All the things she said (Venera)

As Polina walked into the room, she looked around at the Collaborative Writing class and frowned. She didn't really want to be at the camp in the first place, especially not after her last experience in the United States that saw her flung into a koi pond and throughout embarrassed. Still, it was better than arguing to death with her parents about going back to Durmstrang and her little 'problem'. At least her cousin Justýna was with her, and that provided the Russian witch with a small amount of comfort. The classes at SASI weren't at all bad, and even Apollinariya had to admit that she was really starting to enjoy them, especially this particular class for one reason in particular.

The class began to pair off, and Polina made a beeline for @Venera Delcheva. They had partnered previously, not by choice either, and it had been extremely awkward. After all, she was a 'scummy' Koldovstoretz student and Venera was a high and mighty Durmstrang witch, it was a recipe for disaster. The first time they had worked together, Polina managed to speak about two full sentences without quaking in fear, paranoid that even without magic being allowed the Durmstrang girl would find some way of hexing or humiliating her. It didn't help that Venera was, in Polina's eyes, naturally intimidating. She was much taller than she was, and very striking and slim. Polina felt that she wouldn't be able to hold a candle to her, she was just your average, plain farm girl. She wished she could be as half as pretty as Venera.

After their first collaboration though, Polina felt drawn to her in a way that she just couldn't explain. She needed to get to know this mysterious girl more, she had changed since the last time she was forced to share a dormitory with her at Durmstrang. Fixing her hair, and tucking a free strand behind her ear before she spoke, Apollinariya suddenly found her lips were dry again and she subtly licked them. "Hi Venera," she greeted shyly. "How ar-" Polina was cut off as class began and they were given their instructions for the day. So, their task was to write a tragic story? Well, Polina mused, that'll be easy... I'm excellent at tragedy. Their leader for the session clapped their hands and everyone started to busy themselves.

"Maybe we should write my auto-biography," Polina began sarcastically, "that'll be perfectly tragic for this task." She picked up the quill, sneaking a glance at Venera's face to see if she found her remark funny or not,  biting her lip as she realised how much she suddenly wanted this Durmstrang student to genuinely like her.

Venera had been particularly interested in the creative writing course at camp. She loved to write, though her style was very dark and her themes were alternative to traditional media. She liked to write about the taboo, the occult, the dark and evil. She wanted something different than sunshine in her stories. She considered herself a realist, when she was really just a cynic.  So far she had gotten pretty decent feedback from the counselor, after the counselor had kind of gotten used to her style of writing. She was really not that bad at articulating her ideas. It was the ideas themselves that seemed contrary to normal.

She had partnered with Polina a few times now, a little nervous to see the other witch again. She knew her, of course. They had been dormmates that awful year when Durmstrang and Koldovstoretz were merged, so they actually knew each other rather well over those few months. Venera had never been openly mean to her, in fact didn’t mind the koldos at all—that was how she had met Zviad, after-all, and he was something of a big brother to her. She had changed since then, grown into her features, grown taller and slimmer. She was pretty now, and she was vaguely aware of it, considering the new attention she had began to get from boys. Even so, she found it angering that people wanted to talk to her now that didn’t want to then. Polina wasn’t one of them. If anything, the other girl seemed less likely to talk to her now.

Their first meeting at camp had been a disaster, though. Polina had been nearly quivering in nerves, and Venera did her best to assure her she was nice. She was nice, right? Usually? Unless someone did something to her first, she usually played nice. It seemed the other witch was either interested in more suffering now, or Venera had been successful in making her feel more comfortable. She liked matching with someone she knew would let her be the boss, though, so she didn’t bother looking for another partner.

She laughed at Polina’s joke about her autobiography. “You and me both, girl.” She teased. “I’ve been living my whole life for this one.” She joked, but then started thinking. What if… no. What about… no. Everything that came to mind ended up being some Shakespearean tragedy that already existed. “You have any plot ideas?” She asked. “I think… No, that’s Romeo and Juliet, damn it.”

Polina's face washed with relief and a wide smile appeared as Venera laughed. This was great. Venera obviously didn't hate her, she must have liked Polina and found her at least semi-funny. Polina's rather dull eyes made a rare sparkle in joy at this revelation. The response that the Durmstrang student made, however, threw Apollinariya off-guard. What could possibly be tragic about Venera's life? Polina thought that everything the other student had seemed so good. Venera was fairly intelligent, and pretty and was good enough to go to Durmstrang, on the surface nothing seemed wrong with her life. The former Koldovstoretz student found herself leaning closer to her companion, genuinely intrigued by her comment. Perhaps there was more to the mysterious witch than she had originally thought?

Polina was so wrapped up on her own theories on this that she almost didn't catch Venera's question. Startled by the voice interrupting her thoughts, Polina blinked a few times in rapid succession, trying to think before Venera started speaking again. At this, Polina's eyes lit up as she silently gasped with delight. "You like Shakespeare?" She asked, interested and eager for a positive response. "Do you have a favourite play?" She added, before mentally face-palming. Was that too personal? She looked away and to the floor in sudden shyness, she hoped Venera wasn't offended by the question, she just really wanted to get to know the witch more.

As Apollinariya thought more, she realised that Shakespeare's works were a good basis to start from. Of course, they wouldn't be plagiarising his work because that was unforgivable but there was no reason why they couldn't use his work to guide them. "His works could be good inspiration if we boil them down to specific plot points, you know, like... like the star-crossed lovers! That's a classic for a reason." She paused to nod her head knowingly, whilst taking the chance to steal a glance at Venera's face. "We take one of those major points, spruce it up with our own ideas and feelings and boom! One unique tragedy."

Venera definitely didn’t hate Polina. She wasn’t sure yet if she liked the girl enough to write her after camp, maybe she’d offer at the end, but she definitely liked her enough to work with her. She could see Polina thinking about something, but didn’t put two and two together. Venera’s life had been a tragedy almost all the way through. With exception to the past few years, she had been miserable and lonely, living on the streets, running with a pickpocket gang just to avoid her mother who constantly went from man to man looking for validation and a father who was never there.

“I know some.” She admitted. “Only the basics, Romeo and Juliet, a Midsummer night’s dream, Hamlet.” She shrugged. “I think those are the only ones I’m familiar with. You know, my dad’s a professor. Not a literature professor, of course, but he got me into reading and stuff. He teaches Survival at Durm. You probably remember him. “Hopefully not poorly.

“Anyway, yeah, he got me to read a few. What if the star-crossed lovers were just… both girls?” She suggested, with a raised brow. “That would make it pretty taboo, wouldn’t it? Give plenty of reason for everyone to keep them apart.” Not that Venera necessarily thought that was the right thing to do. She didn’t know anyone who was completely gay, or have any proof about her dad and his friend, but everything about them screamed lovers, and Venera had been happy to think of Erik as an uncle and not at all care about what kind of stuff they might or might not do when she wasn’t looking.

In the same vein, Venera didn’t really know how she felt about girls either. She always found herself drawn to them, their beauty and strength and intelligence. She liked them better than boys, but she didn’t know if she liked them differently than boys. She had never kissed a girl. She had never thought about it, really, but sort of felt as though she would have been okay with it. She knew if two girls were dating, she wouldn’t blink an eye at them, but she didn’t know if she had it in her to be one of them or not. In some ways, she wanted to, and in others she didn’t. She wanted to be different, special, taboo… but she didn’t want to be persecuted and picked on and hurt. It was an interesting thing, and so far, she just didn’t know.

She just hoped Polina didn’t gag over the idea. “I mean, it would be an interesting take, you know?” She offered.

So, Venera clearly wasn't as interested in Shakespeare as Polina was, but she did know some and liked them enough to remember their names, which was enough for Apollinariya. She sighed in relief at the Durmstrang witch's answer. Venera had even mentioned Polina's personal favourite, Hamlet, among her little list. If Venera's father was the one behind it, then she was exceedingly grateful to him.

"Those are a good start," Polina replied shyly, "I like Hamlet the most but I..." She paused, unsure whether she wanted to admit her bookworm nature to Venera. "I think I have all his plays in books." Polina eventually muttered. "I do remember him!" Polina added with a small smile. Survival hadn't been her strongest subject but she had tried hard in his lessons. He seemed fair, and the former Koldovstoretz student had no reason to dislike him. "It must be a lot of pressure to have a professor as a father," Polina blurted out, wringing her hands immediately afterwards. "I, um, don't think I'd enjoy that very much." Apollinariya hoped Venera wasn't offended by her mentioning it.

"Both... girls?" She immediately repeated, flabbergasted by the suggestion. It wasn't that she was offended or disgusted by it, she was genuinely shocked. Polina hadn't really ever thought about that sort of thing before. Venera did have a point though. It wasn't exactly the sort thing one would want to masquerade around the school, or Russia, declaring. If their family found out... they'd likely find it shameful and do many things in their power to keep the two girls apart. It was rather sad, though. Why couldn't two witches be together? Why was it considered so wrong? Polina bit her lip in deep thought, blinking rapidly.

Love, real and genuine love was so difficult to find in the World already, why did society have to punish those who took a different and 'unconventional' path... they weren't hurting anyone, it made no sense. Polina briefly glanced at Venera, wondering if the Durmstrang witch herself was one of the 'different' ones. She must have suggested it for a reason, Polina thought. Suddenly, she was unsure how she should feel about that. Of course, Polina was okay with it, but it made her instantly view Venera in a different light.

She'd used that word in her head a lot in that class; different. Polina, herself, understood somewhat how it felt to be atypical, understood what it felt like having to hide a part of herself away so that no one would see or notice. It was hard work and not much fun. But... at the same time, it was kind of cool to have a secret part of one's self that no one else would see. Having a secret girlfriend would be equal parts thrilling and terrifying.

Polina open and shut her mouth, realising that she hadn't actually said anything yet. Poor Venera was probably freaking out, and Polina had to say something, quick! "I... I like it." Polina finally said, a hesitant smile pulling at her lips.

"Yes, let's do it." Polina offered more confidently, "the story, I mean." She clarified needlessly, not even knowing herself what she meant by it. "I think it would be really sad. No one should be kept apart because of stupid, antiquated rules."