully over the area she had fallen, pretending to look for something, but actually just healing any plants where she'd landed. The grass was noticeably greener when she stood up. “All set then.” Gwen stretched out her arms before starting to jog, unsure if it would be okay to run and leave the girl behind.
Marla ran after, eyes lingering briefly on the spot that the girl had bent over. There had been nothing there, not even earlier, but now the grass was greener, fresher. Must be a plant witch of some sort.. she thought to herself as she sped up, falling into pace with the stranger.
Gwen took a few seconds to catch her breath as they reached the building, but walked quickly inside. She had no idea what time it was, but it was likely she would hear the familiar clock chimes any moment now. This wouldn’t be her first time late to class, but she despised having everyone stare her down while she searched for a seat in the sea of students. She normally sat in the third row back. Close enough to hear the professor, but far enough back to be unnoticeable. Today it was likely she’d be stuck in the back of the room. “It’s room 104, right?” She turned to the girl. I should ask for her name. No! Don’t make it awkward. You’re strangers!
(frick I'm so sorry I had this thread open on my phone, forgot to respond, then went on my laptop without remembering that I'd left you hanging)
"106, I think," Marla replied after a brief pause, trying to catch her breath. She'd never been the best at running– or any physical activity– and this wasn't the first time she'd been embarrassed by it, but she was somewhat comforted by the sight of the girl, who was also out of breath. "Probably. I think– I think I recognize you, now that I think about it– does your name start with a 'G'?"
“106. 106.” She muttered, eyeing the flight of stares. She looked at the elevator and silently decided it would take too long since it was only a single flight. Gwen suddenly realized the girl had asked her something. “Huh? Yeah.” She replied without furthering the conversation, heading towards the stairs and taking them two at a time just as the nearby clock tower began to chime. “Hurry!”
(It’s no problem! Somehow you managed to respond to this literally as I went back on my phone to check the thread XD)
(lmao that happens to me all the time)
Macha inhaled deeply and took off after her, a sharp pain beginning to build in her side. Somehow, she ran despite the cramp, all the way to room 106 without pause. Unfortunately, her lack of break left her exhausted, panting, and sweating– what a spectacle she'd be the moment she walked into the classroom. You're pathetic, she told herself, exhaling slowly and pushing the door open.
(The fact you accidentally said Macha just hit me with a wave of nostalgia lol)
As soon as Gwen walked into the lecture hall, all she could focus on was the heads that turned to look at her entering. She panicked slightly, her palms starting to sweat as she stared blankly back, tensed up. Without thinking clearly, Gwen grabbed onto the girl’s wrist, dragging her to the back of the room to make a safe escape where she could hide and calm down without prying eyes. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.” She mumbled, her voice suddenly small as she passed by people standing up. Her eyes practically glued to the stairs in front of her as she walked up them.
(frick)
"It's fine," Marla soothed quietly, her heart thundering for two very different reasons. A cute girl was holding her hand.
While they walked through a huge room filled with over a hundred students, all staring at them. Shitshitshit, she panicked internally, swallowing as they ascended the stairs, finally arriving at a pair of empty seats in the very back.
Gwen released the girl before sliding into a seat, quickly fumbling around in her bag and dropping a couple pens on the floor. She cursed quietly, but didn’t pick them up as she set a small laptop onto the desk. She grabbed something else out of her bag that looked like a small container, setting it near the edge of desk. Gwen finally looked over at the girl. “Sorry, for dragging you. I’m Gwendolyn, by the way. I think you asked? Maybe your didn’t, I’m not this messy usually, I swear.”
(frick I gtg, I'll reply to this as soon as I get back
are you on in like half an hour?)
(Yeah I’ll still be up! Don’t worry about it!)
"It's fine," she whispered back, eyes darting nervously around the room as she pulled an old-looking laptop from her bag. "Don't worry about it. I'm Marla, nice to meet you." The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, a sensation which she promptly ignored.
(back)
“Nice to meet you.” Gwen replied curtly, straining to hear the professor. She began to type scattered notes, but occasionally she would pause and pick up the small box. It fit in the palm of her hand. This happened for or six times, each one ending with a quiet grain of frustration as she set it back down and began to type.
Marla couldn’t help but deflate at the sharp, flat response Gwen gave her. She nodded a tiny bit, turning away and opening her laptop before the other girl could see the disappointment on her face— not at Gwen, but at herself for believing that someone would actually take a liking to her, for once. .Get your head out of the clouds, she snapped at herself, trying and failing to focus her full attention on the lecturer.
Gwen was ready to slam her head against the keyboard. History sucks. She decided silently. The box on her desk was her botany homework assignment. She had three days to make the little fiend grow, but it was refusing. It didn’t help that she had no idea what it was. So she’d simply started carrying it everywhere. After glancing at the professor a few more times she quit paying attention and started looking up certain variants of plants, trying to figure out what was inside the small cube.
Marla couldnt help taking a tiny peak at Gwen’s computer screen, immediately looking away as guilt twisted her stomach. Before she did, though, she caught sight of an article on some obscure plant, and frowned slightly. What on earth…? She shook herself out of it, gaze snapping back to her own screen. Focus…
Why did I pick this as my major? Why do I do this to myself? I should’ve just been a landscaper or something. Gwen sighed, bored out of her mind. She closed the tabs and went back to her notes, but found herself unable to focus again. She glanced around the room, her gaze eventually settling on Marla. I still have to give her something for crashing into me… Can I give her my homework? Maybe she would know how to grow it?
By now, Marla had glued her eyes to her screen and was typing up rows of disorganized notes, determined to stay focused. Her vision rose to the forefront of her mind, making her fingers stall, hovering above the keyboard, but she quickly pushed it away and returned to the test at hand.
Gwen studied the girl in beside her for the first time, feeling a bit more comfortable now that Marla’s attention wasn’t on her. After looking for a few moment Gwen started to realize that Marla was attractive. Very attractive. And for the third time that morning Gwen silently cursed herself out for being an idiot as she refocused on the lecture, her whiskey brown eyes narrowed in false concentration on the screen in front of her.
Marla could feel Gwen’s eyes on her, and god, was it distracting. “Focus, dammit,” she muttered under her breath, refusing to take her eyes off her notes.
Gwen managed to pull through the rest of the lecture with half decent notes. She shut her laptop with a yawn, pretty much ready to fall asleep where she sat. After packing away her things (all except the box, which she scooped in her hand) she dragged herself to her feet. She took a deep breath, and with an unexpected burst of bravery turned to Marla. “When’s your next class?”
Marla’s heart skipped a beat when Gwen spoke to her. She turned to the other girl, a hesitant smile on her face. “I’ve got an hour or so,” she replied, biting her lip. “You?”
“Same.” Gwen smiled back tentatively and prayed to any gods listening that it didn’t look as awkward as it felt. “How about that coffee I promised you? Like, now I mean. There’s a place need Treetop that I usually stop by. If you drink coffee. I’m down with tea too. Or uh… water.”
Marla almost dropped her laptop. There was a very cute girl asking her out for coffee— was she dreaming? Blinking, she gave a slight tilt of her head. It’s not like that, you idiot. She’s probably straight, anyway. “Uh— I— I’m— Sure. Sounds- sounds good.”