gooseberryhigh | KISSING DAY

KISSING DAY

RULES

Kissing Day is the day before the summer solstice! It's considered good luck to get kissed today, and bad luck and a year of loneliness if you don't get a kiss, or if the object of your affection refuses a kiss from you.

The melodrama of what it means if you don't get the right kiss can vary, so feel free to have your characters be incredibly melodramatic or extremely exasperated over this superstition.

Simply comment with your character's name and form below, and then respond to others who have posted their characters!

Some students may be under the impression that more kissing = more luck. Will anything special happen if you collect the most kisses? (... probably not, but you'll sure feel loved.)

Name:
Receptiveness: Is your character soliciting kisses? Actively avoiding them? Only accepting them from select people? Do they need to be harangued into participating? Are they losing it because if their crush doesn't kiss them they're going to die alone???

» KISSES: Post your character's willingness to get some kisses!

» OTHER: If you have any scenes you'd like to do that don't fit in above, put them here!

» OOC: QUESTIONS, COMMENTS & CONCERNS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

oh my god diego :(

Ravi doesn't seem to be aware of any Kissing-Day-specific anxiety when he sees Diego. (General graduation-related anxiety... yes... but they've both been trying not to worry about it. Everything's fine.)

"Did you know that Muggles don't have this holiday?" Ravi puts a bookmark in his paperback and puts it aside, to give Diego his full attention. "Do you suppose there was ever any actual magical implications to Kissing Day? Kisses as protection from evil curses, perhaps?"

Diego sits as close to Ravi as he's allowed. He's extra fidgety today, but Ravi probably knows by now that these moods come and go. Moods where any waning interest can lead to Diego assuming the worst, constantly insinuating he must be annoying, fishing for reassurance... He tries to hide the worst of it.

But under the warmth of Ravi's undivided attention, he's a little less agitated. "That would make sense, wouldn't it?" He picks a leaf off of the back of Ravi's uniform. "It might also be something having to do with summer solstice tomorrow. Fertility, marriage, romance. What with the whole getting a kiss from the object of your affections bit."

Ravi smiles when he sees the leaf in Diego's hand. "Pagan traditions are fascinating, aren't they? Like 'settling the watch.' Build a great big bonfire to ward off evil spirits, and light each other's fires with torches and lanterns to spread the protection and goodwill. I suppose, in a way, that this is a version of that.

"So." The glance Ravi sends Diego now isn't terribly innocent, despite him doing his best not to smile. "Have you lit anyone's fire yet?"

Diego looks surprised, and then without warning dissolves into nervous laughter. "No. No, I mean, obviously." He exhales and folds his hands over his lap, the leaf still in his fingers. His voice always gets a little high pitched when he's stressed. "Not on purpose anyway. It's you or no one."

"Is that so?" Ravi's trying to sound cool and untouchable, just to tease him, but he can hear the slight strain in Diego's voice. Maybe it's nothing, or maybe it's something but nothing that Ravi can help with, or maybe Ravi's just gone a little too far today with the jokes. He leans in, putting his hand over Diego's. "Diego. Are you alright?"

"Yes!" Diego answers too quickly and looks up at Ravi like he's been caught. Diego's never very hard to read, and he already feels exposed. He clears his throat and tries to sound more level than he feels. "It's, uh, you know. Whatever." Diego falls back on the nonsense words he had picked up at Gooseberry. Ofelia still scolds him every time he says whatever, like it's a curse word. He uses no-maj-y slang less and less when he's mirroring Ravi's formal speech pattern.

"I used to be really easy," he finally says, aiming for casual, landing in ashamed.

That's... not what Ravi was expecting. He looks surprised, and squeezes Diego's hand, stumped for an easy response. Ravi's asked about this before. He tried to make it a casual question. Do you miss it? And Diego had pulled him close and said he'd rather have someone he could depend on. Now Ravi thinks of the future, and the whole two years he won't be nearby or dependable at all.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply... I wasn't trying to imply anything. Honest." He wants to move closer, maybe kiss him or put his head on Diego's shoulder, but they're sitting in plain sight of everyone. Ravi's embarrassingly prim modesty strikes again. So he just keeps holding Diego's hand. "What are you worried about?"

"No, I know, I promise." Diego exhales... and then goes right back to holding his breath as he tries to work out what to say next. The time to feel guilty or dirty has long since passed, but sometimes those fears are dredged back up. Ravi's good and loyal and stable. Diego's the opposite.

"I worry about a lot of things," he murmurs, staring at their hands. It's the million dragot question: "Do you ever worry I'll cheat on you?"

Ravi exhales slowly, in unconscious mimicry. "It's crossed my mind," he admits. "I... have a hard time turning off my head. I always want to know the pros and cons. The possible consequences. What might go wrong, what I might lose. I worry about too many things, all the time. But... I don't believe you're the person you were a year ago. And I believe that you're kind and considerate. I believe that you'd never want to hurt me."

He puts a hand on Diego's cheek, trying to coax him into looking at him. "Diego, you're the best choice I've made this year. And I've never worried about regretting it."

KISSING DAY

Diego & Ravi

Diego & Ravi

Diego & Ravi

Diego & Ravi

Diego & Ravi

Diego & Ravi

Diego & Ravi

Diego & Ravi

Diego & Ravi