The Boarding School Chat

I flinched at the words. if you want to talk about it. I was terrified to talk about it. It would obviously make me go insane. I shook my head and did the one thing that I had done since Lee's... de...ath... "I'm fine."

I listened carefully as the other two girls introduced themselves, remembering the names carefully so i wouldnt forget them later. "Nice to meet you both.... my name's Kaya." i put in quietly. "Did you not get much sleep or something? Sometimes i find i space out more if im tired." i offered. I knew she said she was fine, but i got the impression she wasnt. There wasnt much point in pushing her to talk about something she didnt want to talk about, though. It would only do more harm than good. I began wondeirng where my dorm and classes were, and more importantly, wherre the library was. Libraries were my home away from home and discerning its location was absolutely essential.

I smiled at the other girl, now I wouldn't have to lie, "No, I haven't been sleeping well recently." It wasn't a lie. I could barely get to sleep now-a-days. Lee's death had shook me to the very core. I didn't really know how to live without him, but at least I was trying.

Dorms, dorms... Jeez, this place was a maze of labyrinths... I just wanted my room though. Somewhere to chill and try to sleep away the fact that I was in a damn boarding school for taking a candy bar...

Duffel bag in my shoulder is starting to bite in, the strap making my skin all red from its weight and just plain old ability to dig into skin. You'd think people would design these things with a little more comfort in mind.... EEENT - wrong...

((Bump? :/))

I continued...er... towards where some arrows pointed... up some stairs... and just kind of hoped that I'd either reach the right place, or... I don't know, Someone would magically show up and know what to do about everything. I certainly had no clue.

I kind of glanced around for someone who would do just that... magically know what to do.

And then I started carrying my ducttape and cardboard suitcase upstairs, because... the arrows pointed to upstairs. I was still looking for that magical person who could read, but... no point in loitering... unless you know, I got hopelessly lost in these hallways...somehow...

I walked through the halls, glancing up from the map every now and then to be sure I was even following it correctly. Okay, still in the right place. That was reassuring. Other students were navigating the halls, too, with varying levels of confidence.

Then I glimpsed something--or rather, someone--that made me do a double-take. I couldn't see him very well, but that guy looked just like... I blinked just to be sure I wasn't seeing things. Planar influence, or...? I figured it was worth going over there, if only to confirm that I had just been mistaken.

As I got closer, I could swear I wasn't mistaken.

"...T.Mor...?"

I turned... Someone... someone knew my name. Or... er... I don't know said something that sounded like my name.

"...er... Yes?" I asked as I looked for... and then it hit me.

That... That was Peter. ...here... in a boarding school... Which I was just now noticing had very little plywood in it... if any at all. So then... why it was called a "boarding" school... I didn't really understand... but anyway.

PETER. ... in... in one of these weird... school... uniformy things. It was... freaky. and... kind of jarring... I mean, I'm so used to seeing him in the 'all black with combat boots' deal... This was... weird.

"... ...Peter?!" I finally managed to say.

I wondered if the Internet had just randomly decided: HEY HE KNOWS HOW TO WHAT DO... Perhaps I will make things go well for you for once, T.Mor--- and then dropped Peter here.

That... would probably make as much sense as anything else.

Peter

That...really was T.Mor. How in the...?

...You know, I probably should've been used to this sort of thing happening by now.

However he'd gotten here, the fact was that he was here. I actually felt a little relieved that, among this whole sea of unfamiliar people, there was someone I knew well. ...Of course, seeing him in a school uniform rather than his usual all-black guard uniform and nearly-falling-apart combat boots was...pretty weird. Kind of jarring, actually...

"This is..." I started, but I lost track of the sentence's direction partway into it. If it ever had one to begin with, that is.

T.Mor:

"...Yeah..." I agreed with whatever sentence never made it out of his mouth. Because... Really... it was. Which... isn't really a good answer to... anything or... an explanation or whatever, but... it still was...so...er. That probably is something that only makes sense to me though...

"So... erm... which way to... uhm... wherever?" I asked after some quietness on my end, figuring that if we all stood here and tried to figure out what exactly it was other than the fact that it was, that...we...we'd be standing in this hall all day just kind of... erm... not saying a lot of things that made sense.

I had no idea where we were actually suppoused to be going, so I figured that Peter would know. Peter is good at knowing things.

Peter

"We're supposed to be settling into our dorms now," I said. "Um, I could help you find yours. They have papers and maps and stuff... What did they give you?"

I had the small hope that we'd be sharing a dorm, but I figured that that entered the realm of "too good to be true." In all likelihood, we'd both be sharing spaces with total strangers. As much as I was nervous about it, I wondered how T.Mor would fare. T.Mor and social situations...

T.Mor:

Oh.

That's what those papers were. ...uh huh. I unzipped a bit of my suitcase and pulled out a somewhat wrinkly stack of papers and stuff, noticing a map at the very top of the stack.

Well. That... that would have helped. Probably more so if I could...read... but...still.

I wasn't entirely sure what a dorm was... but figured that that would be something I figured out soon enough... I held out the papers for him to look through. "uh... I got that... nailed to my door... so...er... yeah." I nodded.

Peter

I took the papers from him, straightened them out a little, and looked them over.

"My gods..." I said as I read the words. I had to read them over again just to be sure. "We have the same dorm," I told him, handing him back the papers.

Okay...well...it had reached the realm of "too good to be true," enough that the conspiracy portion of my mind was screaming that it was all a setup. This had to be planned. There was no way around it. Part of me wanted to shut that portion up on the grounds that I was being too paranoid, but the rest of me said to listen to it. A little paranoia was never a bad thing. It kept you safe.

"Well, at least we're going to the same place," I mentioned. "Makes things easier..."

Easier for anyone besides us?

The picture perfect everything-in-its-place stiflingly ordered appearance continued past the outdoors. In fact, looked like this whole place had been dipped in a layering of Mr Clean.

Plus, this is probably the newest and cleanest outfit I had worn in a while. It felt really stiff, which is gonna get really old really fast when I try to sneak through some windows.

But the thought of having regular meals, a reliable place to stay, mostly non homicidal classmates, a formal education... it was kind of exciting, in a really scary way. I grinned, the sound of my shiny shoes clicking in the hall as I began to wander around. Just getting the lay of the land, you know?

T.Mor:

I still wasn't all that sure what a dorm was, but... if... if It meant that I was going the same way as Peter... then... I was good with that. Meant I wouldn't get lost... yet.

I took my papers back, kept the map out, and shoved the rest back into my suitcase, and Just kind of stood there. "So...er... where is... that uhm... dorm... place?" I asked, kind of picking up my suitcase from where it was on the floor when I stuffed stuff into it.

I figured we would be going to wherever that place was.

I was almost finished unpacking the selection of belongings that I had deemed fit to move from the apartment and to the school. Naturally, this included my pistol, a knife, and a sparse collection of ammo... all things that I was fairly certain I was technically not allowed to posses on campus.

However, one had to suppose I must be allowed some way of dealing with aggravating roommates, and I had restrained myself from packing any high powered assault rifles. So I believe I was entitled points for self control.

I had now turned my attention to shelving my collection of classical books upon the conveniently provided shelf. Somewhere in the back of my mind, my separation from Alexander was beginning to irritate me, since I wasn't sure what trouble he could be potentially starting for our shared soul... but I was going to have to trust that he wasn't going to do anything too idiotic.

Now all that was left to be concerned about was the identity of the aforementioned roommates. Perhaps if they were simply intolerable, I could hide the bodies somewhere outside... hm...

I walked up the front steps, dragging my steamer trunk behind me. I was glad that it had wheels mounted on the back of it, and ended up just hauling it up the steps.

My mother had insisted on packing me... well, a bit of everything. Practically my whole closet was in there, I swear. She was insane. So... it was really heavy to haul up all those stairs.

Once I got to the front hall, I unfolded my map from my pocket, and looked at where I should be going. She'd highlighted my dorm on the map. And drew arrows.

Alright, alright I wouldn't go exploring on my first day. Fine. And I followed the highlighted path up to my dorm. ...dragging this obnoxious trunk.

I rolled my eyes as I left, taking note of all the things my mother had done for me that only served to irritate me more about this whole thing.

Peter

"If I'm right, it should be this way," I said, checking the map for confirmation. I started walking.

After a short while...

"There it is." I headed up to the door, making sure I had the right number. This was it alright. The door was unlocked since we hadn't settled in yet--that said, I went inside.

The room looked rather plain, not that I really cared about that either way. The setup seemed simple enough. Neat, organized. I set my stuff down for a moment.

"Guess we get to unpacking, then. Um, I don't really care which side I get, so..." I knelt down and opened up my bag, taking out the first thing I saw--toiletries. I carried them over the bathroom and set them out, seeing that one of our neighbors had already put his own stuff here. I wondered who he was. Curious, I looked over to the open doorway on the other side and stepped back a little, trying to see if he was visible from here.

...

Oh, you have got to be freaking kidding me.

T.Mor:


"Ok..." I picked a bed at random...and, while Peter was doing whatever in the bathroom, I slid the pistol I'd brought with me under my mattress. That done, I put the rest of my luggage... uhm...well In a drawer of the closet, and slipped the suitcase under my bed. That done, I kind of wondered what was taking Peter so long with that little bag of things he took in to the bathroom. He'd left the door open, so I kind of...walked over there.

There was another door at the other end of the bathroom... that was open... That Peter was kind of looking through.

I followed his line of sight- "Peter... what...?" I asked as I walked over, and then I saw him.

...oh great. ... ...Just... ...yeah. There... there were... not really words.

Two sets of footsteps sounded from the other room, and I froze for half a second, then slid the last book onto the case. Wonderful, seems that roommates had arrived. Now to see who I would be forced to spend the next however long period of time in the same-

...

I would dismiss the coincidence of the name 'Peter' if it hadn't been spoken by an unnaturally, unmistakably, and irritatingly diffident voice. My first reaction was to use the pistol I had hidden under the pillow on my bed- whether to shoot myself or the two intruders I was not certain- but when I found myself reaching for it I stopped myself. My hand hovered in the air for a moment before balling into a fist as I slowly and deliberately turned to face them.

My trepidation was unfortunately confirmed.

...Suddenly, the fact that I had failed to bring an assault rifle was looking like less and less of a good idea.

Peter

I stood there for a moment longer before turning on my heel and walking back out again. Part of me was yelling that I should never turn my back on my enemies, but I didn't care. It wasn't like he could do anything at the moment anyway.

...Well. One thing was for certain: We'd be locking our bathroom door each night. And barricading it if need be.

I went back over to my bag and started unpacking the rest of my stuff, trying not to think about the fact that for the rest of the school year, we would be sleeping next door to and sharing a bathroom with Dorian Aldric. Great.

But...if he was here...did that mean Marley was in this town, too?

T.Mor:

I followed Peter back out... briefly wondering where the stove was before closing the bathroom door behind us.

"Uhm... ...so... There's no stove... or... shrinebox..." I muttered, trying to just completely ignore the murderer next door. I sat on my bed, having already taken care of pretty much everything I owned.

Ignoring murderers next door. Something told me that this was not what school was suppoused to be like.

Which was why I was just going to try to pretend like it never happened... and instead worry about why none of the appliances I knew were here. Because, If I pretend it never happened... then... maybe it would just go away. Not that that ever worked, but... It was always worth a shot... Like that time where I'd cracked that mirror by accident and pretended I hadn't until I had to cut my hair... and then...well... I still had a broken mirror. So... that ...yeah...

And also... how we would boil any of the water if there was no stove?

I sighed, running my hand through my hair as I sat on the edge of the bed. My bed, I guess. Not that I wasn't used to new surroundings, what with semi frequently moving apartments as cases demanded a change in location... but the entire concept was a bit to wrap my head around.

School. Dorms. Fellow students. I hadn't even met any of the latter yet... heck, I hadn't even been anywhere on campus but a direct line to the room. Not even unpacked. Still just sitting, watching, waiting, thinking.

Peter

"It's not like we need a stove," I said, finishing unpacking my stuff--there wasn't a whole lot--and starting to organize everything. "We get food from the school. As for the shrineboxes...no one outside of your universe has those as far as I've seen. Your universe is the only one currently noted to have a sentient internet. So...yeah."

I finished organizing and sat down on my bed, Sesria climbing up to sit beside me. Well...this was going to be an interesting year.


((I haven't actually included Sesria much in chats, mainly because it's hard to incorporate my 'verse souls when no other character is like that. Needless to say, souls are acknowledged and focused on much more in canon. I am trying to include souls in chats a little more than I have been, though.))

Will

So wait....do I turn left or turn...right? I looked around for Demetrius but he had already gone to find his dorm, well then...er....I stared at the map. Man, I was /horrible/ at directions and this map didn't make it easier, back home I could find everything...which is funny because it was surprisingly more complicated. I made a left and knocked on the room I was supposed to stay and went in.

OH HELL NO. NO WAY. DORIAN?! REALLY?! GOOD GOD WERE THEY ALREADY PLANNING MY DEMISE?!

I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, well...this year was freaking lovely.