Outside School
"...Wait-"
That was all Vivian managed to get out before Alex was long gone. She looked confused, not really understanding at first why he was so upset. She had sort of absentmindedly blabbed about lycanthropy being a genetic condition and that it only made logical sense that he must've been kept in the dark about this by his werewolf parent(s), sure, but there were some somewhat understandable reasons why a parent might do that. Some misguided attempt to try to keep their kid 'normal' or whatever. Wrongheaded, in her view, but nothing that would warrant the kind of reaction she just saw.
Although, the more she thought about it, maybe he wasn't being kept in the dark for some benign reason. She had grown up with loving parents, but plenty of kids didn't, and that wasn't something she actively thought about a lot. If Alex had been abandoned or orphaned, that would be a much more unpleasant explanation as to why he hadn't been told about this.
Maybe she had opened up a raw wound without even realizing it.
She frowns once the likely nature of the faux paus she just made becomes more clear to her.
"I…"
She considers running after him, but quickly decides this wouldn't be a good idea. That carried the risk of upsetting him more and making things worse. She stood there, staring at the ground.
"I'm sorry…"
Edited by HilarityEnsues on May 17th 2023 at 11:55:50 AM
For the Horde!
Jackie stared uncomfortably as Alex got seriously upset at what Vivian was going on about.
>>"First vampires and now werewolves? Fuck this school,"<< Heidi bluntly groaned in Jackie's head. >>"I'm not a FUCKING monster! This isn't right!"<<
Meanwhile, Gill, who had no idea the heavy conversation was going on, cheerfully waved to Blake's mom as he walked back towards the others.
"Sounds like a plan! I love it~! Can't wait!" he exclaimed. He marched happily back in the direction of the others, finally noticing the new girl. "Oh, hi there! My name's Gill! And I—" he started to say, noticing how she seemed down.
"Oh..." he murmured, his smile fading. "Are you okay? What happened?" he quietly asked, putting a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. He pulled it away as soon as he touched her, shocked at how cold she was. "Wow, you're cold... what's wrong?"
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Outside School
"Heh. Well, I'll have to dig into the alternate histories out there but, y'know, anything's possible..." Coralie laughed sheepishly. She didn't have to heart to tell Vivian that one world she'd mentioned had an ancient legacy of jacked-up teenage vampire slayers, and the other world had an entire organisation dedicated to battling vampires...although that Sepet Dalv guy on the team did seem quite vampiric himself.
Then came the talk between the wolf and the bat, in which Vivian explained to Alex a number of key points about his own race. This did not end well, and Alex ran off looking very upset. "Alex!" called Coralie, only to hesitate. She didn't even know this guy that well. Should she really be the one to go after him? But looking around, it didn't seem like anyone else was jumping up to chase him down. Gill and Blake were distracted, and Mindy...well, no chance in hell would she be the one to initiate a heart-to-heart with her rival of old.
Welp, guess it was up to her. "Alex, c'mon, get back here!" she called, before rushing to her scooter and hopping aboard. The souped-up ride hummed to life, rising a few inches into the air over glowing blue lights. Then away she flew, hovering down the street at thrice the speed of walking.
Eventually, Coralie managed to catch up to the fleeing werewolf and swing around in front to block his path. "Hold it!" she said. "Alex, buddy, I know you've got a lot in your bowl right now, but you can't just go running off like that. School's gonna start any second, you know how Hughes gets about attendance, and I don't want you missing out on what I'm gonna do to her!"
Edited by LizardOfAus on May 18th 2023 at 10:16:17 AM
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, a bit down the street from Oddity High - Alex Palencia the werewolf who is not in the mood.
After Coralie stopped Alex, he stood there, still trembling and scowling. "IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE, OKAY?!" he shouted, swinging one hand aside dismissively. His tone was equal parts furious and sad, and tears were starting to come out of his eyes as he looked like he wanted to murder somebody. "JODER!note NONE OF IT MATTERS! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE STUPID SCHOOL OR THE STUPID TEACHER! MY WHOLE LIFE THIS WAS COMING! AND- AND-" He stopped his shouting just to turn away from Coralie and scream up at the sky until his lungs were empty. Then he took a few deep breaths, his shoulders rocking as tears fell to the sidewalk.
Monday, Little Haven, outside Oddity High - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets who are still unsure of what to do.
The quadruplets watched another boy approach, then the strange girl in the lab coat got on a hovering scooter and took off to follow the werewolf, apparently named Alex.
"She was talking to the uh, werewolf boy, Alex, and she accidentally upset him," Lindon explained to Gill.
"You didn't know, alright? It's not your fault," Carolyn said in a reassuring tone to Vivian, then looked off towards where Coralie was catching up with Alex. "I don't know if we should follow, though, I mean... Might be best not to crowd him right now," the red dressed quadruplet added, worried how things might go between the inventor and werewolf.
You are reading this.
Outside School
Considering the fearful reception she got from pretty much everyone else, Vivian is visibly surprised when Gill casually approaches her and touches her on the shoulder.
"It's as he said," indicating Lindon. "I must've touched upon a sore subject for him."
She nods to Carolyn.
"Mmm, that's true. And I don't know if I'd go over there right now. I think he might need a little space."
She then turns back to Gill.
"Oh, I'm not sick or anything. My body's cold because I'm a vampire."
For the Horde!
Gill winced a little, turning towards the direction of the shouting and screaming. His instincts wanted to go and make sure Alex was all right, but he could see that Coralie had went to comfort him. Hopefully he was in good hands.
Gill looked unsure, but nodded, looking back towards the new people that he had met. His eyes narrowed slightly, looking towards the quadruplets in confusion. There were two sets of completely identical twins looking back at him. (The "completely identical" pairs were wearing different colored outfits, but being color-blind, Gill couldn't tell the difference.)
"Are you two twins?" Gill asked, pointing to Lindon and Linton. "And you two also?" he added, gesturing to Carolyn and Marilyn. "Wow, I've never seen two people that look exactly the same before..."
Jackie swallowed slightly, walking up towards the group.
"Well, they're... at least they're wearing different colors, right?" Jackie said reassuringly. Gill just looked blankly at her, as if she had made a sudden revelation.
"Are they?" Gill asked. "I can't tell. I'm colorblind..." Jackie's eyes widened.
"Really? You're colorblind? Like... totally colorblind? That's very unfortunate..." Jackie replied. Gill nodded.
"Yeah. I can only see in black and white," Gill explained. Vivian explained why she was so cold, but it didn't really explain anything to Gill. He tilted his head in her direction. "What's a vampire?" he asked Vivian. At this, Jackie looked shocked.
>>"How the FUCK does this guy not know what a vampire is??"<< Heidi blurted out in Jackie's head. >>"Who IS this guy??"<<
Edited by AllHailThrall on May 21st 2023 at 5:27:44 AM
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Winner of Elim Game Round 78
Outside Oddity High
Layla accompanied Jackie to meet up with Gill. She witnessed him talking about him being colorblind. Just as Mindy decided to head up close to him. "I'm sorry to hear this. I can imagine that's not a lot of fun," Layla said to him being colorblind. And she seemed a bit perplexed on him asking what a vampire is. "I... you're joking, right? I'm sure you're familar with vampires." It was at this point, Mindy moved her head to his ear and whispered "Vampires are undead people who drink the blood of other creatures. This one says she gets them from blood banks. Still, watch yourself with her."
Down the Street
Coralie flinched at Alex's outburst. She stood there, watching his ranting, his screaming, his howling and his sobbing. She was silent for a moment or two more. Seeing him kneeling there crying provoked a twinge of sympathy...which was quickly swallowed up by fury and indignation. Was it a feeling of hurt from being yelled at? Was it pure ego and compensatory narcissism, watching someone else being sad and crying out for sympathy instead of her? Or was it all these things and more, piled on top of the sheer misery she'd felt for the past three days? Whatever it was, it set her face in a scowl right there, as Coralina decided that: no, she wasn't having it.
"Are you finished?" said Coralina, in a tone so low and cold that Alex would hardly recognise it. "Have you had your big boy tantrum now, your regular dose of angst for the day? Do you think you're alone here? That you're the only one who's suffering, here at this school of freaks and whackjobs? You think you're the only one wondering what's even the point right now, why they shouldn't just run away from it all and cry about it? Do you think I've been swimming in dumpsters and skipping soap and bathtimes for the FUCKING FUN OF IT?!"
The shriek at the end tore at her throat, and even she flinched internally at it, not least because her voice went a little too deep for her liking. After a second or two of trembling, she grappled at her head and wrenched her goggled off. Her hair was left a pointed shambles, greasy and grimy as it was, while her eyes blinked out tears of her own, her anger quickly giving way to sadness.
"I'm homeless, Alex. Alright?" she said, "Some asshole broke into my portal shed, stole a one-of-a-kind transistor, and now, I can't switch on the machine and go home! I've spent the last two nights sleeping on the wooden floor of a shed in a manure-covered field, and the closest I've had to bathing is in the sea and the beachside public shower. Didn't think I'd ever miss my homeworld, but now that I can only talk to them through a shitty connection on a handheld screen, it's all ramming home that...that I might never taste my mom's cooking, sleep in my own bed, play with my brothers or even argue with my dad again. So the only two things I've wanted, all weekend, have been to fix up a new way home, or to catch the sunnovabitch who did this and make him pay."
Coralie trudged over to Alex, sniffling and rubbing her eyes. "BUT," she continued, "Through the shitty connection, my parents insisted that instead of doing those things, I keep on going to school like nothing is wrong. And not just because oooh education's important and builds your future and dah deh daah deh duhh. But because I have friends there, or people who could be friends, anyway. People around my age, who maybe don't belong anywhere else, but more than that, they're the only other people in existence who actually give a shit if I live or die! THAT'S the point, Alex. That's the real reason we're all here, what really matters in all of this... Now, I don't know you as well as I ought to. Maybe you have someone like that, maybe you don't. But maybe you could have a lot MORE people like that in your life if you don't keep lashing out and driving them away all the time! Think about that, maybe."
Coralie wiped her face one more time, then heaved a sigh. "Alright, I'm done. I've had my little crybaby woe-is-me moment and spilt my verbal guts out for sympathy. Now, it's your turn, Alex." Coralie moved in front to look him in the eye. "Tell me what's going on. Tell me why you're not seeing the point of it all, and I'll listen. Maybe I can help, even. I dunno, we'll see."
Edited by LizardOfAus on May 23rd 2023 at 10:53:35 AM
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, outside Oddity High - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets who are not having a moment.
All four quadruplets raised an eyebrow when Gill first pointed them out, like yeah, it's pretty obvious they're related, isn't it? "We're quadruplets, all four of us," Linton said to Gill, with a little motion to himself, his brother, and his sisters. "Shame you can't see our color coordination; we've always rather liked it, and thought that if there were just a couple more of us, we could've made a rainbow," the green dressed quadruplet added.
"So anyway, we had some questions, Vivian?" Carolyn said, seeing an opportunity to perhaps return to that topic. "Mainly, how does vampirism actually work, then? If you bite someone, do they become a vampire too?" the red dressed quadruplet wondered.
Monday, Little Haven, a bit down the street from Oddity High - Alex Palencia the werewolf who is having a moment.
Alex didn't even look at Coralie as she started talking, making no response until she yelled, which just made him flinch slightly, but still didn't look over. Until she said she was homeless, then he finally looked over with a surprised yet understanding expression. He kept looking at her up until she mentioned her dad; then Alex blinked, his eyes glancing down, before he turned aside, putting his hands in his pockets. He stayed like that until she finished, staring at the empty section of road.
"... At least you have a dad," Alex muttered in a grumpy tone, then sniffled, and wiped at his nose with his forearm. "My dad left. Skipped town once he found out mom was pregnant. I don't know his name or really anything about him, except what mom will tell me, but she doesn't like talking about it. I guess I know one thing now, though."
Alex turned his head just enough to look at Coralie again. He had a sad, hurt scowl on his face, but it was not directed at her. "I know mom is no werewolf; she would have told me. So if this thing's genetic, then there's only one answer: My dad is a werewolf." Alex stopped and turned his head towards the street again, then lowered it, placing his palms on his forehead and clutching his fingers into his hair. "So in addition to never paying child support, in addition to never being around to help us, in addition to never wanting me, that- that-"
Alex abruptly looked up and shouted a string of words in Spanish which, for the sake of decency, won't be translated.
"-was a werewolf! And he probably knew I was going to be one too! But he never did anything to prepare me or my mom for it! He didn't even care!" Alex finished yelling, then lowered his head back down, and once again put his hands in his pockets. "... So excuse me if I don't feel like going to school after figuring that out," he then muttered more quietly after a moment.
Edited by FirockFinion on May 22nd 2023 at 5:52:20 AM
You are reading this.
Outside School
Mindy explains vampirism to Gill, saving Vivian the trouble. The suspicion she and so many have towards her bothers her, but there isn't much to be done about it. When Carolyn shifts the topic back to vampires in general instead of her, she's a bit relieved honestly.
"Right," Vivian said, prepared to disclose what she knew. "Yes, biting someone will turn them into a vampire. Though there is a very important caveat - that person needs to be dying for that to happen. So if a vampire bites someone's throat really hard and kills them or bites someone who was already about to die, that would work. But biting someone on the arm and drinking a bit of blood would not turn them. If any bite turned someone, our population would've exploded by now, which would be a huge problem. Vampire blood is not nutritious to other vampires, so nobody wants that to happen. And before anyone asks… no, I'm not going to turn anyone. I don't think I really need to specify that, but that's really the last thing I want to do."
Edited by HilarityEnsues on May 23rd 2023 at 9:30:15 AM
For the Horde!
Gill looked uncomfortable as Mindy explained just what a vampire is.
"Is that what they call lampreys on land?" Gill asked quietly. "But she doesn't look anything like one..." He smiled. "Either way. She seems nice enough to me. It's wonderful to meet you! My name's Gill! I've been going to this school for about a week now."
Jackie cleared her throat, trying to work up the courage to speak, but Gill was just so dang nice, and friendly, and pretty cute—
Jackie opened and closed her mouth a few times, then coughed. "I-I-I'm... I'm Jackie," she introduced, turning away to hide the redness creeping onto her cheeks. "And I... I just. I just got here..."
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Winner of Elim Game Round 78
Outside Oddity High
And so it was happening. One of the new girls here attempting to talk to Gill. Mindy watched as Jackie started talking to him. She didn't know what to expect from the new girl.Layla listened in as Jackie finally came out and started talking to him. "All right, Jackie! Keep it up. And..." Layla looked upon Gill. She too felt a bit enamored with him. She would blush too if she had a head. Instead she just twisted a bit of her veil around her finger. "Uh, hi.... I'm Layla. I'm new here, too."
And hearing Layla egg Jackie on led to Mindy glaring at the two new girls. And yet, Mindy and Gill weren't going out. But she still had a thing for him. She just etched closer to Gill. "And yeah, I'm Mindy. I'm from New York," she said, adding a hint of intimidation that really brought out her heavy accent.
Up the Street
"Aw, geeze, Alex, I'm sorry..." Coralie approached Alex and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, even though she fully expected it to be brushed off. Her gaze regarding the sidewalk, she shook her head and huffed a sympathetic sigh.
"Dads are real dicks," she said at last. "I mean, I'm sure there're some good dads out there, but it feels like every pèdre I've ever met turns some level of deadbeat sooner or later. Glad I'll never be one... It's like there's some legal requirement- 'achieve this level of emotional distance to claim your retirement fund!'"
She chuckled a bit at this, though this quickly petered off. Then she just sniffled a bit and wiped her eyes again.
"Can't imagine what it must've been like... I mean, I can imagine a lot of things, just not this; dealing with this terrible secret alone all this time, and then suddenly getting a bombshell like this dropped on you to cap it off! ...What about your mom, though? Is she a good parent, you think? Has she been helping you deal with the whole wolf situation?"
Edited by LizardOfAus on May 25th 2023 at 12:17:11 PM
???
Somewhere out there, a young girl punches a code into a door without looking and enters the room inside. Ignoring the lightswitch, she heads directly for the table in the center. She leaves a small scrap of paper on it and then immediately leaves. On one side of the scrap of paper was a simplistic drawing of an eye, consisting only of a curved line and a dot. On the other side were three words.
You fucked up.
Oddity High Steps
Enough time had passed since Val last said or did anything that everyone likely forgot they were there.
It almost seemed like Val themself forgot they were there, judging by what they said. "...oh, wait, I'm—right, uhh..."
"...Loki..." He had asked them a direct question, and they don't think he said anything after that? Probably a good place to start catching back up with the conversation. "...I...accept your apology?...sorry, that didn't come out right...what I mean is I'm glad you understood what you did was...no, that's not...do you get it?...sorry..."
Val then sort of looked around at everyone talking. Alex and Coralie were absent; presumably they had gone off to the side somewhere. Everyone else they could think of was accounted for, plus several new people. Normal girl, girl with a veil over her head for some reason, obvious vampire, and the quadrup—oh, wait, one of them asked them a question, right?
Val addressed the Lynns. "...one of you asked me if I was...if I could turn invisible, right?...don't remember which one, sorry, I zoned out...I can't...well, I can, but that's not what was happening there...it's just that if I'm not talking or doing anything people forget that I exist...because technically I don't it's hard to explain...probably happened again just there, sorry..."
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, outside Oddity High - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets with many more questions.
After Vivian's explanation, Carolyn put her hand to her chin as she thought it over. "Hmm, it has to kill them or be on someone who is dying anyway? I wonder what the thresholds are like. Does biting someone who is on their deathbed but doesn't die until a month later still change them? What about biting someone who isn't dying, but they get hit by a car right afterward?" After her quietly thinking out loud, Carolyn put her hand down and shrugged, before turning her attention back to Vivian. "Well, perhaps best if we don't know. It's good that any of us could give you some blood without getting turned, if you really needed some... But let's hope that won't ever be needed. Anyway, I do have other questions," the red dressed quadruplet said, and prepared to ask. "What about enthralling people? That's pretty common in vampire stories. Oh, and werewolf blood? Stories with vampires and werewolves usually have werewolf blood be poisonous to vampires, or do strange things to them, don't they. And can vampires really potentially live forever?"
Meanwhile, Linton looked at Gill with a raised eyebrow. "On land?" the green dressed quadruplet muttered, both mildly confused and curious. Then he turned his attention a little over, towards Mindy. "We just moved here from Seattle," he offered, since she mentioned being from New York.
Additionally, Marilyn finally got her response from Val. "You don't... Exist? That doesn't make a lot of sense... But I suppose it could be why it was hard to keep focusing on you," the yellow dressed quadruplet replied, having indeed been struggling to keep the teenager of questionable existence in focus.
Monday, Little Haven, a bit down the street from Oddity High - Alex Palencia the werewolf still in an ongoing moment.
Alex didn't actually try to remove Coralie's hand, but he didn't really respond much to what she was saying, either. He just kept staring at the empty section of road as she talked.
"... 'All this time'..." Alex finally muttered, and paused for another moment. "I only found out less than a month ago. Mom didn't know 'till day before yesterday. Until then, I was worried I was gonna eat somebody alive," he explained, still not looking at Coralie. He blinked and glanced down as he thought of something, then slowly removed his backpack and looked through it.
"I know you're trying to cheer me up, but... I can't do this. Not now," Alex said, while writing something down in a simple lined notebook. He then tore the page off, and handed it over to Coralie. "You know how to find an address in this universe, right? Don't worry, my mom won't judge you... Well, she might judge you for your crazy inventions, but she won't judge you for your smell; she's not that kind of person. She'll let you use the shower, crash on the couch, join us for dinner, the works... I'd say I hope you like Mexican food, but I don't know what that means in your universe," the young werewolf told the inventor at length; all the while his tone was still rather somber.
With that, Alex zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, then turned the direction down the sidewalk away from Oddity High. "See you after school," he said, and resumed his intention to leave, though now at a slow walk.
You are reading this.
For the Horde!
Gill blinked, looking sheepish for a moment before smiling at the others.
"Oh, right, I said that, didn't I?" Gill admitted. "Well, that's right. On land. I'm from... the ocean. I'm really a merman. I have a spell cast on me so I can become human and go to school with you all," he explained. At the explanation of Gill really being a merman, Jackie's blush deepened. She imagined the handsome young man as a merman, emerging from the waves. Her hands trembled.
"O-oh, a... a merman? I... that's... wow... gee... I love m-mermaids..." Jackie stammered, looking bashful. Heidi simply gasped in Jackie's head.
>>"That is SO hot,"<< Heidi commented on their shared fantasy. Jackie tried to put the image out of her head, and cleared her throat.
"Are there... are there more like you?" she asked. Gill shook his head.
"I'm the only one I've ever known. Besides Mama and Papa, anyway, but I haven't seen them in a long time... Gill sighed. He perked up again. "But it's so nice to be able to come onto land and spend time with all these wonderful humans and learn just what it is to be human!"
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Outside School
"Uh..." Vivian didn't seem like she had an exact answer to this question either. "It's hard to really say for sure, considering it's not as though anyone has tested precisely how malleable that threshold is. Of course, there's really no ethical way to do so, so I'm fine with these questions remaining unanswered."
"I suppose this is something you should know, in the event that you encounter a hostile vampire. If someone sips a vampire's blood three times, they will become their thrall. This applies more to humans, as this doesn't work on werewolves or other vampires, and it probably doesn't work on a lot of non-humans either if I had to guess. Regardless, people stop being enthralled to a vampire if they do not regularly drink their blood, so thankfully this can be reversed."
"As for werewolf blood, aside from tasting different from a human's, it doesn't do anything dangerous or special to vampires. I do know that werewolves can't be turned into vampires, though. They have a magical property that prevents vampirization, and possibly other things that attempt to change their form into something else as well."
"And yes, vampires do live forever unless we are killed. There's some out there that are hundreds of years old, if not even older."
"And nice to meet you, Gill. I'm Vivian."
Edited by HilarityEnsues on May 28th 2023 at 4:32:45 AM
Up the Street and Down Again
"Well, far as my inventions go- she wouldn't be the first!" Coralie replied with a shrug and a showwoman's grin.
Coralie's grin faded as she was handed the address, and the implications of all this sank in. "Oh...Alex, I...I mean, I couldn't possibly..." she murmured and stammered as she stood there, staring at the scrap of paper in her hand. Should she take him up on his offer? After all, she hardly knew the guy. In all the days she'd been at this school, this was the most they'd ever spoken... Oh, but who was she kidding? She'd shack up with the devil if it meant spending the night in a warm, warm building, with hot running water and bubble bath, and three square meals, loving company.
Twenty seconds passed until it clocked for her that Alex had said goodbye to her and was on his way up the street. "Th-Thank you!" she called out at last, hand half-outstretched in his direction. Hopefully, his human-shaped wolf ears picked up on that. Afterwards, there was only one thing left to do: stick the note in the hem of her skirt, hop back on her scooter and scoot on back to school.
A moment or two later, Coralie rolled back up outside the door with everyone else. "Yeaaaah, Alex ain't going to school today, I think," she said. "Dude's got a lot on his mind to work over... So! Did I miss anything? I'm guessing no teacher's come out to let us all in yet."
THE SLORG!
Monday, Little Haven, outside Oddity High - Lynn Polyhymnia the quadruplets wondering when school will start.
Also briefly starring Alex Palencia the werewolf who needs time to think.
Alex didn't turn back or say anything, but he did lift a hand up and give a thumbs up in response to Coralie calling out. It didn't occur to him at that moment that the gesture might mean something different in her universe.
Meanwhile, Linton raised his eyebrows slightly after hearing Gill. "Oh, well, sorry to hear about that," Linton said, then thought briefly. "Who cast the spell on you? Did you do it yourself?" the green dressed quadruplet wondered.
"Well, guess I have another reason to refuse if anyone offers me blood to drink," Carolyn joked in response to Vivian, before all four of the quadruplets had a brief, simultaneous chuckle. "So werewolf blood just tastes different? Huh, kind of underwhelming... Oh! But that does make me think, can vampires tell someone's blood type by tasting their blood? Or diagnose certain diseases? There could be some practical application there," the red dressed quadruplet wondered, a little excited in tone.
As Coralie returned, Lindon turned his attention to her. "No teachers yet. Sorry to hear about Alex... Um, given what was being talked about right before he ran off, I'm guessing he..." The blue dressed quadruplet trailed off, then shook his head. "Never mind, it's probably too personal to politely talk about."
Edited by FirockFinion on May 29th 2023 at 1:59:19 AM
You are reading this.
Winner of Elim Game Round 78
Outside Oddity High
Layla fanned her veil some. Not open enough to show what's underneath. But just enough to release the hot air she felt over Gill talking about being a merman. She had the thoughts of Gill swooning out of the ocean and her jumping into his arms. But then she had to snap herself out of it. Jackie was pining for him. And she didn't want to get in the way of that. Plus why would anyone go out with her, she thought. She has no head. The second she reveals herself, people will just run away from her. She sighed. "I... I guess that explains why you seem a bit out there. But I'm sure you'll like being human," Layla added. She watched Jackie as she talked to the merboy. After their conversation, it was Mindy's turn to pitch in."Yeah, he's new to this human thing. I'm here to help him out. Show 'im how things work around here. Keep 'im outta trouble. And make sure people don't go barkin' up the wrong tree, if you get what I'm sayin'..." Mindy said, laying on the intimidation a little bit.
Layla just looked at Mindy. She wondered about this aggressive girl. What's her deal with Gill? Curiously, Layla asked "So, are the two of you going out?" "What? NO! We're just good friends! You better watch it, Bella! Like I said, I make sure he keeps away from people tryin' to bark up the wrong tree!" "I... I'm sorry if I offended you..." Layla slipped back away. Mindy calms herself down to say to Coralie "No, no one's came yet. Guess the new kids gotta know these teachers here don't know their heads from a hole in a ground. So if you all think you're gonna get everything straight, you got another thing comin'!" First it was her feelings for Gill that took her over, now the ineptitude of the teachers really made Mindy bitter. She gave a sharp eye at Jackie and Layla as the latter bumped into Blake. Layla yelped as she quickly grasped her head covering. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't see you there. It's my first day and already it's a jungle here. I.. I..." Layla just groaned as she sunk her "head" down.
For the Horde!
Gill had no clue that two of the girls he had just met were secretly swooning over him, nor did he realize that Mindy was getting jealous. Instead, he just smiled at Jackie and Layla, which only served to intrigue Jackie a little further.
>>"So they're not going out. Soon as I come out, I'm going for it,"<< Heidi muttered in Jackie's head. Jackie let out a tiny eep and nodded to herself a little.
Jackie's mind was brought back to reality by Mindy explaining the incompetence of the teachers. The idea made Jackie slump a little in disappointment. She had been hoping these teachers would know how to fix her problem.
"Oh, really? That's... that's a shame... Jackie sighed.
Heidi, meanwhile, felt an intense surge of relief. So the teachers were inept— it made her feel so much more confident that they wouldn't be able to destroy her.
"Vivian! That's a pretty name," Gill greeted Vivian warmly. Jackie's face heated up again, feeling slightly hurt, but she tried to put it out of her mind. Gill's attention turned to Coralie, who had just arrived. "Hi, Coral! You're just in time, look at all the new friendly faces who are gonna be learning here with us!" Linton asked him a question, and Gill turned towards the quadruplet. "No, I don't know any magic. Tyla the deep witch cast it on me. She's a little scary, but she's definitely nice, I don't know what my parents were talking about with her..."
A loud car's beep made Gill jump slightly, and he and Jackie turned towards the source of the noise. It had come from Mrs. Stevenson's car, as she had kept sitting there waiting for them to let her daughter into school. She looked at her watch, looking more and more impatient, and pulling out her cell phone to try and make a phone call. She looked up from her phone and shot a look at Jackie that was as cold as ice, then pointed at the door to the school. Jackie looked like she wanted to curl up and die. Agin Jackie walked up and tried the door. No luck, the door was locked.
Edited by AllHailThrall on May 30th 2023 at 12:22:20 PM
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
That there is a seal.
When Loki lost track of where Val was, he figured that his brain was just refusing to register their existence on account of how they don't, in point of fact, exist. So, he reasoned, he should just keep staring directly at where he thinks they last were. Which he did. For about a minute.
Then he heard their voice, coming from right behind him. Loki must have moved forward a bit without noticing.
"Agh! Oh, sorry, Val, didn't see you there. Yeah, I get what you're saying. And I'm glad you... well... what you were saying." Yep, nailed it.
Loki, thoroughly convinced that the situation is now resolved, then turns his attention to other things. Specifically, Vivian's explanation of how her powers worked. "A vampire, eh? So werewolf blood tastes different... do you know about other types of nonhumans?" Perhaps this is how I find out once and for all whether I'm really a god, Loki thought. Of course, if I'm not human that doesn't mean I am who I think I am... and if I am human, I have to deal with the fact that I'm completely delusional.
Then he noticed Jackie trying to open the door to the school. "Huh. Never thought I'd see someone trying to break into school, but sure." He took from his backpack a collection of small, fiddly objects and began trying to pick the lock. Unfortunately, one of the objects snapped in half while still in the lock. "Dammit. Well, it was worth a try. I'm Loki, by the way. What's your name?"
Data is imaginary. This burrito is real.
Fwomph
Outside Oddity High
Is there was something that could shake Blake out of his "heck yeah gonna adopt the merman" high it was Gill getting swarmed by the various girls of the class. Blake knew he was kinda plain, just a real ordinary boy but seeing Gill be the center of attention sat poorly in his head, people with powers only wanted people with—... He stopped himself. He was getting jealous again. He shouldn't, it wasn't healthy and it was something he just had to handle himself. He took a deep breath and tried to push the entire train of thought out of his head and focus on remembering a random episode of that science show he liked.
Unfortunately then the school's local head-lacking 'smoker' collided with him causing that mental train to become derailed as well.
"Whoa uh. Hey. Hi. Yeah uh... Kind of wild here, guess that happens when so many folks are various flavors of odd."
Edited by Pentigan on Jun 1st 2023 at 1:40:35 AM
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Outside School
"Blood from different beings tastes different," Vivian confirmed. "I'm not familiar with every kind of nonhuman out there, but I've drank enough blood to know when someone isn't human at the very least."
Hearing Carolyn's question, Vivian nods.
"There is some information vampires can infer from drinking someone's blood, yes. Blood type, some health conditions… thinking about it, it could potentially be pretty useful in the medical field. Though uh… yeah, I can't see a vampire ever being allowed in medical settings, given all the blood you deal with in hospitals. People would freak out."
Vivian waves to Coralie once she returns.
"Hey Cora'. Sorry to hear about Alex… I hope he'll be alright soon."
Then she overhears Mindy disparaging the teachers.
"So the teachers suck, huh? Damn, I was kind of hoping I'd be able to learn something about vampirism that I didn't already know."
Gill had caught her eye, and some of the girls had too actually. Though she wasn't sure how the other girls stood on that issue, or whether she really wanted to deal with Gill's… already sizable group of admirers. Mostly Mindy, who was quite defensive around him.
She looks over at Loki and Jackie trying to open the door.
"I could force the door open, though I could end up accidentally ripping the doors from their hinges and pissing off the faculty if I'm not careful. Probably not worth it."
Finally, she notices Blake, yet another new face.
"Oh hey, I didn't see you here earlier. What's up?"
Outside Oddity High
Blake's mom, and Blake himself really, were visibly startled at just how loud Gill had gotten with expressing his approval of the whole fostering plan.
"Alright. Well hopefully you two have a good day at school and I will be right here outside once the day's over okay?"
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing."Man this is going to be so cool."