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Post by Tokrochiru on Aug 30, 2012 23:58:08 GMT -5
Kyle managed to get the hint that Lyla wanted him to put her goods on the bed several moments after she'd hinted at it. After he realized, he let out a somewhat dimwitted "oh" and placed her things on the bed.
He was surprised by her roommate's attempt to converse with him after Lyla had left to go after Arkadi. She was right with her first answer.
"Track and cross country," he said plainly. He wasn't quite sure he liked the way that the girl was smiling at him. It felt....devious. Not necessarily malicious, but very, very devious. Much too devious for his own comfort. He preferred more straightforward expressions, like a simple smile. They were much easier to read, and allowed him to more accurately perceive a person's upcoming behavior. With girls like this, he simply didn't know what to think.
.....Was she going to say anything else?
Kyle scratched his head as he looked around the room, waiting for her response, if she had one.
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"Now don't take any offense, friend. It's actually pretty admirable if you ask me. So what if it's a bit old fashioned. Better to have as many close folks in your life as you can, I say."
Neil hopped on the bed not currently taken by Trevor. He buried his face into the pillow. It was a silly sight, upon close inspection.
"If you don't mind," he said in a muffled voice, "I'm gonna hit the hay here. It's been a long flight for me, and I need to fight off all this jet lag. Don't worry about making too much noise or anything. I'll just sleep through it."
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Aug 31, 2012 11:43:18 GMT -5
Ah, now the boy brightened up a bit. It seemed he, too, was a large fan of literature beyond the writings of Shakespeare. Even if there was nothing odd about him, that fact alone would have gained Aika's interest. Oh, but he wanted to know what other literature interested her? That was a difficult question...there were just so many. Her favorites were writings that dealt with legends and mythology, but that answer was so very vague. Arkadi would probably want to know specific ones.
The silver-haired woman was pulled out of her musing when she saw Arkadi jerk his head to the side, looking past her and towards Clara's backside.
Oh boy. This situation had the potential to become dangerous. Aika still had no intention of forcing an introduction from her roommate but simply ignoring her might arouse some sort of suspicion. No, she'd stick with her decision. If Clara wanted to be introduced, she'd come do so herself. That was it.
"Oh, not at all. Thou art not interrupting." Aika took a quick look at the hispanic woman, noting she seemed to be immersed in her work. Good, at least there would be some kind of reasonable excuse as to why she was isolating herself. She turned back to Arkadi.
"But to answer thy question...I am interested in many other types of writing, although my favorites deal with legends and mythology. Writings dealing with beings such as Robin Hood, King Arthur, and the like."
She folded her arms and leaned against the side of the door frame.
"What of thee? What other kinds of literature art thou interested in?"
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Post by Advix on Aug 31, 2012 17:05:43 GMT -5
Trevor watched as Neil faceplanted into the bottom bunk. He jammed the lolipop back in his mouth and scratched his head grumbling. "...'Old-fashioned'? Maaaaan..." Trevor sighed as he sprung off of the top bunk. Well, it seemed like Neil was done talking. Maybe he could find another way to kill time. There seemed to be some light commotion in the hallway, so he opened his door, and walked out into the hallway, though not before focusing on the lolipop he was sucking on for a brief second. 'Mmm~, strawberry~...' Alright, he was good. He walked over near the group of people in the hallway. There was some weird asian chick, with silver hair speaking in archaic english. And Neil said he was old fashioned. Still, she sure was beautiful, in this weird, untouchably refined way. Then there was this blonde guy with a ponytail, who looked so flustered, you'd think he was being hit on. Suited up for business like some kind of gameshow host. The next girl was more his style though. Torn shirt, cargo pants, and a british accent to boot. Her hair was super long, too. She was crowding around the host looking dude, too. Maybe him being hit on wasn't too far from the mark. Either way, Trevor stood around, watching what was going to happen next. If they noticed Trevor, that would be cool, if not, oh well.
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Post by Jisui on Sept 2, 2012 16:26:33 GMT -5
Noting that Aika had evaded a rather undesirable conversation for her, the hispanic woman giving the slightest nod of appreciation towards her. Although her hands were busy adjusting the settings on her cameras so she could mount them later, her mind was on other subjects. Clara began fiddling with her music player as well, slightly turning down the volume so that she could somewhat hear the two's conversation. Not that she had any desire to listen to them ramble on about literature, but despite liking Aika thus far, she had just met her. It would be bad if the kitsune decided to take preemptive action on her, because of the answer Clara gave her before. She could not tell a lie. If that was the case, then she was clearly a threat to the kitsune in one way or another.
But a tenuous relationship like that, was also troublesome, she realized with a sigh. A 'click' was heard in her direction as she flipped a switch on her camera, gazing out the window on her desk. It gave a nice view of a busy part of the campus, which was a perfect spot for the camera. Originally, she had planned to merely bring them for security, but... such a perfect spot was tempting for surveillance purposes. Clara had brought a spare anyway, which she could place in another spot near the door.
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Post by Shin RyuKen on Sept 3, 2012 2:28:40 GMT -5
Arkadi let his crossed arms loosen up a bit when he confirmed to himself that there was nothing to be worried about regarding her roommate. However, the boy couldn't help but think she was...uncomfortable somehow, with the boy just being there, as she was wandering her eyes and tinkering around with her gadgets. Granted, Arkadi wasn't much different when it came to focusing on his schoolwork, but he was so overly conscious of how people perceived him that he didn't know what to think anymore.
His eyes towards Aika's, however, were more at ease once he settled himself on a talking point. Literature. His parents forced him to read often, but he disregarded the force after a while once he took solace in the famous novels that lined the shelves of his father's library. Much of Arkadi's intelligence was serviced by the multitude of books that he read. He could talk about the lot of them, but he didn't want to make his floormate feel too uncomfortable.
"I used to love myths and legends as a child! I remember my favorite used to be the epic of Gilgamesh...say, would you happen to be taking that Ancient Mythology and Legends class they are offering here? I took it because...well...I needed to revisit my inner child." Arkadi rubbed the back of his head in how embarrassing that must've came off, trying to suppress the blush that reddened his face earlier. Then he decided it was just a better idea to be honest about it, because he wasn't trying to impress anybody.
"I-I'm...actually really into classic literature. Acclaimed novels. I brought my favorite author, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, with me on my way up here. I guess I love novels that...leave a lasting impact on me. That change my outlook, and teach me more about people. I'm a sap, I know."
Even talking about his favorite novels, Arkadi couldn't help but humble himself over how indulgent he became over how literature changed his perception of the world. Although people could always change, words on a page never did. Books get older and sometimes the print fades, but the meaning of the words in each page were only altered by the perception of the person reading it. This was the ingenious thing about literature: It didn't constantly change for the reader. The reader constantly changed for the book. That's why Arkadi handpicked his favorite books carefully, so he could revisit them at various points in his life, and learn something new from every time he would read them.
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Sept 4, 2012 10:42:56 GMT -5
Oh? Two more unfamiliar, yet unusual, people? There was this young woman with ridiculously long hair and peculiar blue eyes. Her eyes were interesting because they seemed...flat. The "spark" that all humans had was completely absent. Very interesting.
The other person was a young man standing down the hall. He had just come out from his room and was now silently observing the group. Had they been that loud? Why was he even staring? Perhaps he found the group interesting or simply wanted to see an example of how the students in this school were. Or he was simply very shy. Possibly even more so than little Arkadi here. Either way, the boy stood out. His messy blond hair had dark streaks through it while he wore quite a bit of black. It was probably his favorite color. But like all these others, there was something odd about him. But this feeling was different. The young man had an unusual aura, one that made it feel as if he were above humanity, not by his actions or personality, but by his very nature. It was a very familiar aura...and one that Aika would need to keep an eye on.
Aika nodded a greeting to Lyla and was about to actually say something, but completely stopped when Arkadi mentioned Dostoyevsky. Her head jerked back to him and she blinked a few times as if in disbelief.
"Dostoyevsky? Fyodor Dostoyevsky? The man who wrote Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and the like? Thou actually reads his writing?"
This was certainly a surprising development. She had heard much of that man's classic novels and how they analyzed human psychology in a variety of situations. Such a thing was never that interesting to her, but she had always been somewhat curious of the Crime and Punishment book. The tale of a man who murders a pawnbroker for her money with the belief that using it for good will counterbalance his dark deed. There were truly people like that in the world and to get some sort of insight to their mental processes for such a thing...
Aika had a small bit of trouble putting her sentence together. She was rather excited at this chance. To meet someone whose favorite writer was Fyodor Dostoyevsky. His books were popular, but the silver-haired woman had met few humans who showed a large interest in them. Arkadi here was different. However, she had just met him and she was already going to ask him for something? Doing such a thing was somewhat rude, but she simply could not resist.
Aika wrapped a strand of her hair around a slim finger, averting her eyes from Arkadi as she quietly said: "Perhaps, if thou shalt allow it, I canst borrow the novel Crime and Punishment?"
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Post by Greed on Sept 4, 2012 21:58:32 GMT -5
Lyla's eyes perked a bit when she heard about one of the classes both the silver haired girl and Arkadi were in.
"Top notch, I'm in that class too! Isn't it the only one too?" Well, it was strange sounding class as well, but still, it reassured her that someone relatively close to her in the dorms was in the class as well. Behind the absurdly long haired girl, Juli's eyes widened behind her tinted glasses, and a smile crossed the athletic girl's lips.
"Well now, small world isn't it? I took that class as well... along with track, wrestling, and some good old karate, haha." This earned a long whistle from Lyla, who seemed impressed at Juli's... odd class choices.
"Wow, now that's something I could never do. Best of luck to ya this year... you might burn yourself out." Juli just got a funny smile on her face, as she leaned back up against a wall.
"Testing my limits is going to be interesting... what can I say? I'm a total masochist." Lyla laughed nervously... she sounded dead serious about that...
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Post by Tokrochiru on Sept 4, 2012 22:49:17 GMT -5
((I'm gonna recommend that everything wrap things up if they can. I'm gonna time-skip a bit to passed midnight, when everyone presumably will be asleep. Stuff's about to happen.))
Kyle didn't really know what to make of the self-proclaimed masochist, other than she had an irregular personality. Kyle wasn't quite up for dealing with someone like her just yet, so he invited himself out of the room. Some may have seen him walking back to his dorm.
Once he re-entered his dorm, he plopped on the bottom bunk, and shut his eyes. He didn't really sleep much, but for some reason, he felt unusually tired.
He allowed himself to drift off into what he thought would be his usual dreamless sleep...
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Post by Advix on Sept 5, 2012 0:49:28 GMT -5
Trevor liked the look of the group. All kinds of out there, but it was neat in its own way. And apparently his first class was with those two girls. Still, he wasn't sure about the silver haired asian chick. He noticed that she saw him, and she looked at him with a weird look. He was half-tempted to flip her off, but he fought the urge. It was getting late, though, so he loudly crunched down on his strawberry lolipop, and turned around to go back into his room, playing with the stick with his tongue. Things looked like they would be fun. He opened his dorm room door, and slammed it closed behind him out of habit. Oops... Oh well, if it bothered anyone, they'd just have to deal with it. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, took his cargo pants and arm warmers off. He vaulted up onto the top bunk with the squeak of metal springs, and threw the comforter over himself. He rolled over onto his side, and pulled an old, small, stuffed lion doll out from under his blankets, and cuddled with it.
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Post by Shin RyuKen on Sept 5, 2012 3:04:10 GMT -5
[]
Arkadi noted that the girl from before was behind her talking and he felt it rude to just have his back turned against her the whole time. He then heard that Lyla was, in fact, sharing a class with the two of them: Not one, but TWO of the people he met on this floor shared a class with him within a few moments of the thought crossing his mind. What a small world! Arkadi's eyes widened towards the British girl and smiled at the sentiment, pointing a hand towards her. "That's...actually really cool! Maybe we should form a study group or something." Arkadi almost stuttered at the last thought, until he realized that maybe this group study stuff might pay off somehow. He wasn't a pessimist by any means so he was open to the idea of helping others with homework and tests while learning more for himself as well. It was a way to organize a learning environment to a certain beat, and if he had people he knew in the class already, it may just work out after all.
He quickly, however, didn't want to hold up Aika either...oh, wait, she was asking him a question! How rude of him! The boy turned back to Aika almost immediately as she asked her questions to Arkadi and faltered slightly at a response. He wasn't even sure what to think. He had just met this girl, and she wanted book in his possession? Moreover, one of his favorite novels of all time? He had no objection to it, but all of it seemed to be happening so quickly that he didn't know how to answer correctly before his voice stopped all of a sudden. He then thought for a moment, and answered to Aika, "Yes, actually! I love his work. He captures characters with such ambition and humility, unrivaled by anyone else beyond his time. And, well..."
Before he entered yet another monologue about his inclination towards the author, Arkadi cut himself off once again to save himself the threat of being called some sort of "nerd" or whatever term they use here in the British countryside. Wanker? No, that was even worse. The boy let out another nervous smile as he decided that he could somehow trust the silver-haired girl. She seemed genuinely interested in the man's work and Arkadi enjoyed sharing such sagacity with those around him. It was the least he could do for someone who shared his appreciation for Shakespeare.
"Y-yes, I don't mind! Just take good care of the copy I have. I treasure that book..." Unsurprisingly enough, the night for Arkadi didn't last much longer as everyone seemed to be heading to sleep for the long day ahead. Arkadi didn't really sleep from the plane ride he had and he was starting to experience jetlag on his way up here, so it was no surprise that it was finally starting to take his toll. As he strolled down the hall and later handed Aika the novel "Crime and Punishment", he credited her as trustworthy enough to treat the novel well. Shortly after waving people in the hall goodbye, he followed suit after and Kyle and crashed onto the top bunk, predicting that a decent morning nap would clear up some of the stress in his system.
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Post by Jisui on Sept 5, 2012 9:29:48 GMT -5
"..." What was with all of these people in their room...? Were college kids always this overly friendly? Regardless, the playful banter that was exchanged didn't seem to apply to her. Silently, the young half-elf finished her installation of the cameras, one above the window that she had liked, and another was a smaller one outside the front door. She didn't really know if a security camera outside their door was all that legal, but the intent was surely okay. Combined, the two cameras gave her a wide view of the hallway outside their room, and a nice surveillance of the outside campus. As the strangers slowly finished introducing themselves (some of which Clara got the same, unusual feeling about as Arkadi), Clara finally allowed herself to sink on her bed, sinking into the soft pillow gratefully.
It was true that she felt left out, but that was nothing new to her. Because of her ears, she had always tried to keep at a distance away from most others her age anyway. If Aika was to be a light, easy to get along with, and willing to make friends, then she would be a shadow. She was here to be a detective anyway, and nothing more.
"...Good night." Taking one last glance at her roommate across the room from her, a quiet murmur escaped Clara's lips, before she closed her eyes and all was silent.
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Post by BloodValkyrie on Sept 5, 2012 10:42:08 GMT -5
Aika had promised Arkadi that she would take excellent care of his book and once it began to get late, she bid farewell to her acquaintances and retired to her room. Time had flown by and, on top of that, exhaustion from her ride here began to kick in. The silver-haired woman was curious as to how Clara felt being isolated from the conversation, but decided it would be better to ask about it tomorrow.
Aika was simply too tired to bother with another discussion at this time. She placed Crime and Punishment on her shelf, alongside her other books, and threw herself into her bed after changing into her nightwear. She looked at Clara and saw she had already fallen into a deep slumber. A small smile crossed the hidden kitsune's face and she, too, closed her eyes. This day had proven to her that her time at this school would be extremely interesting and rather entertaining. She hoped the classes and teachers would be the same.
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Post by Greed on Sept 5, 2012 16:58:58 GMT -5
Lyla said her goodbyes to Arkadi, Kyle, and Aika, and went to the task of organizing her new living situation, setting up all her stuff, her TV, her games and consoles, and her computer, all where she thought they went best. Within an hour of getting all her stuff in, she was set up... and ready to waste the rest of the day on video games.
Much to her surprise, her next door neighbor Juli heard her, and came over, asking to join in. While Lyla was startled at first, and surprised that the athletic girl was so interested, she decided to take the opportunity to make another acquaintance at the school, and they stayed up late into the night...
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Post by Tokrochiru on Sept 5, 2012 19:07:54 GMT -5
((This post is semi-experimental, so bear with me if it seems a bit strange))
The students all rested comfortably. It started out as any other dream-filled night for them. However, as the night pressed on, they all dreamed of the same, horrifyingly vivid image.
A fox, with its tail and ears cut off.
A painting, broken and torn apart by angry hands.
A knight decapitated, and turned to brittle stone.
A clay doll, whose chest was torn open, revealing an empty chasm where there should have been a heart.
A beautiful woman, drained of all blood and essence.
"If you wish to avoid this fate, then awaken now," a deep voice proclaimed.
Each student did awake, though the nightmare had only just begun.
Each of their dorms was littered with dirt and what appeared to be bits of broken marble. The walls had a number of scrapes on them, and much of the furniture looked like it had been sliced in half.
A high pitched, terrified scream could be heard down the hall, a ways east from Kyle and Arkadi's apartment.
Kyle was the first to respond. His thoughts on what was happening were jumbled at best. The marble and dirt on the floor, the scream...He didn't know what to make of it. He did, however, have enough common sense to know that something was very, very wrong.
He tried to open the door to enter the hallway. However, strangely enough, the door was...locked. Locked from the outside.
There weren't any windows he could climb out of...he didn't have much choice.
Kyle pushed the door with his palm so hard it sent it flying off of its hinges and crashed into the wall on the other side.
What Kyle saw next sent his mind into a fit of confusion.
Outside of his room was not the hallway he saw and remembered. Sure, it was the same in width, length, height and shape for the most part, but it looked completely composed of dirt and chunks of marble. There were no doors to other dorms. Just particularly thick patches of marble.
Kyle's eyes widened in horror and confusion. He'd never been lost in his entire life. Not truly. Not even once. But now? He didn't know where he was. It couldn't have been the school.
"Where the hell am I?" he said to himself in a shaky, frightened voice.
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Post by Shin RyuKen on Sept 5, 2012 19:42:58 GMT -5
The voice rung in his head as if to sound a funeral dirge...to him, this voice sounded like that of Herr Judge, the entity he had for so long tried to uncover the identity of. The disturbing images in the boy's head were so abnormal and unlike his usual dreams that it seemed these nightmares were becoming a symptom of the "curse" he inherited. But this couldn't have been a symptom. Something was amiss.
Arkadi woke up in a frightened daze, clutching his forehead with a palm and breathing heavily in apprehension. His eyes seemed to dilate immediately after waking up and the fear in his face was apparent. As he peered out from the top bunk to see his roommate, he wavered his eyes around the room with his blanket up to his nose, only to witness all of the dirt and rubble leaking into the room. He tried to make sense of the situation but he simply couldn't...he became exceptionally worried and cowered from under his bedsheets, only to see his roommate break the door open with even more dirt and rubble flooding out from the outside. This was a mess. What was going on, and was Kyle responsible for part of this? He immediately knew something was disturbingly wrong with the surroundings and he probably had to continue moving. That armor. He would have to access it again and get to the bottom of this. Then that voice spoke.
"Unbeknowest to thy friends, you must arbitrate the premises...a destiny awaits you at the other end of the door."
Arkadi physically nodded at the thought, realizing it was in his head, but too flustered to act as calm as he should be. This was another one of Herr Judge's trials. Something was beyond the gates that he had to uncover. But as things stood in the marble labyrinth, he would only wait for the right moment as his indecision overtook him.
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