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 Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:24 pm
The problem hadn't been getting to the school--no, Elium had managed that well enough, despite his occasional incorrect left turns and that one time he may or may not have wound up going into something that he was about sixty percent sure was some kind of seedy bar-type establishment. He'd gotten settled into his dorm quite fine on his own, though most of his things weren't unpacked yet--the minipets he'd gathered on the way to Amityville were content to stay in the room, with the senior ghost dog presiding over the lot of them to make sure they didn't eat everything he'd ever owned.
The problem was a lot simpler than finding the place.
What was he supposed to do now? So far, all the gangly undead had succeeded in doing was standing in place in what he'd assumed was favorably middle ground, looming over the few others that roamed around like a dark and overly nervous cloud. He tapped his claws together in front of him, the ceramic creating a sharp clinkclinkclink that would've been maddening if he wouldn't have been used to it already. He stopped after a few seconds, instead idly fiddling with the strap of his bag instead; that at least wasn't going to produce some irritating staccato. From what the eater could gather, he should be...getting to something productive that wasn't just standing in one place wondering what he should do with his unlife. That sort of existential crisis seemed like something that would happen near exams at the very earliest.
Wasn't there some kind of orientation or something--? Perhaps he should go look for that. Elium wasn't sure, and his indecision kept him pinned in place, quietly fidgeting and dodging the occasional glances upwards with careful tilts of his beak.
Bloody Mary. This was going so well.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:36 pm
Ren, for the most part, was being entirely unproductive with his day so far - at least, in conventional standards.
In unconventional standards, he thought he'd managed quite well, thank you very much. He'd managed a two hour nap, then woken up just in time to wrestle his clothes away from Rhys' little claws and teeth as the lepus tried to make a nest out of one of his shirts again. Not to mention he'd then spent at least another hour coaxing Rhys out from under the bed after the damn thing had stolen his best set of suspenders.
It was productivity, just not the normal kind.
Now Ren was outside, zooming around with his wings stretched outwards, every once in a while giving the occasional flap that sent wind gusting downwards. He circled around a patch of grass, noticed something, and doubled back around, landing with a soft thump a few feet away from what looked like someone who did not know what they were doing.
"Greetings!" said Ren cheerfully. "I don't believe I've seen you around here before, have I?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:45 pm
The sound of wings overhead had caused his head to reflexively jerk up, almost sending his hat bowling over backwards would it not have been for a quick scramble to keep the damned thing where it needed to be. He froze for a split second when he was addressed, tilting his head slightly at the other student as he spoke. Well, if there had been any doubt in Elium's mind that he was being talked to, it was gone now. Maybe a reply was in order, instead of staring at a little spot just to the left of Ren's ear--after all, he was being terribly impolite.
"Ah. H'llo, there. And, I--nnnno, I don' think you would've. Got here just a little while ago." He gave a short cough, straightening up with a few seconds of nerves involved: oh no what if he doesn't like people being taller than him what if I'm being rude what do
Fortunately for Elium, his poker face was impeccable. The only outward sign of his uncertainty was the subtle curl downwards of the already-habitually frowning mouth carved into his mask.
"R-- Er, m'name's Elium. First year, but...I think that's a bit. Obvious, you know." He tried a laugh, the sound echoing a bit oddly in the confines of his beak. "You are--?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:54 pm
He was tall.
He was very tall.
Ren found his gaze moving up and up and up until he finally caught sight of the other's face - or, well the sort-of face, considering the other was wearing a mask that looked distinctly familiar.
"Oh!" said Ren brightly. "You're a...er, well, I'm not quite sure what it's called to be honest, but you look like Malodore!"
This probably made no sense to the other whatsoever, but Ren was hardly bothered by this. He smiled cheerfully up at the new student and then stuck out a hand towards the other.
"It's nice to meet you, Elium!" he said. "My name's Ren, and I'm a third year. Need a tour, by chance?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:18 pm
"Uh, what? A M--alodore?" Elium pressed the tips of his thumbs and index fingers together, the gauntlets colliding with a soft clack. He remained quiet for another moment, worrying his bottom lip underneath his mask--oh, right, talking. Talking.
"A tour? That'd be pretty great, actually. I'm, uh, still tryin' t'find my way around the whole place, so the more help I can get on that, the better." Third-Year Ren, alright. He'd remember that. "It's nice t'meet you, too. Haven' met anybody here yet, so I guess you're the first!"
That was kind of a stupid comment. Hadn't he just said ten seconds ago that he didn't know anybody? Nice first impression, there.
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:25 pm
"Yes, Malodore!" said Ren, tapping a long, freckled finger against his (very, very) freckled face. "Though it's been a while since I've seen him, I wonder if he's graduated already..."
Ren shook himself out of his inner monologue of thoughts and was delighted to hear that he was now the first acquaintance of a new student. "Well," he said grandly, and gestured towards the rest of the grounds. "My campus is your campus, Elium. Shall we?"
As he strode forward with the other, hands in the pockets of a pair of pinstriped trousers, Ren said, "So. What do you think so far?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:40 pm
All Elium could do was nod and give a faint, uncertain 'mmmmhm' in response to Ren's small tangent, soon after scanning the indicated part of the horizon when the older student gave a majestic sweep towards it. Campus, yes, it was there. It was more than easy to keep up with Ren when he started moving--in fact, it was harder to prevent himself from getting too far ahead of the gryphon, really. His strides weren't exactly baby steps, after all.
"Uh, well. It's...S'different than what I'm used to, but in a good way. Need t'get my room all sit'iated sometime soon, though I figure I've got time enough for that. Didn't bring a lot of stuff, either, so it'll be real easy to unpack and all." He shrugged, looking around a little as they went. "I haven't stayed in one place for real long before. Not more'n a few days at most, so this's...gonna be interestin', here. Again, in a good way."
He hoped, anyway.
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:45 pm
The good thing about Ren was that he was very enthusiastic about everything he did.
The bad thing about Ren was that he was, most of the time, a little too enthusiastic.
Fortunately for Elium, his large strides, combined with Ren's wings made for an easy pace to fall into. He flapped his wings every other step, which allowed for him to keep up quite easily and he tugged at suspender strap, smiling up at the other (very up).
"Once you're all settled and in you should come over," said Ren brightly. "Have lunch with me, I can introduce you to some people if you're up for it, I mean! It never hurts to have too many friends."
He flew past Elium and hovered a few feet in front of him, wings gently sweeping up and down. "For the most part, Amityville's a good place," he said. "We have some strange stuff, definitely, but it's a good place."
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:58 pm
"Oh--meetin' people isn't a bad idea, no. Far's lunch goes, uh. I...Mm, I wouldn' mind, but I can't--eat anythin'." Giving a shrug, Elium tapped at the side of his beak. "Still, might be fun."
His steps slowed slightly as he watched Ren fly ahead, stopping and slowly reaching up to gently grab the edge of the brim of his hat to prevent its second attempt at escape. The eater was momentarily envious of Ren's capability for flight, though he smothered that as soon as it had arose, instead replacing it with carefully-measured curiosity. How exactly did that work...? What did it feel like? He couldn't help but wonder.
"Strange stuff's somethin' I'm more than used to, trust me. Now, cities are a different story, buuut I think I can...learn t'manage, yeah. Place's awful noisy, though."
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 3:03 pm
Ren stopped walking abruptly and almost ran into a tree.
"You can't eat?" he said, swinging around said tree to look up at Elium with a look of abject horror. "Like, at all? But what about spookies, Elium, don't you want to eat spookies? THINK OF THE SPOOKIES, ELIUM."
He flapped his wings again, floating in mid-air beside the other. "Yes, well," said Ren conversationally as though he had not been passionately defending cookies a second previously. "Amityville can get that way, but it's a pretty darn fun place, even if sometimes we have to deal with crappy stuff like the hunters or horsemen."
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 3:27 pm
"...what? I don't--See, we didn't really cook anythin' out where I'm from? I kinda know how t'make a few things, mos'ly 'cause I was stayin' with somebody before this for a li'l while, but I got accepted here 'fore we got too far into that. And, hm." He paused, resting a claw on the tip of his beak for a second. "Never really tried. I know some of the Chosen back in my wing could open their masks..." How would he do that, though? Good question.
"Hunters and horsemen--? M'sorry, but I don' got any idea what you're sayin', there. Mind explainin' a bit?" Elium was more than a bit tempted to apologize as Ren just about slammed into a tree, even if it wasn't entirely his fault.
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:42 pm
Ren was back to flying directly in front of Elium now, both hands on the other boil's shoulders, a look of intense seriousness on his dark, freckled face.
"Elium," said Ren, in a Very Serious Tone. "This is crucial to your well-being. We will make sure that you have spookies at some point in time while you're at Amityville okay."
He nodded decisively, and leaned back, wings flapping, and then said, "Oh, right, you wouldn't know about them, would you? Well...it's sort of a long story, but basically the hunters are humans - they're trying to exterminate us all. The Horsemen are living here temporarily, and they're pretty snooty and standoffish."
Ren shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets as he wafted along beside Elium. "Personally, I think they're all a bunch of untrustworthy jerks," he said. "But we sorta just gotta put up with them for now cuz their homes were destroyed by the hunters."
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Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:33 pm
He lowered his beak a bit so as to not accidentally stab Ren in the face, blinking at the collar of the boil's shirt with some measure of internal cringing going on. Apparently, spookies were just that good, and as far as Elium was concerned, they were some kind of Amityville delicacy. Alright, then, he could accept that, even if it wasn't quite right--he didn't know that.
"H-- Wait, why're we gettin' exterminated? How's that happenin'?" The confusion was very clear in his voice, and he almost looked up to stare Ren in the eyes before he remembered his manners and swapped instead to watching just above the gryphon's head. "Horsemen, though. They been 'ere long, or's that a new thing? Askin' in case I, y'know," He gave a slight roll of his shoulders, a bit glad of the space regained. No risk of unintentional pecks, now. "Meet one, or somethin'. Should I avoid 'em...?" They didn't really sound that pleasant, after all.
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Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:52 pm
"We're not," Ren said, a little sharper than he had intended. He pulled back the sudden rush of anger and said, in a slightly more calm tone of voice. "getting exterminated. That's just what they think they're doing, but they're wrong."
He shook his head grimly. "We're not about to be overtaken so easily, no matter what anyone tells you."
Rolling his neck a little, Ren added, "The hunters have these weapons that are made from former students, former Halloween creatures. It's a terrible, awful practice, but it makes it so that they have an offense and a defense against us, and it's unfortunately a relatively solid one."
He flapped his wings and flew a few more feet. The dorms were just up ahead, but Ren turned around, still hovering about a yard off the ground in order to be eye level with Elium.
"If you meet one, try to avoid if you can," he said. "If you feel confident enough, go after 'em, but seeing as how you're still new here, it's a little inadvisable, 'specially if you're alone."
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Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 2:29 pm
"I, uh--didn' think we were. Wouldn' really make any sense, c'nsiderin'?" While the initial surge of anger had given him pause, Elium quickly realized that it was not, in fact, directed at him, and that eased his nerves considerably. His head jerked around to flat-out stare at Ren when he mentioned the source of the weapons, managing just barely to dodge eye contact with a split-second raising of his chin. "H-- What? 'Zat seriously a thing--? I don' doubt you, now, but just--how?" His tone was a mix of shock and incredulity, more than a bit horrified at the thought of living weaponry.
"M'gonna hopefully be avoidin' fights. Already had enough of that stuff, y'know? Didn' come here for that, either." Elium gave a resolute nod, his mask mirroring the drawn line of his mouth as best as it could. While fighting was one thing, revenge was entirely another--even if he was currently hoping nothing would come to that so soon after he'd gotten here. As Ren had suggested, he'd simply do his best not to run into one, and that would, with any luck, be that.
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