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"Err...okay then." Xeiashi said dismissively as he stopped searching. He hadn't found anything in the meantime anyway, and it seemed like this Total simply didn't want to be found.

Alexi seemed lost in thought now, and Zain the 'Royalty' had also disappeared, so Xeiashi wandered back to the still-broken WeedBot. As he stooped to pick it up, he realized just how much damage he had done by ripping out those wires. 'Oh well, it was for a good cause. It can't be that hard to fix though.' came the thoughts as he gathered it and started back to his hut.

Along the way, he reflected on his meeting, then on the fact that a Ball was apparently being held. The whole thing made him think. Every time he left his hut to do something, he met someone new. First it was Harata at the beach, then Alexi here at the Lake, which had apparently been built in the meantime. Perhaps meeting people was a good thing?

'Only one way to find out, I'm going to that Ball and I AM going to meet someone...hopefully someone with the know-how to keep this dang thing from attacking innocent plant-people. Besides, I haven't seen Evelyn in a while...not since the funeral, at least. And that other guy, what was his name? Bapp? Maybe he would know something...'

He almost ran into his wooden-slat door due to his inattention. With a self-depreciative chuckle, he cut his train of thought and set to work making something that wouldn't be completely out of place at an organized function. The WeedBot, like so many other trains of thought, was left wrecked on a workbench next to notes on auras and a splinter of oak that was left there for safekeeping.

Only later did it occur to him that 'real' clothes were make of cotton, or silk, so some other fabric besides carbon-fiber fabric made from trees and dirt. Oh well, it couldn't be helped, and he had to admit, boring grey was a nice alteration from dirt-covered once-clean Order robes. He cleaned those in the meantime on an afterthought.

By that time, his stomach was once again protesting its emptiness, but, afraid of the cook's food after his sort-of-recent exposure to it, he returned to the library. In it, he found a few students, a few miscellaneous visitors, and a book describing numerous types of edible plants. He took it without a word and jogged into the woods to find himself a meal.

He would eat interesting food tonight, that's for sure.



((late and long, but at least it's moving))

Stephanie beamed at her reply.

"No... just having a friend to get ready with is enough."

She stood and smiled at her a little longer, totally earnest. Having a real friend was one of the best things in the world. Then, with a giggle, she reached out and grabbed Odin's arm, pulling her off towards the Temple at a sprint.

"This is going to be so much fun!!"


((d'aww))

"That's fine!" Steff chirruped, "Now that I know where your room is, I'll just run upstairs and get my dress!"

She bounced away, and was back minutes later - severely out of breath this time from her mad dash up and down the two flights of stairs from the basement to the dorms. Technically, she should have been sleeping outside with the other combatants, and she had for the first week or so. Recently, though, the priestesses had taken pity on her, especially after learning from Gloria that she was so unwilling to fight, and allocated her her own bed and space in the dorms to move into.

"Here it is!" she puffed, gasping for breath, laying out her little yellow party frock on the bed. She'd also had the good sense to bring her accessories and shoes, all blue to accent, and her hair ties and spray. She was missing one vital element, though. "Gah! I'll never ever EVER get all of my makeup down here! What makeup do you have?"

She looked towards Odin hopefully, not realising that maybe the introverted girl wouldn't be interested in that kind of vanity.

Saving the conversation from an awkward turn, however, she brightly added: "And where's YOUR dress? Oh boy, I can't wait to see!"

...Actually, perhaps it was about to get even more awkward than initially thought possible.


((Odin: ACTUALLY I'M WEARING A SUIT LOL

Let the luls commence))

"Oh, that's unusual!" said Steff brightly, too buoyed at that moment to think anything in particular. She snatched the makeup set off the bed and began fiddling with it, cheerfully dabbing colours onto her fingertips and smooshing them together to try and make the perfect shade.

She even started humming to herself. Then, exactly what Odin had said hit her like a rampant omnibus. "Oh!" she gasped, looking at her with wide eyes.

Those big, blue eyes suddenly flicked arond the corners of the room. Mess everywhere... clothes and rubbish strewn about in heaps on the floor... desk heaped with disorganised clutter... no makeup... no dresses...

It didn't look like a girl's room at all.

"U-um," she said, taking a small, frightened step backwards, "A-are you a... lesbian...?"

"Not that there's anything WRONG with being a lesbian!" she squeaked, waving her hands so fiercely in her denial that one of the brushes dropped to the floor. She bent to pick it up immediately and bounced back up like a jackrabbit, her giggle having a slightly nervous edge. "Ehehe... woops...! But um, yeah, it's, um, there's nothing... wrong... it's just... I'm not... gay..."


((*ROFLFOROL*))

Steff's expression oscillated between several different shades of confusion as Odin babbled on, dropping herself in and pulling herself out of trouble in equal measures. She stared at her, makeup case clutched to her chest almost like a shield, after she'd finished her little spiel, and the momentary silence before she added "I still like guys!" seemed to spiral on into infinity.

Only then did her face and posture relax.

"You... grew up with men?" she said thoughtfully. Her eyes brightened a little, and once again she seemed to practically explode with energy. The crisis - or non-crisis, seeing as, you know, there was nothing WRONG with lesbians, as both girls had agreed - was over. "Were they cute?!"

"Ohhhh come oooon! Don't lie to meee!" she whined as Odin stuttered and blushed, dancing closer to her and tugging on her arm as she attempted to back away. "Joshua sounds like a TOTALLY cute guy!! He sounds-!"

She and Odin both blinked at the photo that fell out in front of them. Odin pulled her hand away from Steff to cup her face, while the blonde girl herself... looked like the cat who'd got the cream.

"Oooh!" she sang, picking up the photo to examine it with an expert eye as she nudged back up next to the humiliated girl in order to torture her at close range, "He IS cute! Is he your... BOOOYFRIEND?"

Giggling like a twitterpated parakeet, she suddenly threw her arms around her new BFF with the force of a flying tackleglomp. "Or maybe you'd LIKE him to be, eh? Don't worry, I know how THAT feels! Boys are SO freaking DUMB, am I right? They just don't know what they've got right in front of them!"

She stuck out her tongue in revulsion at the obliviousness of the opposite sex, and then lifted the photo up in front of both of them, where they could both get a better look. "I bet he's nice, though. Is he a good person?"

"Oh... like a father..." said Steff, a pang in her own voice. She slowly placed the photo back down onto the table, resting her head against Odin's shoulder. "I understand..."

She silently stood there, cuddling up to Odin as she strayed into her own thoughts about the main man in her life.

Shaking them out of her head before she got too mad and allowed that b*****d to ruin her day, she jumped in front of Odin, a big smile on her face again. "Hey! What about that guy you were sparring with earlier? HE was pretty cute! Aidan, right?"

Just in case she'd surprised her with her knowledge, she gave a little giggle and explained. "Oh, I know most people's names around here. I'm good at that sort of thing, and Gloria made a point of gossiping to me about everyone, so...! Do you think he'll be at the ball?"

Steff squeaked again with excitement. "Ee! Then maybe I can try and get you two together!" she squealed, her own mouth ironically running ahead of her mind. Quickly enough, it caught up. "But wait! He's an a**?!" she gasped, immediately performing an about-face, "What a jerk! I HATE guys like that!"

She fumed comically on her new friend's behalf, and then grabbed her by the shoulders. "Hey, don't you worry about him, or any of these crappy guys!" she determinedly grinned, "It's a good thing we ran into one another! Tonight, YOU'RE going to be MY boyfriend, and we'll just forget about the lot of them!"

Laughing loudly, she broke away and spun around in a perfectly trained pirouette, before flopping down onto the bed. She winced, and sat up, pulling from behind her a pointy coat hanger that had found its way there from its home in the wardrobe some way or another. "Owie..."