Timing is Everything (Lux, Oriel & Dom)

[Carter Chevalier]

The Talk was done and dusted for another year, and Carter was sincerely hoping he wouldn't be held back again. He'd been to too many as it was, but at least this one provided more entertainment than the stint of 2012. Last year? Talk about boring. This year his brother had stolen the show in every way possible, and Carter couldn't be prouder. He even got a number out of it. And that, to a Chevalier, was obviously a win.

Heading out of the auditorium, Carter looked at the doors to watch the rest of the crowd filtering out in front of him. Dominique was by his side and the two were positively beaming at the results. At least, they were as beaming as their amused smirks would allow.

Once they reached daylight, he stopped in his tracks and pulled up on his brothers arm, turning back around to watch as Luxanna walked out the doors with a boy in tow. Carter didn't recognise him, but they must have been close. And if nothing else, he'd keep it in mind. Taking the necessary steps towards them, Carter offered a smile to Lux - the other guy was as off the twin's radar as he should be. "A pleasure talking with you today," He started with a brief nod, "When you have the chance, I'd love to talk further."

[Deleted]

This year’s Talk was informative and honestly Oriel was quite glad he came, even if he left with far more questions than he came with. Especially since he caught Lux in a place she had no business being in, learning about a subject she had no business learning for at least another year or 10, so he could put a quick stop to it before she got too tainted.

Then there was that blonde fellow who was making eyes at Lux. And that person she was texting with on her phone(which Oriel was pretty sure was the same blonde fellow, though he had no proof). Forget about the azure-haired female, she could go cosplay in a corner by herself for all Oriel cared.

As they trafficked out of the auditorium, Oriel followed behind Lux like a loyal guard-dog, with a scowl on his face and ready to pounce at the slightest provocation.

And provocation came in the guise of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed(and incredibly hot) duo who tried too hard to look suave and charming. Before Lux could speak, Oriel stepped in front of her, between her and bleach-dork#1 and forced his hand into Carter’s, shaking it ferociously. “Hi, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Stefan Stefanopleopolis, personal publicity coordinator for Ms. Lux here.” Oriel flashed his best used car-salesman smile. “All conversations with Ms. Lux must go through and be approved by me.” His eyes narrowed. “Is there something I can help you with?”

[Luxanna Viera]

This whole thing was silly. Silly, silly, silly. Why did Oriel care so much about where and what she spent her time doing? If she wanted to go to the talk and learn -- not that she was here to learn, mind you -- she could very well do so. He didn't decide, even though it often seemed like he was trying to. Oh no, Lux was her own person and she could make her own decisions. Though, she couldn't help but feel a little flattered, and a little obligated to listen to him, even if she'd never admit to it.

With a roll on her eyes she walked out of the auditorium very well aware that Oriel was following behind her. What was he even trying to do? Convince her to stop doing something she already knew was stupid?

And it didn't really make it any better when Carter himself and his twin decided to walk over. She was actually a little thankful that Oriel decided to step in when he did, because that would mean she didn't have to actually talk and least not about that. With another roll on her eyes, she shook her head and let out a sigh. Oriel could be so lame sometimes. Lux crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side. Okay, even as glad as she was about Oriel stepping in, she didn't exactly like what he said. ''Shut up, Oriel.'', she growled and grabbed his upper arm, trying to pull him away. She didn't even look at the blondes. How could she without her face lighting on fire again?

If she had been religious, this would have been the perfect time to pray for death. God, how much worse could things get?

[Dominique Chevalier]

It was good to be out of there. It would be interesting to see just what the blue haired girl did now; there was no guilt there. Not about her. She'd had time. She'd fucked up. And it had been hilarious.

Someone grabbing his brother's hand was not. Dom's eyebrows shot up and he reached forward and grasped the guy's wrist firmly. "Stephan Stefanopleopolis?" he repeated, matching the pronunciation easily. "Greek. Wouldn't have guessed. You should let go, right now." He didn't smile much wider then his usual smirk as he unhooked the stranger's hand from his brother's. "Don't make him use his safe word."

"Lux," he added in greeting, with a slight glance towards their dorm mate. "Didn't know you needed a babysitter."

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter kept his gaze securely fixed on Luxanna, even as an unidentified thing tried to make a mark on the proverbial radar of his mind. Overprotective boyfriend? Lux didn't seem the sort. Hm. The colour in her cheeks caught his attention as it should - as it always did. Good. She hadn't forgotten his messages.

He didn't even look as his hand was taken from him, because sure enough his brother wouldn't allow it to go on forever. The thing that was Oriel got to touch Carter, and be touched by Dom.

Lucky boy.

"Is this a bad time? One of your busier moments, Luxanna?" Carter asked, directly referring to the message that may or may not have been read by the body in his way. He didn't even bother to take a step; over his shoulder, he could still see her just fine. "I did hope you'd make a little time for your favourite roommate; I know I was enjoying our discussion."

[Deleted]

Oriel's eyes narrowed even further as he became more annoyed. He wasn't sure which was worse, the fact that Tweedle-Dum grabbed him without warning(granted, Oriel had just done that to the other one), or the fact that Tweedle-Dee used Lux's full name, Luxanna, like he was close to her or something(the real reason being that Oriel didn't even know what Lux was short for, so he was just jealous). Being ignored wasn't as important, but the fact that he was paying so much attention to Lux quickly became priority and required immediate interference.

Unfortunately, Tweedle-Dum was trying to be tough. Oriel cocked his head and broadened his smirk into something devilishly pleasant as his hand was forcibly removed from the other twin's. "Don't you know that shaking someone's hand is considered a sign of peace and friendship?" he informed the guy who thought he could scare a street kid from NYC with his pretentious threats. "Now, grabbing someone's wrist. That's unwarranted hostility." And was a declaration of war.

But what really got him was the word "roommate".

This entitled dweeb was Lux's roommate?

WHY was he not informed!?

Oriel took back his hand and turned slowly to look at Lux with a wide-eyed, accusing stare, as if he expected Lux to explain why she had other people in her life, especially boys, other than Oriel and Kodah. "Roommate," he said with sarcastic disbelief. He leaned down, twisting himself to look the girl in the face. "Princess? What "discussion" is Macaulay Culken here talking about?" Oriel hadn't bothered to browse through Lux's message history when he'd stolen her phone. Too much trouble to read it right then and there, though he had planned on deciphering it later, after he'd escorted Lux back to the dorms. But if this guy was what awaited her back in her room, then Oriel was positive he didn't want her there either. "Hmmm?" Oriel batted his eyes, hiding his irritation behind a sweet smile.

[Luxanna Viera]

And then, then she knew she had jinxed herself by asking how much worse things could get. And if she had known that something as little as her full name being used made Oriel jealous, she'd probably just wave it away. She never used it, and she wasn't even sure if she liked it. Though, being used like that, it had quite the nice ring to it...

Apparently, Dom didn't like his brother being touched by Oriel, and quickly put on some sort of defensive stance, which clearly didn't make things any better for either of them. But it was probably better if she didn't interfere and let the two of them sort it out on their own, at least Oriel didn't explode and turn into a raging spitefire bomb. Though, that could have been sort of hilarious, and would hopefully get the attention off from her and solely on him. She wanted to run away and hide in her room forever. She could get a rope ladder and use that to get out and in, and she'd never have to be in the common area ever again. Yup. That's was a good plan.

Goal of the day; Build a rope ladder.

Lux's eyes went from Oriel, to Dom, to Carter and back at Oriel again. ''Dom.'', she greeted back, slightly scowling at him. ''Neither did I.'', she said before looking back at Oriel. Why was he doing this? Before this, he had been ignoring her for days, and now he was running around playing big brother? She tried avoiding looking at Carter when she spoke again, keeping her eyes mostly fixed on Oriel. Good. It was easier like that. ''Oh, no. As you can see it's the perfect moment for a talk.'', she said sarcastically. Why was Oriel making such a big fuss about it? So what if these two were her roommates? It wasn't like he had asked who she lived with, oh wait... He had been busy ignoring her. ''What's it to you?'' Yes, even if she'd never admit to it, it was a good thing Oriel was around, because that leveled things out a little. She could focus on him instead of standing there like blushing, stuttering idiot. ''I didn't know I had to tell you about every single conversation I have with people.''

She was only making things worse for herself, she knew that. And she was never going to hear the end of it.

[Dominique Chevalier]

Cool blue eyes didn't waver under the display of masculinity. "Fascinating," Dom said mildly as he let go of 'Stefan's' wrist. He had no interest in going mano-a-mano with Lux's friend; it would take an effort he really couldn't be bothered to make.

Watching the exchange was interesting enough. Dom didn't feel the need to speak much; Carter got on better with Lux then he did. This surprised no one who had spoken to the twins.

His brows drew together a little as the stranger spoke again to their roommate. The insulting comparison 'Stefan' had made to his brother didn't earn so much as an eye-twitch- people spoke rudely over jealousy all the time. "Your highness," he said to Lux dryly. "Your friend is a bit of a, how would you say," he paused, then shrugged, "minet, oui?"

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter feigned a frown when Luxanna wouldn't look at him; sarcastically, of course. Oh, how she loved to hurt him by keeping her eyes from him. "Point taken." He replied. Clearly, the timing was strange.

Ah, the jealousy was so potent.

A grin pulled at the corner of his mouth when Dom spoke again, amused by his brother's choice of descriptive words. "When you do have the time," Carter started again, regardless of the current conversation, "You should spend it with me. Later?" His eyebrows raised at the question.

"Your room? Mine?" Carter asked, slightly tilting his head in his curiosity; "Or - as you'd likely prefer - we could reconnect on the couch."

[Deleted]

Oriel didn't much care about the words of the other twin, the quieter one, the one who wasn't so obviously infringing on Oriel's territory. Carter, however, the smug looking, entitled blonde playboy who thought he was the smoothest guy in the world was really starting to get on Oriel's nerves.

No, scratch that. Carter was already doing that from the moment he walked up to the two and started talking to Lux like he deserved her attention.

Couldn't he take a hint? She was obviously uncomfortable! She obviously didn't want anything to do with either of them! (At least these were the fantasies that Oriel spun around in his head for his own convenience.)

Oriel hated people like this. The type that thought they were better than everyone else just because of the stock they came from. The kind who probably had their egos spoon fed from the moment they were born, spoiled to the point where they thought they could get away with anything just because of their status. Because they happened to have everything that Oriel didn't. And the kind who would gladly shove that in Oriel's face just to rub it in how pathetic the orphaned street kid was.

The longer they spoke, the more visibly irate Oriel became.

"When you do have the time you should spend it with me. Later? Your room? Mine? Or - as you'd likely prefer - we could reconnect on the couch."

That did it.

Oriel's eyes flared up as his reason suddenly snapped and he took a quick step forward, fully intending on popping this dick-bag in the mouth. He felt a pull on his arm and stopped, reigned in like a dog as Lux held him back from trying to "protect" her chastity. He didn't bother to look at her but instead kept his eyes on Carter. "Get out of here! Now!" he warned, hissing the words out through his teeth. Oriel was far too furious for clever banter anymore.

[Luxanna Viera]

Seeing as how this bickering was clearly getting to Oriel more than what it should have - because really, she could very well handle herself, at least that's what she liked to believe. It was better to end this quickly be done with it, so she could take Oriel's bad mood in private. It was far better that she was the one being scolded, than Oriel ending up raising his fist at Carter. Not that she didn't think he deserved it, because honestly, he was asking for it.

And even as annoying as Oriel's overprotective behavior was, the twin's teasing was even worse. Clearly, this was nothing but a game to them, and they should have stopped before things got out of hand, but they kept poking the sleeping bear as if it was nothing but a game. And Lux didn't want to be a part of that. Especially not when the bear happened to be a close friend of hers, even if she disliked him half of the time.

Luckily, Lux had some experience with Oriel's mood swings, and she could easily see the signs, even before something happened, and the second Oriel stepped forward, she was quick to act. Grabbing his arm once again, she pulled him back and held a firm grip on him. This was getting incredible childish, and all of them should know better than to act this way. Especially the older boys. ''Okay, that's enough. All of you.'', she said, her tone strict. At this point, her embarrassment didn't really matter. Things had escalated to a place beyond that, and she could easily push the awkwardness away, hopefully it had been in due time to stop a fight. It would be better to get Oriel away, and let him vent somewhere else, where he hopefully couldn't hit anyone.

She pulled his arm again, obviously trying to get him away from the scene, especially before a teacher decided to show up. Hadn't they been through enough drama already? ''Let's just go, Oriel.'', she whispered to the furious boy, hoping with all her heart he'd put his pride down enough to actually listen.

''You should know better.'', she said, looking at both of the twins.

[Dominique Chevalier]

Dom had started the move the moment the shift in the aggressor's stance had signaled his intent, moving forward to stop the offending blow. Lux got there first, and Dom stopped just behind Carter, his jaw tightly clenched.

This was not acceptable. Under the feet of all four of them, the earth rumbled in reaction to his lapse in control.

His eyes snapped to Lux as she stepped forward to chastise, slowly widening in astonishment before narrowing to cool blue slits. "Oriel?" He repeated, the word spat like an insult, before turning his eyes back to his dorm mate. She was trying to lay the blame at their door? Unjust, and unfair, or did she think the twins would conveniently forget her 'friend's' idea of a greeting?

Fair weathered of her.

"Don't play the wounded party with us,princess," he said slowly, brow furrowed as the ground slowly stopped its tremors. "And keep your guard dog muzzled if you know he bites."

Without taking his eyes off the pair of them, Dom muttered "Vous perdez votre temps avec elle," to his brother, with a tiny shake of his head.

[Carter Chevalier]

When a man threatens violence against another man for no real reason, Carter has a problem with that. Especially given those caught up in the thick of it.

And here, the boy called Oriel - of course, he caught the name - had expertly twisted the predicament. How did he do it? Carter would have wondered, had he not already known. Curiously, his eyebrows raised. He hadn't flinched at the other boy's movement. Nor his tone as he opted to shout at the twin and his counterpart.

Carter felt the shift beneath his feet as everyone else would, and unlike the others he knew exactly where it was coming from. Looking over, he pressed his hand to Dominique's chest briefly to calm him; no one yelled at a Chevalier, especially in an uncalled for situation, without expecting something back from it. Oriel wanted to play a violent game, but Luxanna wouldn't let him. And even though he likely wouldn't, Carter still wouldn't take the chance on letting Dom go. He needed stability.

He turned his head slightly at Dom's words, because they were true and he could acknowledge that. Carter's mouth twisted at the bitter words his brother offered; "Vous pourriez avoir raison." He offered back quietly. They'd barely put in enough effort to poke the proverbial bear. A few off handed remarks and he lost his mind?

Hn. And she tells them that they should know better.

"What I know," Carter started simply, his tone unwavering, "Is that you don't need someone to tell you what to do. Or to monitor you like a parent does a child." He pointed out. Because really, wasn't that the real issue here? That the boy couldn't help himself because the girl had other boys around her? She was fifteen, perfectly capable of saying no. And looking after herself.

At least the Chevalier's could give her that respect. "You don't need to explain yourself to anyone. No one gets to hold you like that. Especially over a conversation about talking." His blue eyes finally grace the angry Oriel with his presence; "Give her a little credit, Oriel. She's much more than you seem to think."

[Deleted]

Oh what Oriel would give to hurt these two. Like, seriously beat the shit out of them. They deserved it, baiting him like they were. The assholes were probably used to getting away with that kind of behavior. When Oriel did it, he was considered abusive and was punished like the rat he was. When these guys did it, they were just trying to be "friendly" and were "misunderstood". Regardless of how innocent Carter's words were supposed to have been, he knew very well how it would be taken. After all, it was Oriel's favorite game as well. He'd just so rarely been on the receiving end of it.

Oriel steadied his breathing, trying to calm himself down. No fucking way was he going to fall for this trap. He would have too, if Lux hadn't been there to hold him back. No, Oriel wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing him lose his head over mere words.

The ground rumbled beneath them, but Oriel barely took notice. He didn't care what powers these guys had. They definitely couldn't be any worse than a couple of explosive flame-throwers he happened to know.

"Give her a little credit, Oriel. She's much more than you seem to think."

Oriel blinked slowly, twisting his lips into a thin smirk as he opened them, and joined his eyes with Carters. "Oh, believe me, I know how wonderful she can be." Oriel reached his hand across his torso and wrapped his hand around hers. He gently nudged his fingers beneath hers and intertwined their fingers. Flitting his eyes down to the girl he confessed, "I trust her." Then he lifted his gaze back up to Cater. "It's you I don't trust."

With another deep breath, Oriel turned to the girl hanging off his arm. "I'm Ok," he reassured her in a low voice. "You can let go, I'm not gonna do anything to them." Yet. He gave Lux's hand an extra squeeze before letting go and facing the twins again with his signature crooked smile. "Well, Mary-Kate and Ashley," he started in a patronizing tone, "as much as I'd love to stay and "chat", I'm afraid the Princess has spoken and I really must be off." Oriel clasped his hands together as he started to back away from the twins. "But really, it was a pleasure to meet you girls."

[Luxanna Viera]

It was easy, even for Lux to notice the situation tensing up at Oriel's almost-run-in, and it didn't exactly make things less heated that Dom was more than willing to meet him up close. It was a good thing that he stopped, and that Carter tried calming him down. The way the ground started moving under their feet was noticable and made Lux bite the inside of her cheek, the worrying feeling growing stronger. But, it seemed like Carter could handle his brother just fine. It only mattered if Lux could do the same to Oriel.

Oriel had been in enough trouble and had had too much to worry about already. He really didn't need to have anymore stress added into his life, and Lux didn't want to cause any. Even if she was certain she'd hear about this more than once, and Oriel would more than likely hang around her dorm room like rotweiler to make sure nothing happened. At least until she would cave in and move out.

''And keep your guard dog muzzled if you know he bites."

''Funny, I was about to say the same thing to your brother.'', she growled back at Dom, her narrowed eyes glaring at him. Her eyes shifted between the both of them when they started speaking... What was that, French? If only she had paid attention during her French lessons, but nope. She didn't understand a single word of what they said, and she figured it was probably better that way anyways.

Lux had to admit, it was all very confusing. One second, Carter would embarrass her half to death, then annoy her so much she could strangle him, and then coming off as a hero in shining armor. Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but still. It was also incredible frustrating. And the worst part was that he was right, and that it made sense. Wasn't she supposed to be a hundred percent on Oriel's side without agreering with this guy? It wasn't like she minded Oriel being overprotective. After all, she did understand why. Her eyes shifted downwards as she felt a hand against hers and fingers interwinining with her own, before looking back up at Oriel, giving him a faint smile. Even if she had sort of known it all along, it was still nice hearing him say it.

And honestly, she didn't really know what to say to any of it.

With a slow nod, Lux let go off Oriel's arm and let out a sigh of relief. Good. It was calming hearing Oriel go back to his normal, sarcastic self and let her arms slowly drop to her sides. A little unsure and incredible confused, she let her eyes swoop over the twins before turning to look at Oriel, taking a few hesitant steps after him , tugging onto his shirt.

She was a little unsure if following him was the right thing to do. Surely, it made her look like a puppy on a leash following its master. But wasn't it better for her to get him away from it all, and not do anything to make this messy situation worse? And it wasn't exactly like it would be any comfortable staying behind, being eyed up and down by condescending and judgmental eyes. She would have plenty of time getting that thrown in her face back at the dorm. If she ever decided to leave her room ever again.

And even so, Oriel was her friend, and she couldn't really say she knew the twins all that well, even after three years. Even as much as blondie confused and frustrated her, she was loyal to Oriel. It didn't matter if their friendship was like a roller coaster, always going up and down, here and there, and she never really knew where she stood with him, she'd always end up picking him first.