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Post by Minxie on Jun 18, 2009 22:00:14 GMT
[ The Dining Hall ]
The day has dawned sunny but cool at Haversham Mansion College. The night was, for many, disturbed by strange noises and echoing footsteps down the corridors.
***
[ Isolde Avira --- Half asleep ]
The nightmares had come that night. Isolde had barely managed an hour of proper rest, before she was thrown back into a dark world full of fighting and death. She could never quite make out faces, or even where she was. All she knew was that she was filled with a sense of desperate purpose, and a cold, empty ache within her heart.
What was that all about, anyway?
The teenager yawned politely behind her hand as she chose a place to sit at an empty table. She had chosen merely a pot of tea and a single slice of toast with some butter. Isolde wasn't really a big breakfast-eater at the best of times. And after the terrible nightmares she had had once more, her appetite was somewhat stunted.
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Post by Sylver on Jul 6, 2009 5:09:13 GMT
[Ruan Huojin / Energizer Bunny]
Huojin bounced into the dining hall as though he had already had three cups of coffee and a Red Bull. He ignored the looks he got from some of his school mates as he went for the least 'healthy' thing he could find this morning, a chocolate-covered toaster pastry and a large latte.
Once he had his food in hand, he looked for an empty seat. Not seeing one near his friends, he went for the next best choice, people he at least knew on sight. Being so close to the beginning of term, there were very few of those as well. Frowning slightly, he walked over to a mostly empty table and sat down from a girl with white-blonde hair. Smiling slightly, he tried to keep himself calm, even though he could already feel one of his legs beginning to bounce just a little.
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Post by Minxie on Jul 7, 2009 0:30:14 GMT
[[ Isolde Avira --- Good......grief. ]]
So wrapped up in her own thoughts, Isolde really didn't see anyone else. Her mind was back on her nightmares, and her eyes on the liquid in her cup. So she was really quite surprised when she blinked herself back to reality to see someone sat in front of her.
Isolde blinked again, then offered an almost-smile. It was only polite, after all. She was pretty sure she hadn't seen the very-active-looking-boy in any of her classes, but Isolde knew that she tended to get so wrapped up in her studies that she didn't notice anyone at all.
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Post by Sylver on Jul 7, 2009 7:18:17 GMT
[Ruan Huojin / Has a Shiny]
"Hi." Huojin ate his pastry in silence, trying the entire time to think of anywhere had seen the girl before. If he had at least seen her somewhere, then she wasn't a new person and therefore he could relax, but he wasn't coming up with anything.
Before he realized it, the pastry was gone and he was folding the foil wrapper into a random shape. And he still had no idea who he was sitting next to. "So ... long night? You look like you've pulled an all-nighter. I thought most people only did that at exam time," he replied. Trying to find something to keep his mouth occupied, he took a sip from the latte, then remembered that it was still hot as the liquid burned his tongue.
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Post by Hobz on Jul 7, 2009 18:05:04 GMT
[Alexia Matthews ~ Evil Alarm Clock of Doom!]
Mornings. Oh how Alexia hated mornings. She was not a morning person... at all. She was quite the opposite in fact. If she had her way she wouldn't have to wake up until 11am at the earliest, but alas... this was college. She had breakfast to get and lessons to attend. Which of course meant that she had to set her alarm.
That alarm was pure evil. It must have it in for her, it must! Why else did it insist on going off more times then she set it to do? It was a good alarm clock though as it has never broken. Not once. Even after all the times it has ended up on the other side of the room. That thing just refused to break. And it did make her get up on time... mainly because it would continue to go off even after its flight, and Alexia could not stand her alarm going off. So of course she had to get up and switch the annoying thing off, and then there wasn't much point returning to bed considering she was already up. It was a miracle she had never been late to class...
After placing her now silent Alarm Clock back on her bedside table, Alexia proceeded to dress herself and make herself somewhat presentable to go to breakfast. Not that she ever didn't look presentable... except when sleeping of course and first thing in the morning. Bed hair isn't exactly flattering. Which was why the first thing she always did after shutting up the annoying racket, was to briefly run her fingers through her hair before heading to the bathroom to shower.
Once clean and more awake, she proceeded to dress herself in her usual choice of clothing consisting of a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. Todays t-shirt saying 'I am not short but fun-sized!'. Then came her 'beauty regime' which only consisted of brushing her hair, putting on her jewellery and putting on the most basic of make-up: mascara, natural eye-shadow and clear lip gloss (lip-gloss applied after the cleaning of the teeth had occurred of course). Now she was presentable.
On went her grey light-weight jacket with musical notes on and on went her brown wedge heeled boots. After grabbing her bag and her folder of music she exited her room and made her way toward the dining hall. Time for Breakfast.
As she walked down the halls she kept her head down and nodded in greeting if she was addressed, which only happened once and by a teacher no less. It was still early in the first term and Alexia was yet to get to know anyone properly. Also her blasted shyness kept her from starting conversations with people. But at least she wasn't constantly being compared to her siblings. This was a fresh start for her and already she was enjoying it. Except the weird noises at night but hey, you can't have everything your way.
She melted into the small crowd of people who were entering the dining hall, and easily followed the flow toward the queue. This was one thing she wasn't unaccustomed to. Coming from a big family, and a half Italian family at that, meal times were always busy and full of people. After deciding on a piece of toast, an apple and a bottle of water, Alexia proceeded to scan the hall for an empty seat. It had filled up quickly, and there were only a few tables left with free spots. None of those tables were completely empty however, so she was going to have to join a table with people there already. Clutching her folder closer to her she quietly made her way to the table closest to her and sat down, not making eye contact with any of the tables current occupants.
She quickly and quietly grabbed a pencil, pulled out the sheets she was currently working on and got down to work whilst eating her breakfast. She wanted to talk to these people but she couldn't. They wouldn't want to talk to her anyway.
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Post by Minxie on Jul 29, 2009 0:17:34 GMT
[[ Isolde Avira --- Can has sanity? ]]
First thing in the morning was never the best of times for Isolde, even if she had received a full quote of sleep. To be suddenly confronted with people, in such a short space of time, was a little un-balancing for the girl. Really, she just wanted to go back to bed and sleep a lot longer (minus nightmares, obviously). That wasn't going to happen, though, since classes were due to start in an hour and a half. All that Isolde could do was ingest as much caffeine as she could, and hope that it kept her going until lunchtime. It might even help with the people who had suddenly appeared at her table. No-one had sat with her by choice, not in the longest of times. It was thoroughly disconcerting to Isolde to have not one, but two people willingly join her. And one even seemed as though he wished to converse. Was he knew? The teenager couldn't quite place his face.
Wait.
He had spoken to her. Spoken to her. That meant she actually had to reply! Of course, Isolde could have stolidly ignored him, keeping up with the opinion people had of her of being "icy cold", but she didn't want to be rude. She was quiet because she was shy and unsure of what to say, not because she was rude and thought that she was better than everyone else. Not many people bothered to address her any more, except the teachers. This was a bit of an event, really, this excitable young thing addressing her as though she was just another person. And, actually, it was rather pleasant. Though his manner was a little more enthusiastic than she might have been used to, Isolde was quite flattered that he was speaking to her in such a way.
A small smile curved the corners of her lips up as she pondered how she ought to reply to him. The lack of sleep had not been voluntary, of course, so perhaps she should mention that? What was an all-nighter, in any case? Isolde was vaguely sure she knew the term, but it still seemed a little alien to her. To stall for time, she poured herself another cup of tea, carefully measuring out the milk into the porcelain cup before adding the steaming liquid.
"I had trouble sleeping," she said after a pause and a sip of the caffeinated beverage. "It is not often I like to have little sleep." As always, she was painfully aware of how awkward her words sounded in English, how heavily accented they were. Isolde much preferred her mother's native language of German, but she doubted the young man would have any idea of what she was saying were she to address him in it. "Um... Good morning." She added, giving another, rather shy, little smile. Her gaze flickered over to the other girl at the table, but she seemed very busy with paperwork, so Isolde opted not to disturb her.
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Post by angeloftheodd on Aug 10, 2009 21:01:46 GMT
Egica's eye, but only the one, opened and scanned slowly across the room. What it found was sunlight. Not much mind, but enough to resign the other eye to opening.
The sun was only creeping through the curtain, but for Egica every day started early.
First he would place a record on the old fashioned player on his mantle. They were hard enough to come by to be among his prized possessions. Between the cracks and pops swelled old 1920's music. The kind with slow, moody clarinet and coronet, usually with a lone female singer crooning through.
He showered and cleansed, shaped his long impeccable nails and painstakingly brushed out his hair.
100 strokes, like mother taught me.
When done he pulled on leather trousers, a black silk shirt with lace and frill and a dark red waistcoat with silver decoration. The final touch was his scent. Lavender with a gentle spice.
Others may laugh at my attire, some may admire it. But all will look.
With that he all but floated down toward the dining hall, hands out at his sides.
The hall stank of coffee. It was too strong, sickly and overbearing. His nose rankled. All around him people gathered around the tables, some he recognized, but nothing he would call a friend.
You go to all the trouble of breaking the ice and then they wont stop talking even when they have stopped being interesting. So much effort.
At the table in the middle was seated a young girl. White blond hair, almost Grey. Something about her was immediately fascinating to him. As he approached however a boy joined her at the able, almost buzzing with an energy that was almost instantly grating in every conceivable way. Egica’s nails dug deep into his palms in frustration.
He acquired a crepe or “Pancake” and proceeded to flit half-heartedly between individuals, keeping as hidden as he could his hover around the table and wait for an opportunity.
When he heard the accent pass her lips he wasted no time in gliding towards the table.
“Ah! Guten Morgen Fraulein.”
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Post by Minxie on Aug 11, 2009 12:12:29 GMT
[[ Isolde Avira // OMGWTFBBQGERMAN?!11one ]]
She had been silently waiting for response from the overly-excitable young man before her, sipping delicately at the still-steaming cup of tea, when Isolde heard something she had never, ever expected to hear at the college.
“Ah! Guten Morgen Fraulein.”
Her heart did some sort of triple backflip, and her eyes widened. Slowly, the teenager turned around to find the source of the language she so loved. Her eyes fell upon a rather strangely-dressed young man. His outfit, though a little strange, was certainly befitting of him. She offered him a sort-of-smile, still a little surprised at this turn of events.
"Guten Morgen," she greeted him, the words feeling very natural to her. It had been such a long time since she had been able to have a conversation in her favourite langauge. Saving her parents, she didn't speak conversational German to anyone; for a start, she had met no-one else who was as fluent as she, and for another thing she was far too shy to have attempted to find someone.
"Wie geht es?" she added, feeling that it would be polite of her to query his wellbeing. She glanced over him once more, taking in the leather trousers and smart, frilled shirt. The more she looked at it, the more Isolde felt that she liked it.
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Post by angeloftheodd on Aug 11, 2009 19:02:20 GMT
The wide eyed surprise and half smile were a pleasure to behold. From the moment he opened his mouth he had been dreading a morning of painfully ordinary conversation.
"Bezaubert"
He smiled back, aiming for warmth and desperately trying to reign in what could be extremely unsettling.
"Sehr gut, danke. Und Ihnen?"
He seated himself at the table with a graceful descent, unrolled the crepe and began to cut it into small, near identical squares with almost surgical precision. Looking up from his labour he continued.
"I'm sorry, my German must sound so crude to you. It's been many years for me."
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Post by Sylver on Aug 12, 2009 6:21:39 GMT
[ Ruan Huojin / Must Pay Attention ]
Huojin silently cursed himself as he realized his brain had wandered from the conversation he had initiated. At first, he had been distracted by the girl with the folder, then by some of the other students wandering by the table. Maybe he really should reconsider his teachers' recommendation that he be tested for that disease they liked to give people now. What was it called? ABCD? Not that his parents would ever go for it. They had always explained his behavior away as him just being 'theatrical'. They would never admit to him having some disease he couldn't even pronounce.
A new voice drew his attention back to the table and he cursed himself again, making himself focus on Isolde. "Your dorm must have been about as busy as my roommate said ours was. Probably people having trouble getting used to new rooms or something. I wouldn't know. I didn't hear a thing except my roomie snoring," he replied, smirking slightly. He glanced at the latest arrival, Egica, then quickly away toward the other girl once he saw what the other man was wearing. It was a little too early in the morning to be having a conversation with a person that could easily pass for a vampire.
Even though he knew no German, he kept one ear on their conversation as he tried to see what had the other girl's complete attention. It wasn't a good sign if he got distracted again before class had even started.
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Post by Hobz on Aug 12, 2009 17:49:55 GMT
[Alexia Matthews ~ Musical Ear?]
It may have seemed to others that Alexia had become completely engrossed in her work and wasn't paying attention to anything else, but in reality she kept her ears open the entire time. Most of what she heard was just general chatter which turned into background noise for her. However when she heard the unmistakable sound of an accent, coming from one of the occupants of her table, her interest was immediately piqued.
For some reason she had always been fascinated with accents and other languages and she always managed to distinguish them from all other noise. Maybe it was because of her own Italian background. Or maybe it was because of her musical ear. Either way, she always managed to notice accents. This one was German by the seems of it. Her theory was proved correct when a new voice entered the conversation speaking in the actual German language.
Alexia kept to herself with her head down, working tirelessly on her music as the conversation continued. She did however briefly flicker her eyes up to take in the appearance of the new-comer, who had seated himself on the same side of the table as her. It seemed like he definitely didn't care what people thought and only dressed for himself. Good for him. It never shocked her all that much when people decided to be unique and different, in fact she often looked up to people like that. Unless of course those people were arrogant, then she wanted nothing more than to stuff their heads into a rubbish bin... not that she would of course.
Feeling eyes on her, Alexia raised her eyes again to see who it was that was staring at her. She did not like the uncomfortable feeling of being stared at, but she wasn't unused to it. After all people had often stared unashamedly at her to see the similarities between her and her siblings. Not that there was any worry about that here. No doubt he was just wondering why she was so quiet or something. Either way, her manners kicked in and she gave a small smile in acknowledgment to the more normal looking boy at the table.
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Post by angeloftheodd on Aug 12, 2009 19:28:25 GMT
Inside Egica cursed himself most foully.
Have I come on too strong? Fool! Dolt! I shall make amends later
When the boy spoke, Egica was relieved it was not to him. In fact the stranger seemed not to register him at all. The relief stemmed from having no idea what to say to him.
Using his fork he folded the corners of a square of crepe into an immaculate parcel, before placing it into his mouth.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the other girl, who had up to now remained enthralled in her work. During his brief reconnoiter she had stayed quiet. He had only his initial impressions to go on. The choice of attire, with a perky slogan bearing t-shirt crossed with her quiet demeanor created rather the unknown quantity.
Egica despised surprises.
He glanced over at her work. The notation meant nothing to him. He tried to learn music once, but the effort was unreasonable and the reward not immediate.
"I can respect anyone too busy to talk. After all, they say true genius never rests."
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Post by Sylver on Aug 18, 2009 22:06:15 GMT
[Ruan Huojin / Biting off more than he can chew]
Huojin returned Alexis' smile, then finished off his quickly cooling coffee. He was running out of ideas for conversation, especially since Alexis didn't seem interested in talking, Isolde was distracted by Egica and something about Egica himself bothered the Chinese boy. 'It's just for breakfast,' he kept telling himself. It wasn't like he was going to be spending a lot of time around the other boy, now was it? "You certainly look well-rested," he couldn't help replying to the other boy. "Your inner genius must be on vacation."
He pulled on the ends of his long-sleeved shirt, then pulled the arm-warmers he was wearing down farther over his fingers. After they had moved a fraction of an inch, he reached one hand up to brush his hair out of his face, only to have it fall right back into place. Realizing that he was fidgeting, he placed both hands under his knees and glanced at his companions. "So, what does everyone have for their first class this morning?"
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Post by Minxie on Aug 23, 2009 18:56:02 GMT
[[ Isolde Avira - Wait, what? ]]
The fact that she had just been spoken to in German had momentarily stunned her, and Isolde knew full well that she should have been saying something further. But her mind was still on the fact she had (a) been addressed, and (b) been addressed in German.
Eventually her mind hauled itself out of the crazed cycle it had gotten itself into, and she blinked, then took another demure sip of tea.
"Ich bin eine bichen müde." She admitted, with a tiny little shrug. "And your German - it is a pleasure to hear."
She poured another cup of tea as she awaited a response. Isolde quietly listened to the conversations fluttering around her. It was pleasant to listen to, surprisingly. It was unusual that a nice conversation was going on around her, as opposed to a harsh, unpleasant sound around her.
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Post by angeloftheodd on Aug 24, 2009 1:32:36 GMT
Egica eye twitched and his lip curled at what the other boy had said. He wanted to say something cutting in return, but aware that the moment was rapidly slipping away and he could only pursue one line of conversation. But this was not over.
"I hear from the others there were strange noises and such last night."
He paused for another meticulously arranged morsel of pancake.
"It's an old house, these things will happen... If you are tired then might I say you are making it look easy."
He stood up and gave a slight bow.
"My name is Egica. Egica Blackmoor. Edge to my friends, but I'll leave that up to you"
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