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 Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2016 10:53 am
 Aspara was walking back from the market to her dorm while rain pelted from above with a large pack on her back filled to the brim with food, as well as a few bags full hanging from her arms because they hadn't fit. She held open a thick, open textbook in one hand that she was clearly reading while walking, and a large umbrella in the other to shield her from the watery assault coming from the sky.
It was pouring, and large puddles had formed around on the ground while curtains of water ran off over the gutters from buildings. Normally with this sort of rain, she would have waited until it cleared to have gotten her groceries, but it'd been forecast that this rain wasn't going to let up, leaving Aspara with the desire to be curled up in her dorm with books and research papers to read as well as some delicious soul food and hot cocoa as she listened to the rain pattering outside.
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:11 am
 Jessie had refused the offer the academy had lent him. The promise to help him find housing had made him feel guilty, and a swift lie escaped him, claiming he already had a home. It was his fault he was homeless, he was aware, but he couldn't rely on the academy. Not after they had rescued him from that. Not after they fed, educated, and clothed him for years. No, he couldn't take more, and so the lie had been smooth. He didn't care that he was miserable, or that the rain was slowly freezing his bones. All he cared about was he had done, in his mind, the right thing.
And who cared if he froze to death? Or starved? Or anything else? He didn't. His parents hadn't. His captor even wanted him to die multiple times. Only the academy would feel, and they had hundreds of students to worry about. His death would trouble them for a brief moment before they moved on. Honestly, he'd trouble no one. He'd be doing a favor. Less people to see his trouble of a self. Less worries. Less obligations.
Those feelings didn't stop the cold that ran through him. He had curled up on a bench near the dorms of Leviathan, having sought a place to hide his pawed feet from puddles. His tendrils fluttered gently, almost fragile in appearance. Well... at least the rain was washing him, right?
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:47 am
As Aspara made her way up towards the cluster of dorms for her University, something caught the corner of her eye off to the left. Lifting her head from her book, she adjusted her glasses and looked over to the bench to see what she assumed at first was another student. A small frown came over her face as their body language screamed to her that something wasn't right. Had they maybe gotten locked out? But why would they be out in the rain and not at one of the University buildings, like the library? With this rain, there was no excuse for a student who looked as miserable as they did not to seek shelter.
Something was horribly wrong, and it troubled her. Without a second thought, she closed her book and walked right over to the bench and held her umbrella out to cover the curled figure from the rain. She wasn't bothered by the water that was now falling on to her, though she was worried about her text book being damaged. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" She hated it when someone asked the stupid question of 'is everything alright' when something clearly wasn't. No, she was far more direct about what she wanted to know and that she wasn't going to accept the fake lie answer of 'oh, nothing's wrong, this is my normal behavior' because that was just a lie.
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2016 3:31 pm
Jessie had laid on the bench, tail flicked over his body to fight the cold and arms drawn to his chest. The drops hit him rhythmically, jarring him when, suddenly, they stopped. His eyes snapped open, flicking up to see the form of an umbrella looming over him, held by a nixie. Shifting slightly, he pushed himself up onto his elbows, his singular glowing red eye illuminating brighter under the shadow of the umbrella.
'Hey, what's wrong? Are you hurt?'
His eyes stayed trained on her, a nervous adrenaline rushing through him. He had been spotted. He was a burden, again. A part of him, briefly, worried. What if she was here to hurt him? Another part of him prayed for it. Slowly, the hybrid trailed their eyes back to the umbrella before it clicked.
She was here to help him.
A hand slid to touch the self-placed stitches on his arms, cursed to stay there forever. The comforting motion was enough to ease his throat to respond, his body sitting up fully finally.
"No." He finally croaked, dragging his knees to his chest for warmth, eyes suspicious as he watched her, waiting. She was probably about to shoo him off, right? He was used to that, it didn't bother him. He was more frustrated he had burdened her in the first place, frankly.
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2016 7:13 pm
Aspara's tail gave a little twitch as she observed his body language, her own mind playing a back and forth of what to do about him. She couldn't leave him out here in this weather, not without feeling large weights of guilt, but she also knew nothing about this individual. Except that he was cold, wet, and seemed ready for her to hurt him.
'No.'
Ok, so at least he wasn't hurt. She gave him a warm grin as she tucked her text book into one of the grocery bags before offering him a hand to help him stand up. "Well, that's good! Come on, you're coming back with me. You'll catch your death if you stay out here in this rain." The guilt she would have felt if she'd left him far outweighed any rational to leave him here.
"So what's your name? Are you from around here? Do you know anyone here at Leviathan?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2016 7:25 am
He watched the warm grin, not swaying in his cautious nature. Grins didn't mean friendly, he knew better then that. However, suddenly, a hand was offered, and Jessie eyed it throughly, rushing through his options.
1. If he said no, he'd still be stuck in the rain, defenseless. Anyone could come up and kill him. Not like it mattered, really, but Jessie didn't want to be a burden upon those within the school.
2. If he said yes, she could murder him within her dorm. That'd be inconvenient for her, as his body would need disposing, but if it brought some joy to someone....
3. If he said yes, she could actually be a decent, sane, and warm person.
His options didn't really seem bad. Not for what Jessie was prepared for. Yet, a part of him was hesitant. Maybe the part that, deep inside, wanted to stay alive. Narrowing his eyes faintly, he watched the hand before, timidly, he placed his large claws within her palm.
"Jessie. I'm.... not from anywhere."
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Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 6:36 pm
Jessie's body language, followed by his confession of not being from anywhere, led Aspara to assume that he was either not from a good place or an orphan. She really wasn't sure how the Academy dealt with individuals in those situations, but she knew that she was lucky to have a close knit family unit compared to others.
"Well, Jessie, I'm Aspara and it's nice to meet you! Now, lets get out of this ugly storm." Her hand took his gently and she gave him a squeeze before letting go. She took a few steps away, holding out her umbrella to where Jessie should have been following beside her, then paused and looked over her shoulder to make sure he was really going to follow. She would wait until he was back under the dry of the umbrella before continuing back to her dorm room.
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Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 6:42 pm
Jessie didn't follow immediately, hand lowering slowly as she began to walk away. Wait, right, following! He leapt up, scrambling under the umbrella, where she assumed she wanted him, nervously hold the inside of his elbow with his other arm.
"Thank you..." He whispered, looking around him before raising his head to eye the umbrella as they walked. He took a second to look at her, too. She didn't look like a murderer. She didn't look like anything that would want any form of pain upon him. Of course, that could change when he was inside, but right now? Right now it looked safe.
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Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 7:40 pm
Once Jessie had caught up with her, Aspara continued with leading him off to the dry warmth of her dorm. She had hardly heard him and if she hadn't been paying attention to him she'd probably have missed it all together. "It's not a problem. I don't like seeing others suffering, and if I can do something about it I will. It's just the right thing to do. Besides, you don't look like you're someone aiming to lure me into a false sense of security and then rob me blind." It's not that she didn't want to be thanked, but she didn't feel that she needed to be.
Once in the dorm building, she closed the umbrella and shook it out a little, then placed the handle in her mouth to hold while she fished out her key from her pocket, still walking towards where her room is located. She unlocked her door and it swung inward into a rather well lit room. All around were fish tanks and from the ceiling were hanging planters with various greenery planted in them. Almost all of the flat surfaces in her livings quarters were covered with research papers and text books: coffee table, dinner table, kitchen counter, even some of the floor itself. The place looked like an academic windstorm had hit it.
Aspara went to the kitchen and placed all of the bags on the floor to put away later. Jessie and his drenched clothes were her first concern, and she went into a very organized action plan as she made her way farther to the back of the living area. "Alright, lets get you cleaned, dried, and warmed up. The bathroom and shower are right here and I do get plenty of hot water so take your time, there's no rush. The towel hanging on the back of the door is fresh and clean. You're clothes are going to need to dry, but I can get some of mine for you to borrow. I think you'll fit most of my things, otherwise we can make a wrap out of bed sheets."
She paused for a moment, realizing how overwhelming this all could be, and looked back to make sure he was still there and following all of this. "Is this ok with you, Jessie?"Maybe she should be tackling this one instance at a time and focus on getting him into the warm water. The rest could be dealt with as it came up.
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Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 7:50 pm
He remained quiet as she explained why she chose to help him, claws tapping together gently as he followed. When they were inside he self-consciously tucked his tail in-between his legs, watching the floor pool with water. His body was drenched, leaving him a cold form of a skeleton as he shuddered in the building. He pattered after her, waiting patiently as she unlocked the door and swung it open. For a second, he hesitated, claws touching his necklace briefly. He entered, staying at the entrance and focusing on the water that dropped from his body.
"Oh... um, thank you." He didn't move, stepping on tiptoes nervously before resting back onto flat feet. His eyes flicked to view her, briefly taking her form in. Jessie was extremely slender, he probably could fit most clothes! That wasn't the problem. He worried his claws would rip the clothes, or she'd finally see the cursed metal stitches in his body. He pressed against the door, holding the inside of his arm again and slowly locking his gaze on the ground.
"Y-yes. Thank you....."
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:55 pm
She had expected that Jessie would hang back, she hadn't expected him to not leave the the entryway. "Oh, don't worry about the water mess, that's an easy clean up with a rag. Come on, the water warms up fast." Aspara stepped into the bathroom and started the water with the hottest setting, before going back out to usher Jessie in. "Careful, I have it set to extra hot so that it'd heat up faster. Turn the knob to the right and it'll get colder, and push the knob inwards all the way to shut it off. You're welcome to use any of the soaps and shampoo in there."
Her plan for once Jessie got into the shower was to take care of putting her groceries away, get some hot water put on for brewing tea, and to dig out some clothes for her guest. She was thinking the super warm sweat pants that she'd gotten for a gift one year and really never wore: they were a smidge too tight for her and with Jessie's thinner figure it should be a perfect fit.
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 5:35 pm
Jessie watched her leave, faintly nodding as he looked at the water one last time before, with reluctance, he allowed the other to usher him. Listening intently, he nodded, giving a weak smile before she left, gently closing the door and locking it. He always locked doors behind him, something he picked up relatively quickly as a child.
He took the time showering, tucking his body into the edge of the shower as if he was afraid to take up too much space. When he was finished (he hadn't used her soaps or shampoo out of fear) he dried himself off, standing there stiffly. He... didn't have clothes. Swallowing, he wrapped the towel around his lower half before he tentatively unlocked the door and cracked it, only a single eye visible.
"U-um... a-about clothes?" He called, tail tucked under the towel nervously.
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 9:11 pm
Aspara had kept herself busy as the shower ran, putting away the food and placing some water on to heat up for some soul warming beverages. At this point, she was also cleaning and cutting some of the vegetables that she'd bought in preparation for dinner, making sure she prepared enough for two.
"U-um... a-about clothes?"
"They should be right outside the door, at the entry way. I hope they're not too big: they were gifts from people, but the sizes are much too small for me to fit into. If they fit, they're yours!" She called out from around the corner in the kitchen area. She'd found some very soft and warm sweat pants, as well as a thick fiber poncho. It wasn't exactly the most stylish of outfits, but it would work for the current situation.
She peeked out around the corner from the kitchen to look at Jessie, part to make sure he'd picked up the clothes and part to ask him questions for dinner. "Do you eat fish? Have any food allergies? How do you feel about rice as a starch?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:40 am
Jessie ducked, gently pulling clothes closer before fleeing back into the room, closing the door behind him. It took a bit, as he was a fairly clumsy individual, but the clothes indeed did fit. When he opened the door Aspara began to ask questions, leaving Jessie bewildered. She was talking too quickly! What had she said? Rice. Starches. Allergies.... oh. Oh.
"I... never had fish? I don't have allergies that I know of.... rice is fine..." The hybrid nervously pressed himself into the wall, hands tapping together. Maybe this was a bad idea. He wasn't sure how to behave in this situation. He was an intruder, being fed and clothed as if it was normal. He was a burden. He always was a burden.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 5:17 pm
Aspara realized that she'd been asking too many questions again, based off of Jessie's reactions. She really needed to calm down a little, because even though she was super excited to have him as a guest he was certainly looking more and more nervous at the matter. Especially with how pressed against the wall he was. "Here, take a seat, make yourself comfy. You're my guest, and I was raised that guests are always treated like family. As long as you're here, this is your home." She pointed to a big, fluffy couch where the dinning are had been converted to a relaxing reading corner overgrowing with plants. The bookshelves near it were packed to the brim with books of all various sorts. "Personally, that's my favorite spot, and that couch is super comfy. You should try it, if you want to."
Keeping in mind with Jessie's answers on food, she decided that maybe seafood wasn't the way to go, even if a hot dish of fish and rice just sounded marvelous. Digging through her bags, she pulled out a couple cans of chili, deciding that these would be a fantastic filler of comfort food on such an ill weather day, and she could just add in the veggies she'd been chopping to it. Setting a larger sauce pan on her stove, she poured the cans in and clicked on the heat, then pulled off the now boiling water. Carefully, she poured two steaming cups of hot water, then added in a tea bag each "Here, it's really good, one of my favorite tea blends. Be careful, though, it's really hot."
Yushika Sorry this was so late getting out!
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