Chaos is known as the being that never became a star. It is everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time.
Neither good nor evil, the ultimate expression of nothingness. The antithesis of the cosmos, creation itself.
Although Chaos claims to be the very state of existence from which the first entities appeared, it cannot form into the entity it wants most.
So it has been cursed to stay in the form of a dark and shapeless void. Floating between existence and nonexistence.
Longingly watching as stars are constantly born and lives are lived. The seeds of malice had been planted, flourished and transformed Chaos into the purest form of evil.
Was that really just it? If this was some television drama series, Alec would have easily spotted the opportunity of plot development right there, with the story she gave regarding her presence here in this campus, as a media student. The board members had wanted her out of their hair, placing her here with the story of wanting her to carry documented qualifications to be able to handle the family business. They could be plotting some kind of take-over, using the time to put their pieces into position, and then attempt to steal the company right from under her nose. How unfortunate it would be if that had been the case, hm? Alas, as dramatic as it often proved to be, life was never always like how it was in television. The chances of such a thing being the actuality was as likely as it was unlikely. Besides, it was no business of his anyway.
He made no more comments on the matter, though. Whatever happened to her and her business carried little importance to him. Or, well, that was the case at this point. Depending on the afternoon ended, Alec may just find himself curious enough to read into it. Depending.
Whatever the case, the conversation carried on, and as Alec had anticipated, she would call on the challenge that he had handed to her on a silver platter. An intellectual individual like her, with that pride she carried, would not have been able to ignore such a blatant call as the one that Alec had issued her. Chess had always been a game that was considered to be a test of one's mind, after all. Anticipating your opponent's moves, while hiding your own plans. Outwit, outplay, outsmart. For people like them who preferred to use brains over brawns, chess was the ultimate game, a test of superiority over one another. Hell, even Alec would not have been able to resist such a challenge had it been issued towards him instead.
He scoffed at her retort. "You do realize you study the same 'media arts as I do, right?" he quipped, before setting the king piece back in its rightful place. A coy smirk would follow afterwards. "But if you're offering, I would definitely love your company." If she could be comparable to a rose - and that she could be - Alec was definitely enjoying toying with her thorns. He was more than aware that he could end up prickling himself with the game he was playing, but there was never any enjoyment if there were no risks involved. "It's a game, then," he nodded his head, both as affirmation to his own words, and to answer her questions. And with that, he would make his move first.
She definitely carried a rather charming and refined grace about her, and her kind heart was a big plus, was it not? At the very least, Alec could not deny he found her attractive, though that itself - in his case - did not amount to much. He had grown up in the media industry, with his father a director and his mother an actress. He knew well enough the capability of people to manipulate and twist their own attitude and personalities to befit a situation, sometimes even complete turn arounds. Fakes, Alec had always believed people to be. He was no different, of course, considering how his thoughts contradicted the softness his facial and body expressions displayed. He would doubt this to ever progress to anything more than merry company.
He chuckled in respect to her quip, nodding his head slightly in agreement. It would indeed have been awkward, considering their difference in sizes. Credit it perhaps to his genes, but Alec was a rather large figure. Standing at 6'4", and holding a substantial amount of bulk on his physique, he was a rather fine specimen to match that of society's expectations of men. And to have such a petite and beautiful girl to carry him around would certainly have made for an amusing yet embarrassing sight, wouldn't it? "Yeah, it would have," he added on in agreement, only to follow up with another roll. "Long day, yeah. Projects and all that. You know how it is," he smiled.
The basics of establishing good rapports with others. One of the easiest way to do so was to establish common ground. It was rather fortunate for Alec that there was already one provided for them, and that they were both students of this prestigious and admittedly demanding university. Even if Alec was having no problem in keeping up with the curriculum, that hadn't meant that it wasn't taking anything out of him. Whatever the case, it seemed that his offer for a reward had earned her interest, and his finger twitched slightly upwards in excitement. If anything, coffee with such a beauty would be a rather ideal way of passing the time, would it not?
Besides, it would be a good situation for him to see whether she had the brains to match her beauty then. After all, no one ever drank coffee in silence, especially in the company of another. Eventually, she would agree to his request, earning a wide beam of a grin from Alec, as he tucked his bag between his arm and torso. He nodded his head as well. "I'm glad to hear that," he replied with a light-hearted tone, as he stretched his free arm outwards, offering for them to progress on. As soon as the first steps were made, Alec would follow suit, and allow himself to walk beside her. "Ah, yeah, sort of. It carries notes from my classes, but a bit of personal thoughts as well. Would have been embarrassing to have them seen by another."
Yvette. What a fitting name.
"Alec. Alec Shephard. It's a pleasure to meet you too," he stretched a hand out for a casual greeting, and would allow himself to give her appendage a gentle yet firm shake. "What are you taking as your major, if I may ask?"
Alec would lift his cheek from his palm, allowing his appendage to hang simply downwards, palm facing the surface of the table as he perked up, listening to her intently. It wasn't as if he needed a lesson, really. He was simply curious what she believed there was to be seen of people. Suffice to say, she certainly seemed rather experience in the adult world. He had seen it first hand, how each adult, especially in the media industry where being another person entirely in the snap of a finger was a crucial skill to have, could and would manipulate the circumstances around them to their favors to the best of their abilities. She was indeed speaking truth in her words. Either you make others dance to your tune, or adapt to the tune of others. That was the only way to get by in business, and the media industry was no different.
"You're a media student too, aren't you?" he asked, as if pushing the conversation entirely to another topic. "Odd choice for someone whose family meddles in gems, but to each their own. I do believe you are one year my junior, are you not?"
He smiled softly, then, his entire expression shifting to that of hospitality suddenly. Everything she had spoken of, he knew well enough that it was a game both of them could play. Shifting their expressions, their tones, in order to match the pace of the conversation. She had displayed quite a bit of talent for it, and it only made her sharper with the knowledge of the game that she was playing. Alas, if it wasn't for her ego, she would have certainly every single expectation Alec carried towards others, in that 'interesting people' category he had in his mind.
"I dare say, you have the eye for it, I'm sure," he chuckled, nodding his head slightly as his brown eyes wandered casually down towards the chess board. She had played her cards, and Alec had been allowed a clearer insight of how her mind worked. Spoilt and arrogant she may be, she wasn't entirely empty in that skull of hers. "And that depends. You've come to see me, at this point, as a challenge, perhaps. Would you really walk away from one?"
And as if to push his point, he lifted the king up from the chess board, and held it up in display between them. "Or is that my checkmate?"
He remained ever composed at her retort. She was every bit the stereotype that Alec had perceived. Self-righteous. Spoilt. Arrogant. She had lived her entire life attended to, and her mistakes covered by her parents. Such an upbringing would undeniably bring one to believe, even if subconsciously, that they were always in the right. She was displaying just that, if she had believed that all he was doing was, well talking big. He had been here for a year, and a few times even before that for visits. He had seen all there was to see in terms of, well, art in this city. Archaeology too. It was mostly the university that had impressed him with its features, and it was one of the reasons he picked this place to continue his studies. If she had thought him to be speaking out of his ass, she was far wrong.
"You seem to think that I'm new to this city," he replied, his facial expression unfazed by her words. He shook his head, before leaning back in his seat instead. "I've been here a number of times when I was younger, and I've been studying here for a year. Wouldn't you think that's more than enough time to see all there is to see in this city? Of course, I do only mean in terms of art. As for people, well..." he averted his gaze for a moment, his teeth being bared in a sneer. "I'm still far from impressed."
Cocky? Perhaps. But to meet someone of such high upbringing and ego, one had to match up to it. Any form of submissive attitude, and Alec knew that she'd attempt to use it to walk all over him. "But hey, since you claim to know better, then educate me," his expression softened, then, as he tilted his head, allowing his cheek to rest on an erected palm, elbow propped on the table. Eyes and gaze were focused in on hers. "How is it like being there in person?"
Alec had grown up in the world of media, with his parents well deep into the industry. He had seen it, and at times, experienced it first hand. Question was, did she know that? And even bigger question, did she know how it felt?
He had thought himself to be feeling quite lethargic that afternoon, but he never expected himself to be rather... Clumsy too. He sighed as he slid off his bench, crouching low near his fallen bag as he picked it up. Setting it upright on the ground, he pulled it open with one hand and peered within. It had almost been emptied out, and he sighed in light frustration, before his brown eyes began to wander about the area to try and track down all of the things that had fallen out. Was everything there? No, wait. Something was missing. He furrowed his eyebrows. What was i--
The answer would come soon enough, for his peripherals would take note of a pair of oxfords that came into view. He blinked, as the voice reached his ears, the words almost immediately registering into his head. Quickly, he raised his chin, taking note of the young female that stood before him then. A clear beauty, Alec immediately noticed, with a charming smile on her face, and his personal notebook in her extended hand. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed it, and he returned the smile with one of his own. Oh, that was what had been unaccounted for. He reached forward with his free hand, as he nodded his head. "Ah, yes!" he exclaimed, as he wrapped his fingers around the small notebook. "Thank you."
That was rather fortunate. The personal notebook contained a mixture of crucial notes for class, and a few penned down personal thoughts of his. It was pretty much his diary of sorts, yet at the same time, his organizer and all that. It listed important contacts, personal dates, accounts of events, and all that. Certainly, it would have been rather embarrassing had someone else found it, and had read through it out of curiousity. He quickly took it back, and placed it back into his bag. It wouldn't have meant a big loss for him in retrospect had he lost the notebook, but she certainly saved him a lot of trouble of having to compile the information back to a single accessible item.
She would display the kindness of her heart once more as she offered to help, and would begin doing so before Alec could even answer. His smile only widened, as he nodded his head. "Thank you again," he chuckled, before shaking his head as he worked with her to put everything back into his satchel bag. "No, I just accidentally knocked it off the bench. Didn't realize I was that exhausted, that's all." A scoff rolled from his throat, and with her help, he managed to return everything back into its rightful place. He would pull himself up onto his feet, then, brown eyes locked upon hers. She had a fair face, with long black hair. A charming beauty, for sure, and Alec pondered upon her features. She looked to have some oriental heritage in her, didn't she?
"Let me make it up to you. That notebook was rather important to me, and I don't know what I would have done without it," he started. A clear exaggeration, perhaps. "Let me buy you a drink. Coffee, perhaps?"
Noel? Noel De Masséur? That sounded familiar. Wasn't she that heiress of that conglomerate that built its empire off jewellery and all of that? Well, she really was a big fish, then, hm? Alec himself was by no means poor. His father a director, and mother an actress, even if they weren't the biggest names in Hollywood, didn't make them any less prosperous. Of course, the reason that Alec had moved here to New Paris was because he wanted to build something for himself, instead of simply... Inheriting the toils of someone else's. He would simply nod his head, though, displaying no hint of the train of thought he had just alighted from. "Pleasure to meet you... I believe, young mistress would be the proper term, wouldn't it, Lady De Masséur?" he teased, flashing a rather charming smile, throwing it up into the air completely whether he was teasing her, or he was genuine about his greeting.
He chuckled then at her snap backs. That had taken a while, though it nonetheless amused Alec by the fact that she had nonetheless bit the hook. He would nod his head in slow agreement, then,but would cut the action off as he raised his hand, a finger displayed as if to halt her. "Ah, but it's not just a tourism destination, is it?"
He would cross his arms, then, resting the flat width of his forearms over the book laid out before him. He leaned forward, then, allowing his body posture to invest more attention to both her and the conversation. Girls always did enjoy being focused on like that, and he doubted she would be any different, considering the world she had grown up in.
"Besides, I'm not here as a tourist. I came here to study the arts, and there is no other city more associated with the arts than Paris, is there? And yes, I do believe that media is a form of art as well. Or at the very least, an avenue for art to be expressed. Where else would one go to in order to obtain the most--" he paused, just enough to glance at the book that she held before her, closed and shut. "--updated knowledge of the matter."
He chuckled at her reply. Yeah, she was just every bit of the spoiled brat as Alec had pegged her to be. With a casual smile adorning his sharp face, Alec watched pensively as she adjusted her posture and her choice of words. A lowerclass institute? Here in St. Elbandia University? If this was a lower class institute for her, Alec definitely would have loved to see a university that could meet her expectations. "No one said you can't just find more advanced versions of the same context. There's definitely one out there, if you look hard enough. Besides, since when do universities actually follow the written material religiously?" he smirked slightly, tilting his head once more.
Eventually, the conversation would catch her attention enough for her to abandon the book, as she slammed it shut and set it down. Her eyes were now focused entirely on him, and she threw a rather curious guess on his heritage. Alec scoffed, averting his gaze briefly to allow him to nod his head to her first question. She was rather sharp too, wasn't she?
"On the contrary, I picked this for myself. Being in one place for too long can get... Mundane. Can't say New Paris have been any much of a significant improvement, though," he snapped back with equal sarcasm, his teeth bared in a grin. Now for the question that had been plaguing him ever since her arrival. Who was she? She was obviously someone who carried a great deal of influence. Or, well, perhaps she was delusional. Either way, he doubted such a strayed person would ever end up in this university. He had seen her around, yet he had never really found much interest in figuring out who she was. Now that the specimen had been placed right before him, though, he figured there would be no harm in...
In a place such as this, where silence was heavily emphasized, it came to no surprise that anyone talking as loud as Noel had would have her words carried across almost the entirety of the room. Alec's ears were no exception. They perked up the moment the voice reached them, and he slightly raised his chin, just enough for his brown eyes to peer about to find the source of the serenity's disturbance. There was a reason he had chosen the library over the, say, university courtyard, after all, and the last thing he needed was some pompous rich kid coming in here thinking they owned the place. What got his attention instead, though, was the topic of conversation. Business? Communications? Was it a classmate of his? He blinked, and soon enough, was able to place the interloper within sights.
A young silver-haired beauty, with the grace and step of someone who had obviously been raised in her world of the rich and powerful. Even her choice of words evidenced the guess, complaining about the outdated contents of the textbooks they had been given, in comparison to the tablets and online lessons most other courses had already transitioned into using.
Eyes followed her as she made her way to his table, and he cocked an eyebrow as she slammed her way into position. His gaze briefly darted away to catch as a few of the chess pieces fell onto their sides from the impact, though the king he held onto remained standing. The symbolism of it made him amused for a brief moment, but he would place his attention back onto the girl soon enough. Casually, he would slowly place the pieces back upright, almost inattentive in the manner of movement as his eyes jumped from his own book, to the girl.
She did not seem to be rather amused by the idea of having to read from a book, wasn't she? He chuckled softly to himself in clear amusement, shaking his head. Adjusting himself in his seat, then, he rested the spine of his book on the table, planting both feet on the floorboards. "Either the book just complimented you unexpectedly, or it just insulted you. Whatever the case, you're growing as red as a tomato," he pointed out, casual and calm in tone as he slightly tilted his head. He had seen her around before. She was one of his juniors. One year younger, if he could recall. What was her name again?
Long-sleeved black sweater hugged the contours of his body, as the 19-year-old sat upon one of the chairs in the university library. His right leg was lazily resting upon his left thigh, his back resting against the seat as he held a book in his right. His left arm was stretched halfway across the table, index finger resting upon the cross of a king piece, as he rotated it around its base. One of the many pieces that was placed neatly upon a chess board located in the center of the table, upon which he sat in his lonesome. A pair of dark blue denim jeans followed the sweater, leading then to a simple pair of brown boots. His coat lay upon the back rest of his seat, acting as a cushion for his spine, as brown eyes danced over lines of text of the book he held in his hand.
It was a rather mundane day for the university student at that point of time, having pretty much completed all of his due work and finding himself with naught to do but amuse himself with the contents of the university's prestigious library. It had been a year since he had arrived here in New Paris to pursue his studies, and contrary to what he initially believed, it had not been what Alec would consider 'exciting'. He was a smart kid, and studies weren't entirely a struggle for him. It was more so the people that rather... Disappointed him. Thus far, even with the abundance of students that paced across the halls of the university, he had yet to meet anyone that piqued his curiosity, that caught his interests.
Not only in a physical and sexual manner, no, but even in terms of conversation. He had received his fair share of people approaching him, seeking to make friends, and though Alec had entertained their desires, he never found the urge to pursue further relations with said people. They were... Dull.
He sighed, as his right finger slid up the spine of the book, pad resting against the edge of the page and pushing it across. It was a novel. Nineteen Eighty-Four was the title, written by George Orwell. A rather amusing book, a great modern classic that entertained the idea of 'Negative Utopia'. Unfortunate, really, that he would find the written text to be more of an amusement than people. When, he wondered, would there ever be anyone to provide him with the excitement he sought for?
Alec sighed as he tilted his head. Adjusting in his posture, the brown-haired male brought one leg up, resting his left ankle upon his thigh. His left elbow rested on the side of his knee, acting as a supporting prop for his head as his cheek rested on his palm. Lazy eyes stared down at the tablet he rested now on top of his shin, as he read line after line of text. At this time and age, text books were no longer of much importance, save for curriculum that never offered much changes in its contents. History, for example. Alas, that was not the subject of Alec's attention at that moment. Marketing. Though he knew the reason behind it, he found himself disinterested at the idea that a media student had to learn marketing, simply because it revolved around contracts and agreements, things that the media industry delved in quite frequently.
He was clad in a brown coat, with a white furred collar that was erected around his neck. A grey scarf was wrapped around his neck, its tail swung over his shoulder to prevent it from swinging down onto his tablet. Below that was a simple white sweater, plain and clean. A pair of black jeans followed, fitting upon his person, before finally ending then in a pair of black boots. His brown hair was neater than usual, slicked back cleanly, or at least, it would be if not for a few rebellious strands that hung towards every direction they saw fit. Sitting beside him on the bench at the university courtyard was his black leather satchel bag, containing his more personal items.
Ever since coming here to France to pursue a better education, Alec had found his days to have gone rather mundane. In and out of lessons, he would go, focusing entirely on the semester and leaving little time for anything else. It wasn't like he had much of a choice. He was still learning the local language, and Alec found it difficult to relate to most of his classmates as a result. It wasn't that he didn't know anyone. It was simply that he found no one interesting enough to entertain. Not yet, at the least.
A groan rolled from his throat, before he straightened himself, his left hand coming to the back of his neck as he rolled the joint, relieving it of the pent-up stress the posture had built in. His right hand would swing to the side, intended to plant itself on the bench for support, only to end up knocking his bag over. "Ah--" he exclaimed, watching as it fell off the bench, its contents pouring out onto the pavement before him. A tin of mints. His wallet. His mobile phone. His keys. Two separate textbooks. And his personal notebook, that ended up rolling further than Alec would have ever expected it to be capable of, colliding against the ankle of a passing female student.
Alec had always grown up alone. Having both parents in the media industry, one an actress and the other a director, made it hard for the family to ever be together in one place. In the city of LA, Alec decided to make do with what he had been given, and that was the money his parents brought home from work. Suffice to say, even if he had grown up alone, Alec didn't lack for anything - other than parental love, of course. He was smart, hardworking and charismatic, making his way through elementary, middle and high school in a breeze. When it came to graduation, though, Alec found himself wanting more than what he already had. At the very least, something he truly felt was his own. And with that, following the relative ease he had in convincing his parents, Alec moved to France. [break][break] And it would be here that Alec would attend the University of Paris, studying Media and Communication.
The skin LIGHTS OFF was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
HALATION was created by KOJIHIME. Images belong to their respective artists. All codes and scripts belong to their respective coders. Please DO NOT take anything without the owners' permission.
