The Universe Book | In-Character

[WickedWitch]

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
Stephen Hawking​

Medusa was a beautiful city, with exotic sceneries, an interesting history, and a collection of very ancient fossils. It was a bustling city with a wild array of supernatural creatures and the few humans, mostly inhabited by the creatures that usually stuck to their groups, packs, or covens. The neighboring city, Tiresias was far more modernized than Medusa could ever be. With buildings that towered above the clouds, and streets that were never empty.

Benedict, who preferred the quieter and less packed places found Medusa more of a home then the places he and his coven had previously lived. The city had an ancient fill to it, with mysterious that were fascinating to read and learn about but was never proofed enough for him to ever feel the need to do any type of digging. He'd leave those for the more adventurous creatures, the most action Benedict was getting was from flight classes. That, might he add, was his least favorite and most difficult class. Which said a lot, he was a Senior in Demonic Arts. And everyone in the magical section knew Demonic Arts was the hardest class to pass, even the C's were hard to come by.

But Benedict never wavered at a challenge, which brought him back to the present situation. Priestess Alataluna stared grimly at him from her resting place behind her desk, her long black manicured nails tapping lightly against the surface. Her indifferent expression not helping the growing anxiousness in his stomach, but he kept his face scarce of any emotions.

"Correct me if I misheard, but you want to enlist in the dorms?"

Her voice, lacking in any readable emotions is made up by a small quirk of a curious brow. Benedict -if he wasn't so deadset on his request- would've ducked away the moment she had beckoned him into her office.

"Yes, as it's my last year, it would be more beneficial if I was to be closer to the Academy."

Not telling her the real reason why he wanted to live in the dorms was because he'd gotten tired of feeling like an outcast inside of his own coven. Benedict was labeled different the moment the devil chose to let him keep his soul and body in return for yearly visits. Which was honestly a little bewildering that a devil wanted him as company. But he wasn't complaining, if the visits kept him alive, breathing, and in control of his own body. He was perfectly content.

"Well if it's about time, then I'm sure the sisters would be more then welcome to portal you to and from."

Benedict mentally grimaces at that, he's positive that the sisters would rather strip off their Witches Marks and call themselves humans before they'd ever portal him anywhere.

"If I were to say move into the dorms, I would have more time to interact with my other peers. And it would strengthen our image while it may also increase our fundings, as more creatures will see us as trustworthy individuals."

The words roll of his tongue in a prestigious manner, only because he'd spent almost all of his break rehearsing his lines. Making sure that everything was said in the right way to inhanse his chances of getting approved. The Priestess' face immediately lightens up at the mention of the funds, no matter how much they tried to cover it up with humble prayers. They were all a bunch of money hungry individuals, and while he'd usually be appalled by it, this was the only appeal that would create a reaction in his favor.

"Of course! That's a wonderful idea, I'll have everything ready and prepped for your departure."

She says, her tone bouncing with fake enthusiasm. Benedict gives her his politest smile as he slightly bows,

"I am forever grateful for your assistance in this matter."

He says, the woman covers a few more things before he's finally allowed to leave. But it's only when he's behind the safety of his own bedroom does he let his shoulders droop, honestly having to be so posh and polite was getting too old, too fast. Benedict muses before he starts contemplating whether or whether not he'll be able to have his familiar live with him.

 

[Elidagood]

Namorae is sitting in the living room with her father, as he's drilling her for the hundredth time. He's as regal and warm as ever, but she can sense his anxiety. As much as he tries to tell her that everything will be fine, he's scared.

"Now, remember. You're young, and turned. That means the purebloods may already have some issue with you. Do not approach them. Do not draw attention to yourself. If one of them approaches you, tell me as soon as you possibly can, and I'll do some research on their family. If they can tell you're turned, find a way to bring my name into it. Show them your mark if you need to. It should ward the lower ranked ones off. Avoid being alone with any of them."

She nods, swallowing nervously.

"Do you… have a lot of enemies, dad?" He takes a breath.

"I'll teach you more about vampire politics later. But suffice to say, any of them could become an enemy if they think they can get away with it. Be careful, Namorae."

She nods again, trying to remain calm. "Oh. And since you're young, here's this." He says, handing her a small cloth bag attached to a necklace. She sneezes as soon as he takes it out, and he chuckles.

"Right. This is an assortment of things that should mask the scent of humans around you. You'll have to interact with them, and while I trust you, many young vampires can become violent and hungry when stressed. This should put a damper on that."

 

[WickedWitch]

​

Surprisingly the heads of the Academy don't deny his request to let his familiar stay, which after a bit of thought it actually makes sense. Seeing as how it was a magical section, with an abundance of witches. Benedict grunts as he pulls his suitcase toward dorm room 71. His suitcase is large, about three feet tall and it's leather front strains from the amount of content packed into its insides. His familiar, Barlow, strolls leisurely behind him. Barlows form today is an ordinary black cat, to which Benedict is grateful for. He doesn't know how he'd explain to the headmaster why his familiar was a two-hundred pound panther. Which seemed to be the familiar's established form.

Benedict huffs out a sigh of relief when he finally makes it to his dorm, behind him there's a bored meow.

"I'm trying to hurry it up, but as you can see. It's kind of hard to move a fifty pound suitcase with sticks for arms."

He snarls, agitated and tired. Barlow only replies with another meow, his tone is the same self centered and very snobbish. It takes everything in Benedict not to turn around and strangle the creature, but all together he chooses to use his pent up anger to slam open the door to his room. His gaze flickers across the very lackluster room.

It's at least three-hundred square feet, most of the space taken up by a twin sized bed with a matching set of a dresser and two nightstands. The walls are adorned in creme colored paint and a light layer of dust coats the walnut floor. Barlows disgusted meow breaks through Benedict's observation of the room, he turns his gaze to the creature. Whose gaze is obviously revolted and peeved at the fact that this is where they'd be staying for the rest of the school year.

Benedict rolls his eyes and hauls the suitcase into the room, a snap of his fingers has the dust and other filth instantly gone. It is a stupid use of magic, as it would've taken less energy to actually clean the room without magic. But the moving of his luggage has drained most of his strength, and he honestly couldn't bother to muster enough mental strength to clean anything.

"Well...Welcome home.."

He drawls apathetically, his words only intended for his own ears. But Barlows soft meows indicating that it also heard.

 

[allthekingsmen]

"The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps."
Christopher Paolini, Eragon​

Maarika didn't expect to like cell phones this much, but being able to call her friends (well, friend—Ilari and Sulo didn't have phones yet) was a dream come true. She didn't have to swim all the way back home, she got to hear Hilja's voice, and she got to talk about that black cat that most definitely stole somebody's wallet. A definite win for her. She could do this all day.

"Are you even listening, Maari?"

The aforementioned girl snaps back into reality just as she avoids the sharp corner of a wall, stopping abruptly in front of it. After a moment to compose herself, she grins and just says, "Nah."

A sigh is heard on the other line as the soft, thickly accented, monotone voice comes through again. "At least try to act polite. Your honesty is refreshing... but try and be a little considerate, okay?"

"Eh," Maarika shrugs. "Ei haukku haavaa tee, you know? What's the worst that could happen with a few words?"

"You could get murdered, kidnapped, blackmailed, threatened," Hilja lists fluidly. "There's a lot of things that could happen. Have some foresight."

"Ah, Hilja, you're gentle to everyone but me," Maarika chuckles, continuing on with her walking.

The line crackles as Hilja adjusts the phone. "No, that's not me, that's Sulo. Also, where are you walking to? It sounds like you have been walking for a long time."

"I think my room?" she answers, more of a question than a statement. Maarika checks the smudged ink on the back of her hand, squinting. "Number seventy."

"You still don't remember what room you live in? It's been over a year, Maari," chides Hilja. "You should know by now."

"Room, schmroom," Maarika retaliates, jiggling her keys in her pocket. "So long as I don't die, does it really matter? Don't answer that."

"We technically can't die—"

"I said don't answer!"

Hilja sighs again. "Good luck on finding it. Someone's coming to the graveyard, so I have to go."

"Pass the phone off to one of the others," Maari suggests. "It might be fun to talk to them."

"You know how bad Ilari is with technology," Hilja reminds her. "And Sulo might just yell at you for two hours."

"Mm, you're right," Maarika relents, looking around the hallway to check for the numbers. "Okay, bye-bye!"

"Bye-bye," Hilja responds faux-solemnly before ending the call.

Maarika's hand drops into her pocket, stuffing the device into her pocket as she glanced around for room seventy. "Oh, this is... different from what I remember. Was that plant there before? Hm."

She wanders around, more than slightly confused. "Did I have neighbors, or am I hallucinating?"

 

[WickedWitch]

Benedict hurls the overweight suitcase onto the twin bed, it lands with a loud thump and a bunch of dust bugs desert their resting position. The smell of dust and clouds his nose, moments following his nose tingles and he breaks out into a sneezing fit. When he's done, he uses the sleeve of his oversized sweater to wipe underneath his nose. Pulling the bag open, his neat arrangement of clothes, books, and a few other essentials stare at him.

Barlow chooses this moment to stride over the suitcase and sit smack dab in the center, his ruby red eyes twinkle with mischievous intent as he watches Benedict. His black tail flicking mindlessly behind the cat's form.

"If you think you're going to get a satisfactory reaction to your childish actions, you have another thing coming."

Benedict remarks, crossing his arms over his chest as he levels a disapproving gaze on the niggling creature.It's during the spur of bottled up annoyance, that they end up in fitful banter. Barlow was stubborn and opinionated. It lived in a world where only it's opinion, and no one else mattered. It was why they didn't get along, honestly if someone were to see them now. No would be able to guess that they were master and familiar.

The last straw is when Barlow hisses something insensitive that sends Benedict over the edge, a low growl reverberates out of his throat and he shoots to his feet. Frightening the look of superiority off the creatures face, ignoring the yowls of contempt. Benedict scoops the cat up and practically shoves it out of his dorm.

"I think you need to take a little break, blow off some steam."

He hisses to a very perplexed Barlow, who might Benedict add, lookup quite shocked. A look he couldn't relish for long, as he took a step back into his room to slam the door in the creature's face. The instant the door clicked shot, the loud noise of angered meows and pitiful scratches echoes through the room. Benedict scrunches his face up conflicted, but the ire and vexation that bubbles underneath his skin, still festers. A break from each other would do good, they'd obviously spent too much time in the others presence. Now Benedict needed to unpack, and maybe spell the room so that Barlow wouldn't try slithering back in.

 

[allthekingsmen]

​

Maarika jolts as she hears a sudden door slam, her eyes flitting to the sound and landing on an indignant-looking (could cats look indignant?) black cat.

She watches silently as the cat scratches at the door, curiously inching up to it. Skritch, skritch, skritch—a smile blooms on her face as she listens to the cat's meows and the grating of claws against wood. "Söpö...!"

She lurches forward to take a better look at the cat, her animal-loving dial being turned up to eleven. "Sinä olet niin söpö! Vau! Beibi! Söpöliini! I love you very much, little kitty! Ee!"

Maarika crouches down next to it, a cheek-splitting grin on her face. "You're the cutest thing in the world! Who would be so mean as to kick you out, hmm?"

Standing back up, she raps her knuckles on the door eagerly. "Excuuuuuuse me? Mister? Miss? Your cat wants to see you!"

She crouches down again, dropping her eyes to the cat's level. "Your very, very cute widdle cat!"

 

[WickedWitch]

Benedict is too tired to actually unpack his suitcase and put all the clothes into their rightful places, so he turns to magic. The spell isn't too difficult, and the moment he's done the clothes are surrounded in a black fog. And dragged into the dresser to be placed neatly. Even though the fog was obviously helping he felt his stomach turn, because unfortunately. Unlike the rest of his coven, his magic wasn't colorful like the usual purple or green. His was a murky black, and the occasional dark red. And in their eyes, it was an even clearer sign that he was closest to the devil. The line separating Benedict and the other witches grew immensely after the reveal, and nothing could erase it.

The devil wasn't all that bad, it was actually surprisingly a self-effacing and well-kept demon. Yet, he despised it. The mark he bore at his nape, the one that told almost everyone he met who exactly he belonged to. The fact that his soul was never created to belong to him, that he was never supposed to exist. Benedict is broken out of his self-loathing by a frantic knock at the door, his face twisting into confusion. Because he's positive Barlow does not have hands. He pushes himself up, his bare feet proudly showing off the freshly painted black nails. Through the relatively thick door he can make out the muffled voice of someone talking, his shoulders slump. He'd been hoping that he'd be able to avoid any interactions until school officially started.

He cautiously parts the door open, and within seconds Barlow is pushing through the crack and trotting over to the recently made up bed. Benedict frowns, and is opening his mouth to say something to the creature but remembers that there was someone else at the door. He opens the door a little wider, to get a look at who's standing at the other side. The girl has vibrant blue hair, and it looks.. natural? some part of his brain finds it a bit humorous how surprise somehow seemed to be his established reaction when it came to the Academy and the creatures roaming the building.

"Yes?"

Benedict asks, trying to keep his voice as friendly as possible but there's no doubt she heard the tired edge to it. Brushing the traitorous pieces of hair that have flopped over his eye, he blinks slowly at the girl.

 

[allthekingsmen]

​

Maarika watches sadly as the cat slips away into the room, giving the feline a little wave as it retreated. She bounces back up, standing up straight and giving the person who opened the door a wide smile... before she realizes that she's looking at a neck rather than a face and she tilts her head up to look the guy in the eye—green ones, ones that remind her of the lush forest that she used to live in. He blinks slowly, catlike, and for a moment she wonders if he's a bakeneko or nekomata before recognizing the fact that he didn't have any tails.

Ah, he's tall, she thinks to herself idly, mentally comparing his height to hers and feeling rather small. Shaking away the thought, she clears her throat and responds to him.

"Oh, hi," Maarika keeps her smile on her face, although the tinge of... weariness? Exasperation? Something in his voice threatens to spoil her good mood. Was he alright? "I just saw that your cat wanted to get into your room, so I knocked, and I really, really, really love cats a lot. All animals, really."

She nearly veers completely off-track and prepares herself to talk this guy's ear off before her gaze catches the brass plate at the side of the door, proclaiming the number 'seventy-one' proudly on its reddish-gold surface. She fixed her eyes back to the boy, changing her words at the last second. "Also, I think we're neighbors. I'm in room seventy... I think. It's really nice to meet you! Sorry if I interrupted anything."

She tacks on the apology without much thought (it was always good to take Hilja's advice, even if she didn't really want to listen to it) as she takes a curious peek into his room. It seemed neat and tidy, with the obvious cat mussing up the sheets a bit in the cute way that cats did things. Had he already settled in? "Do you need any help with anything while I'm here? Like, how the shower works or when curfew is or something? If you have any stuff that they're sending in or you need help unpacking or building, I can lend you a hand, too."

 

[WickedWitch]

When the girl bounces back up, he finds himself flinching back a little cautiously. She's smaller than him, but he feels impossibly smaller standing in her obvious line of view. Benedict's ears have started ringing, and the hand clasped around his door hand tightens until his knuckles turn white. His already pale skin turning impossibly paler, social interactions were not for him.. Why did he think this was a good idea? He doesn't return the greeting, his tongue suddenly feels too heavy on his tongue and he's already curdling back into his shell to even attempt anything other than a small nod of acknowledgment.

"That's not a cat."

Benedict blurts, hesitating over whether he should provide some kind of context before deciding against it. The moment she mentions their obvious neighboring situation, his eyes dart at his brass plate and then towards the peeping outline of the door beside his own. His heart dropping into his stomach. Right, his increasingly agitated brain mulls. Other people would be living in the dorms as well, how come he'd forgot that important fact in a matter of seconds was bewildering to him.

"It appears so."

He replies, lips pulling down into a small frown. As the girl spirals back into another ramble, he finds himself slightly grimacing at the very talkative blue girl. She obviously meant well, but to an anti-social and unintentionally surly Benedict her presence was nothing but a bother. And unfortunately the look on his face is barely hiding the obvious shifting in his sudden onslaught of thoughts.

"I'm fine.. I can handle myself just fine."

Benedict's tone is grimmer and a tad bit too snappy, the sudden weight of the day coming crashing down on his already defeated mood. And a part of him is sour, does she think he can't handle himself? He was a student at the most prestigious schools in Medusa! If he couldn't handle a little thing like moving into a dorm, than he wasn't going to survive a week in this school.

"But I'll make sure to come get you when I do."

He grinds out, his lips quirking up into his attempt at a smile. But it comes out as a half-assed grimace, and the bright red irritation flickering in his green eyes only worsening his unfriendly attitude. Socialising and being friendly was not Benedict's strong suit.

 

[allthekingsmen]

​

Maarika's smile actually falters for a moment at the guy's expression and tone, but she fixes it quickly. Oh, so this guy is probably busy right now. Whoops. Maybe I should leave him alone? "That's great! Just knock on the door and I'll answer as soon as possible. I'm Maari; again, it's really nice to meet you! Bye now!"

She scurries away, fiddling with her own key and slipping into her dorm without another word. She pressed her back against her door, hearing it click shut as she sighed. "Aah, I probably annoyed him..."

After a brief moment of internally regretting her decision, she bounces back with a smile and wipes her personal history clean. "Oh well! So long as I get to see his cat again—wait, he said it wasn't a cat."

She thinks again, blank, before shrugging nonchalantly and flopping down on her bed. "No worries, no worries. It's probably a weird dog or something..."

Today's been weird, she thinks to herself, but shakes it off like water off a duck's back and reaches for her phone again to pass the time.

 

[Mundane Monster]

#3458AD​

When Ademir got back from his early morning run, he was surprised to find everything in his room packed. Two duffle bags sat on his bed, and his laptop had been slipped into a modest black messenger bag. The teen's first thought was that the settlement was moving again. It wasn't a strange thought. Cadejos often moved from location to location depending on the adverse affects the surrounding environment had on their pack. When Ademir was ten, his pack moved from Tiresias to Medusa due to the rising gang activity in the city. But even then, before they moved there'd been several pack meetings and voting. This was completely out of the blue! And so close to the beginning of the school year, too!

"Good, you're back."

Ademir spun on his heel to see his mom leaning against the door frame. She was a petite woman with rarely used laugh lines and frizzy brown hair framing her heart-shaped face. She was holding a familiar-looking pamphlet in her hands.

"Is that...the student boarding code of conduct?" He cocked his head, puzzled as to why she'd have that.

"Yup. You're going to need it while you're," she paused and took a deep breath, "while you're staying on campus."

Ademir's jaw dropped. "Staying on--me? I get to live in the dorms?" He clasped his hands together like an excited child. Over the summer he'd begged his mom to let him stay in the dorms for his senior year and she kept saying no, so why--

"Ria suggested that I--was--err--am, kind of stifling you." His mom scratched the back of her neck and pursed her lips. He could tell she was really struggling to get this out. His mom wasn't great at apologizing--well, this wasn't really an apology, but she wasn't great at conceding.

Honestly, Ademir was surprised that Ria of all people made her change her mind. Ria was the settlement's alpha and she was always talking about keeping the youth away from dangers that could corrupt them and make them succumb to El Cadejo. Ademir thought she'd be the last person to council his mother to let him stay in the dorms this year.

"She pointed out that you've never done anything wrong. And even though your father succumbed to El Cadejo, I should trust that you won't. So, for your last year at school, you can stay in the dorms. There's a car waiting to take you there now."

A wave of happiness and excitement washed over him, followed by sentimentality. His eyes welled up with happy tears and he lunged forward to wrap his mom in a bear hug. His mom was stiff within his embrace, but she returned the hug all the same.

***
Ademir hopped in the black town car meant to take him to school. He'd finished saying goodbye to his mother and everyone else in the settlement. Ria closed the door to the car after giving Ademir a few words of wisdom (aka don't make her regret her words), then waved him off as the car drove away.

Sometime during the drive he fell asleep and awoke to the driver (his cousin Terri) shaking him awake. Ademir watched Terri drive off, then continued into the dorm. His mom had put a sheet of information in the dorm conduct book with his room information and the like.

"Room 70, 71," he mumbled. He counted the doors as he passed them scrutinizing every brass plate's number. "Room 72!" He exclaimed and shoved the key into the lock.

He pushed the door in and flung his bags on the floor then launched himself onto the bed. He did all this without closing the door behind him.

 

[WickedWitch]

Benedict wishes he could feel somewhat empathetic towards the way he treats the girl, but he can only feel slightly annoyed and indifferent as he watches her scurry back into her own room. The moment she's out of his view, he carefully shuts the door behind him. Barlow has taken to the windowsill as a sleeping area and the few items that had been left in his suitcase are gone, at first he starts getting worked up. Thinking that his familiar had hid or even worse gotten rid of them in its sick way of revenge. But when his drawers open, he finds them all situated nicely. His shoulders slump gratefully, as he shuffles through his other bag searching for his notebook he can feel Barlows eyes digging daggers into his back.

"What?"

He asks, when the staring ticks him off. The familiar wasn't one to really keep its mouth shut when it had things it wanted to say, so this new sheepish act it was playing had somehow developed in the few.minutes he'd spent talking to his neighbor. "If you're just going to berate me for being rude to that girl, don't even start. I'm already in a bad mood, and just because you got in earlier. Doesn't mean I'm feeling just as merciful."

Benedict quickly interrupts, the cat lets out an indifferent meow before it trots over to the corner of his bed. Curling into a comfortable position , before it's soft snore starts reverberating through the room. Benedict rolls his eyes at the sound, while the offer sounded very tempting, the stack of textbooks and the thick folder wasn't something he'd have time to do on the first day. So with much reluctance, he plops into his desk chair and starts pouring over the new material.

~​

Benedict jolts awake with an aggressive snort, his hands twitching and momentarily a flicker of fire lights up his palm before the warm body of Barlow replaces it. Extinguishing the fire completely, the warm vibrations reverberating from the familiar's body helps to calm his wildly beating heart. "Morning.." He grumbles, his voice is hoarse and the action has his throat lighting up in pain. There's a disgruntled meow from his side, before a weight is lifted and the sound of shuffling sounds inside the relatively quiet room. His alarm clock is quiet beside him, a somewhat strange occurrence. In the coven, his roommates had fun playing pranks on him. So his mornings were spent being rudely awoken by the shrill screeching of his alarm another at ungodly hours.

With somewhat of a struggle, he manages to untangle himself from his comforter. His backpack and nearly ironed clothes hang at the front of his bathroom door, reminding what today was. First days weren't usually the worst thing, especially since he'd gotten a head start of classwork and the new council schedule. But it didn't mean it wasn't a dreaded time, because he was a council member. Which usually meant helping peers, giving tours, and the worst of all having to hold a conversation with the rest of the members. Thankfully the two members he spent most of his free time with weren't much of a talkative bunch, and if they did feel somewhat chatty on a particular day. They usually kept him out of it, to which he was very grateful for.

After a somewhat cold shower, he slips into the school uniform - a plain white dress shirt, a dark olive blazer, and similarly colored clean-cut trousers. When Benedict is dressed, and his unruly bed hair has been relatively tamed he hurries out of his dorm. Getting a quick glance at his clock before the door shuts, seven wasn't too late if he hurried he could make it to First period without being late. Carefully balancing his backpack in one hand he uses the other to lock his door. Too occupied in trying to lock his door to pay attention to his familiar sitting inches behind his foot or the other peers bustling through the halls.

 

[Elidagood]

Namorae sits in the car with her father, very nervous. He's going over the same drill as before, making certain that she knows the danger that the other students might pose to her. It's not exactly helping with her nerves.

Her father leans over to hug him, and she hugs him back tightly. "You're going to do great." He whispers, smiling. She smiles back at him as they separate, glad for his support. "Hurry up now. It's nearly daylight." He warns her.

She nods, grabbing her large bag, and pulling up the hood of her jacket. "Love you, dad." She says softly, before getting out, and making a sprint for the doors of the school.

 

[allthekingsmen]

​

Maarika had gotten up extra early that morning to get a quick workout in—as she usually did—but she ends up having to rush, anyway. She dries her hair quickly, the blue locks darker than usual due to the residual dampness, before throwing on her uniform rather sloppily. The top button of her shirt was popped off, her collar crooked, the white of her button-down rumpled due to not having ironed it. She fixed her blazer with a frustrated sigh, the fabric too tight around her shoulders but too loose around her wrists, before grabbing her bag and phone to rush out the door.

She spots her new neighbor locking his door, and she remembers to do so at the sight of it, fumbling with her key. "Hiya! G'morning!"

She flashes him a wide smile before hearing the click of the lock and tucking her key back into her pocket. She gives the cat (?) at his feet a little wave in greeting as well. At least she's dressed and out the door, right? She can spare a little time for small talk, even if he seems distracted. "Do you think we got anyone else new around here?"

 

[Mundane Monster]

​

#3458AD
Ademir woke up early as per usual. His pack made it a mission to get the "youngins" in the habit of starting early and going to be early. The idea was that the later they wake up or stay up brings them closer to El Cadejo which was not the goal. But unfortunately, since he'd gotten up early as heck, he had to wait in his impeccably neat uniform by the door until he heard sounds of other students leaving their dorms.

As soon as he heard a girl's voice inquire about new people, he all but danced out of his room.

Two of his neighbors--fellow students were standing in the hallway. One guy and one girl and one...cat? Ademir wondered which student the cat belonged to. Or...Was the cat a student?? He'd been attending this school for three years and not once has he seen an animal student but there's a first time for everything!

"What's up guys, Ademir!" He chirped, and extended his hand to each of the three, complete with a big smile.

 

[allthekingsmen]

#c2f3ff​

Maarika whirls around at the sound of a young man's voice, her own hair thwipping her in the face harshly and leaving a stinging sensation as she does so. The mild pain doesn't dampen her cheery smile, though, and she clasps the young man's (his name was Ademir, yes? Unless that was just a word that he threw out there randomly, but that was unlikely) hand in a firm and eager handshake. "Hi! I'm Maari! It's so great to meet you."

This guy's tall, too, she thinks with a drop of intimidation in her mind as she looks up at him, but releases his hand with a grin. "You're new? Oh, that's so cool; you and this guy can be friends!"

She gestures to the dark-haired boy with the cat, bright as the sun. "I've been here for a bit, so if you need help around here, you can ask me, 'kay?"

 

[WickedWitch]

Benedict clips back his own greeting, though his tone is softened by the surprise so blatantly on his face. In more normal cases, people didn't usually attempt to talk to a person that had been so plainly rude and distant only a day ago, but it seems that maybe he didn't completely get the ways of his peers just yet. As he's opening his mouth to reply to her question, an enthusiastic introduction stops him short. Leaving him slightly reeling from the sudden shift, how many sane people were this bubbly at such ungodly hours of the day? He thinks with increasing amount of confusion , quickly catching himself he gives his own awkward wave as a greeting. "I'm Benedict… " He states, feeling oddly placed in the obviously cheerful and bubbly aura and personalities of the two. He was realizing as time passed more and more, that he was most definitely not good at anything involving anything social or needing his lack-of social skills.

After a thoughtful moment, he shifts his bag into a more comfortable position, "I think we should probably start getting to class, I doubt the teacher would be happy if we showed up late." Barlow letting out their own yowl of approval after his statement, without waiting for anyone to actually catch on the familiar saunters into the hallway, stopping to look back at the three students as in taunting them to hurry up. With awkward shuffling of his feet, Benedict scurries after the unamused cat.