Welcome to Gaia! ::

Samara lay on her back staring at the ceiling and twiddling her (metaphorical) thumbs. Her last class of the day had let out early; all the teacher had planned was a test, and since it was the last class they'd just let the students go when they finished. Samara was elated at first, because who didn't love getting out of class early, but upon returning to her room she was a bit dissatisfied with her freedom. There wasn't anything to do. Correction. There wasn't anything to do with other people. She had a couple friends, but they were all in class right now. The situation with her sister was still at enough of a standstill that she preferred to avoid alone time, otherwise she would end up dwelling and getting all frustrated.

She stopped by her room long enough to grab a couple specific items, then set back out through the Academy halls. This time her destination was the Eldritch dorm rooms. She already knew where she was going, having scouted out the target in the past. She wasn't worried about the door being locked, because most of the doors in the Academy were incredibly easy to pick. It wasn't like dorms in school buildings needed complicated locks, and even if it had been outside her skill set it was nothing for her to phase through a wooden door.

Samara looked around from her position on the bed as she waited, examining the room. She'd already been in here before (she'd decided to check things out the first time she successfully picked the lock), but the bareness of it still surprised her. The books were expected, but she'd rather thought there would be more here in the way of trinkets and valuables. Or that the furniture would be more impressive, like old and rare wood carved into ornate shapes. It was also a lot darker than she'd imagined. Well, it just went to show you could never go off initial impressions. The cleanliness was impressive enough; she doubted dust had the courage to settle on any of the surfaces in this room.

Samara sighed and stretched out a bit more. She hoped the room's occupant would return soon. Examining the room wasn't challenging enough to keep her mind off of her growing boredom.

The soft rattling of the door handle was the announcement that the moment Samara had been waiting for was finally here. She smiled brightly at Horus as he walked into his room, bold as you please so that you'd almost think it was a pre-planned meeting for all the lack of shame she showed in the face of his surprise at finding the Geist on his bed.

"Hey Horus," she piped in a voice that was every bit as cheerful as her smile. She sat up from her reclining position and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, lightly kicking her feet back and forth. "My class let out early, but I was super bored. I thought I'd come visit and bring some games we could play." She gestured towards the desk in the room, where a box containing a board game and a deck of cards were sitting.

"I haven't seen you in ages," she added, her face falling into a bit of a pout, though her eyes and tendrils were still as lively as ever. On purpose, of course. She really enjoyed hanging out with Horus and thought he also enjoyed her company, but knew a blatant attempt at guilt tripping to get her way wouldn't achieve the results she wanted. As good as she was at faking faces and moods, Horus was just as good at catching such things. Straightforward and audacious was usually her best bet.

Samara chuckled. Horus could have a half dozen chairs in the room and all would likely be in good taste and comfortable to sit it, but, "The bed's comfier," she explained, tilting her head slightly with a playful smile on her lips.

Her brow furrowed a bit in concern when Horus mentioned the deceased relative. She hadn't heard anything about why he was gone, just that she hadn't seen him around lately. Horus' relationship with his family was something that always puzzled Samara. She understood, yet at the same time was baffled. Geist families were usually so tight-knit that there was no such thing as an "obscure" relative. She was glad at least that the relative wasn't close enough that their passing would upset Horus, but at the same time she was a bit sad that he didn't seem to have anyone in his family he was really close to. Aside from the briefest dimming flicker of her tendrils though, Samara kept her thoughts on the matter to herself. Unless Horus asked for her opinion, it wasn't her business to go butting into.

While that brief flash in her tendrils might have given away her emotions to a practiced observer, Sarmara's smile never faltered. Seeing Horus switch his phone to silent only made the smile brighter. She reached over and pulled the box and deck of cards closer.

"I brought Snakes and Ladders," she said, tapping on the lid of one of the first games she learned to play, and still one of her favorites. "Also brought these along, since they're good for a bunch of different games," she added, picking up the deck of cards and setting them back on the lid of the Snakes and Ladders box. "Also I heard a new bistro opened up in town, so I figure by the time we're bored with games we should be hungry enough to go check it out! It'll be a nice chance to stretch our legs as well after sitting." Her tone was very matter-of-fact, as though this had all been planned out between them in advance, but Samara still looked at Horus expectantly and gave him a moment to voice any objections. Not that she wouldn't find some way to get what she wanted regardless, but it was polite to give the appearance of choice.

Samara grinned and pulled the game box into her lap. "Don't worry, it's pretty easy to get the hang of," she said as she removed the lid and began to remove the various pieces. She set the board up so that Horus could scooch his chair over, or, if he so desired, join her up on the bed. "So, the first thing you do is-," she said, then launched into an explanation on how the game was played. It really was a simple game, largely based on luck.

They played Snakes and Ladders for a time, then moved on to some card games. Samara knew a great many, though her favorites were go fish and rummy. While they played she tried to keep an eye on Horus to gauge his interest level. He was really good at maintaining a polite mask, so it was kind of a mini challenge for her to attempt to predict his moods and thoughts. Some days she was better at it than others. Mostly she just wanted to make sure he was enjoying the games, rather than boredly enduring them. It would be sweet of him to do that for her, but she didn't want to make Horus miserable!

She tried slipping in a few questions as they played, partially as distraction strategy, but mostly out of interest. How were his classes going, having to play catch-up? Was he glad to be back in Below? What was something he really missed about Above. Lettuce on sandwiches, for or against?

"Sunny, huh," Samara murmured, more to herself than anything. Of course she was aware that the world of Below was considered dark by the standards of Above, though the most she had for comparison were the stones the Solar Fey carried around to keep themselves healthy while in Below. Lunar Fey had stones of their own, of course, but the light levels were at the level Samara considered "normal". What was sunny like, she wondered. Part of her was curious to know, but another part of her shivered away from the thought. Geists weren't necessarily creatures of shadow or darkness and their rather ethereal natures didn't mean their bodies weren't plenty robust and sturdy, but the thought of being bathed in light made Samara feel that much less solid, less real. Silly of her, of course, but feelings were hard to dismiss.

Thankfully there was plenty before her to occupy her mind, so she should put aside irrational discomforts for now. For one thing, if she let her concentration slip too much she was definitely going to lose the card game. Horus was one of the sharpest people she'd ever played against.

"Is it pretty big, your book collection," she asked, partially out of genuine curiosity and partially to buy herself some extra time while she considered her next move. Having come from a pretty rural little village, Samara definition of a "large library" had been a couple dozen books. The Academy library had completely floored her the first time she'd visited.