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 Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:41 pm
Ever since Merope warned Maritess on Groanspring that the school's Gym teacher caught wind of her cruel-aid induced Groanspring-spree, the winged ghoul knew she was only delaying the inevitable. She'd managed to escape the Boogeyman's attention up to this point, skipping the chance to sign up for Red's class even though she's wanted a Gym pass since the Detention in the Other Bathroom, and pretty much sticking to hiding in her dorm room. But a certain appendage living in a cigar box would not have her shirk away from a punishment she deserved (how Esme even learned about Groanspring, Tess had no idea) so she was now actively searching for the Boogeyman.
How long and how much she had to search, Tess wasn't sure. And truthfully, she wouldn't mind if she didn't meet Red at that moment. Or ever at all.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 8:40 pm
The hallways were quiet, or as relatively quiet as a boarding school full of ghouls and ghouls of all different races could get. There were some students who still lingered in the halls, moving around idly. Classes had long since ended, leaving them free to do whatever they wished as long as they could get away with it. At least there weren't any bruteballs being thrown around in the near vicinity. Currently the worse offender of noise traffic was a janitor messing around in a supplies closet, though it sounded as if there was more than one.
"Purple," a voice breathed behind Tess, "Let me tell you about the color purple." OhJackohJackohJack it was Red! A door slammed behind Tess as Red kicked it closed, arms crossed over her chest as she stared at the ghoul. "There are too many shades of purple than I'd care to count," she continued, "And it is made by mixing the colors red and blue. The colors, mind you dear student. I can assure you that if I ever... spawn," she spat out, "That I will pick a far better name than Purple."
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 10:33 pm
Maritess was obviously not very good at hunting or tracking anyone down. She made a far better prey than hunter, as demonstrated by Sarias when the banshee first officially met her, and now by the Gym teacher. Granted it would take nothing short of a miracle for Tess to elude Red for the rest of her unlife. Or at least the remainder of her stay in Amityville Academy. She thought she was ready to come face to face with the Boogeyman after the Laundry Room detention. She thought she would be able to articulate her thoughts and apology and that carefully constructed speech she'd worked on for the past few weeks. She thought spending the past few months under constant watch from a condescending, viciously expressive appendage passing itself off as her nanny-slash-chaperone-slash-governess would prepare her to face anything, anyone.
She thought wrong.
The sudden tension in the room she'd flown in was tangible and oppressive. And when she whirled round the air to come face to face with Red in person, Maritess lost the ability to breath (or the Undead equivalent of it) along with any sense of coherency. Her short unlife flashed before her crimson eyes, her mouth had gone dry, and a lump formed in her throat, making it very, very hard for her to talk. Or grovel.
It was only because Tess had gone through the trauma of the Island's insanity that allowed her body to keep her wings flapping rather than have her shut down immediately. "P-Professor Red," she squeaked, "I-I-I-I was, that is to say, um um um um," sadly all the winged ghoul could do was incoherently stammer.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 11:13 pm
There was a flickering grin of amusement that crossed the teacher's face as Tess faltered, her expression still visible as she slowly shook her head back and forth in disbelief. "Purple is right out," she continued, turning to open the janitorial door again. "As is Amethyst, Lavender, Lilac, Magenta, Mauve, Plum, Violet, Wisteria -- I assure you that's only the tip of the list. And before you ask, Blue was the one who made the list. He made several, actually." She poked her head into the room, then paused to glance at Tess. "He managed to choke my shredder with how many he made. It's quite a hassle, to be honest."
"Either way, are you doing something? No? Come here and hold this." The teacher pulled out a box and shoved it in Tess' direction. Whatever was in it clittered and clattered, as it if was filled with a bunch of small, round objects that rattled when moved.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 11:28 pm
Had Tess been in a state that wasn't focused primarily on emerging from this encounter relatively intact (I mean, come on, she was already only half the ghoul she used to be), she would have possibly considered adding a few more descriptions she knew. Instead she zipped her lip as her arms shot out to catch the box the professor shoved at her. "S-SORRY FOR THE I-INCONVENIENCE, PROFESSOR!" she declared loudly. Too loudly. Indoor voice, Tess, you do have one, you know.
The box continued to rattle. Not because Tess was moving. Well, maybe she was moving in place. If one counted the mild tremors of terror quaking her body and rippling along the leathery membranes of her wings. Crimson eyes darted from the box, to Red, to the closed door, to Red, and back to the box. The legless ghoul's brows were knitted in confusion and uncertainty. Sadly, at the moment, there was no room in her mind for curiosity regarding the contents of the container she held.
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:47 pm
If Red had not mastered the art of hiding her werewolf features, Tess’ words would have made her pin her ears back and tail bristle. As it was, Red had to settle for lowering her head and hunching her shoulders as her lip curled in a wince. While it was possible to use Fear to nullify her own hearing, Red did not like being as... deaf as a Reaper, to put it bluntly. Then again, it was quite useful to sneak into their clubs with their loud music...
Red continued to investigate the janitorial closet, adding another rattling box on top of the one Tess was holding before going back in. “Now where is it...? Hm. I guess it’s in anoth- aha! Here, hold this one too.” A third box was added to Tess’s stack. The other two were rattling and rolling, creating a muted ruckus with each flap of Tess’ wings. The third box remained suspiciously silent.
“Now,” Red began, closing the door and taking the boxes from Tess. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:25 am
The manananggal gave a softer but squeaky apology for her earlier overly enthusiastic one, her expression sheepish and more than a little self-conscious. As two more boxes were handed to her, Tess was glad that undeads were stronger than they looked and her pale, slender arms belied an unexpected strength. Nothing extraordinary, but enough that she was able to keep her balance and remain airborne.
When Red relieved her of the boxes and asked what it was the winged ghoul wanted to talk about, Tess gulped. Audibly. "U-um, I-I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things, actually," she began carefully, knowing that if an undead's heart could beat, hers would be hammering against her ribcage. "You already mentioned the first one, the one about you and Professor Blue. I-I'm really sorry about that! I-I had too much of Dr. Hyde's cruel aid and it seemed like a very important question at the time..." Maritess knew that was no excuse but she couldn't help but hope that Red would understand given the circumstances.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 6:31 pm
The professor motioned for the manananggal to follow her as they moved away from the closet, the boxes continuing to clink and clatter within the gym teacher’s arms. Red listened to her speak, tilting her head to one side slightly as she glanced over at the student. “A couple of things?” She inquired, curious. It certainly took guts to even ask her about her relationship with Blue, and Red wasn’t quite sure that Tess even had those. The teacher couldn’t help looking down at Tess’ torso, wondering if she did have a stomach or anything there at all. How did the girl keep her entrails in? Did she even have any at all?
Undead were a race that Red had very little experience with. Her class of Boogeymen did not have many undeads or ghosts, as they tended to flock to other specialties. Not to mention those two races honestly did not fair too well in her line of work. Christmastown was an okay place for them to travel to briefly, but any other holiday? It was quite disastrous!
“Cruel aid, huh?” The teacher asked, shaking her head. “That... tends to have that sort of effect on students.” So Tess drank? She had to have some sort of stomach then! Unless she drank and it came right out, which would be... well. Awkward. “I’ll let it slide this time, but next time we’ll see what happens. What was the other thing you wanted to ask about?”
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:57 am
What was that? Was that a sigh of relief? If Tess was capable of breathing she would have made one at learning Red wasn't about to string her up by the wings for her little Groanspring-related indiscretion. She felt very encouraged by this discovery. Not that she was going to push the issue of the Gym professor and her relationship with the Music teacher. Now or anytime in the foreseeable future.
She followed closely after Red, not too close mind you because she didn't want to intrude upon the Boogeyman's personal space. That and Tess herself was a wee bit wary of the boxes Red was carrying, particularly their contents. She gulped and braced herself as she admitted in one very long breath, "I-I've been trying to meet Groundskeeper Breck for some time now because I heard he was really really really accomplished in terms of tracking. And because he was second only to you. I-I should have gone straight to you because you are the number one best tracker ever but I was worried you'd be too busy and had more important things to tend to. But it's been over a year and I still haven't been able to get deep enough into the blasted shed of his and, well, I still really need help. Could you, perhaps, with your wisdom and experience in hunting and tracking maybe have a thing or two I could use to find my legs?" Tess suddenly had to reach out to steady herself against something or risked falling flat on her wings.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 5:35 am
At the mention of Groundskeeper Breck, Professor Red opened her mouth to say something. She didn’t get a chance; Tess continued to talk, her words flowing quickly. Red did not interrupt, focusing on the words the ghoul was saying.
The flattery brought a large grin to Red’s lips. She was basking in the flattery when the request came, hitting her hard enough to wipe the smile off and leaving her with a confused expression. “C-Come again?” Red asked inquiringly, turning to stare at Tess.
Her eyes dipped down to Tess’ exposed guts. Right. Those. Huh. Good thing the girl could fly, at least. “Well,” Red began as she mulled the problem over, stopping and falling silent as she shoved her office door open. She motioned for Tess to follow her as she made her way in, setting the boxes down on her desk. “Feel free to si- er. Sit, yes, if you do that. Or hover.”
Red was really, really out of her league with Tess. “While I appreciate the flattery,” she began, “My area of expertise isn’t tracking. It’s hunting, chasing, and capturing. You see, the Boogeymen work in squads with specialists. While we’re all competent in tracking, I’m not the best at it.”
A black, gloved hand rose and wove vaguely at the surrounding room, attempting to indicate the school grounds they were on. “You see, this place is pretty flat. And highly populated. There are no tracks to leave, and if there were the hallways are too crowded to preserve them. Not to mention scent: everybody smells differently, and scents can over-write each other. This, I think, is beyond my abilities.”
The professor paused, her eyes lighting up as an idea struck her. “Have you tried the Lost and Found? As silly as it may seem, undead... parts have wound up there. They may be there. Or, if you think a tracker can help...” Red walked away from her desk, heading towards another door. She opened it and closed it quickly behind her.
A minute passed before Red returned, holding a stick with a burlap sack over one end. “Here,” Red began, her next words hidden beneath a snarl as she bashed the sack against the floor. The stick stopped wiggling. “This belongs to Breck. It’s a shovel that will scream and screech if you remove the sack and the gag, and before you ask the gag belongs to Professor Byrn. Trust me; while my namesake is a color, I do not wear red bras.”
The professor shrugged, offering it to Tess. “Anything else I can help you with?”
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:55 am
Tess had to consciously keep the disappointment from being visible on her face when she learned Red wouldn't be able to help her. She wanted to tell the Gym Teacher that should her legs have been deposited in the Lost and Found, they would have found a way to get out on their own. They were autonomous, acting and thinking (somehow) independently of her will. Or at least they would be until she mastered the Severance process and gained some level of control over her limbs. But that required time and training and most importantly: that her legs were present.
So while she did not pout or frown or sigh deeply, she could only manage a soft, "O-oh, thank you for your time, then."
The winged undead would have headed out until she was handed a sack-covered stick. Thankfully she didn't have legs else she would have jumped from being startled when Red bashed it against the floor. "D-does it dig on its own?" she blinked, staring dubiously (and maybe a little anxiously) at the shovel then quickly shook her head, "N-never mind, Professor. I-I'll find out on my own. Thank you for your time, again, I-I promise I won't ever ask questions about you and your relationship with Professor Blue."
With that, she made to leave, then absently asked, "Sh-should I return the gag to Professor Blue? I-I doubt it'll fit me and I don't think it's proper (or hygienic) to wear second-hand bras."
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:28 am
Red nodded towards Tess as she was thanked, her soft voice loud and clear to the werewolf's ears. "I apologize that I cannot help more," the professor said, shrugging helpelessly. "Breck has his hounds, and one of them might have found something. Or someone else may have. In anyevent..."
Red trailed off as she handed the sack-covered shovel to Tess, giving her another shrug. "I used it like an-" she stopped, changing gears quickly, "I dug with it normally. I do not know whether it can dig by itself or not. I never tried, but it does screech an awful lot."
When Tess declined, Red held her hands out to take the burlap sack back. "Hahaha! No, no, not to Blue. He might get the wrong idea." She shook her head, adding, "And he might think that it's a hint to buy me more. No, no thank you. I'll take that back and deliver it to Breck's shed later. Good hunting, Tess."
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:19 am
Tess was not one to turn down help from an authority figure (unless she did not want to be indebted to them) and when Red stretched her arms out to take the shovel back, the winged ghoul all but hugged the shovel against her torso. "A-ah! No! Y-you went through all the trouble to give this to me and explain about it. I-I'll bring it back to Groundskeeper Breck or his shed myself. Who knows? Maybe this time I'll be able to actually catch him in person!" She bobbed slightly in the air, an attempt at a curtsy, or a mid-air bow, or something in between, before quickly flying out of the room.
She studied the handle and the sack and sighed. Well, who knows? Maybe she'd be able to dig up some help with it.
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