Monday snippet.
Just a little scene from the pilot of Vermillion for Monday snippet days at chaos_thon. :)
“Miss Moore!” a voice that Amoret recognized as belonging to the school secretary broke her thoughts. Amoret turned to the doorway, where the mousy woman had poked her head through.
“An interruption?” Amoret barked back. “Now? Really??” she raised an eyebrow, daring the tiny woman to continue. A flash of fear crossed the secretary’s face, which meant that Amoret would probably only be more angry when she found out why she was being pulled out.
“You have a visitor, Miss Moore.”
“Who?” Amoret demanded. The secretary stumbled over her words. “Who? Tell me who. Get it out.”
“Amoret,” Mrs. Quiroz swooped down on the situation, her voice lilting and soft like an angel trying to rescue the poor Miss Secretary from being torn apart by wolves. “Anger is never the right reaction, you know that.”
Amoret clucked her tongue. She glared directly at the secretary, but softened her tone. “Who is it?”
“He declined to give his name.” Owen. Or her dad. Only those two would have the nerve. “He wishes to see you immediately.” Amoret groaned.
“Fine!” She threw her arms up in the air and stalked to the door. She threw the secretary a dirty look as she passed by. Her eyes flashed green and the secretary jumped near a foot high, amusing Amoret. It was a simple trick, an instinctual tick that most witches just learned to fight once they had enough control over their powers, but it still scared the hell out of the civilians. The secretary was a civilian - Amoret could tell that from the moment Miss Thing had started the job in Amoret’s second year at Vermillion. Ever since then Amoret had been hellbent on making her miserable enough to quit, just for kicks. She drew the line at outright bodily harm against the tiny woman, instead preferring to wage her war on a purely psychological level.
Owen was leaning against the secretary’s desk in typical Owen fashion, with his back against the edge and his foot propped up against the side. Amoret stomped up and shoved him in the side. A smaller guy would have fallen off balance and probably tripped over his own feet a little, but Owen was tall, strongly-built and trained as a defensive on the championship-winning Costa Sonrisa football team. He barely moved a muscle when she pushed him, but put his foot down about half a second later in a lame, belated move that was probably just to make her feel more effective. The fact that he felt the need to humor her in such a manner kind of pissed her off.
Okay, that really pissed her off.
“Why the hell are you here? I told you I was busy!” Amoret hissed. Miss Secretary tried to sit down at her desk behind them, but Amoret glared at her again. “Leave, Patty!” she ordered. Owen scowled at her, then looked at the secretary.
“Don’t leave,” he told her. Amoret’s eyes widened in something between shock and rage. They flashed green again - this time slightly against her will - but it had not nearly the same effect on Owen as they did on little miss mousy. He crossed his arms and kept talking.
“Cy says Des abandoned him at my place after they had a day planned together.”
Amoret failed to see how this applied to her at all. “Yes, and?”
“Desdemona wouldn’t do that. Especially not if they had plans. Cy thinks there’s something up with this,” he rotated his finger in the air, “weird-ass weather and you witches and the fact that Desdemona had to come back to Vermillion on her off-day.”
“Did you actually come here to complain about Cy’s issues?” Amoret asked, narrowing her eyes. “New low, Owen. Tell Cy to be less gay and not freak out about the inexplicable actions of a seventeen-year-old girl.” She turned to leave but Owen caught her arm before she could complete her rotation and spun her back to face him.
“And because something is just weird today,” Owen went on. Amoret wasn’t any cog by any means, but most of the time Owen couldn’t hide his feelings from her. She knew right then that Owen hadn’t wanted to admit that he felt something weird. He was hoping - a small, unreal hope - that Amoret would admit everything once he told her about Cy and Desdemona. Even that story had a small hidden meaning. Desdemona was the closest Cy could feasibly get to a female without wanting to ‘tap it.' It was almost creepy how in-sync they were. Desdemona would, in no circumstances, ditch Cy for school unless it was a matter of life or death - both Amoret and Owen knew that very well.
Nonetheless, Amoret didn’t intend on telling him anything. She turned to the secretary.
“Time for you to leave, Janine.” The secretary obediently picked up her clipboard and skittered into the hallway, closing the door behind her. Amoret looked up at Owen. “What do you mean ‘weird?’” she whispered.
One of the consequences of being a student at a school for magic - there were no secrets at Vermillion. Witches were bloodthirsty gossips and even the walls had ears at schools like this.
“Miss Moore!” a voice that Amoret recognized as belonging to the school secretary broke her thoughts. Amoret turned to the doorway, where the mousy woman had poked her head through.
“An interruption?” Amoret barked back. “Now? Really??” she raised an eyebrow, daring the tiny woman to continue. A flash of fear crossed the secretary’s face, which meant that Amoret would probably only be more angry when she found out why she was being pulled out.
“You have a visitor, Miss Moore.”
“Who?” Amoret demanded. The secretary stumbled over her words. “Who? Tell me who. Get it out.”
“Amoret,” Mrs. Quiroz swooped down on the situation, her voice lilting and soft like an angel trying to rescue the poor Miss Secretary from being torn apart by wolves. “Anger is never the right reaction, you know that.”
Amoret clucked her tongue. She glared directly at the secretary, but softened her tone. “Who is it?”
“He declined to give his name.” Owen. Or her dad. Only those two would have the nerve. “He wishes to see you immediately.” Amoret groaned.
“Fine!” She threw her arms up in the air and stalked to the door. She threw the secretary a dirty look as she passed by. Her eyes flashed green and the secretary jumped near a foot high, amusing Amoret. It was a simple trick, an instinctual tick that most witches just learned to fight once they had enough control over their powers, but it still scared the hell out of the civilians. The secretary was a civilian - Amoret could tell that from the moment Miss Thing had started the job in Amoret’s second year at Vermillion. Ever since then Amoret had been hellbent on making her miserable enough to quit, just for kicks. She drew the line at outright bodily harm against the tiny woman, instead preferring to wage her war on a purely psychological level.
Owen was leaning against the secretary’s desk in typical Owen fashion, with his back against the edge and his foot propped up against the side. Amoret stomped up and shoved him in the side. A smaller guy would have fallen off balance and probably tripped over his own feet a little, but Owen was tall, strongly-built and trained as a defensive on the championship-winning Costa Sonrisa football team. He barely moved a muscle when she pushed him, but put his foot down about half a second later in a lame, belated move that was probably just to make her feel more effective. The fact that he felt the need to humor her in such a manner kind of pissed her off.
Okay, that really pissed her off.
“Why the hell are you here? I told you I was busy!” Amoret hissed. Miss Secretary tried to sit down at her desk behind them, but Amoret glared at her again. “Leave, Patty!” she ordered. Owen scowled at her, then looked at the secretary.
“Don’t leave,” he told her. Amoret’s eyes widened in something between shock and rage. They flashed green again - this time slightly against her will - but it had not nearly the same effect on Owen as they did on little miss mousy. He crossed his arms and kept talking.
“Cy says Des abandoned him at my place after they had a day planned together.”
Amoret failed to see how this applied to her at all. “Yes, and?”
“Desdemona wouldn’t do that. Especially not if they had plans. Cy thinks there’s something up with this,” he rotated his finger in the air, “weird-ass weather and you witches and the fact that Desdemona had to come back to Vermillion on her off-day.”
“Did you actually come here to complain about Cy’s issues?” Amoret asked, narrowing her eyes. “New low, Owen. Tell Cy to be less gay and not freak out about the inexplicable actions of a seventeen-year-old girl.” She turned to leave but Owen caught her arm before she could complete her rotation and spun her back to face him.
“And because something is just weird today,” Owen went on. Amoret wasn’t any cog by any means, but most of the time Owen couldn’t hide his feelings from her. She knew right then that Owen hadn’t wanted to admit that he felt something weird. He was hoping - a small, unreal hope - that Amoret would admit everything once he told her about Cy and Desdemona. Even that story had a small hidden meaning. Desdemona was the closest Cy could feasibly get to a female without wanting to ‘tap it.' It was almost creepy how in-sync they were. Desdemona would, in no circumstances, ditch Cy for school unless it was a matter of life or death - both Amoret and Owen knew that very well.
Nonetheless, Amoret didn’t intend on telling him anything. She turned to the secretary.
“Time for you to leave, Janine.” The secretary obediently picked up her clipboard and skittered into the hallway, closing the door behind her. Amoret looked up at Owen. “What do you mean ‘weird?’” she whispered.
One of the consequences of being a student at a school for magic - there were no secrets at Vermillion. Witches were bloodthirsty gossips and even the walls had ears at schools like this.