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Settling In (Pickles!)

Started by Eckhart_Von_Musel, March 05, 2018, 05:36:27 AM

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Eckhart_Von_Musel

The excited shrieks of newly accepted first-years signaled that summer was coming to an end. This was perfectly fine with Lulu Von Grimmelshausen- the girl hated having nothing to do.

The Connlaothian girl sat on the top bunk, reading a book titled "Domination And Dominion: How To Bend Another's Will To Your Own". She had already read this particular text in her first year at Wyrdwood, but that was three years ago. Surely there were things in the tome she'd forgotten since then, right?

Lulu's clean, unfolded clothes lay on the bottom bunk. Her shepherds crook lay haphazardly on top of them, along with a plethora of library books. Since she was without a roommate for the summer, she'd taken to using the second mattress as a place to keep her stuff. The girl doubted she'd have a new one this year- her last two roommates had both switched rooms after a semester, and "Lulu is impossible to live with" had become a sort of running joke among the other girls her year.

A sudden creak caused Lulu to flinch. She spun her head around to see her door being opened by somebody unseen. "Who's there?" she called, mildly annoyed that her reading was being interrupted. "The birds frown on those who don't wear sandals."

Pickles

The birds... frown upon those... who don't wear sandals? Ailith Leighlin dismissed the odd phrase; or tried to, at least. The second she had saw that she had been put as Lulu Von Grimmelshausen's roommate, she had been dreading going back to school. She tried to wave off the myths of how weird Lulu was, but she gave up after a few days. Who was she kidding? This girl couldn't seem keep a roommate for a week. And now her greeting was "the birds frown upon those who don't wear sandals." There was no way she was going to get through this year.

"It's your roommate," Ailith responded, not even trying to sound excited. No use trying to act something she wasn't. She went to put her stuff on a bunk, but saw that the top was occupied by Lulu and bottom by her stuff. She tried not to blame Lulu: she probably wasn't used to living with others with how often people got switched out of her dorm. "Sorry I'm not... wearing... sandals."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Oh." Lulu thought, her blue eyes narrowing as the girl entered the room. "So they did find me a new one. Huh." Peering over the bunk's railing, she smiled. "It's okay! They aren't here right now anyway!"

Hopping down from where she was, Lulu extended her hand as if to shake. She then retracted it, as if she had thought better of it. "My name is Lucile, but you can call me Lulu." she said happily. "That's the first two letters of my name, twice!" Lulu held up two fingers, as if to illustrate this. "What's your name?"

Pickles

Lucile, huh. Honestly, Ailith thought Lulu sounded more weird and crazy, so maybe that's why she went by that. Ailith noted that Lulu spoke kind of like a child, at least to her. Add that to the list of things that made Lulu strange, or better yet, list of reasons why she needed to switch dorms.

"Uh, Ailith," she said. She wondered if Lulu would give her a weird nickname like she gave herself. She guessed that maybe she should sound at least a little bit welcoming, so she tried to start a conversation. "So... nice to be living with you."

But failed miserably.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

For the briefest of moments, Lulu's happy smile turned vaguely sinister. "Hah! I made you do it! I made you say "uh"!" she thought, a sense of accomplishment rising in her chest. "I'm so good at this!"

Of course, Lulu didn't take advantage of Ailith's moment of weakness. If the teachers found out she was actually practicing her ability on other students, she'd likely get in a lot of trouble. Simply making people confused wasn't breaking any rules, however- Lulu could practice making people utter her ability's "trigger" all she liked.

In a flash, the girl's smile returned to normal. "That's a pretty name!" she said cheerily as she began to throw her laundry off the bed and onto the floor. "It sounds expensive! Where did you buy it?"

Pickles

"You can't buy... names..." Ailith resisted the urge to groan. Were conversations always going to go this way? They were already getting very, very quickly. "But thanks..." I guess, she added silently.

She tried not to look at Lulu strangely. She thought that, for a second, Lulu looked kind of... creepy... but it must be her imagination making excuses for her switch rooms. Of course, she wanted to, but she couldn't without valid reason. And it'd probably be more work than just sticking it out. So she was stuck. Most definitely stuck.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"You are very welcome!" Lulu said cheerily, sitting down on the floor and beginning to fold her clothes. "I pay attention to names, and you definitely picked out a good one!"

"Alright, that's enough for now." she thought, intentionally mismatching her socks. "This is too easy to be fun."

"So, what school of magic are you here for?" Lulu asked curiously. "Or are you here for general studies?"

Pickles

"I'm learning how to control Air." Oh no. Small talk. Ailith both hated it and was horrible at it. What was supposed to say next? Something else about herself or ask something in return? She decided the latter. "What about you?"

Ailith tried not to cringe. It sounded terribly awkward when she said it. Maybe her voice just sounded like that. She hoped her voice just sounded like that.

And what was she supposed to do? Was she supposed to sit on the floor with Lulu? She ended up just standing in the place she had already been. She hoped that didn't look as uncomfortable as she felt.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Ahhh, air." Lulu said, throwing the socks she'd been folding into the air dramatically. "The invisible element that no one can see!" She looked up at Ailith - who looked rather uncomfortable- and gave her an odd grin. "I wish I coud see it. I'd stare at it all day long!"

Giggling, she returned to folding socks. "I have the ability to control the actions of individuals by subtly taking over their subconscious!" she said in a posh (and clearly fake) accent. "There isn't an official course on mind control though, so I need to take a bunch of electives that kinda relate to the subject in order to get the education I want."

Pickles

No. No way. Ailith was adding that to the list of "creepy things about Lulu". Why was she learning about mind control, of all things? Well... that was kind of rude, but it was scary nonetheless. Though she had it admit, it was clever of Lulu to use electives like that to get what she wanted. Ailith would never do that.

"You're... not using that on me, right?" She felt the need ask. She hoped it didn't seem rude to Lulu. She hoped everything she said wasn't rude, now that she thought about it. Maybe she should just stop overthinking stuff... Yeah, that'd help...

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Is she serious?" Lulu thought. "Is she seriously asking this question?"

She slowly turned her head to look at Ailith, her face completely deadpan. "If I were using it on you, which of us would be folding my socks?"

Pickles

"O-Oh..." Ailith didn't know if she should take that as comforting or not. At least she wasn't born being mind controlled, but she feared she would be soon... She forced her mouth shut and looks away, trying not to seem suspicious.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Lulu made a small huffing noise, as if she'd settled something. "Stupid." she thought, nose wrinkling. "Maybe I should control you, make you read a book- you might actually learn something."

The growing sound of chattering voices and footsteps from outside caught Lulu's attention. She looked up at the magic-powered timepiece on the wall, and her eyes widened. "By Ansgar, it's dinnertime already?" the girl said, once again using her fake accent. "It feels like noon!" Standing up, Lulu walked out the door- holding it for Ailith if she chose to follow.

The hall outside their dorm was packed with first years making their way to the dinner hall for the first time. Getting through the sea of younger students would be slow going...

Pickles

(Sorry for the late reply, on vacation)

Just by looking outside the door — that Lulu held out for her, which she didn't know if that was a good thing or not — Ailith could tell it wasn't going to be easy to get to the dining hall. 'Why does there have to be so many people...' she thought to herself as she stepped outside the door. She pressed herself against the wall, as to not get lost in the crowd.

"Too many," she whispered to herself. Although she'd been here before (four times before), she could never get used to the crowded hallways. She just wanted to eat: it didn't have to be such a chore!

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Lulu slowly waded through the flood of younger students, grumbling under her breath. "Stupid, overexcitable first years..." she thought, beginning to get annoyed. "The food here isn't even that good..." 

Finally fed up, Lulu decided to take measures into her own hands. Grabbing a boy in front of her by the shoulder, she spun him around to look him in the eyes. The girl gave him a big smile. "Did you know that the largest species of crab in Le'Raana weighs over seventeen tons? It's true!"

The boy, who couldn't have been older than twelve, stared at her in confusion. "H-huh?" he said, looking very distraught. "W-what are you-"

The boy suddenly went silent, his eyes glowing a pale blue. Lulu smirked. "Cause a scene." she said softly, beginning to walk once more.

The boy nodded sleepily, and promptly fell over. "Aaauurrgh!" he screamed, clutching his knee. "I broke my leg! Help me!" The crowd of students slowed as they stopped to watch the commotion. A few older students stepped forwards to help, only to scratch their heads in confusion as they realized the boy was just fine.

Assuming Ailith didn't pull away, Lulu would grab her roommate by the arm and drag her to the front of the now dwindeling crowd. "That's better, don't you think?"

Pickles

"Uh, yeah..." Ailith hated being touched or grabbed, but she was really too scared to pull away from Lulu. She looked at the boy who was still on the ground. 'Poor kid...' she thought. He was probably terrified as it was. Who knows how he might feel once he realized what he'd done. He'd probably be mortified.

It was so much better to be walking freely, though... A lot of the time, Ailith couldn't go more than a few feet in a crowded hallway without feeling like screaming, crying, hitting someone, or a combination of the three. She hated when people brushed up against her. Honestly, she'd rather be dragged by Lulu than be stuck in that crowd once again. So, even if it meant she was somewhat evil, she was actually a little bit grateful that Lulu did that.

"Thanks," she managed out. God, taking over somebody's subconscious isn't something she should thankful for, but there's a first for everything, she guessed. "I hate crowds."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Lulu smirked, letting go of Ailith's arm. "It's no problem~!" the girl sang cheerily. She snapped her fingers a few times, as if keeping the beat to a song only she could hear.

Behind them, the boy had stopped screaming, and was looking around with a confused expression on his face. The crowd had begun to move again, though at a much slower pace than before. The once excited first years were now visibly on edge, as if the same thing could happen to them at any given moment.

Lulu looked at her roommate, twirling her pigtails in her fingers. "I'm not doing it again though." she said, beaming happily. "Remember, staying comfy means you gotta take initiative for yourself." The girl looked ahead, her face growing dark. "Otherwise things will get taken from you."

Pickles

Ailith didn't expect — or want — Lulu to do it again, so thank god she wasn't going to. The first time had helped enough, anyways; everybody was going slower, so they were basically some of the only people at the front. Still... she still felt just a little bit bad. And that last thing Lulu said, "things will get taken from you"... it was a little bit ominous, to say the least.

"Yeah," she said, agreeing with Lulu though she didn't know the full implications of what it meant. Taking initiative, however, was one thing she agreed with. She hated doing it, but Lulu was right, in a way. Even if it sounded creepy the way she said it.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Lulu smirked as they approached their destination, the smell of warm food growing stronger with each passing moment. The first few days of the semester always had the best meals- as if the cooks stopped caring what they served after making their first impression. "Maybe they'll serve the cherry tart today..." the girl thought wistfully. "It's about the only thing here worth eating."

The main hall was packed with students both old and new, and it was difficult to find any seats that were unoccupied. Finally, Lulu spotted two empty chairs in the very corner of the room. Motioning for Ailith to follow, she waltzed to the table.

As it turned out, the two wouldn't be sitting alone. Across from their seats sat two first-year girls- a mousy looking redhead, and a blue-haired girl with an oddly pushed in face. The two were already deep in discussion as Lulu took her seat.

"I-I don't know if I want to b-be here anymore..." the redheaded girl said shakily. "I m-miss my mom and dad..."

"You only just got here! You'll be fine!" the blue-haird girl replied condescendingly. "I don't miss my parents, but that's 'cause they're international criminals and stuff. They're pretty much-"

"Aah!" the redhead cried out. Having just noticed the older girls joining them, the child began to panic. "I-I'm sorry! Is this your table? Should we not be here?"

Pickles

"A-Ah, no, you're fine," Ailith said, attempting to comfort the redhead. She was pretty bad at that kind of stuff: what else was she supposed to say or do? It never felt like she did enough. But when she tried to, she always did something wrong, so she just shut her mouth on that subject. She didn't want to make the redhead feel worse.

"It looks like we're sitting with you two," she countinued, "so what are your names? I-If you don't mind."

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