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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 26, 2023 22:22:26 GMT
"Oh. Is she an old friend?" Bella asked. She hadn't heard Zuko mention Cinder before, or any other friends for that matter. But he was kind of the loner type who was in a shell until you got to know him. Bella supposed in a way, she was like that too. She could be quiet and awkward when you first met her, but that went away once she relaxed and felt like she could be herself.
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 27, 2023 0:43:01 GMT
Zuko didn’t answer for a long time. Cinder was anything but his friend. She was his jailer. His tormentor. His abuser. Thanks to her, he had bad eyesight and needed support. Not just on the reading part. He set the pepper down harder than necessary, his golden eyes flashing. “No.”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 28, 2023 1:53:33 GMT
Bella's eyes darted from the pepper shaker back to Zuko. She'd never seen such a hard look in his eyes before. And even though he only replied with one word, it was answer enough to how he felt about Cinder. She hurriedly drank her soda as she desperately tried to think of something else to talk about. Cinder was obviously a sore spot and she didn't want to linger on it. "Um..." She cast about for a topic until she remembered something she'd been thinking about earlier. "You know, glee club is fun and all, but it'd be cool to have a book club at school too, don't you think?" she said.
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 28, 2023 6:04:16 GMT
After a rattling of ice, Bella changed the subject to more clubs. Thankfully for Zuko, she suggested a book club. Good. A club thst didn’t require full on attention. Between glee club and Boomball, he was running out of extracurricular activities to look at. “Don’t you dare suggest we read Watchmen or some other book about heroes,” he teased, the light in his eyes calming.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 30, 2023 15:48:09 GMT
Whew, good. The tension dissolved and Zuko actually made a joke. That made Bella glad, but she did wonder if he'd ever open up about Cinder and what happened to cause such bad blood between them. But she'd have to save that for another day. "No, I think we get enough of that during the school day," she said. "Although I'd guess we'd have to consider if stuff like comic books or manga would be considered 'literature' or whatever." She liked a good manga series or graphic novel every once in a while, but they weren't usually big discussion topics for book clubs. And didn't anime clubs kind of have that stuff covered? She wasn't sure where to draw the line.
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 30, 2023 23:25:08 GMT
That was a good point. Graphic novels snd manga were popular among Zuko and Bella’s peers and classmates. Part of him wondered if that Caspar kid got the shield idea from the comics. “Maybe so long as there’s, in lack of better words, novel ideas, they should be allowed. Don’t they adapt classic literature into graphic novels?” He could have sworn he saw a cover for a manga fied Dracula being read by some clientele. “I can…advertise it in the cafe? See if that gets people interested?”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 31, 2023 22:11:57 GMT
Bella swallowed a mouthful of pizza before saying "Oh yeah, they do." Graphic novels might even make it easier to introduce people to classics. Nobody was too old for pictures in books. Zuko suggested advertising for the club, but the idea of actually going through with the idea made Bella a little shy. "Oh, I don't know. I was just...thinking out loud. I mean, if I put up flyers, people will think I'm running it, but...I don't know if I can do that."
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 1, 2023 1:42:59 GMT
“Then how about I advertise glee club, then?” Zuko suggested. The wide eyes Bella got whenever she was feeling shy came up. He found it adorable. But rather than give her a heart attack over a club that probably wasn’t even a seed, he’d put more focus on her actual passion
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 4, 2023 1:47:46 GMT
"Okay, yeah. That works," Bella said, liking that idea. Dorothea would probably appreciate the help too. Although if Utena ever got wind that she was considering starting a book club, she'd push her into actually going through with it. Her sister tended to give her that extra shove needed when overcoming something scary, for better or for worse. Bella knew she meant well, but sometimes, she just wanted Utena to let her be.
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 4, 2023 21:18:11 GMT
“Just helping a friend.” The word was so new, but when it was applied to Bella, it just felt right. They fought a giant hydra together, and had sat over coffee. Now they were sitting away from the socializing of a pizza fundraiser - where exactly was the money going anyways - chatting about clubs and after school activities, or lack there of. “Oh, uh, need anything while I refill my soda?”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 5, 2023 22:22:44 GMT
Bella smiled at that word. Yeah, friends. She didn't have a whole lot, but she dearly loved the ones she had, and Zuko was pretty high on the list. Some people might have thought two introverts would bee too similar to be close, but Bella liked that she and Zuko could have quiet moments and enjoy them. Utena was kind of the opposite. Unless she was working on homework or reading a book, she liked to stay moving or filling up the silence. Zuko asked if she needed anything while he got a drink and she shook her head. "Nah, I'm good." As Zuko left, she felt her phone vibrate and saw her sister had texted her.
Hey sis! Having fun?
Bella turned her head, scouring the crowd for a moment before spying Utena with some of her other friends. She gave a wink and wave. Bella waved back before replying.
Yeah. I'm glad I came.
See? Told ya.
Bella laughed a little. Utena had been right about that. Bella hadn't been sure about how tonight would go, but it seemed like everything was going well.
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 6, 2023 2:14:17 GMT
Zuko left the small booth and stared at the sofa fountain, picking out two flavors and blending them. Forget having just one flavor, he needed two to add an extra punch. Once the fizz died out, he looked out. A flash of pink was seen in the corner, surrounded by other giggling friends. Utena. He had seen Bella’s twin once, and sat next to her in the classes they did have. He raised a hand towards in salutation before coming back to Bella.
“Your sister’s got quite the crowd.”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 7, 2023 23:57:49 GMT
"Yeah. It's always been that way with her," Bella said. Utena's outgoing personality and helping nature really helped her win people over. But Bella knew she sometimes had a hard time talking seriously about problems she had. Heck, even with Bella, Utena usually tried to downplay then first and it took a bit of prodding from Bella to make her really open up.
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 9, 2023 1:23:56 GMT
Zuko nodded understandingly. There always were people that just made simply talking look easier than it was. People like Utena and Ruby made the world seem brighter with how happy go lucky they were. Maybe if Cinder hadn’t scarred him, he could have that confidence. But of course, that also meant coming across like a douche, which he didn’t want
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 10, 2023 0:00:08 GMT
There was another silence, but not uncomfortable. Zuko seemed to be thinking over what Bella said, and honestly, her mind was wandering a bit too. She idly spun her straw in circles inside her cup. "Sometimes I wish I was a little more like her," she said. "More confident and outgoing, you know? You remember how I was when we first met." Utena could meet new people no problem without any nervousness at all. Meanwhile, Bella turned into a stuttering awkward mess.
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