JUGULAR ─── original applyfic

I

I

 lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

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LATE SUMMER IN MARSEILLE WAS ALWAYS PERFECT. Most of the tourists had gossiped their way back to Paris or Bordeaux, yet the city was still bubbling with life. The waters were still warm enough to spend entire days wading in, only to dress up well and dine and drink to one's heart's desire once the sun began to set. It was also the return and the welcome of some of the stars of Marseille themselves. The incoming and returning Taureau Seven would return to the school's halls on the last Wednesday of July, as they always did, to spend the rest of the week indulging in more traditional, hedonistic festivities.

Before unpacking, both the junior and senior seven were required to dine in the Violette Verdy Dining Hall. Two tables were found within the four walls for each year of study, one positioned by the southern wall of the hall, the other by the northern wall. The first table was laden with white and silver. Pearls were sewn into white tablecloths and embedded into candle holders mirrored the iridescent sheen of the dishware on the table. The senior table was laden with black tablecloths and rich gold. The cutlery was gilded, with emeralds encrusting the hilts of the knifes and forks, whilst a singular ruby was positioned at the stem of each spoon.

The one thing the tables had in common? The seven seats with seat cards at each position, denoting their rank amongst their peers. Their table placements were bound to change- no students except the great Agathe Tremblay, known to have revolutionised the art of ballet itself, had maintained their seat at the head of the table for the entirety of her time at Taureau.

As tradition, the first meal would be subsidised by local businesses. Tonight, the star of the table was a whole duck, with slices of citrus and rosemary slid beneath the bubbling skin. Dishes of fresh fruit in ice were laced between the savouries, glistening like jewels on a rich woman's neck., Small dishes of butter, conserves and condiments were dotted across the table. Wooden boards of figs, brie, cured meats and crackers were organised between every other seat. The only personalised dishes were the cocktails placed at the seat of each student, another silly Taureau tradition.

The first to take her seat was May Irvine, dressed in a tiny ruby minidress. She slipped into her place at the second seat of the second table, letting her finger glide over the black tablecloths. Her hand shot up, beckoning the attention of at least half a dozen attendants; one removed her coat, another poured a glass of sparkling water and another offered her a freshly chilled peach martini, replacing the one that had been sitting out for the past ten minutes since it had been poured. She sighed into the gaggle of waiters, producing a small pocket mirror from her handbag to fix her signature red lip. She had missed this. Her summer had been spent wasting away in the English countryside- far from any competitive dance and the luxuries of being pampered at Taureau.

Midway through her second sip of her martini, a dark haired man sauntered into the room, clad in leather and musky cologne. His presence was heavy and unavoidable, the step of his combat boots echoing throughout the dining hall. His presence produced a small smile on May's face as she stood up.

"I haven't seen you all summer- did you lose your phone or something?" May tutted as her arms loosely hooked around the man's neck.

Hugo Jean-Kim simply hummed in response, his hands instinctively moulding into their position at her waist. His lips grazed her cheek before he met her eyes, "Yeah- I was out a lot... my mother's started touring... a final performance as the prima ballerina."

"I heard about that- why didn't you invite me? That could have been the experience of a lifetime-"

"I haven't seen my girlfriend all summer and the first thing she does is scold me?"