OOC: Time stamp: 81379 Tessera 7 around 13.00 Character: http://shadowlack.com/persona.php?id=862Thaleia </a> Private. PM to join IC: Thaleia walked out of the hall where the lab door open onto, throw the doors and walked in to the bright sunshine. You could already feel Mia was coming but the sun was really trying to make it feel like it was summer. Thaleia didnÂ’t seem to notice that, she was very much focused on the book she was reading. It was a strange but interesting book about the genetics of humans and because of that she also didnÂ’t notice that she (again) forgot to take off her labcoat. Softly mumbling about peas, Mendel and colour-blindness she avoided the other pendragons she encountered without really noticing them. If she would have been looking around she may have seen the strange look some of these pendragons gave her. You could hardly blame them, she was a rather strange sight. Not only was she ready a book like her life depended on it and was she still wearing her labcoat, she also had a pencil in her comb that she had stuck there earlier that morning. But even when she would not have been reading she probably wouldnÂ’t have noticed them. She would have been thinking about the strange results she got from her experiments or about the new apparatus that would make the sequencing of DNA a lot easier or about the test that was coming up for genetics or Â… Thaleia suddenly stopped half way down a footstep. With her head still cloudy of the reading intensively she looked around. She was standing in front of the Stadium. Surprised she look around again. What am I doing here? Great! Am I getting senile already? Thaleia sighed. She shrugged her shoulders, turned around 180 degrades and started walking back and towards the cafeteria. She had been busy all morning and was really hunger now.
As Riot made her way towards the cafeteria, she couldn’t help but smile. The air had a bite of cold in it, but the sun was shining splendidly, and she liked the feel of its warm rays. It warmed her back as she walked, and the denim of her jacket and jeans held the heat in, hugging it against her. She was pretty content, and knew only one thing was missing from this scene – a cigarette! Even as she padded towards the academy’s lunchroom, she fished one out her pocket, lit it with her apple red lighter, and then began to drag on it. Now, the sun was on her back and the smoke was in her lungs. Yes, this was perfection. Before too long, the brown thill found herself nearing the cafeteria. She glanced around the courtyard, her mismatched eyes studying the other pendragons that were moving towards the building. There was a pair of ardens, both of which were quite cute, holding the door open for a pretty young thill, and behind her there was a gaggle of giggling girlfriends. Riot rolled her eyes, and faced away, glancing sideways. Approaching from this direction was a “nerdy" looking female wearing a lab coat, a book in her hands. Riot eyed her hair with appreciative curiosity, but then tore her gaze away and began to move towards the doors. On the way, she took one last toke of her coffin nail, then tossed it into a nearby wastebasket. The ardens were just now shuffling inside, and one stretched out an arm to hold the door for Riot. She smiled and thanked him, and then they went in opposite directions – the young hybrid turned left whereas they turned right. They were probably following the attractive young girl, or maybe they were going to get something from the row of vending machines. Personally, Riot had a taste for some fresh fruit, and so she stepped up towards a food stall selling such, and began to peer over the selection with a scrutinizing expression on her sharp face.
When Thaleia came near the door of the cafeteria she closed her book and opened the door. She started to look around and saw it was more crowded then she had expected. The cafeteria was filled with pendragons that were, mostly in groups, sitting around tables. They were eating, drinking but more evidently talking rather loud. The level of noise was quit high and for a few seconds Thaleia had the niotie-sh reflex to cover her ears with her paws. Right in front of her there was a group of thills giggling and trying to watch nonchalant in the direction of the vending machines. There were only a few empty seats left in the cafeteria and Thaleia hoped that she would be able to sit down after she got something to eat and drink. She walked passed the vending machines, where two ardens were standing. One of them seemed in an animated conversation with a young girl while the other tried to convince the machine to give him a candy bar. There was a queue for the counter where food and drinks were displayed and Thaleia waited patiently. When Thaleia reached the counter she took a bottle of yjumdasjus and a ham sandwich. Next on her list was fruit. On the other side of the cafeteria there was a food stall selling fruit so Thaleia made her way through the crowd. When she reached the counter a brown thill, with a interesting white coloured band of fur around her muzzle, was standing there examining the fruit that was displayed. The robust female pendragon standing behind the counter had been smiling benevolently but the longer the scrutiny lasted the bigger and more evident her frustration became. Thaleia used the time she was waiting for the thill to make up her mind to decide what fruit she wanted herself. She knew the girl had been smoking because she could vaguely smell the sharp scent of cigarette smoke. Thaleia began some what inpatient and sighed. If this is going to take any longer IÂ’ll take root here.
After a bit of consideration, Riot chose a fruit that looked much like an Earthen apple, but which was bright blue in coloration. It had a straw protruding from it, as the center was filled with a thick juice. Grasping it firmly in one hand, the thill then used the other to dig some change from her jeans pocket. She handed the coins to the tender with nimble white fingers, and then stepped away from the stand to eye the crowded cafeteria. The place was swarming, and Riot found herself frowning. She had quite a large personal space, and the only ones she really liked near to her were her friends Kakos, Cayson, and Radin. None of those three was in here, though, and so she'd have to take a seat next to a stranger. Ugh. Just as she was about to take a step into the confusion of the cafeteria, the female glanced sideways, and noticed a familiar pendragon standing where she had been only a few minutes ago. It was the thill with the lab coat and the neat hair. Riot found herself pausing for another moment to eye the other's mop once more, idly wondering how she styled it. She didn't really realize that she was staring.
As soon as the thill paid for her fruit and turned away Thaleia pick up a small, bright red onye. She held it in front off her nose and muzzled. She could smell it was just ripe. That is the best moment to eat a onye, not to ripe and not to young. She smiled softly when she remembered something. Her mother always said that when they just harvested the onyes and they were not allowed to eat them till they were at there very best. No matter how long they begged, her mother always keep saying that. Thaleia paid for the onye and turned around, thinking that it would be a good idea to get some fresh air after lunch. Suddenly she looked the brown thill straight in the eyes. One eye green and one blue, it flashed through her head, how unusual! That must be caused by a mutation or … Immediately that though was overruled by an other. Why is she staring at my? What did I do? Or … Suddenly she remembered the pencil she had stuck in her hear that morning. She blushed, what was rather visible because of her white face, quickly pulled the pencil out of her hair and put it in the pocket of her lab coat. Then she started very softly: “Euh, … hello."
Riot blinked, almost started, when the other female turned around, stopped, and gave her an embarrassed look and a flustered greeting. She almost dropped the piece of fruit in her hand, but managed to maintain her grip upon it, which tightened as her mismatched gaze now traveled from the other's hair to her face. There was a slight blush there as the stranger plucked a pencil from her tresses, and Riot blinked again, not knowing what to say. She hadn't meant to stare. Er, hi, she finally said. How do you get your hair like that? she added on, white-tipped tail flicking as she tried to redeem herself and make conversation.
OOC Not such a big post this time because they are talking. IC Thaleia smiled very friendly and answered: “Euh, I don’t really do anything with it." Thaleia was quit surprised with the question. She expected anything but this. “My hear looks like this because of a mutation. It runs in the family. Although I coloured a few tufts of hair red and white, but that is all I did." Thaleia than hesitated and asked: “Can is ask you something too? You eyes," Thaleia inhaled and continued, “are you the only one with two different coloured eyes in your family or not? You should know genetics is my primary trade so my asking this is a sort of occupational hazard." Thaleia smiled extra kind hoping she did not upset the brown thill but she was really curious. Anticipating almost anything her tail curled somewhat nervous around her right ankle while she wanted for an answer.
OoC - Short posts are fine. *Noodles* BiC - Riot's ears flicked as she listened to the female's explanation. Her hair was like that naturally? That was impressive, and the brown thill felt a jab of jealousy. Riot had white hair extensions she sometimes wore, often with dyed tips, but she didn't have any natural tresses. It was probably good that she didn't, though, because Riot wasn't the type of pendragon to spend hours styling her hair in the morning — she would have just let her hair grow out and become ratty. If only we could all have such good mutations, Riot eventually responded to the other's remarks. She smiled then, though her grin was subtly mischievous. Oh, and I have no idea about my eyes. I don't have any family. I have a sneaking suspicion that I was hatched in a laboratory, so maybe I'll one day track down the scientist who created me and ask him why he gave me two-toned eyes. It was hard to tell whether she was serious or not, as her gaze was sharp and the curve upon her muzzle had a sort of mirthless feel to it. However, she wasn't trying to make this other thill uncomfortable. In fact, she pressed on with the conversation, intrigued by the other's mention of her trades. Genetics, really, Riot said. As she spoke, an overeager arden bumped into her on his way to the food stands, and she threw him a dirty look before turning back. What exactly do you do with that trade? I'm a sharpshooter, myself, with second and tertiary trades in shapeshifting and leadership. She didn't mention her ranks — she was a master in sharpshooting and a journeyman in shapeshifting — not because she was modest, but because with this girl she seemed to have a certain degree of anonymity she didn't have with most others. A lot of pendragons faintly recognized her by her appearance, and a lot realized who she was when she mentioned her trades and ranks. Hence, she kept silent on that, not wanting to be known solely by the things she had done to Koani Grader.
OOC School starts again so I will probably be slower. IC Thaleia was happy the other thill didn’t mind her asking about her eye colours. Her tail was letting go of her ankle now and was very softly swinging around a bit. Than her tail came to a suddenly stop. No family. Thaleia always had been very close to her family and in the first year she had been very homesick. Now she only saw them only twice a year but she knew that she could always go home. She had no idea what it would be like without a family. Thaleia didn’t really know how to react to the story of the other. She seemed so sad and yet want she said sounded more like a joke. The first thing that went through her mind was: if you ever find that scientist, tell him he did a good job, your eyes look really cool. But she didn’t know the thill good enough to know if she would appreciate the joke. Fortunately the brown thill keeped on talking about her own trades and asked about genetics. “I always wanted to be able to shape shift, but I have no gift for that!" Thaleia sounded somewhat sad, but became a lot happier while talking about genetics. "At the moment I am mostly learning about my trades but you can almost do everything with genetics. It can help curing diseases, find criminals, improve farm-plants, solve ancient riddles, reunite families," Thaleia suddenly realised she was chattering. “O, sorry, what I’m trying to say: You can do a lot, but I like the genetics of pendragons best. But because you can’t perform breeding testes with pendragons," she smiled " I mostly use insects and plants." A that moment someone tried to walk through Thaleia what did not work and she nearly landed with her muzzle on the floor. She growled softly and, when she found her balance back, said to the other thill: “I don’t know if you have any plans but if you don’t have anybody to sit to with we could sit down and talk. I normally sit with some friends but I’m late and they are already gone. And if we are quick we may even be able to sit on a chair."
Riot listened as the other thill spoke, outlining the different occupations one could have when studying in the field of genetics. She had to admit that she’d never thought such a wide variety of careers would be available in such a, well, boring area. She wouldn’t have minded “improving" some “farm" plants, though, and she told herself that if she ever got past acquaintances with this other female, she would have to ask her how exactly one did that. Soon enough, the other veered onto another subject – seating. Riot nodded as she was invited to sit with this unfamiliar but friendly thill. She wasn’t usually to keen on having small talk with strangers, but she didn’t mind this one too much. She seemed friendly and interesting. “Sure, I’d like to sit with you and talk more about this genetics stuff," Riot said, before turning to face the crowded lunchroom. She scanned it quickly, and spotted a table where the two of them might be able to squeeze in. “Let’s go over there," she said, indicating with a white finger, before glancing at the other female. “I’m Riot, by the way. What’s your name?"
Riot started to walk in the direction of the table she had indicated before and Thaleia followed quickly. Together Riot and Thaleia made there way through the crowd and sad down at the table. The two other pendragons, a thill and a arden, that already sad down at that table where in a deep conversation and didn’t even notice that Riot and Thaleia sad down at there table. Thaleia was somewhat embarrassed when Riot asked for her name. She totally forgot to tell her and she blushed again. “I am Thaleia." She reaches Riot her hand. “Nice to meet you." Than Thaleia asked: “You have an unusual name, was it given to you or did you name your self?" thinking about the fact that she did not have a family that could have named her.
Despite the rather bustling crowds, Riot easily navigated her way towards the table, the other female in tow. The two of them slipped into their chairs, which were next to those of a couple deeply immersed in a conversation, and Riot found her mismatched eyes lingering on the pair for a brief moment. She then turned them towards her new acquaintance – Thaleia, she said her name was – and the banded female smiled, not for the first or last time. “I named myself. More than once, actually," Riot said. As she spoke, she brought the oddly colored fruit to her mouth, taking a bite of it. She washed it down with a sip from the straw jammed into it, and when she’d finished chewing and swallowing, she proceeded to explain. “When I was younger, my first conscious memory was of waking up in a strange place… with nobody, basically. I had a band around my wrist. I got the name Okkatteiru from it, though I had no idea where it came from or what it meant. Later, research would tell me that it was from an ancient Earthen language. I went with that for a while. Recently, though, I grew tired of it, for varying reasons, and renamed myself to Riot. I just like it, there’s no deeper reasoning than that."
While Riot was talking about her history and names Thaleia started to nibble on her ham sandwich. She was really hungry because she worked in the lab all morning. It had not been a very interesting morning, but sometimes boring stuff simply had to happen. Now Thaleia was listening really interested in Riots story. It was so … different than the story of her own life. It sounded more like a story in a book or a movie. But Riot was obviously real. And very nice, most people didn’t know how fast they could get away when she started to chattering or tell a bit about her work in the lab. But Riot even seemed interested! It almost felt like she was talking with one of her close friends. And the story Riot was telling was rather personal. First Thaleia didn’t really know how to react, but then she remembered. She smiled softly. “My first memory is really different. It is not a real image, it is more a group of colours, feelings and smells that belong together. In our family it is a custom to have a feast together with the entire family after the hunt. I remember the smell of the deer on the campfire and I can still hear my family members singing and dancing. My father always picked my up and danced around with me in his arms. Than he started to spin around so fast that you could see noting accept a blur of colours." While telling this Thaleia somehow seemed home for a few seconds. But than she remembered where she was. She opened her eyes, which she apparently closed, and look straight in to Riots eyes. She still smiled softly hoping she didn’t upset the thill with talking about her family while she just told she didn’t have any.
Riot listened as Thaleia spoke reminescently about her first memory, and the banded thill could imagine the things her newfound friend was describing — the sights, smells, and colors of a festival. Of course, she could not identify with such cultural wonders, having had no family or background, but she smiled nevertheless. Some day, maybe, she would catch up with her peers. Find a past, or else make up for it with a wonderful future. “Sounds like you had a good upbringing," Riot said, rather absently. She had been interested in Thaleia’s words, but was at a loss for how to respond to them. “Did you have many brothers and sisters?"
Still smiling Thaleia responded. “Yes, I had a happy childhood. I have one little brother, Kyran. His name means beam of light and he really is. He is always happy and a bit mischievous. His biggest dream is to become an astronaut. I have a big family so I also have a lot of cousins. We all lived together so you could say it was never boring." She smiled and took a swig of her yjumdasjus. Suddenly Thaleia, sensing the mood of Riot, said: "I know you will find or make your own family one day." She smiled bashful and continued: "I'm a true romanticist so you can trust me to find a happy ending for every story. If I wasn't so shy I would make a perfect math-maker." Thaleia laugh about her own joke, what was not really cool but she really could not image herself as a math-maker. She would be more nervy and jumpy than the people she would be matching.
Riot smiled as Thaleia spoke about her brother. The banded female had had little to no experience with niotis, and actually preferred it that way. However, she wouldn’t have minded having siblings around. It was kind of difficult to have some of those when she didn’t even know who her parents were, or if she even really had any… Thaleia soon moved the conversation on, now talking about matchmaking. Riot laughed a little at the idea of a pendragon having a job consulting ardens and thills and then setting them up together. To be sure, Riot needed no such help in finding love. She had a crush right now, and though she couldn’t possibly know it, it would soon become much more – a loving relationship with a promising future. “I like someone right now," she said to her new friend. “Whether or not it’s with him, I don’t know, but I think I’ll have a family one day. I’m not too sure about the kids aspect, but at least I’ll have a mate and his family… hm. So, do you have a significant other, Thaleia?"
Thaleia was surprised and pleased that Riot told about her ‘interest’ in a person. She did not seem the kind of person that tells that kind of stuff to everyone. That meant that Riot found it easy talked to her too. Hearing her talk about having a family one day Thaleia was happy that Riot saw her future so optimistic in spite of her own past, or to be precise her lake of a past. Thaleia suddenly found herself in a conversation about boyfriends. She didn’t mind but had no experience with that. The most things she knew of love and boyfriends came out of books. To be precise out of two kind of books. The first kind of books were the scientific ones, talking about love and sex as part of evolution and selection: not really useful in daily life. The second kind were paperback romance stories, always with a knight in shiny armour and a princess in distress: again not really useful. So in reaction to Riot last question she blushed in spite of her afford not to. “No, I do not have someone right now." Thaleia giggled when she suddenly remembered her last boyfriend. “I just remembered. The last boyfriend I had was when I was twelve. I thought it was really exiting and that we where going to marry and everything." She was silent for a little while than she asked Riot still smiling: “Do you want to tell my about that someone? You don’t have too, but I am really interested."
OoC - Man, it’s so weird to roleplay as if this happens before all the Cayson and Riot stuffage. Hard but fun! BiC - Riot couldn’t help but lift a curious brow when Thaleia mentioned her last relationship had been at age twelve. That was so young, but what was more, Thaleia was probably sixteen or seventeen by now. Four years was a long time to be without love, or so Riot thought. It didn’t seem Thaleia was worse off for her lack of a partner, though. If anything, she seemed like a bright, upbeat sort. “What was the arden like?" the brown thill questioned. “And if you don’t mind my asking, why did it end?" Relationships ended for all sorts of reasons, and Riot suspected it had been something as simple as drifting apart or growing out of each other. But before she gave Thaleia much of a chance to reply, she forged ahead in the conversation, answering the questions posed by the other thill. “Sure, I can tell you about him. He’s my roommate, along with his best friend, and we all get along really well. At first, we sort of had the arrangement out of pure convenience – we run in the same social circles and the boys needed a place – so I let them stay at my dormitory for free. Before too long, though, we became great friends, and then I started to form a crush on him… I hope he likes me, too, but only time will tell." With a sort of contented sigh, Riot leaned backwards, and then idly began to crack her white knuckles. There was a lot more to the story than just that, but the thill wanted to maintain a sense of privacy about her relationship with the male. This was not because she was afraid of him finding out, or even because she didn’t trust Thaleia to keep his name a secret from others. The fact was, she had a crush on Cayson Lapices, and she knew there was a very delicate situation concerning his mother, Koani Grader. Nobody was supposed to know they were mother and son, and even though it may have been harmless to tell a bit more, Riot wanted to respect Case and even Koani’s rights to privacy and peace.
OoC Haha. :) If I make you work to hard just say so, we’ll chance subject. BiC Lunchtime was getting to its end and many pendragons wend to there lessons or dormitories. Someone had left the doors open and fresh, cold air was getting in to the cafeteria. Thaleia had been at her guard still slightly because of the crowd but was really relax now. She smiled hearing Riot talk about here roommate and decided to first reacted to Riots question. “He was the fastest runner, his jokes where the funniest and he was really nice to me. We never got much further than holding hands but I already saw our future really brightly. I like happy endings, so I wrote our own. And how it really ended … Well, we were not right for each other. He was the most popular arden and very social. I just started with genetics after a basic biology course. While I was preparing or evaluating lessons or working in the labs, he had a social life. Eventually he had to move to a dormitory that was much further away and … well, we kind of drifted apart. One day I decided that, since we no longer acted as a couple, we mind as well end it. I told him, went to my dormitory, cried me self to sleep and threw me self on my homework." Thaleia stared at her paws with a slightly sad glance in her eyes. Suddenly she smiled very friendly and looked Riot in her eyes. “You really like him, don’t you?" Thaleia heard something in Riots voice that made her so confided. “It must be really nice to be in love. And confusing!" She added quickly. “If you need to talk to someone or simply need someone to listen, you can always ask me! If you go to the labs and ask for me, they will be able to tell you where I am at that moment." She tried to convince Riot without pushing to hard. Riot did not have to do it, but if she wanted to, Thaleia really meant what she said. Talking about things always made them easier to handle.
OoC - I’m sorry about the delay. BiC - Riot’s eyes flickered as a mass exodus from the caféteria started, and she rolled her wrist to glance at her watch. It was just about time for her to leave, too, but she dared not cut Thaleia off or otherwise be rude. The other thill was extremely hospitable and friendly, and Riot did not want to offend her in any way. Friends were much better to have than enemies. “I’m sorry that you drifted. That’s the worst. So slow and painful," the banded female murmured, and she looked thoughtful as she brought her fruit to her mouth and finished it. The straw she withdrew and absently put into a jeans pocket. “My past relationships have been much more ‘explosive’ than that. Conflicts of interest, unfaithfulness, and the like. I am ready to settle down and truly fall into love for the first time, without obstacles." That statement was ironic, considering the object of her interest. Rumors ran around all the time, and one stated that Cayson Lapices was the son of Koani Grader. Riot was pretty sure it was true, and was going to discuss it with Case pretty soon, to let him know that she didn’t mind if he didn’t. For sure, Koani would, and that would be a hard thing to get through, but if they loved each other enough, perhaps it would work. Everything would just have to wait and see. Perhaps she would never have to worry about this at all, if Case ended up not even liking her back! “Confusing, indeed," Riot laughed, and she began to rise, wiping her hands on her denim jacket. She then offered one to Thaleia. “You have been a wonderful listener and conversationalist, but I have to get going. It was nice to meet you, and perhaps I will run into you again." After shaking the other thill’s hand, Riot pushed in her chair and joined the throngs leaving the lunchroom. She was unsure as to whether she would actively seek Thaleia out in the future, but it was nice to have a potential confidante nonetheless. It always felt good to have someone at your back.
