when rome's in ruins | noah

[noah jayce rosland]

i'm not searching the sky for a reason to live, 'CAUSE I'VE FOUND BEAUTY RIGHT HERE hi Noah's eyes looked down at Mirela pleasantly. She was actually a lovely girl. That was saying a lot, since it was probably the nicest thing he had ever even thought about a girl in a long time. There was something that just seemed so easy with this. He didn't have to pretend to be some careful, articulate man, but actually was able to be his usual sarcastic self without being scrutinized. It was more than he could say for the years he had spent with his ex girlfriend. Back then he thought he could be himself, but even when he was she'd always shush him or tell him to stop. Slowly he was realizing that she was just like every other woman in the upper class. Maybe that was the reason why he was so bitter now. He should've known. But Mirela was different. At least, as far as he could tell at this point she was something different. Maybe it was her attitude, or her form of grace, regardless he couldn't quite put his finger on it but there was something he found endearing in her. “You're right, really you're the last person i should ever be worried about when it comes to impressing mothers,” Although his mother could be ruthless, he imagined that Mirela would be the sort of girl that she'd approve of for at least an extensive period of time until she had some reason to believe that she wanted something from them. Wait, his mind had to slow things down for a moment. Was she saying that she was only eighteen years old? Looking at her, he didn't see someone who was only eighteen, then again, Noah was the worst for assuming that everyone was around the same age as him. If he was twenty-five... then that would mean that depending on her birthday they could be anywhere between six to seven years of an age difference. That wasn't weird, was it? Maybe that would make his mother question a few things. No. It didn't matter. She was a lovely girl that he was hanging out with. He'd have lots of friends that were older or young than him because of sports. Why should this make anything else of a difference. He kept the smile on his face, and let his thoughts fall into his subconscious, although little tid-bits of it kept on poping in and around his thoughts. He noticed for a moment that she seemed to be distracted, but didn't think all that much of it. There was a lot going on here, with all the people dancing and socializing around. “Well...” Noah allowed the ideas to roll around in his mind as he watched one of the waiters walk into what Noah was going to assume be the houses kitchen. “What if we stole an entire bottle and raced outside with as little of people noticing as possible?” The idea rolled off of his tongue, and an image started putting itself together in his mind. He was sure that neither of his parents would really be looking out for him. He'd always assumed that whenever he went to these things with his parents that he wouldn't even end up going home with them either. It helped that they didn't live together so he could almost always shy away early. And if Mirela had an apartment of her own that only meant thats he could find her way home, maybe even with Noah's assistance, and her parents couldn't get too worked up either. It seemed almost flawless of an idea. “What do you say? Are you up for the challenge?” tagged, mir | outfit, here | notes, dahhhh<3 so let me give you my heart

[mirela juliana luan]

tonight foxes hunt the hounds

nothing sounded better to mirela than snagging a bottle of champagne and going somewhere quiet and nice with noah. in fact, she had planned to do something of that sort earlier this evening; making as hasty an escape as possible from the party and the prying eyes of her mother was, as usual, the ultimate goal. but now she had a (handsome) companion suggesting they do it together; and, while mirela had a bit of a sinking feeling that noah's original intention had not been to come and speak with her solely because of her, little of that mattered. the only time boys actually approached her at her parents' parties was because either her mother had narrowed in on them and found them mostly acceptable enough to talk to their daughter, or they were trying to explain to her why they couldn't talk to her anymore.

it was nice, though, having a mother who tended to intrude upon your love life. it meant you didn't have to worry about your better half so often.

"i'm so glad you can see what a charmer i am," mirela teased, still moving easily with the music. it was nice, too - nice to be close to someone, nice to feel like things were funny and light and easy. that was what mirela liked most about this all - that suddenly, she didn't have to have practiced manners. she did, of course - she wasn't about to go losing her manners - but the fact that she and noah shared a similar sense of humor made things nice, in a way that didn't happen very often.

so what if noah was twenty-five? age had never really held a great precedence in mirela's life - her mother might have cared about the numbers, but mir did not. she'd had plenty of older friends before (tended to gravitate toward older people, actually), although every boy she'd ever dated had been about the same age as her. and besides, all they were doing was sneaking a bottle of champagne out of the kitchen and taking it for themselves - it wasn't anything to worry about, even if she (wistfully) wished it might have been.

"there's a back exit out of the kitchen," mirela said, her eyes lighting up and she unlooped her arms reluctantly from around his neck, sneaking her hand into his again, she tugged him along, ducking behind a rather large group of people and sneaking into the kitchen as soon as the door swung open to let a waiter through.

the kitchen itself was alive with foreign chatter. her mother insisted on hiring albanian cooks - the waiters could be english, of course, but she preferred to have the chefs from their homeland, or something like that. mirela could catch snippets of conversation - "where is the rosemary? dhënë atë këtu! and "ah, pak luan është në kuzhinë!" when they realized that she was in there - but for the most part, they were far too busy with their cooking and her mother's rigorous menu to notice her. she waved briefly at one of the chefs, leading noah further back into the kitchen and snagging a bottle of champagne from the cooler. "wait here," she said, her smile light and easy as she ducked into a back room to fetch two glasses, returning shortly.

once more, she took noah's hand (not entirely by accident this time, but who was to say otherwise?) and led him out of the back exit and into the gardens. she slipped out of her shoes, leaving them by the door, and found a quieter place among the lush green of their carefully tended gardens to sit, beckoning for noah to join her.

"alright, now that i'm getting you liquored up and alone," mirela began, grinning, "i want to know a little more about you."

tagged: noah ♥
outfit: just what she's wearing in the pic c:
words: ###
notes: cute cute cute

© ANISE

[noah jayce rosland]

i'm not searching the sky for a reason to live, 'CAUSE I'VE FOUND BEAUTY RIGHT HERE hi “How could i not?” Noah responded almost immediately, a dumb smile on his face. He couldn't believe he was actually enjoying himself in this situation. Sure, there was still a bit of alcohol in him that might've stirred up something more pleasant than if he was completely sober but in this situation, he really didn't think that it mattered all that much. More so, Noah was pleased that she seemed to be on board with his idea, although he didn't doubt himself with it in the first place. “Perefect.” Curling his fingers into Mirela's he started to walk with her through the people. Mostly, he remained focus on the task at hand, but he couldn't help but dart his eyes to make sure that no one of importance was watching with full comprehension of what they were doing or where about to do. Walking into the kitchen was something more than overwhelming. Noah had hardly been outside of North America, thus he only experienced the few different languages thats passed him on the streets. Most commonly, he'd hear things in French or Spanish, maybe a bit of Mandarin, but it was all so simple and in passing. Here, he almost felt like he was in a completely different place, but he tried not to focus too deeply on it. The most frightening of it all was when Mirela left for that moment. Noah almost thought that he'd get lost and she wouldn't be able to find her way back to him, but it didn't take long before she returned. Noah released a sigh of relief as she took his hand again and they found their exit. Seeing the bottle and the glasses in his hand added to the appeal of it all. As she took off her shoes, he felt it was only fair to kick off his own. Now he was running through the grass just in his black sock making sure that he's able to keep up with Mirela. He let out a bit of a laugh at her comment, “know more about me?” he extended a hand to the back of his head and scratch it, “Well, uhh,” his mind started to think of all the basic things that it could possibly come up with, “well, i'm a twenty-five year old paralegal who moved out of his parent's house shortly after he turned eighteen because... ” he raised his hands as a way to show what he meant, all of the upper class. His eyes rolled trying to come up with some more things, “uhh, my favourite colour is teal, my favourite animals are cats, and uhh... sometimes i like to drink,” he smiled, looking at Mirela, and then reaching out for the bottle and the glasses. “What about you? You're the one that's new to town, i should be interrogating you!” tagged, mir | outfit, here | notes, ahh <33 the feels so let me give you my heart

[mirela juliana luan]

tonight foxes hunt the hounds

this was likely the most exciting thing mirela had done all year. after all, it wasn't often that she got to sneak out with a bottle of champagne and a boy without her mother finding out soon after. but the coast seemed clear for now - there was no sign of a predatory mother lion stepping out from the back door of the kitchen, no warning sound of imminent doom. and that's certainly what her mother would bring - doom. as far as mariam was concerned, noah was already a threat. he was an unidentified young man whom her daughter was already fond of, clearly; with the act they pulled earlier that night, certainly mariam was in there, trying to figure out a way to get them separated so she could decide whether noah was acceptable or not.

she can't separate us to interrogate him if she can't find us, mirela thought, a little smugly. when noah began explaining a little bit about himself, she listened with attentive green eyes and stored the information away from later. favorite animal is cats, favorite color is teal, she recited absently, reaching for the bottle of champagne as well. of course, it happened to be at the same time noah was reaching - and so their hands collided in a tangle of warmth and she pulled back her hand tentatively, her cheeks blooming a dusky rose in embarrassment.

"sorry," she murmured, snagging the bottle before he could recover and pouring them both their glasses of wine, handing him his own and then taking a swig out of hers. dumb, she chastised herself mentally. don't blush at stupid things - it's probably just the champagne, anyway. she had had a lot to drink that night so far - probably a little more than noah - and it was easy to blame the alcohol for her burning cheeks. but she knew it wasn't just the alcohol leaving her face rosy.

"i would hardly call this an interrogation!" mirela exclaimed, laughing and laying back in the grass. verdant strands tickled her cheeks as she looked up at noah, her gaze bright. 'let's see - i'm eighteen, majoring in psychology at the college here. i have two sisters, and i'm the oldest. i have a dog named minnie, but she's at my apartment, not here." mirela stretched a bit, yawning and giving noah a warm, crooked smile. "my favorite color is seafoam green. i don't have a favorite animal really; i know that bugs definitely aren't my favorite creature, but that's about it." she paused, swiping her tongue around her lips to rid it of any remnants of champagne. "i'm originally from tirana, albania, but my father's an ambassador so we moved around a lot. oh! and i can speak three different languages. but that's about it."

settling back in the grass, her smile never once lost it's warmth as she offered her now-empty glass to him, a silent request for him to please fill it up again. "so what's the real reason you're here, mister rosland?"

tagged: noah ♥
outfit: just what she's wearing in the pic c:
words: ###
notes: <3

© ANISE

[noah jayce rosland]

i'm not searching the sky for a reason to live, 'CAUSE I'VE FOUND BEAUTY RIGHT HERE hi There was a silent spark that ignited inside of Noah as their hands happened to touch. It was almost at the same time that they seemed to pull away, which oddly enough, brought a brighter smile to his face. The fact that she even said sorry made him break out in a minor bit of laughter. But he still took his glass that she poured thankfully and almost instantly pressed the glass to his lips to take in the bubbling liquid. “You're right, i could still be talking to your mother,” he nudged Mirela playfully, although he was actually thinking about what it would be like if they had remained there, standing with Mirela's mother. Eventually it would of surpassed any amount of amusement he might have felt during the entire situation. As much as he was okay with talking to Mirela and her mother for a certain duration of time, he'd almost prefer it that if there was any thing that Mirela wanted to know about Noah that she could find it on her own rather than through a parental interrogation. Eighteen so young. He allowed to let the rest of what she was saying roll around in his mind, but he still came back to the fact that she was eighteen. It wasn't weird of him to be hanging around someone that was almost seven years younger than him, was it? Normally this age difference would seem so tabu, but Noah was one of those people that actually was comfortable with anyone that was of the “adult” age. He'd heard so many people being friends of great age differences apart. It's always more of a mature thing for him. “Psychology,” he started to nod in appreciation. Taking another sip of his champagne as she carried on, he listened carefully, and his eyebrows raised with intrigue. He couldn't say that he had heard anything like that from anyone in Caroline that he'd met thus far. And it was safe to say that he probably knew who everyone was within the town. Maybe the different languages. That might be something he'd here some Caroline girls brag about, but the way Mirela said it had no tone nearly similar to how she said it. It was simply a fact, not boasting material. “Look at you! You're so worldly,” he gave her a smug smile. Looking at the glass she had in her hand, he recognized that he needed to fill it up, and reached for the bottle. He then took the opportunity to down what remained in his glass so he could fill his up at the same time as her own. Her question rendered his mind for a moment, and maybe it was just the alcohol, or maybe it was the fact that he really didn't care, but he found himself just letting go and telling her the exact reason why he showed up here. “Alright, well, don't be offended by any means of this because it might sound horrible to some,” he took a big sip of the champagne as a way to clear his throat and ready himself to do any explaining over his mother's snoopy tendencies. “So, since your family is new to Caroline, and since you're particularly a part of the upper class, naturally, my mother took an intense interest in all of you. I being the closest age to you, a woman that could be oh so influential on the vision of the upper class, was supposed to get to know your deep, dark family secrets and report back to mother bitch -i mean swan.” he shook his head at it all. It must've sounded ridiculous. He hoped it didn't sound like the only reason he'd talked to her, or ever would was because of his mother. But the sad truth was... that's exactly what this was. He was too introverted to allow himself to meet her under any other circumstances, but he was glad that he had. “Feel free to want to punch me or my mother in the face a little,” he laughed to make it all seem a little more light hearted. At least, that's how he hoped it would come across. tagged, mir | outfit, here | notes, i can see Noah as such a light-weight so let me give you my heart

[mirela juliana luan]

tonight foxes hunt the hounds

mirela hadn't quite expected the party to take such a delightful turn. worst case scenario, her mother made a fool out of her in front of everyone - best case scenario had been she got drunk enough to get home before her parents noticed and fell into bed with a hairy minnie falling all over her in desperate need of attention. noah had been the last thing she expected. it was all a little too nice - like a fairytale, almost. you know, where the snarky girl meets the witty boy who can actually understand her humor and plays along despite the fact that her mother was neurotic? yeah, that one.

either way, it was a pleasant turn of events. noah was good company - the kind of company she wouldn't mind being in again, and that she hoped would be around for the next afternoon salon or evening gala. he was one of the only boys she'd met that hadn't been intimidated by her mother, and that was likely because all of the boys she'd met had usually been hand-picked by her mother, and mariam liked the boys weak-willed and obedient. that was just not how mirela wanted her friends to be. if anything, she wanted them rebellious - strong-minded, independent, willing to voice their opinions but knowing when it was best to smooth things out.

she laughed, blushing pleasantly at his teasing comment, shrugging her shoulders. "when you live in a lot of countries, you tend to pick up on things," she explained, as if the whole languages thing wasn't a big deal (and she didn't think it was - truly, her nonchalance was born out of insouciance). "have you been anywhere except caroline? it seems to me that your family would have you experiencing the world."

but she could be wrong, of course. maybe noah's parents wanted him at home as much as her parents wanted her at home. maybe their situations weren't so different. she was almost positive his mother didn't detest him because of a 'selfish eating disorder', but what did she know? they could be more similar than they originally thought, in more than just humor and wit.

mirela listened attentively to his words, however, when he explained his true reasoning for being there. her gaze was pensive and a little foggy as she scooted over closer, studying. "did your mother tell you to steal a bottle of champagne and sneak out back with me, too?" she asked out of curiosity. she wasn't angry - not really, because her mother would likely have done the same thing and she couldn't blame noah in the least - but she felt a little disappointed at the thought that noah hadn't really wanted to come out here with her, if that were the case. but she laughed, softly, fiddling with the edge of her champagne flute. "i mean, i don't want to punch you - because i'm probably going to need you to show me how to get home - but i really hope you didn't come outside with me just because your mom told you to."

tagged: noah ♥
outfit: just what she's wearing in the pic c:
words: ###
notes: cute cute cute

© ANISE

[noah jayce rosland]

i'm not searching the sky for a reason to live, 'CAUSE I'VE FOUND BEAUTY RIGHT HERE hi Noah could almost be envious of her for having all of that under her belt. Constantly being able to live in different places, never having to worry about the terrible world going on inside of Caroline. If Noah ever had a real chance to leave instead of feeling so chained down to the place he would. But at the same time, he imagined how difficult it would be moving from place to place, not always certain where the next one would lead him. It seemed stressful. No matter how much Noah would want for a permanent get away, he wouldn't wish to jump around either. “I guess so,” Noah made a gesture at her to show that she was clearly an example of such. “I wouldn't say the world,” Noah licked his lips for a moment, thinking up all the place that he had been to, “But i've been around to a few places, here or there. We've been to Hawaii a few times, vacationed down in Florida, but you know, it's always those typical places, never the cool ones,” His eyes squinted a little as he nodded his head trying to think of the other boring places that he'd been, but that pretty much summed it up. His family was life-suckingly predictable and traditional. At her question Noah boiled over into a pit of laughter, “No!” the word hung in the air for a long time along with his laughter, “Man, i couldn't even imagine her asking me to do anything like that with a straight face,” His laughter started to simmer down, although he still tried to think of his mother even suggesting such a thing. It just would never happen. Ever. Taking in another sip of the champagne, he was able to calm down a lot more. It was something about the liquid that did that to him, it was soothing, even soothed his laughter, even though it would probably be responsible for it as well as the bottle emptied. “Even if you punched me, i'd probably still show you home,” he offered, tilting his head at her, hands exposed upwards. That's just the sort of person he was. Okay. That's exactly the sort of person he wasn't, but even he couldn’t deny that he'd have it coming if he had been completely ordered around by someone like his mother. “Besides,” Noah shifted his legs a little to get more comfortable, “I don't think my mother expected me to actually find that i like the girl,” a goofy smile crossed his face, and his eyes remained focused on Mirela for a moment before he brought the glass to his mouth and finished off whatever remained in it. tagged, mir | outfit, here | notes, :3 eep so let me give you my heart

[mirela juliana luan]

tonight foxes hunt the hounds

she was utterly relieved when he assured her that he wasn't there on behalf of his mother. she couldn't have imagined his mother would have ordered him to do such a thing, especially if his mother cared as much about reputation as she seemed to. mirela's mother had always been the type to keep a close eye on her, to make sure she wasn't left alone with some boy - because her parents were still very traditionally albanian, the idea of dating was a foreign concept to them. for mariam luan, dating didn't happen until you were engaged with someone.

nonetheless, an easy smile returned to mirela's face at his words, unable to hide her relief. "well i can't imagine she would tell you to come and drink with me!" she exclaimed defensively, grinning all the same, "but i thought - i don't know, maybe she said 'at any cost' and then you took that quite literally. or maybe you're a double agent, hm?" her eyes glittered playfully. reassured that he would still walk her home, regardless of whether or not she punched him, she blushed prettily and distracted herself by taking a sip of her champagne and returning her gaze to the sky.

caroline was likely the least city-like town she'd ever been in. for the most part, her father had been sent to places that were heavily populated, with smog covering the sky. but here, the stars were clearer than any place she had been in before. she loved it here in caroline; even in the couple of weeks that they'd been here, she couldn't imagine she would ever be as fond of a place as she was of this sleepy little town.

glancing back over at noah, her smile warmed (along with her cheeks) at his compliment. "well, i can't imagine my mother was planning on me becoming fond of a boy she hadn't pre-selected," she teased letting their shoulders bump companionably before just staying there, content enough to let their bodies rest close together. "i can just imagine what she's saying to my father now; 'did you see them, jozef? dancing like they were already engaged - and the boy hasn't even spoken to you yet!'" her imitation of her mother's lilting accent was spot on - not because she had much practice imitating it, but because she had an accent. she just managed to keep it dimmed down most of the time.

grinning, she finished her champagne and set the glass carefully down in the grass. "at the very least, i am so pleased to be worrying my mother like this. she's very traditional, you see, so i'm sure she's getting all sorts of worked up." she set her glass down, standing and giving him a crooked smile. her head felt woozy and light, which meant the champagne was doing precisely what it was meant to - get her drunk. "want to walk me home now? if we walk through the crowd inside, nobody will think twice."

tagged: noah ♥
outfit: just what she's wearing in the pic c:
words: ###
notes: <33333

© ANISE

[noah jayce rosland]

i'm not searching the sky for a reason to live, 'CAUSE I'VE FOUND BEAUTY RIGHT HERE hi Noah raised his eyebrows at the thought of him acting out as a double agent. Really, in a sense, he was. He was still doing the thing that his mother wanted him to do, in essence, but there was no way he was going to tell her all of the details of everything that he and Mirela had done. She'd probably flip out and find a way to stir up some things around Caroline with Mirela in the negative light. He'd never let that happen. Mirela was probably the first girl in a long time that he found himself actually enjoying. She was the first one that actually made sense to him. “Really, i am doing this,” he used his fingers to gesture to both himself and her being together at the moment, “At any cost... because it's probably something that my mother most likely wouldn't approve of,” he smiled to her feeling a little wistful. It had been a long time that he had ever felt this way with anyone, and he was certain it wasn't just the alcohol. He could actually feel the butterfly sensation within him that told him how much he just liked being around this girl, let alone just looking at her face. For the moment that she turned to the sky, he just remained looking at her, analyzing her facial features with a goofy smile on his face. It was ridiculous since if it had only been a few hours ago, he imagined if he had just been thrown into this situation he'd be beyond annoyed for his pent-up reasoning, but since actually finding himself introduced he couldn't be happier. It was the first time that living in Caroline had ever done anything good to him. A chuckle fell from his lips at her imitation. “So before we get engaged, i guess i'll have to talk to your father,” he was joking, clearly, but he could sort of see the whole dynamics of the family. Just listening to her mother earlier today he knew that there was something far more traditional with her than there would be in a family like Noah's. Of course, he didn't exactly know what that would mean. The most he ever heard about these sort of traditions were fairly generalized and something he'd only hear within school, or in a story on the news. His mind was already set to how Mirela's mother might've been reacting as she spoke up again. It made him curious to know just how traditional this meant, and exactly what sort of traditions it entailed. He still was so used to the idea of people culturally relating to the North American standards even with people that generally weren't from this country either. His mind actually made a side note to himself to do some looking into it, and maybe finding some real understanding of exactly what ideology he was making Mirela break. A smile had already taken over Noah's face, and remained there as he got up along with Mirela. “Yeah, girl, let's do it,” his eyebrows furrowed a little as he rethought the words he just said. Okay, he must've finally been taking to the alcohol. He shook his head at himself and found his place next to Mirela. His glass was still in his hand and he was ready to casually settle it down somewhere within the house before they started walking towards Mirela's apartment. There was a part of Noah that was sad because this meant that their time together was coming to an end, but at the same time he knew that this wasn't exactly over. After tonight he might actually find himself with a friend... of sorts. It was probably the most exciting thing for him to happen in a long time. tagged, mir | outfit, here | notes, noah's totally fan girling over mirela at this point so let me give you my heart