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 Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:32 pm
 Oh thank the Nine, an hour to have a break.
Noe stuffed his books in his bag and high-tailed it out of the classroom, already reaching for the crystal earclips to listen to his music. Padding down the hallways with a deft purpose, he turned left to head out the doors into the quad despite the wind being a bit chilly. It felt rather pleasant to him and the relative quiet was a much appreciated oasis from the mad dash of class to class and the din of the general student body at large.
There were people scattered about here and there, but most seemed to be keeping close to the buildings to block the breeze, which suited him just fine; the areas near the trees would be clear then. Starting up his music, he cruised until he found a bench and plopped down with little grace, settling in to root through his bag for food. A wrapped stick of jerky was found and quickly annihilated while he continued rummaging, intent on finding that stir fry bowl he snatched out of the cafeteria this morning. It wouldn’t be warm any longer but that was the price he’d happily pay for some solitude and not have to dine at one of the crowded tables.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 10:18 pm
 T’kani had taken up her perch after the previous class, balancing carefully on the branch with her tail curled up for warmth, high enough and covered by sufficient leaves that hardly anyone noticed her. Which was fine, she had already eaten her lunch and had taken out her notepad to doodle and take notes as she watched the other nightmares go about their day.
She was trying to work on her drawing a bit, sketching out the quad from this angle, other random things she was comfortable attempting. It wasn’t like she would show this stuff to anyone else, so she didn’t really hold back on what she doodled or wrote. Her ears perked up when someone approached her hideaway, seemingly oblivious to her presence. A smile curled over her lips as she watched with interest, noting “Ravenous” when he inhaled the jerky and still pulled out the bowl. “Room temperature stir fry - ew”.
Feeling a little mischievous, she plucked a leaf from the tree, carefully dropping it so that it would land on his bag. Hopefully.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 10:27 pm
Digging out his prize, he turned the bowl in his clawed hands for a moment, wishing he’d gotten a second one as well. Growth spurts sucked a**. He was still fairly ‘small’ for a Grimm, but maybe by the end of the year that wouldn’t be the case.
A momentary thought of just popping the lid and wolfing down the contents ended with the usual shake of the head and back to looking for the fork he knew he’d grabbed and tossed in his bag along with the stir-fry. Though no one was paying attention… he could just- no. Nonono, he’d die if anyone saw him just sticking his face into a bowl of food like some animal. Movement caught his eye as a leaf drifted into view, brushing against his bag before falling down to the ground. Huh. Back to the hunt for a fork.
An ear flicked as he suddenly had a thought. Why would a leaf be falling from the tree in this season? Well, leaves had to fall all the time right? Still, it seemed… odd. AH, there was the fork! Gleefully pulling it out of the corner it had been jammed into, he brushed it off idly and poked at the bent tine before dropping his bag and reaching for the bowl he’d placed down next to him on the bench, his tail giving the very slightest of wags. Chow time.~
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 10:38 pm
Time seemed to pass slowly as the leaf floated down, each turn introducing another chance that a bit of wind would whisk it away and forever spoil her plottings. As it were, the leaf landed almost exactly where she had hoped, and was knocked aside as if it had the NERVE to soil his backpack.
Well, he seemed so preoccupied with his meal, perhaps there was more fun to be had without being caught. Slowly, she shifted all of her stuff back into her own bag, setting it at the crook of the branch so as to keep it safe and out of the way. Not before adding one last note, “Eats like an animal”.
Plucking another leaf from the tree, she placed it between her lips before scooting around to hang from the branch by her legs, using her tail for leverage. Once in position above the oblivious boy, she took the leaf in one hand and dropped it a few inches above his head, moving back to a sitting position on her branch in time to see if there was any reaction. Or perhaps he’d just be too pre-occupied with stuffing his face to notice.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 10:44 pm
There was a momentary wistfulness with the first bite of cold food, imagining how tasty this would be served warm. But still, three more forkfuls in when he raised his head to look around, the trade off seemed worth it. Good view, fresh air. Peace and quiet. Well, besides BoB resonating in his ears. And still plenty of time left before having to scoot to his next class. Promising himself he’d actually chew the next mouthful, he looked down and felt a leaf brush his head and fall into his stir-fry.
His tail stopped moving immediately as his ears folded back. The hell…? He looked up slowly, aggrieved, and wasn’t prepared for what he saw. Jumping back and away from the tree, his bowl sent flying, he snarled at the … the Imp hanging about in the tree above him. Startled, embarrassed, and trying desperately to suppress his raised hackles, Noe started to point at her and all but barked.
“What the actual ********? Nine! You scared the life outta me. What in Eleusinia’s name are you doing?”
Now that the adrenaline was burning off he noticed the loss of his food and started mourning, dropping his arms to his sides and just staring at the mess on the ground. He really, really wanted that. Crazy Imp in a tree dropping leaves on him and hanging above his head in a skir- wait. Wait. Noe’s mouth dropped open for a moment, and then snapped shut as he looked back up at her, his face burning. s**t. Did he… had he seen…? No, too startled. But maybe? Covering his face with his hand, he tried to rewind the tape to the moment where he’d glanced up and realization dawned on him that someone was in the ******** tree and right above him. A mental flash of speckled fur and tawny legs, and something light blue with white stripes. Opening his eyes now to peek at her from between his fingers, he took stock of her clothes. ...Nothing visible matched the mental impression of the soft colored stripes.
He could feel the burn all along his face and up his ears. Now he wasn’t sure if he should be apologizing to her, but for once words were escaping him. He just stood there and stared at her, at a total loss.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 11:03 pm
She giggled silently as the Grimm finally realized she was in the tree, though her eyes did follow the bowl as it traveled across the stones, trailing food in its wake. Well, she was kind of sad for the lost food, but he should really be heating up his leftovers first. Idiot.
Either way, she looked back at him with an innocent smile and simply tilted her head, wondering how long he’d stammer on before realizing she wasn’t going to answer him. She could also break a branch off and throw it for him, maybe he’d go fetch it for her like a good dog?
Her expression changed to one of confusion as he seemed to both calm down and become embarrassed, trying to avoid looking at her. Were her clothes that bad? She liked her uniform! It went well with her fur, the skirt was nice and-oh. OH! Whoops, guess he knew what color she was wearing. Well, there was nothing she could do about that now, but she did curl her tail up under her legs to block any further viewing. And...batted her eyes while blushing and looking innocent in the whole matter, to keep him guessing.
She kicked her legs slowly while she waited him out, not really in the mood to jump down for the boy, and her next class wasn’t for a while yet anyway. In class she was more the boring bookworm and studying all the time, so these brief jaunts into the wilds of the Academy were her only time to have fun. Why end it so soon?
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 9:52 pm
 He watched the moment of realization cross her face and instantly felt worse. The apology on his lips died quietly though as she batted her eyes and completely threw him for a loop. Was she flirting with him? Or… toying? Or genuinely embarrassed or what? He didn’t know much about Imp courting methods but he was pretty sure they didn’t involve hanging out in a tree and surprising people, since that sounded, you know, insane. And they’d just met anyway. Unless… she was stalking him. From the trees. His glance hardened to a glare for a moment before sighing.
Yea right. Chances are she was just picking on him. Great. Uuugh what next? Rubbing his face with both his hands, he gave her a wary look before darting back under the tree to snatch his bag and step away again, only taking his eyes off her briefly. Now he didn’t know what to do though. She was just sitting there, swaying. What did she want?
“Well, what is it?”
He put his hands on his hips and just looked at her, annoyed. Then a drum solo kicked up in his ears and he silently cursed himself. ********, he’d forgotten to take his clips off. She could’ve been talking to him at any point and he probably wouldn’t have heard. Flustered and feeling the fool, he quickly unlatched them from his ears and pocketed them, looking up at her again and unsure what to do.
“If you said something, I didn’t hear you.”
Sighing, he tossed his hands up in the air, adding to his comment.
“And now that my food’s feeding the stones I need to haul a** to get to the cafeteria if I want to get a full meal in before break’s over.”
Thought wasn’t a pleasant one. He might have enough food stashed in his bag to at least hold off starvation until the next break but he was still mourning his lost lunch.
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 11:06 pm
She watched him continue to stumble around in his own mind, covering her mouth and acting like she was giggling, going through the effort of shaking her shoulders and everything for him. Leaning slightly to the side, her legs stopped moving as her gaze followed him, silently watching as he retrieved his bag. As if she was plotting to steal it - or him - away at any moment. The end of her tail flicked slightly in her lap, waiting to see how long it would take for him to catch on, perhaps he needed a hint?
Tilting her head a bit as he took out his earclips, she continued to simply smile innocently at him before making a simple gesture; thumbing at her nose with her pinky extended, and then acting like she was adjusting a cap.
“Silly boy”
She did feel a -little- bad for his food, though she didn’t necessarily feel responsible for him flinging it across the quad. Him being all wound up wasn’t her fault, nor was it any of her business. Still, he seemed pretty angry about the whole deal, and Grimms seemed to get a little out of hand when they were angry. It was probably in everyone’s best interest if she fixed the problem herself. If, of course, he could keep up with what she was saying.
Reaching over to grab her bag, she quickly closed it and tossed it over her shoulder, tail curling around her waist to keep her skirt down as she hopped from the branch - he only got one free show after all. Her tail uncurled and swayed behind her as she approached the taller male carefully, signaling with a finger for him to come closer, then walking right past him. Her tail flicked up under his chin as she passed, the soft fur brushing against his neck as it went by. She didn’t bother looking back to make sure he understood.
Well, maybe he deserved two free shows. Her tail flicked up behind her, just enough to lift her skirt, before settling back into a normal sway. If he was hungry enough he would follow her like a stray, and if not...well, she was dying to try and sketch him from memory.
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 12:36 pm
Her only response to him was to make some sort of weird, mocking gesture that he didn’t understand, or at least had never seen before. What was her deal? Noe just stared up at her as she shuffled about, apparently gathering her bag. Turning away as she started to descend just to be safe (who the hell climbs a tree in a skirt, anyway?!), he waited until it sounded like she’d hit the ground, tilting his head towards her again with a glare. She seemed completely unphased however; simply beckoning him to approach. Brows furrowing in consternation, his hands flapped in a resigned manner as he took a step forward, expecting that she’d be pointing for him to ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ next. Hahaha yea very funny, dog with a cat bell collar, Noe had gotten the ribbing for it before.
Only, she didn’t. She just breezed past him with a sashay, her tail arcing up to touch his throat, the fluff of its tip flicking out along his chin as she strode past. Brain processes ceased for a moment, completely flummoxed by the unpredictable Imp. Now he was sure she was toying with him, but he just didn’t understand why or what she wanted. Unsettled, he huffed and turned after her, opening his mouth to tell her off when there was a flash of light colored stripes again. Eyes widening with both shock and the illicit thrill, and then of course the crushing guilt at that thrill, he grunted at her, covering his face with both hands again and leaning back while his tail lashed once. She did that on purpose! He was sure of it. But why?! WHY. What even?! And why wasn’t she talking to him? It was like she was doing everything for maximum confusion.
“Are you insane?”
Or was he being set up for some reason? Seriously, was someone recording this? But the quad was still mostly quiet, no other students in sight. And still she just kept walking away, back towards the building and in the general direction he’d have to head in if he wanted to get to the cafeteria anyway. Was this all to get him to follow her?
“And where are you going?”
He wasn’t expecting a response, honestly. She seemed pretty intent on leaving him guessing at everything anyway. Fine. You know what? Fine. He would just go to the cafeteria and if she ended up going there too that was her fault. If she turned down some other hall and disappeared back into Crazyville so be it. Obviously an explanation for ruining his lunch wasn’t exactly forthcoming.
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 11:38 pm
T’kani couldn’t help but giggle silently to herself at the poor boy’s confusion. Was she really making it that hard? She had read so many books during her time at the Academy, anything she could find on whatever interest she fancied, she felt that she knew everything there was to know here. Surely she was handling the boy correctly, and it was -he- who was being the stubborn one. Maybe it was because he was hungry? She made a mental note to research hunger’s effects on Grimm, perhaps that would shed some light on this puzzling boy.
She didn’t respond to his comments, simply walking at her own pace, tail curving down from under her skirt and then back up to keep it off of the ground as the tip swayed in time with her hips. There was no point in looking behind her to see if he was following, so she didn’t even try to sneak a peek as she rounded corners in the halls; patience was something that came pretty easily to her.
Her pace picked up slightly as she got closer to the cafeteria, musing over the events in the quad, the tap-tapping of her shoes growing slightly louder. If he was truly confused, then he might not have picked up on anything she had been trying to hint at, which would explain why he seemed so steamed about the whole encounter. She supposed that she could make it up to him, though the stir-fry incident was still his own fault.
Nodding to herself as she decided on the next course of action, she recalled the food splattered on the stones, trying to pick out what he’d actually had in there. She moved through the halls mostly on autopilot, avoiding traffic here, flicking her tail politely against another Imp or the rare acquaintance there. Satisfied that she had come up with a suitable list of ingredients, she was a little surprised to find herself standing in the doorway of the cafeteria.
Shrugging lightly to herself, she headed towards the back of the large hall where the serving area was, signing a quick ‘Hello’ and dragging her tail under another female’s chin as she gave her study partner a friendly greeting. Coming to the end of the line, she adjusted her bag and shifted her balance; thankfully the line was short now that the rush was dying down. Her eyes scanned the room intently as she finally dared to look back the way she came, trying to pick out the dog who had hopefully followed her.
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:00 pm
 Out of the quad and back into the fray. First left was just a coincidence. Second turn was a fluke. Third time and his brows started to furrow together again. Ok, so maybe she really was heading to the cafeteria. Arms crossed over his chest as he tried hard to ignore the bounce of her hips, Noe watched her tag fellow passerby and they turning in kind to call out in greeting.
Not-quite-shoving his way down the halls, he resented the ease that the older Grimm seemed to have at cutting their way through. He just didn’t have that kind of presence unfortunately. And of course the closer they got to the food hall the more crowded it became. Most of the rush seemed to be leaving though, now that the break was probably half over. He didn’t even want to look at the clock. Sighing, he squeezed between two students and entered the cacophony that was the cafeteria. Wending through the tables and crowd, he headed towards the back, noticing belatedly that she also seemed to be on her way there.
For the first time he wondered if maybe she was offering to pay for a replacement bowl of food, but then why hadn’t she said anything then? Or perhaps she was just buying her own lunch and he had just been some pre-food amusement. Bewildered, he watched her do the tail thing to someone else as well. Ok, so maybe it was an Imp thing. But flashing someone probably wasn’t. He rubbed his eyes gingerly at the memory, shuffling into the line. He still needed lunch one way or another, so he might as well. She turned to look at him and he blinked at her, tilting his head slightly in confusion with a slight frown, his arms still folded over his chest.
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:42 pm
Her eyes followed his movement as he got in line...further away. What was the deal with this boy? Ugh. She tilted her head to the side slightly, glaring at him in a silent ‘Really?’ look, before blowing some stray hair out of her face. This wouldn’t do at all, she would just have to be more forward about it.
Abandoning her spot, she scooted down the line to where he stood, hands clasped in front of her while her eyes never left his. She took a moment to take in the features of his face, waiting to see if he was just playing with -her- in turn, but there was nothing in his expression that spoke of enlightenment. Well, she could do something about that.
Shifting a bit to stand in front of him in line, she pulled out her notepad and a medium-sized marker, blushing lightly at the notes she had taken on him and quickly flipping to a blank page. Resting the notepad on one arm, she used the other hand to write a short phrase in large letters, pausing before adding an afterthought.
“Listen with your eyes, not just your ears
The library has books on sign language”
The line moved, so she had to scoot backwards carefully, but once settled again she turned the notepad around and angled it up for him, resting the top against her chest as she looked up at him with a smile. There was no way she could be any more blunt than this, right? She wasn’t about to write a paragraph explaining why she hadn’t responded to him; short and to the point was easier to understand as well, right? Right?
Once she was certain he’d been able to read it at least once, she lifted her free hand and repeated the sign she had used in the tree, this time mouthing the words along with it. He’d been too far away to do so before, so it wouldn’t have made a difference in the quad, and he seemed too angry to really pay attention on top of that. But here, she hoped, he would at least be paying a little more attention to her.
“Silly boy”
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:50 pm
That expression spoke volumes, and it pretty much said ‘you’re an idiot’ in bold with underlining. She left the line to come towards him and he tossed his hands in the air with frustration.
“What? What could you possibly want from me? Not that you’ll tell me because you seem to like your little games-”
Her rummaging in her bag was either ignoring him or digging out something as an answer. Either way he huffed with an ear flick, crossing his arms again. A notebook emerged and she seemed to turn to a blank page and start to write. He hovered over her to try and look down at what she was up to, but her head was blocking the way. Not that it took long in any case. Moving up as the line progressed, she turned the notepad towards him to read, looking up with a grin. Bending a bit towards her, he read the message and instantly smacked himself in the face with a hand, his ears folded back with chagrin. Oh Nine, he was such an a*****e. There weren’t any mutes in his classes that he knew of, but still he should’ve guessed. So much for those hunter-like instincts. His tail curled in embarrassment as he continued to hold his face for several moments, eventually resulting with him lightly pounding his forehead into his open palm. Once he was done beating himself up, he pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before opening his hand and waving towards her.
“Look, I’m sorry.”
For a moment he thought he’d have to grab her notebook and write it for her, but she’d given no indications of being deaf too. So that just made him more of an idiot. But now that he was focusing on her again she made that gesture from earlier and moved her mouth exaggeratedly though he wasn’t sure what she was trying to say. Lily boy? The hell was that? Was that some insult he just didn’t know? Like lily-livered or something?
“I have no idea what you’re trying to say.”
And yea ok, so she was mute. That still didn’t explain her ruining his lunch, dropping leaves on him, or anything else.
“And, ok, so you can’t talk but…”
He looked around as if just remembering they were surrounded by people and changed what he was about to say.
“But that still doesn’t explain the- er, you messing with me.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 8:37 pm
She couldn’t help but giggle silently as he realized his mistake, her face crinkling a bit and her shoulders shaking. This wasn’t the first, and would hardly be the last time someone hadn’t realized she was mute, and it stopped bothering her long ago. Now his realization only amused her and made him look cute; she almost wanted to reach out and pet him, if only to reassure him that she didn’t take offense.
Him missing what she was signing didn’t really surprise her either; he obviously didn’t know sign, and even she wasn’t stellar at lip-reading. Things easily fixed with time, but they didn’t really have enough left. She was polite enough to blush when he referred to her flashing him, but she wasn’t planning on explaining that part.
The line shifted again a great deal, someone ahead of them apparently not paying attention, and she looked back over her shoulder to make sure she didn’t bump into anyone as she moved ‘forward’ before settling once more. She was next up for ordering, so she turned the notepad over and quickly wrote out something in her delicately curved handwriting below the last message, before showing it to him once more. Hopefully he could understand the brevity.
“Talk later, ur hungry
25 min left, ‘Silly boy’”
Her ears perked up as the line moved and the chef called to her, so she held the top of the notepad with one hand, holding it so that he could read while she ordered. With any luck, he’d be too distracted to realize what was going on. Having only one free hand, she did a mixture of short signs and simply pointing at what she wanted, ordering up a stir-fry that was as close as she could remember to what he had. And...maybe something extra that went well with everything else. He did seem pretty starved out in the courtyard, must not be eating enough veggies.
Satisfied that the order was as intended, she added in a short ‘ordering for him’ sign, then turned back to him with a smile. She steadied the notepad with her other hand, while her tail curled up around her waist, ready to biff him and drag the hungry dog away if he tried to order something and ruin her plan.
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 8:55 pm
Noe’s ears swiveled as she seemed to blush, probably at the mention of the… stripes on display in the quad. Line movement, and he essentially followed her until things stopped again. Oh man, soon. Soon. He looked over her shoulder at the serving line with something akin to longing before shifting his focus back down to her. She was writing quickly, probably because she was next, and held up for him to see the short-hand.
Well, no s**t he was hungry. Though he hadn’t known there was 25 minutes until the period ended. Plenty of time to get food and wolf it down… as it were. Silly boy? Why was that in qu- oh. Ooooh, that had been what she was signing. In tree and just a few moments ago, at least, he was pretty sure they’d been the same gesture. He shrugged, accepting the judgement, it was nicer than other things she could’ve called him all things considering. Still, she was the one that attacked him essentially. Well… dropping leaves on someone and … whatever the other stuff was wasn’t really an ‘attack’. More like just crazy. He shook his head at the thoughts, not really sure how to respond to her. Not that she seemed to expect him to, since she was busy gesturing at the server.
He wondered idly if most of the Academy staff knew SL, which made him feel even more like an idiot. Then again they had more cause to know, and a lot more exposure to it probably. Watching what went into her mix with curiosity, he couldn’t help his tail from idly swaying in anticipation of his own soon-to-be bowl. Hers looked pretty similar to his standard, lots of proteins and crunchy things, but with some other stuff too. Huh, he hadn’t really thought about what Imps would eat before. Not that he hadn’t seen them, you know, eat. Just didn’t really question it. He looked up at the server hopefully as her bowl was passed along, ready to deliver the long string of requests that would grant him lunch. Tapping a claw on the glass ever so gently, he pointed at the crunchy noodle things to start, completely missing the server’s look of confusion.
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