Distracted? ( Meggera / Jari )

[shava4444]

He must be letting Jari get to him again.

In the past few months, Fredrik had noticed that when it came to Jari's friends, he paid more attention to those having difficulties or issues, even though his own nature was to leave things like that alone entirely. Annoying as it was, the body retained personality to it's flesh for what was familiar as well as what Jari's mind had been geared towards, such as skipping and smiling a lot. These were not Fredrick's tendencies and he felt annoyed when he caught himself doing them, but they happened none-the-less.

Recently he found himself following Meggera Tepes when she was in the halls and he saw her. Scowling at the ground he stopped himself this time looking out a window as he tried to be nonchalant about it and failing miserably. Fredrik had no interest in her personally besides mild curiosity about vampires and marriage issues; while she was a clever enough girl she was just that, a girl, and he wanted as little contact with them as possible. However, it was out of character not to speak to her and in this case he wondered if one of Jari's instincts was more sensitive then his own.

Cussing softly in a language he was not supposed to know as far as family and teachers knew, he went and opened the Library doors a peek and glanced in. Spotting her at a table he watched and noticed she was restless, getting things out of her bag, putting them bag, staring at the wall halfway through it. Something was very much wrong with her. 'Is that it then, you daft boy? If I find out what's wrong will you leave me alone for awhile of peace?' The general consensus in his mind was get it over with and see if it helped.

Gods flipping above he loathed being controlled by anything, especially his own flesh!

So with true regret, Jari entered the library and made his way to the stacks as if looking for something, picking a book at random (Magic Graffiti of the Ancient World by Lepsuma Wintersmith) and walked up behind her, seeing her again staring at the table and no where near her book or paper, quill poised about three inches off the side of it. "Mind if I sit then?" he said gruffly and slipped into the chair on the corner next to her, taking his own permission as afford him by ran-- he hesitated irritated, then asked "What's up with you, Meggera? You've been acting awfully distracted this week."

It was then he noticed her book was open to a page in the appendix filled with numbers and hardly something one would make notes on.

[Meggera Tepes]

Meggera hadn't been sleeping well for the past week with everything that had been going on. And the sleeplessness was starting to effect her daily routine. She found herself being restless, easily distracted, she was even having difficulty focusing on her drawing and her violin. At this rate it was only a matter of time before it started effecting her grades, and she couldn't have that. So she had come to the library to try and get some quality study time in, only to find herself staring off into space. It was thanks to the new engagement ring on her finger. She had managed to hide it for the most part from the girls in her dorm last night, but she wasn't able to hide it very well during the day. She was fairly certain some of the girls had noticed and was preparing to be pounced on with questions any time now.

So when Jari abruptly occupied the chair next to her she jumped slightly, half expecting it to be one of the girls from her dorm. He had noticed her odd behavior apparently, well, she knew someone would notice it eventually. At least it was him and he knew a bit about what she was dealing with. “Oh...I haven't been sleeping well...” she said, wondering if she should just spill her guts or not. Instead of just blurting it out she merely moved her left hand to rest on the book in front of her, clearly showing him the ring. “My grandfather finally won, Jari. I'm engaged.” she said. That sounded weird...engaged. It was the first time she had said it and it sounded extremely weird on her tongue. It had been less then 24 hours since Jamison put the ring on her finger, so she was still trying to process the whole idea that it was actually happening.

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Mood: Dazed
Outfit: www.polyvore.com/meg/set?id=29615380
Location: The Library
Tag: Jari

[shava4444]

As odd as the page of numbers was, Fredrik still thought there must be an explanation for all this oddity. "Sleeping? Well that's easy enough, tell the nurse you need a sleeping potion for a few nights." Why she hadn't thought of something so -- He was quite unprepared for her next words. As she moved her hand, his eyes were drawn to her finger and he glanced down, then did a double take as she said the words.

Stunned, as they had only talked about this recently, Fredrik stumbled over his words a bit. "E-engaged?? That's n-nuts!" There hadn't even been much of a weekend since they had spoken last; how did that happen? "Since when? Wouldn't they have to take you out of school or something to do papers, meet whoever it is?" He wasn't going to be so crass as to mention the age thing they had spoken about, but he was very much taken aback.

"Meggera, what are you going to do?" Last time they had spoken about possibilities, things she might manage still, but it seemed those were now gone and she had ended up with a suitor who moved fast. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Why he asked such a damn fool thing he had no idea!

[Meggera Tepes]

Ah a sleeping potion...that might help. She should have thought of that a week ago. She left out a soft sigh, moving her hand back to its original position where the ring was partially hidden by her book. “As of yesterday actually...and no, they didn't have to take me out of school to meet him. He came and found me after getting my grandfathers letter literally the day after we spoke about this, he's one of the Slytherin Quidditch players.” she said, rubbing her forehead lightly after setting down her quill. “My father set it so we could get all the usual testing done after dinner one night this past week and Jamison brought me a copy of the signed contract last night along with the ring.” she added, glancing down at her bag.

She still had the contract in her bag. She had looked at it last night but it still didn't feel real so she had put it back in her bag in case she wanted to look over it again sometime when she was alone today. She shook her head, “Theres not much I can do but accept it and thank whatever gods there may be that he's not 40. Its a legally binding contract and now I'm technically under his care instead of my fathers... He's taking me to see his house this weekend after my father transfers all my stuff there.” It was still way to weird for her to think about that, that she wouldn't be going home for the summer, only visiting. She shook her head with a small smile, “Im afraid there isn't much anyone can do for me at the moment.”

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Mood: Dazed
Outfit: www.polyvore.com/meg/set?id=29615380
Location: The Library
Tag: Jari

[shava4444]

His eyebrows went up. Fredrik hadn't realized students were being considered for a contract like that, but maybe there was something special about that one. "Goodness, bet that was a shock. Is he the first under 40? It sounded to me all the ones you had dealt with were decades different." The speed she described of the entire event made his head swim! Was she considered so great a prize as to warrant this? "Meggera... I'm quite surprised, but I have a question."

At the risk of sounding too old, he licked his lips and then said softly "I've heard negotiations of this type can take months to finish. What makes this one so different that it would be done so quickly? Are they afraid if you had more time you would find a way out of it?" And to be already owned by another in a week; she must be having quite a few freak outs inside her head. Despite his not wishing to get involved (mixed with wanting to kick Jari's @ss), he did feel sorry for her.

Another part of him wondered how much different his life might have been the first time if he had had a contracted wife. Probably so different he would never have ended up in the situation he was in now for sure! Leaning over he placed a hand on her arm and squeezed it once, more in fellowship understanding then anything else. "Well I am sorry it happened, but glad it's not all bad. Someone closer to your age must be a kind of relief actually in an odd way. Is it a bad contract or dealable? I'm not familiar with them, just curious."

[Meggera Tepes]

She nodded, “Yes, he was the first to be under the age of 40. I never expected my grandfather to contact someone my own age, but I guess the old man can still surprise me.” It was still shocking to her, that her grandfather had actually listened to something she said, especially something of such great importance. The man had selective listening she had decided. He had listened to her about the age, but certainly not the timing.

She nodded when he said he had a question for her, leaning back in her chair slightly so her back actually touched the wooden back off the chair instead of leaning over the table. “Usually it does take quite some time to secure a contract, but I think my father hurried things along a bit more because he was afraid I would try to scare Jamison off like I had the others. I've managed to scare away quite a few after all, but everything I tried backfired this time it seems...” she said with a small sigh. Though she supposed she shouldn't have expected her old tactics to work on someone younger, but she had never expected to need new tactics so she had no time to prepare herself to properly frighten him away.

He squeezed her arm which was somewhat comforting to her. “Yes, it could definitely be worse. The contract is actually not to terrible and he's promised me more freedoms then I could expect elsewhere. But I'm unfamiliar with some of the terminology used in the official contract.” she said with a small shake of her head. Most people didn't realize that English was not her first language. She knew it well enough, but there were still some older terms that she didn't quite grasp right away. She reached down and pulled it out of her bag, “I have it here actually if you wanted to look at a usual one. They use a bit of old english terminology in it though.” she added, unsure if he was more familiar with it then she was.

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Mood: Dazed
Outfit: www.polyvore.com/meg/set?id=29615380
Location: The Library
Tag: Jari

[shava4444]

Fredrik nodded; a teenager had to be better then a forty year old as far as compatibility went, but most teenage boys were far harder to deal with he thought. Well, teenagers in general to begin and girls the worst. Unlike his current conversationalist, most were girly, squealy, and emotional for his tastes not to mention his comfort zone. He was tempted to bridle at the old man comment,but resisted as she wouldn't understand his objections anyway.

He made a face at Meggera's description of everything backfiring. "So you had a set of different tactics to try then I take it? With each one or only use some of them on each?" It was rather amusing in a way that she had had different methods to use in the first place. "And they all failed? Was it just because he was younger that they didn't work the same or what?" How odd, might have been just an age thing then, not that he would have expected it.

Kids were much better at adapting then old folks, despite his being one even he knew that.

"Actually, I am kind of curious how they are done and why. Do you mind?" He listened to her comment and smiled back as he inwardly thought of the irony. "I think I can muddle my way through it all right. My mother taught me Gaelic, English, and Scots so I'm confident. I get the Finnish and such from my father's family."

[Meggera Tepes]

Meggera nodded when he asked about the tactics she mentioned, “Yes I did. I used the same ones on each of them really because all the men my grandfather selected were essentially the same in those ways. Some just didn't get as far as others. But yes...they all backfired and made him want the contract even more...” she said, shaking her head, “He was much different then I had expected. I thought the same tactics would work on him because I thought anyone my grandfather picked would feel the same as the others about certain issues. I was highly mistaken.”

She shook her head, “No, I don't mind. Perhaps you can help me make sense of some of it.” she said, laying out the contract on the table, hoping he would have some insight on the grey area's she couldn't quite understand, or hadn't heard of. He might save her some re-search time with his knowledge of the workings of this language much better then her, having grown up with it whereas she had grown up with Romanian and French first.

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Mood: Dazed
Outfit: www.polyvore.com/meg/set?id=29615380
Location: The Library
Tag: Jari

[shava4444]

Funny that she would stick to one set of tactics for a lot of men and then she tried to apply those to a youth as well. Even Fredrik could see the hole in that logic, but if it had gone as fast as she said, it must have been overall a shock. Whoever the youth was, he had probably lucked into a situation that had turned to his advantage without even realizing it. "So what you thought would scare him away instead made him want this more? What did you try to do if I may ask?" He did wonder what tools had worked so well for her.

She put the contract out and he read, slowly with his finger down the lines, reading through the lawyer speak. "Well no wonder you had trouble reading it. Lawyers have a way of talking which can make your eyes hurt." Some of it he could figure out easily enough, such as the sheets business, having heard of the old ways some. "Only two years?" He glanced up at her with a frown, wondering if she realized what that mean to her education. "That's a bit tight I would imagine."

And then he found the part about how the groom's family would take over all responsibility and support of the minor. He whistled softly. "Oh my. So really in effect your father has no more power over you in any way, this 'Jamison' really owns you in effect. Seems they even moved the under-age magic to encompass his house not yours. I had no idea they went to such extremes." It really was amazingly revealing, seeing it all laid out like this. And then he came to a part which made little sense to him.

"Meggera, what does the term 'service rings' mean? There are two of them listed in here." One of them being her engagement ring which his eyes glanced towards to see she had it hidden out of sight.

[Meggera Tepes]

“Well usually just telling them I don't want to be a housewife would do it. They didn't like the idea that I wanted to work and continue my education and have a life. If that didn't work I would tell them I wanted to be in a band. A symphonic metal band actually. That sent some running for the hills. Most of my prospects haven't liked any sort of independence, they thought it would be to much trouble to try to restrain me to the house.” she explained. What she hadn't expected was someone who didn't mind not having a house mouse as she tended to think of them as. Someone who thought her working and studying was a good thing, even desirable.

She nodded as he read the contract and commented about the way lawyers phrase things. At least she wasn't alone in that feeling. He made it to the two year part for children and she nodded, “It is a bit tight...but theres some wiggle room I think.” she said, her chin resting in her hand as he continued to read. Besides, the way it was phrased it wasn't clear to her if it meant conception or actual birth that was required in those two years. Hopefully it was first so she could finish school properly.

He then came to the part that transferred responsibility to Jamison from her father and she nodded again, “Yes, it seems he does...I'm still having trouble processing that I wont be going home during the summer...it seems...well, sort of like I'll wake up and it will all have been a dream.” she said, shaking her head.

She looked down at the contract when he mentioned service rings. She must have missed that part in her initial scan of the document. “I'm not sure. I didn't see that part last night. Do you think it just means engagement and wedding rings?” she asked, though she somehow doubted that. If they had been referring to the engagement and wedding rings why would they refer to them as service rings? Service how she wondered.

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Mood: Dazed
Outfit: www.polyvore.com/meg/set?id=29615380
Location: The Library
Tag: Jari

[shava4444]

All the things she said they didn't like he nodded at till the band part. "Really? A band?" He laughed, starting to see why men his age would have found her very undesirable as a wife! "Oh my, well played I would say..." But clearly this Jamison had not minded a bit about this. "So he doesn't mind you having a career and playing in a band huh? Maybe he likes that sort of thing who knows." Odd person to Fredrik, but it took all types in the world.

The term "wiggle room" should never be used in talking about making babies, he quickly decided.

Blushing a bit, he rapidly moved on. "Yes, it's curious. I can see why you say it feels like cattle in a way. The way they wrote these old contracts does sound like breeding farm animals, pardon me for saying. At least you aren't required to live in a barn and eat from a trough." Disturbing in one way, but again he wondered how much of a change his life would have had if he had had an arranged marriage. In fact, he might have had a life instead of where he was now!

Seeing she didn't know the term either, he smiled as an idea hit him and he said "Wait just a moment," and went to ask the Librarian. Asking the question he got the name of a book and where he could find it and he went to find it. When he got back to the table with the tome, he set it down beside the contract and blew the dust off the cover. "She said there was a contract glossary in here in the back..."

A few dozen page turnings left he found the list and ran his finger down till he found 'service ring.' Exclaiming in triumph (every Ravie likes to gain knowledge after all), he flipped to the page number and traced his way down the page until he found the mention near the end of the page. "Ah, here we go. A service ring is a term used to designate a ring charmed to compel the bride to do whatever her groom orders. Usually only used when the female resists the marriage to break her in to comfortable servitude, hence the term." it was a moment after reading the words before his mind clicked on what he had said and he looked at her hand.

Skimming the page again, he turned it and read also in a much quieter voice "Such rings are often used without the knowledge of the couple to prevent argument about details and are common on contracts even into the modern age. Over time most women become so used to them that even their children never hear about them as they are so a part of everyday life." Looking up he made a silent whistle and then said to her "Could your mother have had one and that's why your grandfather agreed?"

[Meggera Tepes]

“No, he actually likes it. He said it would be a good thing for people to see his wife working and volunteering as a healer. And the band didn't scare him away either as long as it was a local thing and not some big touring band.” she said, shaking her head as she recalled her shock when he hadn't been at all taken aback by her wishes.

He then went on to say that he understood why it would feel like she was being sold off like cattle or horses or some other animal. Especially with the phrasing of the old contracts. Then he had an idea to find out about the service rings and went off to ask the Librarian. She waited for him to return, watching curiously as he went to find a book, wondering if it had been one of the books she had looked at in the past. When he returned, she saw that it wasn't one she had know about and it was rather dusty from no one looking at it for quite some time.

She waited as he searched through the book before he found the passage and began to read aloud what it said about service rings. It took a moment for the words to actually sink in after he had read them. She felt somewhat numb for a moment, her jaw dropping as the realization hit her of the words meanings. She felt the sudden urge to scream, but remembered very quickly where they were. Her grandfather was behind this, she just knew it. It was definitely something he would sneak in since he knew she had no idea what they had been. She looked down at her hand with the ring, aghast. So this ring was designed to make her follow Jamison's orders without her knowing...to 'break her into servitude'. Oh she was definitely sending her grandfather a howler about this. She had refrained before, despite everything he had done, but this was to much.

She shook her head, seething slightly, “No, my mother would have warned me about such a thing if she'd had one.” she said, staring at the ring on her finger incredulously. She couldn't believe it. Had Jamison known about the rings purpose? Though the book did say it was often used without the couples knowledge she had to wonder if he knew what the rings were designed to do. Oh her grandfather was clever...sneaking this in, knowing she wouldn't understand what it meant. She was seriously beginning to hate the man.

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Mood: Dazed
Outfit: www.polyvore.com/meg/set?id=29615380
Location: The Library
Tag: Jari

[shava4444]

Fredrik didn't know why having her work as a Healer would be that big a deal, but he could understand the band part at least. "Well I understand the band part. That's something for young people, not oldies. I would think most teenagers like the idea of bands, but traveling would make it difficult for you to have kids." Why the healer part though? odd. Fredrik knew nothing about celebrities or the media so he was not equipped to understand how something could change people's impressions about a person.

Seeing Meggera's face, Fredrik could tell when the meaning hit her and that she was resisting getting angry. Interested he watched her face as he read out the rest, seeing her settling into what he would have said was a boiling rage. Glad not to be the focus of it, but aware he was male, he knew that in a way she could take offense at any male for the society they were in. Suddenly glad he had spent his entire time on Earth single, he felt morally safe from her at the moment.

Not that that would actually save him from her fury if he wasn't careful with what he said.

"Goodness, Meggera, I am so sorry that this has happened to you. It seems you are in good company if so many before you have had these things on. The idea is rather frightening that such magic is out their casually like this. I'm surprised he let you have a copy of the contract then, because you would probably never know about this otherwise." He flattered, not sure what he could say or what she wanted him to do. Jari was appalled and horrified, Fredrik was just surprised at the rather dark nature of such a magic.