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Post by Autumpne Ravenshade on Feb 20, 2011 20:22:26 GMT -5
Autumpne slunk into the dining hall early one Tuesday morning in early February, wearing a black sweater and black trousers.
She shuffled through picking food, setting on oatmeal and a yogurt cup- after making with the necessary expression of disgust at the meat products available- with orange juice and went to sit at an empty table near one of the windows that looked out onto the grounds.
It was still very dark outside, the sun yet to rise above and into the sky, a heavy contrast to the brightly lit interior of the school.
She was much too sleepy at the moment to pretend to be depressed or morose, and her lips almost pursed into a small smile as she spooned the yogurt onto her oatmeal.
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Post by William Jason Fredericks on Feb 23, 2011 19:28:59 GMT -5
A light appeared outside a window on the far side of the dining hall, bobbing slightly as it moved from window to window, getting closer to where Autumpe was sitting. Despite the warning of his approach, the appearance of Groundsman Fredericks in the window closest to her was startling for its suddenness, almost as if he popped into existence standing on the spot instead of walking up to it. The light was coming from an antique brass lantern hanging from a short pole that he held in his hand.
His eyes narrowed as he saw her in the hall, his usual mumbling blocked by the closed window. After several seconds he turned and left but not after shouldering the burden he carried in his other hand, which seemed to be a small mammal of some sort. Blood oozed from it onto Frederick's overalls but he seemed to pay it no mind.
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Post by Shihab on Feb 26, 2011 19:22:56 GMT -5
Panting and wild-eyed, Shihab sprinted through the doorway, flung himself around the corner, and slumped against the wall. Despite his hurry, he held his backpack carefully away from his body, one hand grasping both sides of the seam to keep it closed. Someone who took a closer look might notice that the inside was glowing faintly. With a sigh of relief, he let his head fall back against the wall and closed his eyes briefly.
"Wind and flame, but he's quick," he muttered. "Another few seconds, and I would've been too late." Someone attentive might also notice that his sneakers were wet and slightly muddy, as though he'd just come in from the grounds - unlikely, given the hour.
After a moment, he pushed up off the wall and walked over to grab a grapefruit and a cup of tea. With a cursory glance around the room, he shrugged and sat down next to Atumpne, putting his backpack down carefully on the next seat.
"Morning," he said, grinning cheerfully at her.
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Post by Autumpne Ravenshade on Feb 28, 2011 16:41:53 GMT -5
Autumpne dropped her spoon in surprise upon seeing the groundskeeper through the window, and shoved the bowl of oatmeal and yogurt away towards the center of the table for a moment, utter disgust clear as day on her face, and shuddered.
Upon seeing that Shihab had joined her, she nodded slightly back. "Good morning. Did you see the groundskeeper through the window? He had something in his hand! It was bleeding all over his clothes." She shuddered again, in absolute disgust. "Why in the world did they hire him? He's terrible!"
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Post by Shihab on Feb 28, 2011 17:13:10 GMT -5
Shihab threw back his head and laughed. After he'd quieted a moment, he shook his head and started to peel the grapefruit.
"Oh, I must disagree," he said, grinning at her. "He's quite good - a worthy opponent, I think. I'm lucky there was such heavy dew tonight, I may be able to get away without even leaving a scent, and I was sure to leave a confusing visible track." He managed to separate the rind in one long spiral, and held it up to his face, winking at Autumpne from the other side of the slowly spinning shape.
"I'll have to be more careful about these experiments, though," he said. "But! I did learn something! Watch this!"
Aiming out away from both of them, he bent the peel, releasing a fine spray of oils and citric acid. With a moment's careful concentration, he blew very gently in that direction, and set the entire spray alight, sparking and sputtering.
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Post by Autumpne Ravenshade on Feb 28, 2011 17:32:34 GMT -5
"Just because he's a 'worthy opponent' to you doesn't mean he should be kept around."
She quieted though, as he sent out the grapefruit spray, setting it alight. It was still entirely too early to be entirely derisive. "Oh, cool," she said, and a small smile graced her face, a nice change from her usually sorrowful or petulant expression.
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Post by Shihab on Mar 1, 2011 12:42:19 GMT -5
Shihab smiled as the spray died down. "Aye, I thought so. Such a little thing, but so... interesting." He contemplated the rind thoughtfully, placing it carefully on the table next to his tea cup. "You can do it with a lighter or something, too."
He glanced back at the window. "It's not all bad - he's creepy, yes, but how many groundskeepers put in the effort of patrolling the grounds after dark? Gotta say the guy's committed."
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Post by Autumpne Ravenshade on Mar 2, 2011 15:15:55 GMT -5
"He probably wouldn't be doing that if you weren't the type to run around outside at all hours," Autumpne responded. She pulled her food back towards her, and brought a spoonful of yogurt and oatmeal to her lips, delicately. "And he's still creepy." With that, she popped the spoon into her mouth, and savored the contrast of warm oatmeal and cold strawberry yogurt.
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Post by Derek Galen Wright on Mar 3, 2011 23:32:24 GMT -5
Derek meandered into the dining hall. Normally he'd still be in bed, staring at the ceiling, but this particular morning he'd been driven to action by the anxious skittering of a bored demi-lizard - who had taken up residence inside his shirt for this morning's activity. He wasn't sure how his cold-blooded pet had gotten enough energy to be up at this hour, but that didn't matter at this point.
Derek scanned the nearly empty hall for a moment, then turned to ponder the available choices for breakfast.
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Post by Philbert Decanter on Mar 4, 2011 19:01:35 GMT -5
"Lines are meant for efficiency, not to stand there dumbfounded by choices!"
The annoying squeaky voice that seemed to be addressing Derek belonged to a comically short boy with a flamboyant white high-collared lab coat and purple padded gloves. After waiting only a beat, he pulled a remote control from one of his pockets and pushed a single large glowing red button on it, causing the soles of his boots to expand into mechanical scaffolding, giving him an extra 2 feet of height.
"I can only hope there's something palatable in this shanty. I will accept nothing that is not brimming with hydrogenation and high fructose corn syrup."
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Post by Derek Galen Wright on Mar 4, 2011 19:19:09 GMT -5
"Lines may be about efficiency," Derek replied, "but life is about choices." He looked back at the newcomer, and felt Echoes shift around in his shirt in order to do likewise. "you're welcome to go ahead of me if you want, though."
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Post by Philbert Decanter on Mar 4, 2011 19:30:38 GMT -5
"Your theory is considered, and unsurprisingly found false. Life is about finding out which choices are correct, testing a hypothesis and determining it to be true or false. And it is, in general, more efficient if you follow behind your betters, who will as a general rule be right when your own choices are unfortunately always wrong."
"The cliffs notes for that, if you weren't paying attention, is that you should just do what I say."
He finally peered at the available menu and frowned in disgust. "What is all this stuff? Enriched wheat flower? Pontless compromises between simulation and natural."
He banged heavily with his tray onto the bannister. "Hey! Is there anyone back there? I want some decent food! Bring me some nutrial paste! I'll will settle for Gruel, but I will not be happy about it!"
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Post by Derek Galen Wright on Mar 4, 2011 20:09:40 GMT -5
Derek stared at the other boy while he processed the rapid - and exceedingly arrogant - monologue. He wondered if this half-sized child realized that his own logic was flawed; that choosing only to follow the decisions of others entirely negated the point of making choices in the first place. He opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again, shaking his head. He snagged the first interesting thing that came to hand - a carton of apple juice, a packet of granola and a container of yogurt - and simply walked away.
If that little twit wanted Derek as a follower, he'd have to be smarter than a demi-lizard.
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Post by Shihab on Mar 4, 2011 20:55:42 GMT -5
Shihab swiveled his head to look at the chaos, and stood up, leaving his backpack with the mug of tea. He walked over to where the loud boy was making loud noises, remaining silent until he was right behind him, and then bellowing,
"HEY!" When he had the boy's attention, he continued, more conversationally. "It is entirely too early for this shouting and whining nonsense, kid. And life is not a zero-sum game. And, if it were, the choice to bully those around you and act like a two-year-old with a rattle at pre-dawn hours is absolutely the wrong one. So cut it out."
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Post by Derek Galen Wright on Mar 4, 2011 21:10:19 GMT -5
Unable to miss Shihab's rebuttal, Derek decided that his table might just present an opportunity for a touch of sanity and headed in that direction.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
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Post by Philbert Decanter on Mar 5, 2011 18:33:27 GMT -5
Philbert started, temporarily losing his balance on his extended boots, flopping around for three seconds before finally righting himself. He spent the next few readjusting his jacket while Shihab went on his long and boring tirade, then finally responded.
"What does our timeline presence relative to the rise of the sun have to do with the current lecture?" He turned to an empty space next to him and nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, yes an oversight. Most of the student body here no doubt keep a monophasic sleep schedule, slaves to their biological circadian rhythm and light-dark cycles."
He finally turns back to Shihab. "Don't hold me accountable for someone using an inferior resting procedure. Rather than berate your environment for your poor reaction to external stimuli, update yourself to modern procedures of polyphasic sleep. If you politely beg I may be convinced to provide you with the necessary stimulants to aid your transition."
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Post by Shihab on Mar 5, 2011 19:30:43 GMT -5
Shihab glanced over and gave Derek an encouraging nod and smile as he walked over to Autumpne, then turned back to Philbert as he gained his balance. He absently contemplated just knocking the kid out and leaving him in the garden shed.
"Politely beg?" He folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "First off, I don't sleep. I'm just being considerate, apparently a word not found in your vocabulary. Just because you have some kind of caffeine-and-thesaurus addiction doesn't mean the rest of us are going to wring our hands and kneel to your every whim. You'd best get used to it, kid, before someone really does take your head off."
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Post by Philbert Decanter on Mar 5, 2011 19:49:00 GMT -5
"I have nothing to fear from a creature primitive enough to threaten me with violence. Now go away or I'll use a multi-syllabic word to scare you off."
Philbert turned back to the food and was prepared to bellow another command for grey soup matter when he paused and turned back to Shihab.
"Wait, what do you mean you don't sleep?"
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Post by Shihab on Mar 5, 2011 19:58:12 GMT -5
Shihab shrugged, reaching past him for a blueberry muffin. "Just what I said. I occasionally choose to, but overall, I haven't had the time to set up the proper arrangements, so since I got here I've just avoided it altogether."
Inwardly grinning, he spun the muffin on one finger, and turned back to the table where Derek and Autumpne were sitting, leaving the supergenius behind.
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Post by Derek Galen Wright on Mar 5, 2011 20:55:24 GMT -5
Derek wasn't sure which he found more infuriating, that the Idiot Genius was still spouting nonsense, or that he had forgotten to grab a bowl for his granola. Oh well. He tipped the granola into his container of yogurt - peach flavored, gah - and stirred it all together while he contemplated whether he had fine enough control to drag the air from the little twit's lungs.
He shook his head. Just because someone else had no concept of good manners didn't give him any excuse to forget his. Besides, it would be best to save lethal responses for a more appropriate situation. Otherwise the stupid twit might figure out an effective countermeasure. Plus, it would be rude. And uncharitable.
Derek shook his head and ate a spoonful of yogurt-coated granola. "So if you don't sleep, don't you miss out on having dreams?"
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Post by Shihab on Mar 14, 2011 16:26:21 GMT -5
Smiling wanly, Shihab sat down next his backpack again and swallowed another mouthful of tea. "Not at all," he said with a slight shrug. "Why waste time with dreams when there's so much interesting stuff going on around you, in the real world?"
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Post by Philbert Decanter on Mar 14, 2011 16:29:31 GMT -5
Philbert narrowed his eyes after his newly found subject of intrigue. He spared a glance back at the paltry offerings and decided principles of dieting propriety would have to move down the list. He snagged a bowl of oatmeal and scrambled after the pair, taking a seat opposite them without regards to any of their objections.
"One can reasonably ascertain from your statement that you are not human - nor of most mundane forms of fauna on earth. It leads inevitably to follow-up questions: of what kind of creature are you - plant, animal, mineral or some heretofore undefined category?"
In the meantime he was fishing through his pockets for something. He produced a small plastic container that might have been for a small roll of film, and another small palm-sized device.
"More importantly, how is it that as a sentient creature you have no need for sleep? It's use for compartmentalizing and archiving short term memories into other parts of the brain is well documented, as well it's necessity in psiological and psychological rest."
He pulled out a pill-sized object from the container and dropped it into the other, followed by a short, excessively loud grinding sound. He then spilled the resulting dust into hs oatmeal and began to stir.
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Post by Damien Griffiths on Mar 16, 2011 16:38:28 GMT -5
Damien sluggishly moved into the dining hall, towards breakfast. His heatstone had been rather cold that night, and he wasn't much of a morning person anyway, resulting in a rather sleepy expression. He moved over to the buffet, grabbed an orange and tapped out five cups of boiling hot tea, then moving towards the table he saw people at. Without a glance to see who he was actually sitting next to, he flopped down on a chair next to Philbert and sagged.
He slumped with his arms on the table, trying to nudge his head into a comfy position to nod off, but then blinked a few times and realised he was at the table, and he wasn't supposed to be sleeping here. He yawned widely, showing rather unusually pointed canines, and tried to catch up on what the conversation was about.
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Post by Derek Galen Wright on Mar 21, 2011 15:43:10 GMT -5
Derek sighed and ate another bite of granola, trying to ignore the unpleasant presence of the Doofus - The name Derek had applied to other boy in the absence of an actual introduction.
Absently, Derek tapped his finger against the opening of his carton of apple juice, then lifted his hand, drawing a thin streamer of amber liquid up into the air.
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Post by Shihab on Mar 21, 2011 18:48:46 GMT -5
Shihab stretched, inwardly cursing his big mouth. He'd nearly gotten away clean with his ancestry, and now he had to run into some kind of dweeby... genius-type kid. He kept forgetting not everyone here was of the Old World. "Kind of a rude question, ain't it?" He took another sip of tea, wondering how he was going to get out of this. "Most probable answer seems to be that you just don't know as much as you think you do. If it helps you compartmentalize, I do trance, from time to time.
"Hey, Damien!" he grinned, as the other boy sat down. "You're lookin' a bit peaked, mate."
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Post by Damien Griffiths on Mar 26, 2011 8:44:20 GMT -5
"Whah? Nah, I didn't sleep very well, my bed was bloody cold. Need to warm up a bit, be better in a sec." He grabbed a cup of hot tea and gulped it down in one go, then rolled his orange in front of him and peeled it, his chin sagging onto the table.
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