[Other FULL] Gilded Halls ★ IC

[Sir Bastian]

Ashley - Rachel​

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Ashley and Rachel
Gardening for Dummies

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Now that Rachel and Ashley had been somewhat settled into their room, even if they still did actually need to unpack, the duo decided to finally begin taking a look around the room. While Ashley had been pretty keen on checking out the lounge with the video games and such that was located in the dormitories, Rachel had been more interested in spending a bit longer outside, checking out the school's garden in particular.

The duo had managed to make a compromise where they would check out the lounge area, but just so long as Ashley looked around the garden and outdoor areas of the school... Not that the red-haired girl had to particularly beg to get her way. A small, pleased smile graced Rachel's lips as she took a deep breath of the fresh air.

"See...? Isn't this place so pretty...?" Rachel asked, glancing over at her friend as they walked into the garden. "A lot better than staying inside where all the games were and stuff, right?"

"I still think that playing Mario Kart is alot more fun than taking a walk." Ashley replied, strolling alongside Rachel on their way across the large patch of cut grass, towards the little garden in the far end of the grounds, where the little gardening patch was. That said, she -was- smiling and occasionally glancing up at the blue sky where the sun shone down from.

"Although I have to admit, this is pretty nice. I might go jump in the pool later, actually." She glanced towards her red-headed friend with another smile, her hands in the pockets of her shorts. "Wanna come with? We can do it, like, in the afternoon, after classes."

Rachel glanced over in the direction of the pool. "It does look pretty nice... I think the last time we went swimming was back when we were little kids, wasn't it?" She paused for a moment, biting her bottom lip for a second. "I wonder if I still even remember how to swim... Come to think of it, I don't even have a swimsuit anymore..."

A wry grin spread on Ashley's lips as she nudged Rachel gently with her elbow. "If you don't, you can always just use your underwear. Or heck, if I brought a spare, you can borrow that!"

Rachel's face turned a deep shade of crimson as she glanced over at Ashley in shock. She glanced around, making sure that no one else happened to be around before she began to speak in an embarrassed whisper. "M-My what?! Y-You're not serious, are you?!"

Rolling her eyes, Ashley simply sent the other girl a playful smile and a pair of raised eyebrows. "Come on Rachel, it wouldn't be that bad. I mean, a two-piece is basically the same as a set of underwear!" She shook her head, giggling and waving her hand dismissively. "It's fine though, I'm sure I've got a spare set you can borrow. We're about the same size, right?"

"W-Well, yeah we are, I guess.." Rachel replied, glancing away from the raven-haired girl for a moment, the blush still evident on her cheeks. "It doesn't make it any less embarrassing when you talk about it like that, though... Sometimes I really think you g-get a kick out of doing that to me..."

Ashley simply smiled for a while as the two arrived at the little garden with several free patches of soil, enabling the students to pick up a bit of gardening if they felt like it. She wandered over to a patch of flowers and lowered herself down to not-quite-sit with her arms wrapped around her legs. "Well... maybe a little. You're pretty adorable when you get all flustered." She sent another little half-smirk up at Rachel before pushing herself to a stand again, wandering around the patches of dirt, flowers and a couple of potatoes, peas and the like. "It's not like anyone would be weirded out about me talking about underwear. It's something everybody wears, after all."

"W-Well, next time talk about your own first..." the red-haired girl replied quietly, slowly managing to finally get her embarrassment worked down a bit.

Rachel took note of the soil patches that Ashley walked around, making a small note to check out this part of the garden some other time when she had a bit more time. She had always wanted to try her hand at gardening. The girl had read about it in a few books and of course, seen it on a few of those home improvement shows on television, but it was never something she had actually gotten a chance to try out for herself.

"Hey, Ashley?" Rachel called out. "Can we take a quick stop here for a minute? I... Kinda wanna try planting something."

Ashley looked up from peering down at a patch of rather young carrots, sending her friend another smile and a nod. "Sure thing! I'm not really much of a gardening person, but I think that should be fine." She looked over to the toolshed sitting nearby. "I think everything you need is in the shed. It's not locked, at least."

A much brighter smile graced Rachel's lips at her friend's agreement. She quickly began to make her way to the tool shed, the red-haired girl almost carrying herself as some sort of excited child. She opened the door to the building and stepped inside. Her eyes widening in awe of all the various supplies the school had put inside! There were bags of mulch and fertilizer, watering cans, shovels, rakes, trowels, pots... almost anything that a gardener could imagine!

Within a few moments, Rachel emerged from the tool shed with a few supplies to aid her in her first gardening experiment. She carried a trowel, watering can, and one of the small pots which she had put some of the fertilizer in as opposed to carrying one of the big bags of it out. Rachel returned to the gardening area sitting on her knees as she began to look around at some of the potted flowers that set around the area.

Giggling a little to herself, the black-haired girl smiled at her friend's excitement. It was great seeing Rachel being so worked up about something. She was usually more timid than a mouse. She quickly fished her phone out of her pocket and lifted it up to take a quick picture of Rachel walking out of the shed with the tools in her arms before putting it away again.

"Hmm... Which one should I try to plant?" the girl asked, glancing up at Ashley for an opinion.

Ashley walked over next to Rachel and placed her chin in her right hand, balancing it on her left while looking rather thoughtful. "Hmmm..."

Glancing around at the various baby potted plants, Rachel's eyes lit up as she spotted the perfect one. She carefully reached out, taking hold of a small pot that held a rose, which had just now began to bud. Rachel had always had a soft spot for roses. She always thought that they were so pretty. In fact when she was back home, her father would often give her a bouquet of them for her birthday.

"We have to be really careful," Rachel explained as she dug a small hole in the soil for the flower to sit. She then took the flower gently from the pot, demonstrating it to Ashley as she spoke, almost like she was teaching the dark-haired girl how to do it. "It can be really easy to just yank 'em out of the pot. You gotta make sure to take the dirt with it, so you don't pull the flower out of its roots."

Raising her brows in genuine interest, the raven-haired girl lowered herself down to sit on her haunches again, arms wrapped around her legs once more as she looked from Rachel to the flower, nodding her head lightly, quietly listening and following her movements. She never knew that Rachel was this interested in gardening.

"The roots are really important for the plant. It's gotta have to actually get the nutrients from the ground and water," Rachel continued to explain. "You probably already know that though... You know, from science classes and stuff..."

Rachel gently placed the plant into the hole she had dug, before she began to gently fill the hole around it with dirt. The girl patted the dirt carefully around it, making sure that it was nice and sturdy. Rachel then took the pot she had filled with fertilizer, and began to gently lay some of the material around the flower she had just planted.

Ashley continued to watch Rachel working with the plant, letting out a little cough while lifting a hand to rub the back of her neck. "Uhm, well... I... never really listened during the nature-parts of school. Generally, science never really interested me that much, honestly..."

As Rachel continued to pat out the dirt around the flower, the air suddenly began to cool somewhat, sending a small shiver down Ashley's spine. Rachel didn't seem to notice, but Ashley, after a brief moment of confusion, realized what was going on, her eyes widening a little as she reached out for Rachel's upper arm. "Rachel, wait-!"

Rachel was completely oblivious to this, however. Right when Ashley had shouted her name, the red-haired girl once again patted the dirt from where she had applied the fertilizer to the rosebud. Her eyes went wide as she felt a very familiar, tingling sensation run through her body. The dirt that rested underneath her palms slowly began to turn from it's dark brown color, to that of a pale-blue, almost white color. This color spread its way up the rose that Rachel had just planted in the ground, causing it to quickly grow very stiff and rigid. A faint, cracking-like noise could be heard at this point, as the rose was slowly frozen completely over.

"N-No... No, not now..." Rachel whispered, fear evident in her eyes.

Recognizing the fear in Rachel's eyes, Ashley quickly placed her hands on both of Rachel's shoulders, turning the girl to face her with a serious expression on her face, her lips pressed tightly together as she stared into the other girl's eyes.

"Listen, Rachel, it's going to be fine. Just do like we practice and breathe! Focus on breathing, okay? In... and out... in..."

Rachel nodded quietly, trying to get herself under control. The girl slowly began to breathe in and out,closing her eyes and focusing on nothing else. Slowly, the air around the duo began to warm back up to its normal temperature. Rachel's small panic attack seemed to calm down for the moment, the girl eventually opening her eyes and looking at Ashley apologetically.

"...I'm so sorry..." she whispered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Breathing out in relief as Rachel seemed to come to her senses and get control back over her powers, Ashley smiled softly and gently stroked her friend's shoulders comfortingly.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Rach'. You're not that good at controlling it, but you will be, alright? That's why I'm here, I'm helping you keep a hold of it, mmh? And I won't let you down." Pausing, she looked down at the frost-covered rose, smiling back up at Rachel. "Besides, I think it's alot prettier now."

Rachel glanced back down at the flower, before offering Ashley a weak smile. "Y-Yeah... It does look prettier..." the girl replied, though it was more of a lie than anything else. Rachel was starting to hate her powers, for reasons just like this one. All they ever seemed to do was put an end to anything she found enjoyable.

"Alright, so don't apologize, okay? You're doing the best you can." Ashley gave Rachel another serious look before leaning in, pressing a kiss to her friend's forehead, the smile returning to her lips again. "Anyways, I think it's almost lunchtime by now. We'll get you back to gardening before long, alright Rach'?"

"Y-Yeah, sure thing..." Rachel replied, a faint blush returning to her cheeks from her friend's sign of devotion. The red-haired girl honestly had no idea just how Ashley constantly managed to put up with things like this. "Lunch sounds really good right now, actually... Let's go see what they have in the cafeteria."

​

 

[Mana1]

Clay and Priscilla

As the door opened, Clay heard a voice call out. Have I got the wrong room? He thought, checking the number on his cardkey. A small (young?) girl sat upon one of the beds, her pale grey eyes open in shock as Clay barged into the room.

"Two bed... I guess we're room-mates?" Clay asked, with a friendly smile.

Priscilla looked at the boy that entered the room and frowned. Her roommate was a... boy? And he was older than her... If she had to share a room, couldn't she at least share a room with a girl? Weren't boys... Digusting? That's what she's seen on TV...

She realized that he must have been waiting for an answer. She tried to smile. "I guess we are roommates," she said softly. "Just one question... You aren't... Gross, are you?"

"Gross?" Clay laughed, not sure what the girl meant, "I don't think so?" He had never anticipated having to share a room with a girl, although he didn't see it as much of an issue - he wasn't interested in catching a glimpse of the female physique, he had been brought up a gentleman, afterall.

The girl was slight, very young and some of what she said sounded a little naive. Yet, the girls eyes reflected much more experience than her size let on. Clay guessed she was only a year or two younger than him.

Priscilla smiled and unzipped the bag next to her bed. She pulled out her copy of To Kill a Mockingbird and started reading it. "As long as you aren't gross or noisy, I'm good with us being roommates," she said, blowing a bit of hair from her face. "By the way, what's your name?" she asked.

Priscilla looked up from her book and looked at the boy. "My name is Priscilla..." she muttered, turning back to her book. After a few moments, she even forgot that someone else was in the room with her. She hummed softly as she flipped through the pages of the book.

"Clay," he introduced himself, although he wasn't sure the girl was listening. This school sure is going to be interesting he thought to himself as he threw his bag onto the bed and began unpacking.​

 

[Mana1]

---Time: Midday - 14:00
---Weather: Sunny and warm​

Lunchtime

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The headmaster rolled his eyes at the amount of food in front of him, with twenty students to feed they had really gone all out on their welcome lunch - it seemed unfair to force the teenagers to cook on their first day away from home.

Night waved his hand across the table, each item glowed slightly, shimmering and disappearing. He had already sent over a grand, oak table to host all the food - pizza, salad, potato crisps, fruit and a huge selection of goodies were appearing, as if by magic. Since it was a sunny day, the headmaster decided the paved area by the pool was the perfect location for their meal.

Finally, the last food items were gone. He turned back to the guest in his office, hoping his new students enjoyed their feast.

- - - - -​

Lunchtime! This will be a short event, lasting until Friday or Saturday approximately a week (as it doesn't amount to much change, and is more an extension on the current status). During this time you should finish unmaking, eat some food and get to know your fellow students. There may be new students joining shortly, make sure not to interact with now-nonexistant characters.

The first lesson will be Elements 101 similar to the first time around!

The table is full of snack and finger foods. Nice and simple, grab a paper plate and eat whatever you want!

 

[Monster Guy]

Angelique Bellefleur
Room 7

Angelique giggled at the flustered look on her new roommates face. People always got like that after she kissed them, and it was funny every single time it happened. She got over it relatively quickly, and introduced herself. "My name is Otenise, I came here from America, It's my first year and I'm guessing you're French."

Angelique nodded her head. "Oui, I hail from France. It is also my first year here as well."

Otenise then pulled out an iPhone out of her pocket and began playing with it as she continued. At that point, Angelique hadn't been paying her full attention to what the girl was saying. She went back to unpacking her things, and was more interested in getting her things neatly put away in whatever empty drawer space she could find. The other girl had gone on and on about video games and things Angelique didn't exactly find interesting. Sure, she played stuff like Pokemon, Animal Crossing, and some other Nintendo games with cute characters from time to time, but they were just fun things to do to pass the time. She wasn't the type to play them competitively. She never understood how people could take those kinds of things so seriously. There were more important things to do with one's time.

"Oh, well... I play some Pokemon, but... I do not play that much... video games." Angelique replied in the most polite way she could, while putting some clothes away in a drawer. She knew what she was about to say next was going to sound mean, but she didn't see any point in lying about this kind of thing. "I do not mean any offense to you, I prefer to go out and make friends with people in person. Not sitting in front of blinking screen pressing buttons. Oh, but I do hope we can be friends, though..."

 

[Cordelia]

Ginevra May Morrigan

Making an Entrance

Ginny sat there daydreaming for a while until she realized that no one was coming right now to move in. With a shrug, she closed her eyes and before she knew it, she had dozed off. It was so peaceful in her room and she allowed herself to drift to unconscious, only to be interrupted by the sudden desire to move around and a slight feeling of hunger. Luckily, her hair was still perfect and she smiled at her reflection in the mirror -- she wouldn't have to fuss about getting ready once again.

Now to impress. She knew that she was a looker and used it to her advantage as often as possible, even though it could backfire. She had her way with people and she liked it that way. Being in control was her preference. As she left her dormitory, the smell of food caught her attention and she followed it, finding herself walking towards the pool area. A swim would be nice… wouldn't it? She pondered jumping in and looked around, noticing a few students nearby but she shrugged her shoulders, not really caring.

The redhead grabbed a towel and tossed it on the pool chair before slipping out of her tanktop and shorts, leaving only her underwear. It's just like a bikini anywhere, so who hasn't seen a girl in a black bikini? With long legs, she stepped onto the diving board and dove gracefully into the water, feeling refreshed when it hit her skin and hair, cooling her off instantly. I could get used to this.

Her head popped above the water and she noticed the students looking at her, so she treaded water and waved, "The water's great! You should jump in and join me!"

 

[Satan.EXE]

x

"World 2, Level 1... Or something like that."
CHAPTER I
PART III​

裏表おてにせ
(Otenise Uraomote)​

Location:
Valiant House, Room 7 > Pool

- - ​

Form: "O"​

[▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮]

"Oui, I hail from France. It is also my first year here as well." Her accent was strong, though at the same time, charming. Otenise wondered what the British thought of American accents, or even what this girl - Angelique, as she mentioned - thought of it. She herself was rather fond of the British accent, though she figured most girls probably were. What was she talking about again? "Oh, well... I play some Pokemon, but... I do not play that much... video games." Oh, that's a downer. "I do not mean any offense to you, I prefer to go out and make friends with people in person. Not sitting in front of blinking screen pressing buttons. Oh, but I do hope we can be friends, though..." Ouch. Otenise was somewhat surprised at herself though, normally that kind of statement would have her booming, but she was able to shrug it off with relative ease.

"Right, and I assume you don't play competitively then." She sighed a bit. "You didn't state any rules though. Really, I don't care much what you do, so long as it doesn't invade my privacy, interrupt my gaming, or, you know, common sense stuff." She closed her eyes quietly for several moments. "And I use the bathroom often, and I would like it if you never intrude on me when I do, because... Reasons." She stood up, stuffing her 3DS back in her secret pocket. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm going to follow the smell of food."

---

> Pool

Otenise helped herself gladly, stocking up heartily on pizza, chips, and junk food. She found a seat near the pool, flinching and squealing slightly as someone dove into the pool, sending water all over. Had she paid any attention, she might have seen it coming, and though she wasn't splashed at all, she was still startled. She glanced at the other students, the swimming one included, then began to focus on her meal.

.

 

[Nathan]

Andy Steele - Food is where I am!

The smell of cheese was floating in the air. Not only cheese, he could smell a bunch of other things. Some sweets, pizza, it was all torture on his poor self. He was trying to have a nap but screw that. Food was calling his name! And he was certainly not one to be rude and decline such an invitation. He got up, trying to find out where this intoxicating smell was coming from. For a little while, that actually seemed like an eternity to him, he followed the almighty odor. This led him to a pool area, other students had arrived before him and were already stuffing themselves on the food that was disposed on a huge table. Andy put his hands on his ankles. Boy, oh boy, I'm already liking this school. Guess it's better than I expected. He didn't lose anytime and started eating, he had always liked pizza. Plus his favorite flavor of soda, grape, was available so there was no time for hesitation. He sat on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water, he had removed his sneakers. And it was just in time to get splashed by some random girl jumping in the pool. "Heyyy, watch where you're jumping, you jerk!"

 

[Cordelia]

Ginevra May Morrigan & Andy Steele

Poolside Encounter

Ginny looked towards the angry student and continued treading water, tilting her head to the side for a moment as she studied him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to splash you." She swam closer to him, "I hope I didn't get you too wet or anything. I just saw the pool and had to jump in."

Andy looked as the girl came over to him, apologizing. "Well at least, you have the decency to apologize so I think we should forget about this." He said with a big smile.

"I just wish I had known there was a pool here, otherwise I'd have worn a proper suit instead of... well." Her face flushed red a bit, "Well, you know. But it looks the same, I guess." She laughed a little nervously, finding this first interaction with a student awkward yet fascinating.

So far, he hadn't managed to get a good view of her. But when he did, he felt his cheeks heat uncontrollably and suddenly found the sky to be really fascinating. He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah I guess so haha..."

Ginny slid out of the pool and sat near him, "I tend to do things a lot without thinking them through. Like stripping down to my knickers and jumping into the pool." Another laugh escaped, "I guess I look a bit silly now, don't I?" She ran both of her hands through her hair and started to ring it out over her shoulder.

Oh dear god, now that was something he really didn't need to know. Just thinking about it made him feel really uncomfortable. And to top it off, she had to play with her hair. "No, not really silly, more like gorgeous." What the hell did he just say?

"Oh." The red built up in Ginny's cheeks again, "Why, thank you. I try to look my best, ya know." Her accent grew as she got more embarrassed, showing more of the Southern belle than she wished sometimes. "So, this looks like a pretty exclusive school with people from all over. Where are you from?" She asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

Her accent was wonderful. If she continued like that, she could drive him crazy. She was just so hot. "Hmm I was originally born in the USA but I moved to London pretty early in my childhood. What about you?" The change of subject was pretty welcome, maybe he could regain some more composure.

"The great state of Texas! This is the first time I've ever left the country, as well." Ginny finished ringing out her hair and grinned, "Why do you think you were invited to join this school? I mean my grades were pretty good but I wasn't top of my class or anything crazy like that."

Now that he thought of it, he never knew why the school had chosen him. He wasn't particularly good or anything. "I really don't know. Maybe because they have a fighting team or something? Cause that's like, the only thing I excel at."

"I did sports in school as well -- cross country and track." Ginny shrugged a bit, "Maybe that's why?" The sun was beginning to beat down on her and she fanned herself a bit, "If you don't mind, I'm going to get back in the water. It's damned hot out here." Gracefully, she slid into the pool without making a single splash, "Better, I hope?" She let out another laugh and started to swim some laps.

"Maybe they just want to make an international sports school haha." That was pretty stupid to say but it was the first thing that came to him. The sun was starting to be pretty violent on him, he'd have to leave the area soon. As his gaze came down, he noticed she was already in the pool again. Without a single splash this time! "It's way better haha. Hmm I guess I gotta leave now, it's getting quite hot there. See ya another time I guess!"

Ginny paused her swimming in order to wave goodbye, "It was nice meeting you! Have a nice day." With that said, she decided that floating in the pool would be more relaxing, so she stretched out on her back and took a deep breath, enjoying the water all around her.

 

[Sir Bastian]

Ashley - Rachel​

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Ashley and Rachel
Pool Party!

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The two girls had made their way to the pool just in time to get a bit of lunch and meet some of the other new students who happened to be enrolling into the school just as they were. Rachel was still a bit shaken up over what had just happened a few moments ago, but she seemed to have calmed down quite a bit since then. Quite a few of the new students were gathering in the area. As if on instinct, Rachel found herself walking rather close to Ashley. Her eyes were fixated on the ground, the girl obviously more than just a bit nervous at the prospect of being around so many new and unfamiliar faces.

Ashley, however, was smiling brightly as she practically dragged her friend over to the large table filled to the brim with food. She licked her lips as she looked over the food, finally
letting go of Rachel to rub her hands together.

"Awh man, this looks great, doesn't it Rach'? I can't believe we didn't see this on our way out here."

"W-Well, we were a bit distracted with looking around at other things..." Rachel replied, smiling softly at her friend's excitement of the prospect of the food. The red-haired girl wondered how they managed to miss it herself, to be honest. Ashley had a nose for finding food when she was getting hungry. "Is there anything in particular you want? I c-could go get it for you, if you'd rather meet some of the other students for a bit."

"Hmh... let's see..." Ashley muttered, slowly looking over the table filled to the brim with food, biting her lower lip. "This all looks so good. Hmm..." She was about to pick something out as a splash of water from the pool drew her attention. She looked over, her brows raising as she saw a girl with hair even redder than Rachel's swimming around in the pool.

Looking surprised for a moment, she then turned to Rachel with a bright, slightly mischievous smile. "Rach', did you see that? That's exactly like we talked about like five minutes ago!"

Rachel turned to look at just what Ashley was talking about. Her eyes went wide as she spotted a girl who was swimming in the pool. Slowly, her gaze went from the girl in the water, over towards the side where Rachel noticed a pile of clothes that the swimmer had most likely been wearing until just a few moments ago. A dark, flushed, crimson color quickly began to work its way up to Rachel's cheeks as she quickly looked away.

"T-That's... It's not... I-I mean..." the girl began to stammer, finding herself quickly coming to a loss for words. A small gasp escaped her lips as she turned to look straight at Ashley. "A-Ashley, no... D-Don't even think it!"

As if Rachel had read her mind, Ashley rolled her eyes and skipped over besides her friend, wrapping an arm around her shoulders with a bright grin. "Awh, come on Rach'! I'm not that hungry after all, since I had a big lunch on the plane, and we did talk about going in the pool! And I know for a fact that you like being cooled off after being in the sun for a long time." She lowered a hand to prod her red-haired friend's belly, snickering softly. "So come on, let's do it! Let's jump in the pool~"

Rachel closed her eyes, trying her hardest to block out her best friend as she spoke. She knew exactly what Ashley was doing... She did this sort of thing all the time back home. The raven-haired girl would always get some crazy idea or plan, and try to get Rachel to go along with it. More often than not, these activities would always result in the two of them getting into some sort of trouble, like the time when Ashley had Rachel ice the walkway of the next door neighbor's house, just so they could watch him slip and slide about.

"Ashley, l-look... If you wanna go swimming so bad, then let's go back to our dorm and..." Rachel began, but stopped mid-sentence when she opened her eyes to notice that Ashley was not around anymore. Rather, the girl was already off at the side of the pool, kicking off her sneakers and pulling her shirt over her head. "A-Ashley!"

"What?" The black-haired girl shouted back at her friend, grinning playfully as she removed the final layer of her top, tossing it onto the small, growing pile of clothes besides her, quickly followed by her shorts and her long socks, leaving her in a set of white underwear. She stretched her arms out over her head with a smile as she limbered up, preparing to jump in, smiling coyly back at Rachel. "You'll never make any decisions if you have to think about it all the time, Rach'! Banzai!"

With that, Ashley lept head-first into the water, seemingly not caring too much about the splash of water she created, although thankfully there was barely any people around the spot she had decided to jump in.

Rachel stared at her friend in disbelief. She could not believe that Ashley actually decided to do it!

"W-What is she thinking? D-Doesn't she realize she could get into trouble? And on our first day, even! Well, I'm not going to be pulled into this one..." Rachel thought with a sigh. She turned her back on Ashley, trying her best to block out the sounds of fun and splashing the girl was already making on her own. Despite how hard the red-haired girl tried though, the words that Ashley had said moments ago and the fun she seemed to be having now were really starting to get to her. "W-Well... m-maybe she's right... I-I mean... It is getting really warm out here for me... And... I haven't been swimming in a long time..."

The girl turned back around, watching Ashley for one more brief moment before sighing. "Damn it..."

Rachel slowly made her way towards the side of the pool and tugged off her boots, gently laying them to the side. She then removed her skirt and leggings, before tugging off her own top and laying it into the pile as well. Soon, Rachel herself was clad in only a light blue bra and panties. She quickly stepped her way over to the pool's edge, before sliding gently into the water. The girl kept her head down the entire time, not daring to meet anyone's glance in the process.

Ashley, with her now drenched hair clinging to her shoulders and her back, swam over to her friend and smiled brightly, treading water as she came up close. "Awh, you decided to join me! I knew you couldn't resist a nice little swim." She teased, smiling playfully before her expression turned just a bit softer. "Just relax, Rach'. Nobody here's out to hurt you. Just enjoy yourself, mmh?"

"O-Okay..." Rachel replied, nodding softly.

The blush on her cheeks was still very evident as she began to slowly swim her way across the pool. The refreshing chill of the water did feel really nice to the girl... If anything, Ashley was right about that. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more Rachel realized that this may have been the longest time she had ever spent outdoors in a long time. She slowly came to lay on her back, gently floating in the water with a soft smile gradually taking her lips.

She just needs a little push in the right direction every so often. Ashley thought as she watched Rachel floating along with a content smile on her face. Leaving her friend to float along, Ashley decided to do a bit of swimming, since she preferred to feel the water pushing back against her body. She noticed the red-haired girl who had instigated the pool party and swam over to her, offering her a friendly smile. "Hey! Great idea, jumping in here. I was thinking of doing it myself, but it looks like you beat me to it."

Swimming around in the water, Rachel caught the sight of a boy sitting with his feet in the water and enjoying his lunch. She bit her lip in apprehension, first glancing over her shoulder at Ashley who was talking to the other girl in the pool. The red-haired girl realized that she could not just keep to Ashley the entire time she was here... Maybe she could make a new friend.

Slowly and shyly, Rachel swam her way over towards the boy. "H-Hello..."

​

 

[Dansparce]

Ross Wilson – Thinking of Titles is Already Difficult​

The smell of pizza. The sound of excitement. This was more like it. Ross had quickly called it quits when he realised that both he and Dom were going to be going nowhere. The school wasn't very big, and there didn't really seem to be anything interesting. That was until he heard the sound of splashing. When they had originally passed by the pool, it was completely empty. No swimming, no food and no excitement. There weren't any swim-suited girls either. But now, the place had come alive. A fatty waft of the combined aroma of multiple junk-foods continued to lure Ross towards the pool. His on-flight meal hadn't been the best, and he didn't have enough time to stop and eat at a cafe here in England. So right now, fatty junk-food smelt like ambrosia to the starving Canadian.

Upon his arrival to the pool, Ross had absolutely no hesitation in his actions. He ripped a paper plate from the neat little stack it had been placed in and positioned himself directly in front of the food. "What to have, what to have?" Ross asked himself, slopping a slice (or three) of pizza onto his canvas of 'delicacies.' Next, he piled a mountain of chips on-top of the pizza, which began spilling off of the sides. Finally, he grabbed a handful of jelly-snakes and plopped them right beside the chip-pizza combo. He was half tempted to snatch a soda as well, but decided against it when he realised he would spill everything if he were to try holding that much.

As he turned to face the pool, he began to take in the weird amazingness that was happening in front of him. Girls were stripping off into their underwear and hopping into the pool, whilst other people sat around and ate. This was incredibly bizarre to him, because after all, this was supposed to be some prestigious school. But hey, he wasn't complaining. Ross manoeuvred himself towards one of the seats around the pool. He sat down, not noticing that the seat next to him was occupied by another person. No, Ross was too focused on the pool to notice that. His hands autonomously began to shovel chips and pizza into his mouth. After sitting, eating and gawking at the pool for a while, Ross noticed that he wasn't alone. He turned his head to the left and finally saw the person sitting next to him. The girl sitting next to him was absolutely gorgeous. He sat wide-eyed for a brief moment, before lowering his pizza away from his face. He returned to a casual smile. "Oh... Hi."

 

[Cordelia]

Ginevra May Morrigan & Ashley Cooper

Swimming

"Hey! Great idea, jumping in here. I was thinking of doing it myself, but it looks like you beat me to it."

"It's a hot day, the pool is nice and cool, and I couldn't think of any reason not to just jump in." Ginevra looked at the girl and grinned, "I'm Ginevra -- Ginny for short. I see I've started a trend." With grace, she moved from floating to treading water, "Doesn't seem like any of us were prepared to jump in the pool -- we're all in our knickers." She giggled a little, "Yet, here we are, putting on a show for the boys."

Giggling, the black-haired girl sent Ginny a wry, somewhat mischievous smile while lazily kicking her feet to keep herself up as well. "Tell me about it. But yeah, I'm Ashley. You can call me whatever you want, really. And I -did- bring a swimsuit, but the water looked so nice, I couldn't be bothered to go change."

She paused, turning a little to point back at Rachel, now talking to the boy sitting at the edge of the pool. "I actually told Rachel over there that she could easily just jump in here in her underwear, like, five minutes before coming over here. Weird coincidence, huh?"

"Ashley it is then! I like it." Ginny winked a little, and studied the girl treading beside her, "I brought one too, but who has time to go get it? It's not called in the spur of the moment for no reason."

Her eyes found their way to her friend and she indicated with a slight tilt of her head, "She took some convincing, didn't she? She doesn't exactly look the type to strip down and jump in a pool at a moment's notice." Not sure which one is cuter though... A devilish grin revealed itself as she looked back towards the dark-haired girl.

Grinning back to Ginny, but for a whole different reason, Ashley nodded her head as she lazily swam around, causing the water around the two to ripple. "Yeah, a bit. But it's okay. We grew up together, so she usually listens to my suggestions. Not that I'd mind if she didn't." Pausing, she turned back to Ginny with a curious look in her eyes, raising a hand to brush some dark hair away from her eyes. "So, where're you from? You don't sound like you're from England either."

"Oh, she's open to suggestions?" Ginny's eyebrows raised suggestively before she giggled a little, her mind already racing with ideas. "I'm from Texas, actually. The heart of the state -- out in the country in tornado alley. It's a totally different world over here." She looked up at the sky, "And the English call this a heat wave?" Her gaze then focused on Ashley once again, "So, where are you from?"

"A bit, I suppose. I think it's more because we've spent so much time together." Ashley replied, doing a little twirl in the water, clearly enjoying the cool liquid surrounding her, before once more focusing her attention on Ginny. "Oh, Texas? That's pretty cool! Rachel and I're from up north. Just a small town, probably not even on the map. Can't believe we got into a school like this all the way here in England. Pretty crazy, huh?"

"Oh, I see." Ginny frowned a little in mock disappointment. "Oh, up North I see. That's cool, too. And I have no idea how I got invited here." She jabbed her thumb in the direction of the boy sitting on the edge of the pool, "He and I both do sports so we thought that might have something to do with it. Do you do any?"

Swirling around in the water, she glanced at the boy before turning back to Ginny, shrugging faintly. "I went to a self-defense class sort of thing for a while, been keeping up with that. But other than that, not really. And Rachel..." She paused, shaking her head. "Rachel really has no reason to have been invited here at all. It's pretty weird."

"So it's not sports... hm." Ginny absentmindedly gazed off into the distance, trying to figure out what it was. This girl seemed perfectly normal, just like the rest of them -- she was pretty sure that she was the only freak of this bunch, but she hid it well. "Well, maybe they just wanted all of the pretty people together. I know that us three girls look rather dashing in our knickers, don't you think?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Ashley replied, snickering a little as she swam over to the nearby edge of the pool, pushing herself up back against it while glancing up at the sunny sky. "I don't honestly know why. Maybe the teachers'll tell us when we go to that... what's it called again, the first class? Elements 101, I think?"

"Kind of interesting and different, so maybe it'll all be cleared up then." Ginny followed her over to the edge, mirroring her as she took in the scenery a bit, "This may seem kind of awkward, but wanna introduce me to your friend some time?" She lowered her voice to a whisper, "She's pretty cute, wouldn't you say?" The blush built up on her cheeks, whether or not it was fake was up to Ashley to decide.

Raising her brows, Ashley looked from Ginny, over to Rachel, chatting away with the boy. She gave a smile and a shrug. "Well... yeah, she is. I've actually been hoping to help her find a boyfriend here. She hasn't gone out alot while growing up, so she hasn't had one before, and... well, I figure it'd be nice for her. Of course, I don't want her to rush into things." Nodding slowly, she glanced back at Ginny with a brighter smile. "Sure, I'll introduce you sometime. We'll be going to this place for at least two years or something, right? Might as well get introductions out of the way quick!"

"A boyfriend?" Ginny smirked a bit, "Well, we'll see about that, yeah?" She looked over again at the redhead, "That'd be wonderful actually -- but don't take offense." Her gaze returned to the dark haired girl, "She's not the only cute one I've met today." Being bold was one of her specialities, and she didn't plan on holding anything back at this school -- fresh start, clean slate.

Blinking in surprise at the comment, Ashley looked back at Ginny, the look of surprise turning into a hesitant gaze before smiling softly. "Awh, thanks Ginny. Although keep in mind you haven't actually -met- Rachel yet." She commented with a wry smirk before kicking herself away from the edge of the pool, turning to lay on her back for a while, paddling lazily around.

Ginny decided floating would be good as well, so she found herself floating nearby, "I hope you don't mind, I've learned that being upfront is better than the alternative of beating around the bush." She turned to the sky and wished she had her sunglasses -- the sun was becoming a nuisance on her light blue eyes. "I apologize if I've offended." She sighed slightly, "I've had issues with it in the past."

"Hah, no, don't worry about it." Ashley replied, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the mixture of water and the warm sun beating down on the pool and the students in and around it. "It's a good thing, being upfront. You just kind of reminded me of some girls back in my old school for a moment. Sorry, Ginny."

"Oh, what did they do?" Ginny's curiosity was piqued. "Were they all about getting into each other's pants and the like? I've been there... it can be rather unpleasant." She remembered a few issues she had had in the past with girls and boys, "I'll let you in on a secret -- I may seem like a minx, but it's pretty much an act." She winked, "Don't tell anybody."

Ashley turned her head slightly towards Ginny and smiled, winking back. "Alright, I won't." Taking a deep breath, she moved herself upright, stretching out her arms over her head before going back to treading water, glancing back over at Rachel. "Anyways, I better go see if Rach' is ready to go dry up and get ready for the first lesson. I guess I'll see you around, Ginny?" she asked with a soft smile.

"As long as I get that introduction." Ginny playfully winked, "In all seriousness, of course you will. Maybe I'll sit next to you two in class and I can get to know both of you. I know you're cool and you two are friends, so I don't see a problem there." She returned upright as well and waved to the girl before swimming over to the other side of the pool where she had left her towel and clothes. Time to get dried off and back in them -- I'm getting hungry!

 

[moon]

Hilda & Kevin

Several thoughts were racing through Hilda's mind as she stood frozen before Kevin on the lawn. After staring at him for a few seconds after his words, she looked around them to see if anyone else had seen. Didn't seem like it; there weren't too many people around right now anyways, and certainly none that would care about the two of them.

She was surprised, of course. Something in his pocket had suddenly more or less exploded, frying his trousers in the process. She thought she had seen his hand twitch and glow as well. If she hadn't seen that, she would just have thought his phone or whatever it was was malfunctioning. But his hand... He did have a strange ability too! Hilda was suddenly sure of it. Barely hiding the smile that was growing from within her, she gingerly reached out and touched Kevin's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked, then focused her eyes more seriously on his. "You did that, didn't you?"

Kevin just stood there in complete silence, staring at the ground while thoughts raced through his mind. He jumped when he felt Hilda's hand touch his shoulder which in turn broke him out of his stare.

"Careful Hilda, you might get ... shocked," Kevin said in a hesitant and nervous voice before he moved his body away from Hilda's hand.

He was expecting Hilda to run away at any minute but she just stood there. What was she waiting for? Surely something like this was enough to scare away someone right?

His secret was out, the jig was up, should he give Hilda a proper look at his power? She didn't seem to be too worried about the fact that her roommate just blew up his own phone. Kevin put his right hand out in front of him, closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He could feel the tingling in his hand build up before he heard a small spark sound. He opened his eyes and his hand was alive with little bolts of electricity jumping and sparking all around. His face being illuminated ever so slightly by the dim blue light coming from his hand.

"There you go, Hilda. This is … uh, who I am," Kevin said in a nervous tone as he rotated his hand around.

She watched him in wonder. "That's amazing," she mused. "Is it electricity then? You can create lightning? That's just... amazing," she repeated.

Then her lips twitched into a smile as she noticed his apparent confusion. "Maybe that is why we are here, then. Look."

She felt in her pockets and found a little Swedish 10 kronor coin. It looked golden but was really some amalgation of other, not very valuable, metals. It would do. She then quickly looked around and found a flowerpatch some meters away from the pool. Running over there, she picked a daisy flower and went back to Kevin, her grin brighter now that she felt the excitement over finally being able to perform her trick again.

She held up the coin and the daisy in front of him and then focused for a moment. This was a relatively simple recipe, so it only took a few seconds before the items in her hands suddenly blurred together in front of their eyes and ended up as one combined item in one of Hilda's hands. A metal colored flower, somewhat battered like the coin had been.

"There you go!" Hilda said and handed Kevin the product of her alchemy, watching him in anticipation. "I'm not good at regular cooking, but I sure can cook up some other things. That is... who I am, Kevin. Or at least what I do."

Kevin couldn't help but smile as he twirled the metal flower around in his hand. It was such a weird sensation to hold a flower which had considerable weight to it. He let out a small laugh before he handed the flower back to Hilda. Kevin looked in Hilda's eyes and found peace and happiness in the fact that he didn't feel so alone any more. He had finally found someone else with a strange ability, it was like a wave of relief had washed over him. He smiled at Hilda before he spoke in a much more upbeat and cheery demeanour than before.

"Hilda that's amazing! Can you do that with -any- two items? Have you tried three? How about food? Have you thought about … oh, sorry … I'm rambling. I'm just really excited that's all. I've just never met another person with an ability before. You have no idea how happy you've just made me."

Hilda laughed as well, feeling just as relieved herself. "Yeah, just about any two items I think. Haven't tried three. And I've definitely tried food, but it doesn't usually turn out... tasty. Haha! Oh, speaking of food..."

She pointed with a surprised look back to the poolside. All of a sudden, tables filled with plates of food had turned up out of the blue there, and other students were closing in on it.

"Is that lunch?" Hilda asked. "How did it... Oh well, I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. Between your electric hands and my 'cooking' skills, teleporting objects maybe isn't that weird." She winked at Kevin but then turned a bit apprehensive again. "So we're good, then? I'm weird, you've got superpowers, we're gonna live together... It'll work fine, right?"

Kevin looked around when Hilda pointed towards the tables of food before turning back to address the question she had asked him just a few moments ago.

"Yeah … you know I think it'll work out just fine, so long as you don't start fusing my stuff together of course," Kevin replied with a laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. He rotated himself around to face the tables which contained the plates of food and tried to get a better view of the dishes on display. It then struck him that he hadn't eaten since yesterday and that with every waking minute, he grew hungrier.

He turned back to Hilda with his thoughts very much on the food at hand. "So, you wanna grab some lunch?"

She finally laughed freely again. "Yeah, I can't wait to try someone else's cooking instead!"
​

 

[Satan.EXE]

x

"World 2, Level 1... Or something like that."
CHAPTER I
PART IV​

裏表おてにせ
(Otenise Uraomote)​

Location:
Pool

- - ​

Form: "O"​

[▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮]

"Oh... Hi."

Otenise turned her head toward the guy sitting next to her. Did he seriously just pop up there?? She didn't even realize! "Uh... Hi." Well. Anywho. Otenise crumpled her paper plate into a ball and dropped it beside her chair, making a mental note to remember to throw it away. She knew this guy was trying to interact with her, but honestly she felt far too lazy to put much effort into a conversation without much focus on anything. So, her first instinct: 3DS. She flipped it open and, as she'd expected, Monster Hunter was running, and she'd paused in the middle of a quest.

"Erm... Ah, just a gathering quest..." She mumbled quietly, quickly immersing herself in her game. She knew this wasn't the most polite way of doing things, and it did bug her - she's always been one to be her best for those around her, in many ways - but this tried and true method always worked for her. Other gamers often took notice, and that started conversations and gushing over games, and poof, instant friends. "Need... Dragonite Ore..."

.

 

[disciplish]

Zachary Agatio
caliente goes international

"So, how was it?"

Zachary glanced towards the cab driver quickly. "Leaving the United States? Weird, I guess. Everyone speaks in accents I'm used to hearing as a joke- I stepped off the plane and the English that I heard made me bite down on my lip, so that I didn't burst out into laughter." He shrugged. "But hey, I'll get used to it eventually. I've got a long year ahead of myself, and adapting to the school- and the people- are just part of the process, right?"

"Indeed they are! I remember being your age, so enthusiastic about the future..." The driver continued on his way, chuckling to himself, but Zachary noticed that the man's stomach had growled multiple times on their route.

"You sure you don't want to stop for something to eat? I'm not gonna charge you an-"

The driver swerved to the side next to a sidewalk, and burst into a cafe.

Zachary cared little; in fact it gave him time to think about what he had gotten himself into. His father had given a dramatic goodbye, but Zachary was used to the tight hug by a man taller than he was and excepted it without much embarassment. His mother had hugged him as well, but again, he wasn't particularly worried; he was sure there was no one else that was going to be in Gilded Halls that could possibly have witnessed it. After that it was smooth sailing; his father had given him money to ensure a "taxi fit for an aristocrat and everything else you could possibly need" which for Zachary meant "a regular taxi and some extra stuff for whatever you'd like."

Speaking of whatever he would like, he was hungry. But as soon as this occurred to him, the driver burst out of the cafe with half of a bagel in his hands. "At this rate, you'll be late for the opening! Come on, come on!" The taxi whirred away into the street again, the man flustered and slightly sweating. "I had forgotten the time! The time, the time! Sorry, sorry!" Zachary chuckled at his behavior, but regardless it was as soon as they entered the main streets that they found something much less appealing than Zachary's future home. Academy. Thing.

"Well, we're not getting anywhere." The driver looked back at Zachary. "So... what's it like in the States?"

Zachary groaned.

---

​

14:00? The watch on his pale wrist made him think for a fraction of a second, before sighing. What was once military time was now standard; it was best he got used it. It means... ah, that means, 2:00. Haha, no prob- wait, 2:00 PM? Oh, dammit! Zachary's arm dropped back to his side as he looked again at the entrance hall. How do I explain traffic to a prestigious school? I've only ever gone to public schools, after all... He gulped quietly to himself as he began to walk towards the entrance hall. Do we have to wear ties? Oh god, I hate ties. Please don't let there be ties, or a uniform at all. Please please please please. You know, if I don't get in trouble for missing that three hour window this morning.

The hall was majestic, compared to the other schools he had been to. The floor was marble, and if that weren't eno- no, that was quite enough. It certainly beat tile, or old hardwood paneling. Right at the front there was a desk, and there seated was what seemed to be a nurse. He made some small talk with her, apologizing for his tardiness, grabbing a bag and rushing off, opening the bag mid-flight so to speak and locating his map. Taking the route to the Valor Lodge quickly, he located his room. The key spun quickly, granting entry into room number four.

It seemed his roommate had already settled in- moments ago it seemed he had already been there. It was obvious which bed was already claimed, since the bedsheets were slightly disturbed; Zachary took the other with a huff. I'm late. Late, dammit! This guy probably got in a bunch of time to meet new people. What do I even do when I see wherever all the other students have gone? He shrugged to himself. Eat, probably. Hopefully they have food. Food would be beneficial, yes. Maybe I could turn up the heat on someone as well? It can't be that hard to prank someone here, it worked everywhere else.

He dropped his dark grey duffel bag next to his bed, his stomach growling loudly. He then proceed to drop the things he acquired at the front desk on top of the bed, in case it wasn't obvious enough he wasn't taking that one for himself. Not having the willpower to sort out everything in his bag first, he noted the smell of food in the air instead- smell of food meant actual food. He wanted actual food. Running down the stairs, ignoring the rest of the commodities he had missed on his run up to his room for a second time, he decided to contain himself and walk to the food. His poor stomach, he hadn't eaten since he was on the plane!

He quickly found himself in an outdoor area. He decidedly ignored the pool, instead avoiding it in favor for the food that laid ahead. The food. Oh the food. He took a seat farther away from some of the people, decidedly not having socialized with any of them, and claimed some nachos as well as pizza for his stomach. He looked at both of them for a moment, and reminded himself of something. They're not caliente enough. They need one thing. He rubbed his hands together.

Six Alarm.​

 

[Sephear]

William Bhransht: First day at Gilded Halls School for gifted youngs-I mean amazing kids.

​

"Attention passengers, the plan will be landing soon, if anybody's neighbors are asleep-" The rest was drowned out by the roaring of excitement in Will's head. The first part of the captain's announcement had been the magic words that enchanted the young man to stare obsessively at the scenery in the distance, and as much of the runway they were approaching as possible, that is, after he yawned, set his book down and stretched of course. After hefting the large travel bag on one shoulder into the airport Liam had to set it back down to stretch yet again. "Yeah, jet lag is totally proof that flying far enough is time travel." He said quietly to nobody in particular, earning himself a light chuckle from a random passerby.

---

A short nap on the bus fought off a lot of the jet lag, and Will even had the luck to wake up before the bus stopped. He scooched his bag over to the side of his lap a bit so he could see his watch better. "Crap, I must have missed registration by now..." He'd packed everything the night before and got up early that morning, just so he could say his heartfelt goodbyes to his parents and be on time for something for the first... well, time, in his life. But his plane's takeoff had been delayed and now everyone would probably have already finished lunch by the time he showed up. "What a model student, showing up late on his first day at a prestigious school he could only assume had very special standards... which begged the question why had he been invited, either way he was still totally looking forward to-

"Gilded Halls, anybody bound for Gilded Halls this is your stop."

"That'd be me!" Will called out cheerfully to the driver while he strained to lift the oversized bag without bumping into anybody else on the bus, luckily nobody was sitting next to him so he had room to hold it the way he wanted before he strolled out. When he stood in the sunlight and looked past the black gates to the beautiful school behind Will sighted, equal parts impressed, excited, and disappointed. Mmmmhm, don't see anybody else showing up right now, and I was the only one getting off the bus, I'm definitely late. There was a man in a nice suit, looking somewhat like a guard by the gates.

"Welcome to Guilded Halls! We're aware the variety of places our students hail from can make for a tough time scheduling, so registry is still open." He announced to the new arrival.

"Oh, well thank you sir, I'll head in then." Will replied with a smile, readjusting the bag's strap on his shoulder and walking down the pleasant path towards the main building. There was some sound off in the near distance, and as he got closer to the school's grand doors the sounds resolved into splashes, and laughter, and the smell of delicious, cheesy food graced his nose. Once inside his sense of wonder only grew. MARBLE FLOORS! Marble... freaking... floors. He didn't have to walk far before it became clear where his destination was, the only other person in the whole huge room was a nice-looking lady in an obvious nurse's outfit behind a desk. Will walked up to the desk and smiled at the woman, who smiled back as she had probably been doing all day. "Hello, I'm so sorry I was late, travel troubles. Oh, before anything else I gotta ask, is there a pool here?"

"William Bronsht?" Ms. Fallcrest asked before he could open his mouth again.

He got a sort of confused smirk on his face before he corrected her pronunciation of his name. "Actually it's pronounced 'Bhransht' but don't worry about it, I can't imagine much of anybody getting it right the first time, how did you know?"

The nurse chuckled and pointed to a different side of the table. "Everyone else already showed up, there's only one gift bag left, and it just so happens to have your name on it."

Will scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed that he hadn't noticed already. "Oh... hehe, well I guess that answers that pretty well. Um, I've never been to a boarding school before, what exactly should I do first? Has class already started?"

"You can go ahead and get situated in your room and take some time to do as you please, no classes have started yet."

"Okay, which room am I?"

"That's on the bags too. By the way, Gilded Halls does have a pool, and an impressive one at that."

"Yes! I knew such a nice place had to have a pool, looks like I didn't pack those trunks for nothing! Right...guess I'm off then, thank you ma'am!" She kept smiling while she watched him grab the bag and pointed towards the exit that lead towards the dorms.

Will riffled through the small gift bag on his way to Valor Lodge. Okay, toiletries, key card, room 5, cool. All the pleasant wood paneling in the lodge was rather enjoyable to look at, he had a feeling he wouldn't mind living here one bit. It took him all of ten seconds to find the door with the 5 on it, and as quick as he could slide the card into the slot on the door, he was in the room. It was a little plain and unadorned, but that didn't bother him, the only decorations he'd ever had in any of his bedrooms were videogame posters and a map. It looked like he had a roommate, and whoever it was had already been in there. He put his bag down on the opposite side of the room from the other person's stuff and began digging through it. "Eureka! First things first. Swimming, swimming... swimming!"

Liam waltzed proudly out of the lodge in his swimwear, black trunks with images of Hawaiian flowers on them, barefoot, and his plaid shirt removed to reveal a black T-shirt with a rainbow-colored ribcage printed on the front. He followed the sounds of fun and the smells of epic food until he reached a large paved area, the home of his destination. A bunch of students had already gathered at the pool, why not? Pools are amazing, and there's food. Will marveled at the sight in front of him. "First thing that happens at the school after registration is a pool party? And there's beautiful girls swimming in not even bikinis but just straight up their underwear? Okay, it's official, this is the best school ever."

The only problem with the whole ordeal was the decision of food or pool? If he ate and then immediately went swimming he'd probably get cramps, but if he swam for a while first there might not be any food left, after all he was surrounded by people who were probably in the throes of puberty just like himself. Maybe if I don't eat too much the cramps won't be too bad? He made his way over to the table covered in beautiful, tempting, positively deliciously aromatic treats and grabbed a plate. The plate's main (and only) inhabitant was a single slice of cheese pizza. Will ate by the side of the pool and as soon as he was done eating his snack he stood up and carefully wiped the grease off his face and a few fingers. With his manners preserved he decided to have a little fun with himself, he picked out an empty pool chair and tossed his shirt onto it, before tossing the plate like a frisbee to land perfectly on a table right next to the chair. Yes! Nailed it The instant he knew he'd succeeded Liam allowed himself to simply fall sideways into the pool, not making too much of a disturbance in the water.

Making conversation with strangers while only half dressed in public was a little hard on Will, so he just floated on his back and enjoyed the feeling of the water, the sun, and the knowledge that he was enrolled at what must be the greatest school on the whole planet. If someone wanted to talk to him they would, if not he'd have more time to meet people later. The slight insecurity about taking his shirt off was absolutely momentary, he wasn't muscular, but he wasn't flabby or disfigured either, after all he wasn't there to impress anyone. He hummed quietly to himself as he floated and closed his eyes. I made it, I can't wait to learn more about this place.

 

[Cordelia]

Ginevra May Morrigan & William Bhransht

Towel, Please?

Ginny stood there and watched as the newcomer gracefully slid into the pool -- she would have said he jumped, but it was too amazing for that. Her mouth gaped open as she had her towel in her hand. Wow, he's like... amazing. I wish I had that much style! She tried not to stare and nonchalantly started to dry herself off -- deciding it would be best to sunbathe a bit in her bra and panties to get them dry.

I don't want my clothes to get wet... but I am getting hungry... but I don't want to walk over there undressed. She shook her head, now she was having internal arguments with herself. Everyone's seeing you in your knickers anyway! But... the boy at the pool. Ginny tilted her head and laid out on the stretched out pool chair, casually watching the going-ons at the pool, but mainly keeping her eye on this mystery guy.

Will continued to float through the pool for a few more minutes, but all too soon he noticed one of the girls wasn't in the water anymore. But hey, it gave him more room to swim without bumping into anyone. He flipped right side up in the water and submerged to lazily push himself from one side of the pool to the other. He could have sworn the goings-on had been louder when he was on his way in, everything seemed a bit slower now that he was here.

A coincidental turn of the head laid his eyes on one of the girls who'd been swimming earlier, he'd have been worried about staring if it weren't for the fact that she seemed to already be looking his way. He went back to floating long enough to wave before going back underwater.

Is the wave directed at me? Am I the only one over here? Without looking around, Ginny surmised that he was waving at her, so she ever so confidently--fake confidence at least-- waved back in his direction with a slight upward turn of her lips. He seemed pretty interesting for sure, and that plate trick was amazing. "I've never seen anyone do that... you know, the plate thing."

Her accent was stronger than usual, but thankfully he was new so he wouldn't know the difference. She was nervous, and when she was nervous the accent kicked itself up about ten notches. "It was really cool." Oh em gee, that was lame. I hope he didn't notice, ugh.

When Will came back up the girl he'd waved at waved back, and she even spoke to him, he tried not to let his surprise show. "Oh, really? I'm certainly not used to impressing pretty girls, but then again I'm not used to schools that let their students have a pool party first thing after registration either. I'm pretty good at throwing things sometimes, as long as I don't have to throw them too far." He lifted up his slightly scrawny arm. "I'm not exactly the brawniest guy, but to be honest I was hoping nobody would see it, one errant gust of wind and I'd be a litterbug."

Her smile brought his out with no delay, and he drank in her accent. "So, I guess you're from the states too, probably somewhere in the south right?"

Damn, it's that obvious. Play it cool. Ginny nodded to him and smiled a little bit, but the pretty girl comment had made her want to blush. Luckily for her, she put that to a halt before it flushed her cheeks and she slowly stood up and patted herself down with the towel. "Dry enough." Before she realized it, she had spoken outloud and she laughed a little and slid on her shorts, "Sorry, I think it's time to get dressed. Not being in the pool and just showing everyone my knickers is just a little bit too awkward." She slid on her tank top next and smiled again as she pulled her hair into a loose ponytail, "I'm Ginny... and I'm from Texas."

With a little bit of determination Will managed to respectfully study the floor while the girl patted herself down and slipped her clothes back on. "Don't mind me, I'd never be brave enough to jump in in my underwear in the first place, and I'm a guy, nobody'd care about me doing it." He looked back up at Ginny's face and smiled. "Ginny huh, I've always thought it was a beautiful name the few other times I heard it, and one of my good friends was from Texas, although he wasn't nearly as pleasant to listen to." He looked around the edge of the pool and was disappointed to see nobody had left a towel lying around.

Crap "I'm William, but my friends usually call me Will, or Liam. It's nice to meet you Ginny, I'd shake your hand but I seem to have forgotten my towel even though I went through all the trouble to pack my trunks, and you just finished drying off."

Ginny laughed as he looked around the pool with a semi-panicked expression on his face and she pointed to the towels in a basket nearby where she was sitting, "It's alright, it seems that this school has truly thought of everything." Casually, she strolled over to the basket and picked him up a towel, laying it on a chair next to hers, "There you go -- now enjoy your swim. I'm going to get some food." She teasingly winked and headed towards the food table, blue eyes locked on the pizza.

Like always outright admitting his own idiocy made the mistake significantly less embarrassing. "Oh, I suppose they have, well thanks. It was nice meeting you Ginny. "He couldn't help watching her walk back to the table, and when he shook it off he looked back at the towel longingly. Will was still pretty hungry, and he wasn't a big fan of getting pruney, but he was worried he'd fall asleep if he laid down without moving around some more first. He went back to swimming, a little proud of himself for impressing someone with the bluest eyes and the reddest hair he'd ever seen, however slightly.

 

[Dansparce]

Ross Wilson – Short Post is Short​

"Uh... Hi."

The Ruby-eyed girl turned to face him, and Ross was able to get a much better look at his neighbour. Just as Ross was about to open his mouth to continue the conversation, he noticed that the girl had all but forgotten him. She had flipped open her 3DS and completely shut him out. 'Good job Ross, you lost her already!' He thought to himself, considering the entire interaction to be a brief, but utter failure. Now, he had two options. Stay in his chair and remain awkward or drown himself in the pool. Ross was half-tempted to do the latter. (Un)Fortunately, he didn't. Instead, Ross decided to just continue eating his mountain of chips and pizza. "Well isn't this fun..." He mumbled to himself, wondering whether or not a watery grave would be worse than sitting around for an hour or two.

It didn't take long for Ross' entertainment levels to hit rock-bottom. He tried watching the swimming girls again, but they didn't manage to hold his interest for long. You can only watch the same people floating around for so long until it gets boring. So he decided to see what his neighbour was playing. Ross pushed himself back into his seat and leaned to his side, tilting his head so he could get a good look at what the girl was playing. Hopefully, she wouldn't notice him being weird. 'Huh. Monster hunter.' He thought to himself, moving back to his earlier position. Then an idea hit him. Ross might be able to hold her interest for more than 5 seconds if he talks to her about something she's interested in. And she seems pretty damn interested in that game. "Isn't this a bit of a strange place to be playing Monster Hunter? Like, I get that it's portable and all, but you're right next to a pool. One wrong move and BAM, it's in the drink." Ross said, flailing his hands wildly towards the pool.

"I'm Ross, by the way."

 

[Nathan]

Andy Steele & Rachel Halland - Awkwardness is over 9000!

Andy was about to leave the pool area when someone jumped in. Yet again, the water splashed on him. Guess he just had no luck today then. He wasn't even going to argue this time. Time to leave now! "H-Hello..." Or not. A girl, with some damn great hair, had just made her way to him, she was swimming in the pool with just her underwear. Jeez, they must have never heard of swimsuits... "Hello to you too! What's up?" He said with a huge smile. God, the sun was unbearable and the idea to take a dip in the pool was becoming even more attractive. Oh scratch the food, I'm jumping in. With that in mind, he stripped down to just his boxers, put his food aside and slid in the pool without making a splash, unlike some people. "There, it was getting hot anyway, my name's Andy by the way!"

Rachel stared at the boy, her cheeks heating up with that familiar shade of crimson as he started to strip down. As if on instinct, the girl quickly looked away, trying her best not to stare as he stripped down to his boxers before sliding into the pool himself. The red-haired girl offered the boy a shy smile as he introduced himself, before glancing over in Ashley's direction for a moment. The raven-haired girl seemed to be doing well at making a new friend herself. She figured she might have well try so for herself...

"It's n-nice to meet you," Rachel replied quietly. "I'm R-Rachel..."

He really liked provoking this reaction on women. Whenever he'd start removing some clothes, all the cheeks would turn red around him and that was a great feeling. He smirked as she quickly looked away. "Rachel huh? That's a pretty great name!" Judging by her way of talking, she must obviously be a shy girl. And he had to admit shy girls scored a special point in his name. "So how're you enjoying the place so far?"

Rachel nodded in response, a soft smile gracing her lips. "Y-Yes, it's very nice. Everything is so pretty here... A-And there's so much to do... There's even a little place for gardening..." She paused, glancing back up at the boy slowly. "Um... S-So, what brings you here? I hear this is a pretty prestigious school... M-Maybe your grades? Or sports?"

Rachel could feel her heart starting to race. Even such a simple conversation was causing the girl to get flustered up so easily. She shot another glance towards Ashley, who was still swimming around and chatting with the other red-haired girl with ease. She was starting to find herself a little jealous at how easy it seemed to be for the raven-haired girl.

It was the second time someone asked him about his presence and, honestly, he still did not know how in the world he ended up here. "I don't really know... Maybe for sports. What about you?" He was curious as to what special talents the girl could have. They were surely not like his, for sure, but she had to have some talents. Andy noticed her glancing back and forth to a raven haired girl who talking to the redhead he met earlier. "Is that your friend?"

"O-Oh... Um... Yes, she's my friend, Ashley... My best friend," Rachel explained, a small smile gracing her lips as she spoke. "She's been my friend since elementary school... I'm not really sure why either one of us got an acceptance here, really. I've been... home-schooled ever since the third grade..."

"Ever since elementary? That's quite long!" He never had a friendship last this long, generally his were no longer than a few months. Afterward, he always managed to mess it up between his friends. Sometimes, he was too arrogant, other times too aggressive. "Maybe you two have a special talent in common so you were invited here."

Rachel seemed hesitant to respond at first. She was not quite aware if she had any special talents to actually speak of. If anything, the only thing that came to mind was her powers... Rachel's eyes suddenly went wide, the girl quickly glancing around. Had she slipped up without even realizing it? Did he know something?!

"T-Talents? N-No, not that I can think off," Rachel quickly replied, shaking her head and hoping that Andy did not suspect anything.

Now that was strange, he only mentioned the word "talents" that the girl suddenly became really nervous and started glancing around. What the hell was happening with her?
"Ehmm if you say so... Though you seem a little bit nervous. Something the matter?

Rachel closed her eyes, trying to keep herself calm. Slowly, the red-haired girl remembered to take deep breaths to help her keep everything under control. Her face was still quite flushed from her behavior as she looked back over towards Ashley. A relieved smile graced her lips as she noticed the raven-haired girl swimming her way.

"O-Oh... Um, e-everything is fine..." Rachel eventually replied. "S-Sorry about that... I think I'm gonna go s-see how my friend is doing. It was n-nice meeting you..."

Okay, now that was really awkward. Why'd she to take deep breaths? He's not that intimidating, is he? And off she was to see her friend. Some people were weird. But something about her had caught his attention, she was seemingly hiding something. But he had better things to do than trying to uncover them. He waved her goodbye and closed his eyes, relaxing a bit in the water.

 

[Mana1]

Clay

As Clay finished packing away the last of his clothes, his stomach grumbled. Heavy on his wrist, his wristwatch read 12:30.

Time for lunch Clay thought to himself. Not wanting to interrupt his reading roommate, Clay slipped out the door and headed to the ground floor of the dormitory. The place seemed pretty inside, however slight differences indicated new residents had found their way to the school - doors left open at angles, cupboards explored, distant conversations. He heard a splash from outside, back towards the main school building and headed out to investigate.

Several teenagers were around the swimming pool, adjacent to a long, plentiful table of snacks and drinks. Noticing a few familiar faces, Clay waved to Rachel and Ashley, not sure if he should approach them or do the sociable thing and chat to someone new.

Torn, he decided to just go with whatever. Grabbing a sandwich from the table, he rolled up his shorts a bit and sat by the pool. Feet dangling in the sparkling, clear water; Clay was relieved that the water wasn't too cold, it was just right to take the edge off the midday sun. He took to surveying his new schoolmates, checking out potential friends and who he might fit in with. Surprisingly, they all seemed quite friendly.

Clay finished off the sandwich with a final bite, wiping the tomato juice from his lips before throwing his top to the side and gently diving into the swimming pool.​

 

[Satan.EXE]

x

"World 2, Level 1... Or something like that."
CHAPTER I
PART V​

裏表おてにせ
(Otenise Uraomote)​

Location:
Pool

- - ​

Form: "O"​

[▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮]

"Isn't this a bit of a strange place to be playing Monster Hunter? Like, I get that it's portable and all, but you're right next to a pool. One wrong move and BAM, it's in the drink." This statement was joined with some Kermit-esque flailing about. "I'm Ross, by the way."

"Ross, huh?" She personally liked the sound of that name. Even though it seemed like it should be common, she never really met a Ross before. On that worthless note, she replied, "Otenise, or 'O' for short." She looked back at her game, this time ensuring at least some of her attention was on this boy. "And I think this is the perfect setting actually, because I'm prepping to grind Plesioth after I make some new armor and stock up on ore and junk."

She paused. Did Ross know anything about Monster Hunter, or did he just recognize the game, like most people did? "Ehm... In case you didn't understand that.. Plesioth is a giant water wyvern. It's been called The Underwater Terror, Wyvern of Water, and Master of the Giant Lake." Distractedly she mashed the same button over and over, apparently mining as fast as possible. She let out a relieved sigh as she finished mashing, then held down a trigger and ran her character back toward camp.

"So long as people don't get all splishy-splashy over there, it'll be fine." She finished the quest after several moments, rushing to save her game. "So, do you play anything?"

.