The time is now:
12:25 PM on Wednesday January 17th.
The weather is:
Sunny but Cold, with several inches of snow on the ground. Be sure to thank the maintenance staff for keeping the paths and quad clear!
Today's lunch is:
chicken tenders or veggie sandwich with choice of two tater tots, veggie sticks, apple slices, or yogurt cup.
Reminder to all Students:
After lunch there will be an optional presentation in the quad regarding dueling etiquette and process. Those who registered ahead of time will he excused from class to attend.
All students not participating in the presentation are advised to seek alternative routes through campus until five PM as students will be engaged in supervised practice duels. Wouldn't want anyone hit by a stray fireball!
Thank you for your attention. Have a Bright Day.
~*~*~*~
Post Order (Grouped by Current scene - Bolded indicates waiting answer. May not be accurate if responses were recent)
A little known and highly secretive institute, Brightwall Military Academy Services students from 6th grade through an accredited university program. The school promotes healthy competition between students, ambitious post-graduate opportunities, and continual learning throughout the year on its lavishly appointed and spacious campus in the woods of New Hampshire. Here Student flourish under the guidance of highly skill teachers and faculty, far away from the distractions of a city (or any neighbors who might witness one of the students messing up a homework assignment and making it rain toads) (Again).
The Brightwall Academy is, after all, one of the world's finest magical schools.
Elanor was fairly sure her brain was going to explode one of these days. It was a surprisingly common thought for her to have of late as she listened to the pre-lunch break announcements and packed up her books from class. Supposedly Intro to Decoding and Cyphers was A) an intro course and B) about history and theory rather than actually decoding anything. But somehow she was leaving class with a very mild headache and another assignment that started with using the cypher discussed in class to actually decode the assignment in the first place. She was going to need at least a half hour to just figure out how much time she needed to block out to finish the homework before Friday. And she was pretty sure it was written in shell code.
She was going to have to figure out how to politely tell Dustin she was not going to be able to go with him to the duel thing later. She had a quiet period after lunch and she needed all of it to get as far into her homework as she could while he was busy elsewhere. He was going to be displeased that he couldn't show her off to intimidate any would be challengers but it was a school sanctioned event so he didn't actually need her. No official duels or rivals sneaking up. Just a bunch of witches with more magic than sense.
He was still going to be pissed.
Elanor... was going to just opt to avoid him until she couldn't. That would work great. He would probably be expecting to see her back in the Tower dorms for lunch. So she would just go to the cafeteria the other dorms shared and grab lunch there. She'd stick out like a sore thumb with her top ranked outfit but maybe if she just took off her cape it would be harder to notice? Or she could just take advantage of being weird for eating tenders instead of the Tower's lunch to just get some homework done? If people avoided her she might actually manage to get through enough of her assignments that she could go to the duel thing with Dustin.
If it wasn't so snowy outside she'd just sneak her lunch out and eat on the quad. Though that would defeat the point of being harder to find.
It was with these short term plans rolling in her head that Elanor shouldered her book bag and headed for the cafeteria between the Mason and Mantle dorms. At least she liked tenders.
Salt packed his bags and followed the rest if the line of students of of the cryptography class. He had been encouraged to give it a try by one of the Drill Masters since hs had a head for languages. Sure his brain could decode things well enough, but putting it on paper... well fortunately a right answer written poorly counted for enough to get you through... mostly. He pulled back his long dark hair and toyed with it as he often did idly, a nervois tick. This assignment wouldn't be fun, he would be dropping this line of study going forward, he wouldn't be here long enough to really master it anyway.
He noticed one of the students taking a left where she should have gone right. Well? What was this ivory tower dorm lass doing going to the main mess? He came up alongside her. He was a tall, almost lanky cadet, if he held his arms out you might think he was a main mast and not many cadets stood above him. With his copper rimmed glasses and his hair in his well kept uniform, he looked almost academic.
"Mum" he was saying ma'am but his accent came through as strong as boiler steam and all the colloquialisims that went the north coast. "I think ye missed yer turn."
Elanor did not own a watch. If she did she might have checked it to see exactly how long she managed to get through her most recent, inevitably failed, plan without interruption. She was fairly sure she had not even made it two hallways away from her last class before someone was remarking on her not being a good little familiar and skittering back to the tower dorm. Though, at least the student who came up beside her didn't have the look of one of the 100s ranked students jockying for power that she might need to remind about the rules regarding formally claimed familiars. It was not open season on her and they had to make an official challenge over her before they could get by with more than just minimally harrassing her or trying to convince her to choose them.
She hated the assholes who didn't even bother to read the rules about official claims and challenges and what would happen to her if she just willfully said fuck off to Dustin and chose someone else. It didn't *work* that way.
The fact she didn't recognize this guy, and you learned quick to recognize the 100s students as a familiar, was about the only thing keeping her from probably being neelessly impolite. "Nope. I just like chicken tenders." She remarked back with a pleasant smile towards him. Dustin would not be pleased to see her being pleasant to some random mid ranked student, but he wasn't here. So fuck him. "You're in my Intro to Decoding class aren't you... Saul?" She couldn't quite put her finger on his name, but it was something like that.
"I.J. London, most people call me Salt, if they like me, and Salt if they don't. Only mah father calls me Issac." He felt a chill jolt run down his spine. It was like someone had dropped an ice cub down his shirt and then made all his hairs stand on end. He looked out the window. Damn snow would be coming in hard. From the feeling a big front was coming from the west with stiff wind. His preminitions about the weather weren't always exact, but he was rarely just flat out wrong. "I'm not suprised you don't know me. I sit in the back after all. Forgive me for being brash mum but I have a hard time believing you came down from the ivory tower up there." He glanced up. "Just fur fried chicken."
Salt. That was it. She must have heard it somewhere. It wasn't like the professor would have used a nickname, but the whole point of the espionage/intelligence focus was gathering intelligence so... don't try to justify things one way or another El. She mentally brushed off the train of thought. She had other things to worry about, and having her first interaction on her way to the dining hall carry so much skeptisism did not bode well for her getting through lunch without something dramatic.
She could, frankly, do without dramatics.
"Well. You can believe whatever you want, Salt. But foie gras and cavier off of silver platters gets so rather dull after a while." Never in her life had she seen either in the tower dorms, but that was half the point of the... almost joke. Andd maybe she was just trying to nudge him off a little bit. "Have you taken a look at the homework for class?" Evade and distract. It wasn't the most skilled uses of tactics from her Creating and Maintaining Covers Lab, but she was only in her second form and maybe the guy was actually just trying to awkwardly get homework help. "I think it's written with a shell code but it might be hex key code."
"Time to eat something" was the thought that came into her mind after a long day of getting used to the campus and getting lost before even finding her own dorm. Now finally after finishing up settling she decided it was time for a good meal, and by a good meal she meant the chicken tenders that were being given at the cafeteria, "This place… the best magic school out there and they give us chicken tenders to eat perfect just darn perfect". She grabbed her food and walked over to one of the empty chairs sitting down on it and placing her bag next to her on the floor. The tenders however as plain as they were tasted rather good, it was either that or she was hungry.
Taking one of her notebooks where she had a lot of stuff drawn, she looked around and began drawing someone at random that were on the cafeteria eating. She always found it easy going to draw, it relaxed her not as much as playing her guitar, but she didn't really cared at that moment her guitar was back at her dorm room. Quietly she ate with one hand while she drew with the other it wasn't the most perfect drawing, but beggars cannot be choosers whatever that meant.
"I don't think so. I think it's actually a cipher set up to look like encrypted text. It's cleaver, for an introductory class. But I happen to know some Cantonese and recognize a few romanizations. Since we're just starting the semester, I'm not sure if he actually expects us to solve it or if he's trying to teach us a lesson through failure. From what I understand cadets who pursue cryptography are expected to learn at least a second and third language." This whole thing might have just been a complex lesson on the nature of cryptography, which was about encoding messages long before it was about encoding data." Of course, Salt might be wrong about the whole thing, time would tell in his mind. But lunch, like time, waits for no man. "Well come on Ms. High Tower. The line will be getting long. He lengthened his stride a bit and was then pulling a ahead--though not leaving her behind--and making up a little lost time for their conversation.
"Going to that stick fight there having in the court yard later?" He asked casually as they left the line to search for a table.
Meric Donovan
"I really don't care what you think about the play. I really like the idea." Ambriel strolled through the snow-crested courtyard with her friends from their last class. "I think it would be more fun with live animals though, but I do see your point."
"Yea, the last school I attended, we had live animals too. It started a huge blood fest that lasted two days." Augusto laughed at his recall of history. "I was suspended a year for that one."
"Yea, because you started to charge the admin. secretary," Clase added.
"Only because I mistook her for a pig; anyone could! If you saw that woman's chops, you would too?" The group laughed as Augusto gave a visual measurement of the woman's thighs.
Meric wasn't listening too much as he followed behind the small group of cloak-clad classmates – the tiny group of vampires he's become acquainted with through association. The upperclassman, Clase Seong, is his roommate, but since Meric moved onto campus there, Clase has also been his campus host and vampire big brother. All in all, he was his Handler, watching to make sure the young vampire didn't lose control on campus. It was embarrassing, an insult, Meric thought at first. But, with half of the semester passed, he'd come to trust and respect Clase's presence. The campus wasn't confusing to maneuver around, and after training from his adopted father, Archet, Meric had learned how to maintain control of his bloodlust, for the most part. Clase also became Meric's personal counselor and tutor, training the young vampire on the knowledge he should have been taught upon the cutting of his fangs. He's even gone out of his way to help Meric transition to socializing - safely on such a large, diverse campus. Without his friend, Meric would have been expelled upon his first week of classes.
Waving Ambriel and Augusto goodbye, Clase turned to Meric with a grin, "Well, I'll see you at the demonstration after lunch, right? You're not going to go stash yourself in our room this time."
With a huge sigh, Meric glanced up towards the taller guy with his typical poker grin and bright, blank eyes, "But, of course not. Why would I miss an exciting event such as dueling?"
Clase shook his head and stopped Meric from taking another step with a quick grasp of his shoulder upon hearing the nerves in his smooth Scandinavian tone. "Yes, it will be a decent size crowd, but nothing you can't handle. I will be there, just in case. But there's no need, not anymore. You've improved so much, don't start doubting yourself now."
Tucking the hood of his cloak further over his eyes, Meric shook his head, "Just get me out of there if I choke. I-I can't mess anything up around here..."
"You won't," Clase reassured, patting his shoulder confidently before letting go. "Let's head to lunch and get a bite to eat." Meric's eyes shot up with a retort, but Clase chuckled with a quick shake of his head, "Alright, not a good time. Fine, just trying to lighten up your mood. You've been so preoccupied lately. I'm starting to worry."
"Let's just get out of the sun." Meric restarted his steps towards the cafeteria.
They entered the cafeteria without another word between them, shaking the moisture off their protective cloaks and moving towards the line to receive their choice of alternate blood meals. The one thing Meric could say about this school that he liked – their alternate meals weren't bad. With Archet, all they could afford were blood pills and the occasional livestock. Here, the special dietary staff would spruce things up a little with something like… blood nuggets, which looked and tasted like chicken nuggets but with the alternate blood within. They were able to create in such ways - Meric could forget that he wasn't eating real food or consuming real blood.
With his tray in hand, Meric followed Clase through the aisles of seats, heading towards the series of circular seats further in the back of the room where most of the vampires settled with their meals. Far too many of the regular students weren't too comfortable watching vampires eat, especially when some of their dishes held that all too familiar color of blood. So, for the sake of everyone's stomachs, these students choose to sit in the shadows.
As Meric followed, he took a moment to glance around the room – something he rarely did. He was still too uncomfortable being in large crowds. Sure, he was in control of himself. And sure, the alternate meals were very helpful in keeping that order, but it's hard to get an old Carnie to learn a new trick – especially when submersing them amongst the prizes. The aromas of fresh blood will never subside, especially within his maturing senses. But, knowing his entire future was at stake, Meric moved on – until his feet stopped. As he passed behind a silent student, he noticed her sketching something in her notepad. At first, he was going to glance and move on, so he could keep up with Clase, but the sketch caught his attention before he had a chance to stop himself. He stood there silently, watching rudely – leaning over her shoulder until he was caught. Meric wasn't attempting to disturb her or meddle in her business. But, for the sake of a good shock, he chose to do both.
"Pardon my intrusion," he grinned warmly. "I must say, your sketch is rather eye-catching. A childhood hobby, or do you aspire to be an artist one day?"
She nearly screamed out in surprise as she heard someone behind her, cursing behind her breath she took a long deep breath to calm herself down, the shaking of her hand stopping. Looking behind her she looked at the guy and shrugged, "Just a hobby". She had the sketching pad on the desk as well as all sorts of different pencils scattered all around the notebook. A small pencil sharpener in the corner besides the molding eraser. Getting her glasses out she stretched and sighed looking at him again "Well… if your just going to stand there and look you might as well take a seat". She had an idea of what he was, he was too good looking to be a normal human. She however did not really cared, to Miku a guy like him would never be interested in a girl like her.
The wild hike in the girl's blood pressure was a joy. Meric was aware she would respond in such a way, but even he was thrown off at just how he would respond to it. His jaw jerked and his warm smile dropped when she screamed and shook in surprise. Straightening upright, he stepped back a few steps - hoping the further he was away from her, the less her pulse would beacon him closer. Even the scent of her racing blood sweetened for that split second - it's been far too long since Meric's senses recognized that fragrance from humans. It scared him for the moment, and he mentally swore not to play such games with others again. Old habits are truly harder to get rid of than he'd thought.
"Oh, um... my apologies. I didn't mean to shock you," he expressed as the girl calmed her pulse before fully acknowledging his presence to answer his question. "Well, such a hobby should become a profession, I say. Your detail is spot on." He kept admiring her work, even at the distance he stood. Clase noticed that his roommate was not behind him, so he retraced his steps to stand beside his ward just when the girl invited Meric to sit.
"I'm not... sure if that's a good idea at the moment," Clase noted, giving Meric a slight cutting glance. Since his friend has been acting different this week, he wasn't sure leaving him with a human was sound. But, at least, Meric was making friends on his own. That was something.
Meric gave Clase a frown but understood. "I'll be fine. And I won't stay for long," he whispered for only his roommate's ears before nodding to the girl. "Sure... Thank you." He stepped around to the other side of the table to settle down with his tray. Taking a long sip of his beverage, hoping it would calm his dangerously sketchy nerves. "I don't normally do this," he started, grinning slightly, "But I'm always fascinated by those who can draw. I can barely manage a decent stick figure, let alone what you can do. I'm Meric, by the way." He extended his hand for a gracious welcome.
Amber eyes stared intently at the gold band under the light and magnifying glass as long, dexterous fingers etched runes into to the metal. The lines so straight it looked as though a machine had done the work. A few more lines were placed then an explosive exhalation came from Claudio. "Alright, lets see how you work." He mumbled to the ring as he pushed the mag lamp aside. Reaching to his left Claudio grabbed a steel mallet and swung it with all his might at the ring on the table. The hammer hit with a loud crash but nothing on the table moved at all. Claudio blinked in confusion and lifted the mallet to examine it. The hammer was fine, as was the ring and the table beneath it. "Hmmm, stronger than I thought?" He questioned himself quietly. "Never made one that could absorb that much in one go." Setting the mallet on the table he gingerly poked the ring, then a second time, and a third before finally picking it up and holding it on the palm of his hand. Claudio stared at it for a long stretch of moments before shaking his head and shrugging. "Haven't lost a finger yet." He mumbled as he slid the ring onto his index finger.
As soon as the band was around his finger he could sense it in his head. A simple mental command would unleash the stored hit. It worked the same for anyone that used his artifacts. A small exertion of will and the runes would activate and the object would do it's intended job for as long as it held a charge. Rising to his feet Claudio rested his fist on the scared surface of his worktable. Taking a deep breath Claudio activated the ring with his will. A second loud bang followed by a string of impressive swearing filled the room. Claudio glared at the dent in the center of his worktable and the hairline split that ran through it. "No way the professor will not notice that." Claudio thought about shifting the blame onto another student but he knew it wouldn't work. This was already the third table he had broken so far this year. Shrugging he turned and looked around the empty room wondering when everyone else had left. Pulling a watch from his pocket he realized it was already ten minutes into lunch. "That would explain it." He mumbled pocketing the watch again. Turning back to the damaged table he made short work of tidying up his work station and left for the cafeteria within five minute.
Entering the cafeteria Claudio smiled at the delicious smells that greeted him. Quickly making his way through the line he ordered the chicken strips, tater tots and veggie sticks. All foods he could eat one handed. Carrying his tray one handed he barely glanced up from the small notebook in his other hand as he made his way to an open seat not paying any attention to who was sitting around him.
Claudio ate like a machine, left hand automatically moving to grab a random item from the tray to bring to his mouth while his right hand moved across the page of the notebook filling it with new rune combinations and ideas.
Cantonese. Well, if nothing else the clusterfuck today was probably going to turn into had introduced her to Salt. Oh, he was surprisingly pleasant and she surprisingly did not mind his nicknamery, but she'd make additional mental notes because that was not a language she'd run into in the circles she ran in. Also he sounded like he had some strong opinions on the whole mess of their homework and she might actually have an excuse if Dustin asked her later where the fuck she'd been. She could argue she was working through her homework with a classmate low ranked enough he didn't have to get up in arms or offended.
Eh. It might work.
She followed after Salt, matching his pace quickly despite being a fair bit shorter. She was more than used to having to hurry to keep up, Dustin was stupid tall and her two previous claimers had been almost as tall.
"Eh. Not if I had any say about it." She answered with a disinterested shrug. "It's not like I've got any use for it and I've got a mountain of homework from Chem and Professor Bluford's Pre-Modern War tactics seminar. But Dustin will probably want to drag me along for the duels happening after the talk so believe it or not so chicken tenders and homework was my lunch plan."
She didn't say she was trying to avoid Dustin as long as she could. She didn't even imply it. But it might have been something someone coming from a class of reading between the lines could pick up on.
Probably not.
Though as they made it into the cafeteria and she went from being one of a handful of top caped girls running through the halls to the only one in tower clothes... yeah. Maybe she wasn't fooling anyone that she was slumming it just for the lunch choices.
"Wanna work on the homework together?" She asked, trying to not act as uncomfortable as she suddenly felt.
"Sounds like a plan." He replied "fair warning. My handwriting is shit and my English isn't much better." He fluttered his fingers on a phantom type writer. "Grew up a keyboard kid you see." He followed her to a few vacant seats at a window table. "It's just as well. I don't think they'll be doing much in this weather." He looked out at the falling white snow, already starting to flutter and whirl as the wind picked up. "We'll probably get a few inches tonight. I don't imagine they'll be doing much outside until they get it shoveled." He mused knowing that some of the Spartans of the lower ranks would probably be out there shoveling to for a few points. They weren't called Spartans as any form of praise. Really the joke was that, although the name referenced great warriors of the past, the Spartans of Brightwell lived in the spartan barracked of those ranked 800 or lower. Salt himself had only graduated from their ranks into the upper 800 at the end of the last semester... He would probably be out there with them tomorrow, the Spartans of barracks number nine would need a captain after all, for the encouragement if nothing else.
"So you seem to be more of a code wizard than I am, what say you break out you're tablet and I'll show you what I'm thinking and you see if you can crack the code portion of this, then I'll translated the cypher part." He suggested and the two went to work. He didn't know much Cantonese, but with the help of an online dictionary he was able to start making sense of things and paid well enough attention as she worked on the digital side of the homework to try and wrao his head around that. "When's you're next engagment?"
"I am Miku, pleasure to meet ya" she smiled and looked at him up and down taking on his features. "Drawing is nothing more than adding detail to a shape, even with a stick figure as you say I can make something rather good. You draw the stick figure and stop, I don't I keep adding details to the stick figure, eyes… mouth… nose…. Ears? Clothes!. Any wrinkles on the clothes, any pictures on the shirt, how about design? See? With a stick figure you can do quite a lot if you just keep adding and removing stuff". She took a black page and drew a stick figure, soon she had clothes made around the stick figure and just erased the body of the stick figure, followed by her face drawing details such as face and hair, soon it was not a figure but a beginner drawing of a kid. "See?" look at it always from a different perspective you will find what to add".
Meric listened as Miku demonstrated how easy it was to alter a simple stick figure into an actual, fleshed-out form. "From a different perspective," he pondered as he pulled a sheet of paper from his own notebook and began to repeat what she's showcased. His results were not as clean and precise as hers were, but - at least - the stick figure looked more like it had meat on its bones. That was an improvement within itself.
"Ha, I see it now - a new perspective," Meric warmly grinned while sketching a few more. After a moment of practice, Meric tucked his sketches in his book before giving Miku a nod. "I do appreciate the art lesson, Miku. Thank you." He gathered his things and stood, "If you don't mind, I would like to sit with you again - to practice this new skill from, time to time." It was a strange, and bold, request on his part. More like a personal challenge to build connections and friendships with new people on campus. It was, after all, the best way to understand all personality types and human behaviors.
It was... oddly normal. And oddly pleasant. The seat was a bit uncomfortable and Eleanor wasn't sure if she was being stared at even after she took off her cape or just paranoid, but the chicken tenders were surprisingly good and the company was a lot more pleasant than she might have suspected. The conversation might be homework centric, but it was still just.
Nice.
The sort of lunch she had thought she'd be getting when she first came to this school. Homework and bad cafeteria food and other students who were just trying to get through their studies. She could even learn a little bit about a fellow student who didn't seem to view misdirection as a simple part of daily life.
It was pleasant and nice and she was going to try to make this work again. Or at least she was seriously thinking about it. "I'm going to have to decide if I want to try going to the library before Dust- ah fuck." She muttered the last bit as she was leaning back and stretching and just happened to cast a glance around the cafeteria.
One of Dustin's friends was just inside the main entrance and was scanning the crowd. He did not look like he was there for chicken tenders or to make a new homework buddy.
"...I'm going to have to beg off on finishing things." Eleanor said, already sliding her things together and into her bag as fast as she could without the movement attracting attention. She didn't know if Dustin's friend was helping to look for her or hoping to take advantage of her being away from his protection or she was just continuing to be paranoid. Whatever the case she was going to take advantage of him not seeing her yet to try to slip out the back. "Thanks for the help with translations. We should do this again sometime. It was kinda fun." She was trying to stay calm and casual and not let herself panic. There was at least one vampire nearby if nothing else. Not to mention she would rather not seem like a total spazz in front of a potential new friend.
Keep calm. Keep smiling. Make a quick exit stage far away from the main door.
Salt's eyes followed hers to a certain individual who stuck out even more than her. Partially because he was taller, and partially because he had the baring of a princling. His eyes narrowed with a cat-like cunning as he looked over the situation. What luck! He saw another famillar face in the caf. He stood up with a wink to Eleanor and the darted through the crowds to a table where he threw his arm around another student and leaened in close.
@Kosmik_Khaos "Claude me mate, I need a favor. Got something that will make a hell of a destraction on you? I'm going to make some trouble for a resident if the ivory tower."
"So, you've made it back in one piece. How do you feel?" Clase chuckled as he watched Meric return to the safety of the back of the café.
Meric ignored the knowing snickers of his fellow kin around him and settled down to finish his meal. "She's nice and very talented. Leave me be, why don't you."
His roommate raised a hand to the others, stopping their giggles short. "You know, I was only teasing, but I truly am concerned about your feelings… your control."
Sighing, Meric calmed his tone, "I'm fine. She's still alive, as you see. I wasn't bothered by the hunger, and control is intact." Meric took a few bites of his meal, scanning the café, wishing to leave quickly to find sanctuary at the library. Any place was better than sitting there listening to the mature vampires laughing at his immature fangs. "Look, I've got to drop off a few books at the library. I'll meet you at the event," he stood up, tired of the atmosphere.
Clase sensed his frustrations and began to collect his things. "No, don't," Meric glanced his way with enough calm to stop his roommate's actions short. Clase settled back down in his seat, "I trust you, of course, but are you… sure?"
Without a word, Meric picked up his tray and left the atmosphere, heading to the exit to drop it off, throw away his trash, and head outside. As he crossed the cafeteria, his senses wandered around the room, a normal, unconscious action he tends to do in large crowds or uncomfortable atmospheres. It wasn't that he was frightened or nervous, just curious about the people around him – wondering if there were any hidden agendas or secrets beneath the beats of their hearts. It was a simple method of keeping an eye on potential problems before they became a problem. Case in point, as Meric scanned, he picked up the heightened pulse of a particular creature – out of place, it seemed. She was dressed in a high-ranking uniform, which was an awkward sight since the high-ranking students had their own luxurious restaurants and cafeterias to enjoy. What was her reasoning for dining down with the middle and low-ranking members on campus?
Tossing his trash, Meric continued to focus on her pulse, even when turned around. He didn't have to watch her actions to know what she was doing. She was in a hurry but was avoiding making a scene… Quite difficult when her presence alone already made such the moment she walked into the place. She wasn't moving towards the front doors, but towards the side exit near his location. Strange… Meric turned to head towards the side exit, eyes targeting the front door. There was a guy there who was scanning the room as well, looking for someone… It wasn't difficult to put two and two together. It was obvious she was attempting to avoid the guy.
Now, Meric is not one to butt his nose into anyone's business, but he was also a man who cared less to see someone in need or in danger. Unsure what drove this young lady to go through these lengths, but he can tell just by the scent of her blood radiating the atmosphere that she was anxious to leave unseen. Meric draped the hood of his cloak over his head with a decision on his mind.
"In need of assistance?" Like quicksilver, Meric was by her side before anyone could bat their eyes. Just as fast, he slipped her hand into the bend of his elbow, tucked his arm around her waist, and quickstepped them both out of the café's side door before anyone wondered where the sudden brush of air passing them came from. The side door opened and closed with a soft puff, and the two were instantly outside in the snowy oasis beside the café. The outdoor sitting area was empty since no one cared to eat outdoors in the winter wonderland. So, there were no prying eyes seeking the young woman out. Several steps away stood the library – his choice of salvation for the moment.
Turning towards the girl, Meric bowed his head slightly in respect, "Please forgive, I didn't mean to pry, but I noticed your discomfort and decided to assist. Are you alright?" He gently released her and took a step back to give her space. Not a lot of people felt comfortable in the presence of a vampire, especially alone. Getting used to understanding the emotions of others was a tricky thing for him, but he understood that those small actions were appreciated by others. He just hoped he didn't scare the girl by spiriting her away like that.
El was becoming increasingly sure this whole thing was a mistake. Sure, it was nice to get to make a friend who wasn't caught up in the top ranked jockeying. Sure, it was good to just be able to get some of her homework done without having to try to sneak it in between whatever the hell Dustin was doing. Sure, there were some reasons she had been enjoying this whole thing. But if Dustin was sending his friends to look for her he was going to be pissed. And her new friend had ducked off and seemed intent on causing some trouble, possibly on her behalf, which was
sweet and stupid and all sorts of problematic.
Most of the time top ranked students couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the lower ranks. Climbing and keeping high ranks took too much time to bother. But if Salt made enemies on her behalf...
Just as she was starting to think the best course of action might be to just bite the bullet, present herself to Dustin's friend like a good little familiar running home, and take the consequences-
She wasn't completely sure she followed the course of events. There was suddenly one of the school's vampires next to her. Not one of the top ranked ones she knew to keep an eye on. Before she could even try to de-escalate the situation and explain everything was fine she was suddenly outside? Far from the situation? It was only the understanding of a vampire's power she'd gotten from being claimed by one for about a week a few months ago that had her pretty sure she knew it was a quickstep and not...
Breathe. Calm herself. She knew the importance of being calm around a vampire if nothing else. Dilion had taught her that much. Keep calm. Try to slow her heartbeat and steady herself. Give a vaguely embarrassed smile towards her apparent rescuer. Be very glad Dustin was a witch who wouldn't be able to smell this guy on her later and throw and absolute fit over it. "I'm alright. Thanks. Just needed to avoid someone and," she gave a vague gesture around herself. "well and truly avoided." She should say thanks. She should also go. She sho-
Shit.
"My cape!" She said with sudden alarm. She'd been holding her bag when she was quick stepped out of the cafeteria but the cape part of her uniform had still been hanging from her chair. She looked back towards the cafeteria, distracted from her moment of gratitude by the steep price of replacing top level uniforms and the new level of absolute fit that would be thrown by Dustin if she lost part of hers.
She was good, and obviously used to being in the presence of a vampire cause she wasn't freaking out and fighting him off. That calmed him to an extent, but he knew this situation needed to end quickly and they move on. Too many people on campus were not fond of his kind, and any innocent situation would be seen as mischievous or threatening on his part. Meric was not comfortable with the bias on campus and preferred to avoid anything that placed him, or his collective student body, in more of a negative view. But when the young lady's raised voice announced her left-behind cape, he realized that his moment of peace at his sanctuary might need to be sacrificed.
"Wait here, please," he asked before whisking back into the cafeteria. Keeping to the shadows to avoid - everyone's eyes - Meric searched for the first rank student's cape. He found it, draped over the back of the chair she occupied earlier. Before he was able to move towards it, another's presence stood right beside him.
"So, you're into saving damsels now?" Clase's grin was clearly seen under his cape. "Surely, your intentions are chivalrous and nothing more."
"She needed help. I'm helping, nothing more." Meric began his step, but a strong hand on his shoulder stopped his quickstep before it started.
"Remember my warnings? This school - they pay very, very close attention to 'us'. One ill move by one ruins the lot. Mind your steps and who you step to, Meric." Clase believed the young vampire was capable of handling his own these days, but he still did not trust him.
Giving his roommate his eyes, showing a sign of truth and knowing, Meric's blank expression gave Clase nothing to fear or trust. "Will do, Clase."
Meric's step was freed and he moved quickly around the unoccupied tables to grab the cape before it was noticed. He didn't clock the location of the guy surveying at the front - not sure if he was still standing there or not. It didn't matter, he just wanted to get this over with and hide in the library.
A minute passed and he was outside, once again. He stood at the side door, making sure the young lady noticed his presence before stepping before her; the cape folded in his hands. "Here you go. Sorry for earlier, but all is well, yes?"
Again, taking a step back, Meric pulled his hood down slightly against the cool breeze before lifting his head to give the girl a warm grin. He didn't want to seem awkward or standoffish - this just wasn't his day. He wished to not spread his air of melancholy to others.
Completely engrossed in his work Claudio didn't notice Salt's approach until he was under the man's arm. Blinking slowly he turned to look at the man for a long silent moment. "Depends on the type of distraction you are looking for Salt." He answered cooly. Shrugging Salt's arm from his shoulder he began to rummage through all his pockets and lay out an assortment of items; A handful of rings, a few bracelets, a pair of earrings, a half dozen small metal plaques the size of playing cards, four metal rods lightly thicker than a pencil and just as long, a set of engraving tools, a small cloth bag that sounded like it had metal balls in it, and a white silk handkerchief neatly folded.
Moving the piles around he separated them into groups. "A few kinetic rings, two spark rings, and a single tracking ring." He pointed out each ring. "General shielding bracelets, one heat shielding bracelet." The chain bracelets all held 13 charms on them, the shield bracelets in the shape of kite shields and the heat with simple flame charms. "Linked communication earrings." The pair were made from a simple gold ring with an attached tigers eye that was easily seen to have once been on stone. "Rune tablets for a fire trap, lightning trap, wind trap, stasis field, and sonic trap." Each plaque was made of a different metal and covered with different runes. "Daze rod, sonic rod, kinetic rod, wind rod." Like the plaques each rod seemed to be made from a different material. "My tools." Pausing he stared at them for a second confused before picking them up returning them to his jacket pocket. "Don't remember bringing them with me today." He muttered before continuing on. "Blitz balls." He pointed to the sack. "Sunshine in my Pocket." He finished pointing at the handkerchief. "Though I probably wouldn't use the Blitz balls unless you are wanting to tear something up. Oh and don't use the Sunshine in my Pocket on the Vamps. That just won't end well."
Waving his hands of the arsenal laid out on the table he looked over at Salt with a devilish grin. "This is just want I have on hand. If you tell me what you are planning I can probably make something more custom for you. It will cost though. So got any questions on what any of this does?"
Salt ran his eyes over it and looked back to see the ivory tower thug was still looking around dumbly while his new friend... she was gone. Well, looks like his distraction wouldn't be needed. He huffed, partially in relief, wouldn't need to cash in his last favor with the Drill Master today. On to other business now. He told another student to piss off and took the seat next to Claudio "looks like I'm not needed. Anyway, it's just as well, I got two things to discuss with you. Know those dazzle things that are like magic makeup and make you look prettier when you're wearing them? Little birdy told me that the head of the mail office might be persuaded to look away for a few things if we provided her with one. Could be a big win. You know I still got that pusher lined up from back home." Pusher being their code word for whatever dealer they had lined up for school contraband. In this case Alcohol, and the kind of really good scotch that you couldn't just buy and some of the teachers would be willing to fudge a few grades for, ignore a few slights, or let a few scoundrels into the Ivory Tower to peddle some cheaper stuff one night. If she's in I can probably get us a case shipped in. Normal split." fifty-fifty, right down the middle, or sixty-forty if Salt had to hide Caludio's share for him. "So what do you say?"
Elanor was doing math in her head. She was getting alarming good at doing math about non-math related things. Calculating fallout, working out risk, measuring out exposure. She thought her teachers might appreciate her using the strategies and tactics she was being taught in class to navigate a practical situation. Just, maybe they wouldn't really want to hear about her trying to figure out what was least likely to get Dustin in enough of a rage to hurt her or someone else. Losing a cape was an expensive mistake but she could lay claim that the reason he couldn't find her was she was trying to find it. The excuse might soothe his anger over her going awol at least. Though it risked getting Salt in trouble if he tried to hang onto it until he could get it back to her. Or Dustin might not believe the lie.
Or-
The vampire was Gone.
She was still trying to work out her mental math and how she was going to keep out of the worst possible consequences when suddenly he was back. With her cape.
There was probably a bit too much relief on her face as she took the cape back from the vampire. "Thank you! That's twice you've save me from trouble with my partner." He even was... offering her a smile. One that looked kinder than she was used to seeing in her limited interactions with the campus vampires. "I... I'm Elanor Flicker, by the way. Rank 87. I owe you a favor after this."
Offering or acknowledging a favor was serious buisness among students, especially those at the highest or lowest ranks. It was not done lightly but there were some circumstances where such an offer could not be avoided. Given the trouble he'd gone through and saved her from... Salt might also be owed something but there were complexities and layers and maybe their almost being on the road to being friends made up for him not quite having to actually cash in a favor on her behalf.
Complications. She never should have tried to avoid Dustin. She should know better by now. Though, speaking of things she ought to know...
"Though, I have to ask that if you come to collect you try to do so when my partner isn't around. My current partner especially is a bit jealous sort and won't take kindly if you approach while he's around."
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