<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td> Mia 39, 81378 For Stormwing @.o Yeah, Nhjinn's a whiney widdle thang. lame title 'cuz I suck. Yup.</td></tr></table> Dorms. Lunchtime. Normally the halls would be swarming with students loitering around with their buddies, or the shy kids skittering off to eat lunch in their rooms away from prying eyes and possible bullies. That was normally. Today, everyone was out in the courtyard enjoying the newest blanket of snow that had enveloped the landscape. From what Jin had overheard, it was the perfect consistency for packing into a tight ball and lobbing at the nearest ‘dragons head. Any sane individual would be outside, enjoying him or herself. Bah, Jin never claimed to be sound of mind. The brindled ‘dragon sat in the doorway to his room, almost entirely hidden beneath a thick flannel blanket. He wished bitterly he had worn something thicker, rather than just slapping on his usual red tee and jeans. School was vokcing cold. An anubial creature, he was more accustomed to the searing heat of the deserts, or preferred it anyways. Even in the desert, where the temperature dropped sharply at night, he was always asleep by then, having gone to bed as soon as the sun began to set. “Bugger." He muttered, shifting awkwardly. The cold was getting into his muscles, making him stiff. Nhjinn grumbled to himself, silently wishing he’d had the sense to go down to the cafeteria with the other snow-haters. They’d probably be serving something hot, as disgusting as it might be. Gods knew what kind of junk they tried to shove down the students’ throats. Jin shifted again, this time pulling himself into a crouch. He wasn’t going to get warmed up just sitting around. With a murmured string of curses he stood, closed the door to his room, and began shuffling off down the halls, blanket still wrapped tightly around his shoulders.
A deft ear swiveled in its socket, as the young pendragon briefly tuned into the distant clamor of voices. Raucous shouts came from every floor of the dormitory wing, as well as from farther away, towards the courtyard. From what the thill — Stormwing — could gather, a fresh blanket of snow had fallen the night before, and now many of the students were taking advantage of their weekend day and going out for a sportive frolic in the powdery stuff. Their boisterous calls and shrills of laughter seemed to ebb and flow quite drastically, but the femme had soon pinned her ears back again, now tuning out all the frolicsome noises. Though she adored snow, and wouldn't mind participating in some of the fun, she had other things to do right now. Like — studying. Having been standing idly outside her dormitory door while listening, she now tugged on the pane of wood, giving it a jolt so that it began to slide closed on its tracks. When she heard the click that told her the lock had engaged, she pivoted on her bare hind feet and began to make her way up the hallway. She was wearing a simple outfit, a tee and a pair of jeans, and a backpack was hoisted over her shoulder. There was also a very small pistol strapped to a band around her inner thigh, but it was quite hidden, as well as comfortably tucked away. As Storm' padded up the hallway, she was scarcely aware of its cool barrel against her caramel fur. As she continued to walk, she tried to gauge how long it would take her to walk to the library. She would have to, of course, dodge snowballs once she emerged into the courtyard, and then she'd have to shortcut through some blanketed tracts of grass… so she estimated it would take her about ten minutes — give or take one or two. She was just about to glance at her watch, in order to accurately time herself, when she suddenly bumped into another pendragon from behind. Feeling mildly ashamed for being so caught up in her thoughts, she immediately apologized, wheeling away and shaking her head at herself. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you. I was trying to time my… well, it's not important. Are you all right?" As she voiced her apology, and then her query, her mismatched eyes slid over the unfamiliar pendragon. She drank in the sight of his blotchy pelt, his thin but well-muscled stature, and even the small but detailed insignia on his hands. But what she found most curious was not his markings, or the tattoos he bore — but instead the cutely fuzzy blanket he had draped over his masculine shoulders. "Cold… or something?" She asked, the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile.
Nhjinn stumbled forward, nearly tripping over the hem of the fleece and landing flat on his face. Barely catching himself before such could occur, he regained his balance, turning slowly. His feet, only encased in a pair of ratty wool socks, made a hushed scuffing noise against the semi-clean flooring. His blanket settled around him, like a cape from some child’s game of superheroes. Anubial ears flicked back, in a combination of surprise, annoyance, and more than a little bit of embarrassment. “I’m fine, although you really should be watching where you’re going, especially in the dorms. Never know when you’ll run into a stupid twit like me." He sniffed, glancing at the other ‘dragon. A caramel female, who looked to be about his own age, standing there with what looked to be the beginnings of a smile on her face. Quite suddenly, Jin became painfully aware that he was still wrapped in his blanket and, adding insult to injury, it was the one his mother had sent with him when he left to attend the academy. Now, it was a common occurrence for parents to send items with their children, but the last thing any teen wanted was for word to get out that they walked around in a pale blue blankie patterned with tiny fish and /duckies/. Jin looked to the floor, brow knitted together and heat rising in his cheeks. Perfect. Jin mentally groaned. Now I’ll never be able to show my face outside of class ever again. He would have continued his mental grieving, but the femme had asked him a question. Was he cold? Yeah, he was bloody freezing his arse off. “Just a little chilled, bloody heating seems to be messing up on this floor." He replied nonchalantly, raising his gaze to meet that of the other pendragon’s. He did his best to appear calm and relaxed, and although it took work on his part, outwardly he appeared quite comfortable; like he knew he was wearing a kiddie blanket, and didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought.
Upon closer inspection, Storm's eyes caught the faint but unmistakeable imprints of little creatures sewn into the male's blanket. Trying hard not to squint, her hybrid eyes tried to make out the patterns. When she realized what they were, the smile that had been twitching at the edges of her mouth hooked into a full-blown grin. Fishes and ducks? It was so juvenile, and yet, the female also found it to be cute. Now pulling her gaze from the designs sewn into the material, she caught his own flustered eyes, and tried to make her smile a little more warm. "Yeah, it does seem a little nippy in this corridor," she remarked in response to the male's comment about the temperature. A frost-tipped ear flicked, and Winger shifted her weight from one foot to another. In actuality, it felt fine in here to her, but that was really a moot point. "What are you doing, wandering around the halls in a blanket, anyway?" She soon added, now giving her tail a flick. She realized she was fidgeting, but couldn't figure out why. Perhaps her instincts were saying, Come on, you're wasting time, what ever happened to getting to the library in ten minutes? She ignored the little voices in her head, however, and focused once more on the strange male. "Oh, and while we're at it — got a name? Mine's Stormwing, but I like Stormy, or Winger, for short."
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>>< !!! Sorry, short thanks to writers block. Apologies. </td></tr></table> Nhjinn let the blanket loosen, sliding down his shoulders. He shrugged, glancing off down the hall. "I was cold, and I wasn't going to get warmed up by sitting around on my arse. Decided to get up and walk around, not really going anywhere specific." Jin yawned, rolling his shoulders stiffly. He as probably the only one in the school cold, his soft pelt providing little insulation against even the smallest of chills. There were times being anubi was a pain in the perverbial rear. "My names Nhjinn, call me Jin if you want, or whatever, I'm not picky." he replied. He cocked his head to the side, ears twitching attentively. "You heading somewhere?" he queried, blinking slowly. He was probably holding 'Stormy' up, she has been walking pretty fast when she collided with him earlier.
<h4>Out of Character</h4>I love short posts, so it’s not a problem at all. *Pats* <h4>In Character</h4>Now, her feathery white wings began to twitch and jolt as well, and Storm’ murmured in slight irritation at her body’s eager impatience. She plastered her aerial appendages tightly against her backbone, folding them neatly along the curvature of her spine, and thereby stilling their nervous movements. After her concentration was freed from this task, her attention snapped back to the male, whom was speaking now of his name. “My name’s Nhjinn, call me Jin if you want, or whatever, I’m not picky… You heading somewhere?" Not for the first time that day, large ears swiveled, and Storm’ listened raptly to the timbre in his voice, and the lilt in every syllable. She had missed whatever he had said before, due to focusing on beating her wings into submission, and so tried to reply as enthusiastically, and coolly, to what she had heard. “It’s nice to meet you, Jin, though I’m still sorry for bumping into you like that. Ah… and, yes. I was hurrying to the library when I ran into you. I’ve recently become something of a punctuality fanatic, so I was checking my watch and trying to see how fast I could get there… though, there was really no reason for my rush. Um…" Now reminded of what she had been doing before this impromptu rendezvous, Storm’ wondered just how much time she had used up conversing with this fellow. It had probably been five or so minutes, and in that short span, the young thill had entirely lost her ambitious desire to go to the library and study. In fact, she now began to feel the chilling effects of a corridor without heat, and her body yearned for warmth. Checking her watch, out of habit more than anything, Storm’ flicked a tail, then peered once more at Nhjinn, narrowing her eyes a tiny bit as she met his gaze and pondered what she was about to say. “Well… my little academic mood has sort of been disrupted, and now I’m sort of more in the mood for… I don’t know… how does a warm latté sound to you? Wanna head over to the cafeteria and get something? I’m sure it’s warmer there, and we could have a friendly little lunch. Of course, we don’t have to… just a random offer." Stormwing shifted her weight again, exhaling a little bit sharply. She hoped he accepted her invitation, though she knew she wouldn’t be adversely affected if he declined. After all, she had no romantic interest — had no time for it, really — in him, or in anybody, and only wanted to share a warm drink with a newfound acquaintance. If he decided to go or not… well, really, it wasn’t worth deliberating over so much. He either would, or he wouldn’t, go along with her, and either way was fine. “But if you do decide to go, my friend… you might want to shed the… blankie," she added casually, snickering lightly and giving the mottled male a wink.
Nhjinn sniffed haughtily, tugging the blanket from his shoulders with a sharp jerk. With careless abandon, he balled up the fleece and tucked it under one arm, making a beeline for his dorm room. He hadn’t locked the door, not really expecting to do anything other than pace in the hall. Opening the door, he threw the blanket onto the end of his bed, then slammed the door with a loud thud. He wasn’t angry, per say, just developing a mild case of frost bit on his extremities. Numb ears were enough to make any pendragon uncomfortable. “Yeah, I suppose so." He grunted, stretching widely. He’d taken the time when the door was open to slip his feet into a worn set of skate shoes; toes scuffed and laces fraying. He could go for something hot right now, even if it meant making the frigid trek to the cafeteria. Caffeine sounded heavenly at the moment, something that would give him a buzz and warm him up at the same time. Nice. Plus it would be nice to get some social contact beyond small talk with this femme. A social creature by nature and by habit, shuffling around in a chilly dorm dressed like a lost child was not his idea of a good time. And who knows? He might run into one of the other ‘dragons he had already met since coming to the academy. Fun. Whee.
Her remark about the blanket had been a casual jest, and it surprised the young thill when Nhjinn seemed to react badly to it. He tore the patterned fabric from his shoulders, sniffing in a 'wounded pride' manner, then hastily clumped the blanket into a ball. This was enough to raise a slight bit of alarm in Winger's mind, and her ears swept completely back when the male turned and stormed off towards his dormitory room. Had he been that offended by her small joke? Her tail flicked nervously as she watched him yank open his door, chuck the blanket within, then forcefully plug his feet into a pair of skate shoes. At first, his putting on shoes disconcerted the banded 'dragon — wasn't he going to whisk into his room, slam the door, and refuse to ever speak to her again, upset because she had 'insulted' his dignity? No, it didn't seem that was what was happening at all, Stormwing gradually realized. She watched Jin pull his door shut swiftly, then march back towards her, obviously ready to take her up on her invitation. For a moment, the female could only blink back at him, thoroughly puzzled by his show. Had it been directed at her, or was it just… well, perhaps it wasn't worth mulling over. "Er… ready to go?" Her voice sounded smaller than she wanted it to, and Storm' cleared her throat. Part of her wanted to reach out an arm to loop in his, as she was often very friendly and flirtatious when cavorting with male-kind. But his peculiar exhibition of anger caused her to hold back, and she only jerked her head in the direction of the doors out of the dormitory wing.
