Talk Nerdy To Me :::;)

8itches 8n't shit

[grindingcastigation-blog]

I'm being productive!

Kankri’s last exam was the one he was most worried about and in the past week that had resulted in pacing, the destruction of all of his nails and at one point, crying in the bathroom trying to be quiet so Karkat didn’t hear him. Honestly, he was coping well. 

Currently, it was the night before aforementioned exam and instead of attempting to cram any more knowledge on social policies into his overloaded little skull, Kankri was aggressively bleaching the entire kitchen on his floor. The oven was sparkling more so than it probably had since it was bought, he’d unblocked the drains, cleaned the shelves in the fridges and now was working on the inside of the microwave oven. 

After this he just had the floor left to do and was panicking about what he’d do to occupy himself once /that/ was done. He supposed there was always the bathroom, right? More chance of being disturbed in the bathroom though. People used those more than the kitchens. 

Of course, right now his responses to any humans were likely to be garbled panic sounds. So yeah, he was handling this /just/ fine thank you very much. 

[asymptoticgeometry]

Okay really, she had to get better at remembering to eat.  It's all well and good to spend hours grinding through mathematical equations like no one's business, but the way her stomach is folding into itself is making it incredibly hard for her to focus.  At least her test wasn't for a few more days, which gave her plenty of time to cook herself some food without the nagging feeling of wasting valuable study hours.

Luckily, she's prepared to combat the growing black hole of hunger as she arms herself with a box of off brand mac-n-cheese she found buried in her closet and a small pot to cook it in.  What she wasn't prepared for was the strong scent of chemical cleaners that bars the entrance to the communal kitchen and cause her empty stomach to curl in protest. 

"Alright, this is staying open," she mutters to herself as she drags the trash can into the hallway, keeping the door propped open in hopes that the smell will diffuse enough to stop her from feeling so light-headed.

Upon entering the room she notices the culprit responsible for the kitchen's dramatically increased cleanliness, his arms deep inside the microwave as he scrubs off layers of cooked-on food.  She pinches her lips together in a hard line, guilty for the first time about that bowl of chili she cooked last week that exploded inside the microwave before she shrugs and forgets it again.  She wasn't the only person who didn't clean up their own messes.  If he wanted to clean up after them, that's his problem.

"Geeeeeeeez this place is spotless!" Vriska exclaims halfheartedly as she walks around him to fill her pot in the sink before setting it down on the stove range.  She flicks the dial to its maximum setting before turning to face the other, resting back against the oven door with her hands on the smooth handle. "You should join the janitorial staff, bet you'd give them a run for their money."

[asymptoticgeometry]

==> Let's Get This Party Started

She cannot believe how low her life has fallen!

Vriska hasn't had a party to role-play with since she came to this school.  Most people would just brush it off with a "no big deal" or " its' just role-playing" or "wow, are you really that nerdy?" but all those people clearly had no idea how much fun a good campaign could be.

So here she is, working her way through the common rooms from the top storey down, posting up advertisements for a free member, her of course,   who was interested in either joining an existing party or starting a new group.  Really whatever got her playing again would be fine with her.  Well, anything short of getting down on her knees and begging that is.  She's not that pathetic. 

She tapes the last of her flyers onto the door of the basement common room, smoothing the cellophane flat against the window with the pads of her thumbs, and steps back to admire her work. 

Mission accomplished!  All she has left to do now is wait for a response.  Surely someone will send her an email, even if its only to say how great that dragon drawing turned out.

[asymptoticgeometry]

==> Have None of the Luck

"Dumb, early morning, weekend test slots," Vriska mutters venomously under her breath as she flips through another chapter in her text.  Whoever scheduled these must really hate their students or their job or themselves, and their only way to be happy was in being able to ruin everything for everyone else.

It's encroaching 2am on a Friday morning and Vriska Serket is cramming for an upcoming test that's in... oh, less than 8 hours.  Sensibly, the libraries are all closed down for the evening because students are just NOT supposed to be studying at this time of night!  Obviously! So instead of having a nice, quiet place to study, she's stationed in the second floor common room, trying to shove as much knowledge about into her skull as she can but........ she's just so boooooooored.

Groaning, she drops her pencil on her open textbook and slides her fingers beneath her glasses to rubs her eyes before placing her head face-down on folded arms on top of her work. After a few moments of blissful darkness, she turns her head, cheek squished against the glossy pages and the frame of her glasses cutting into the bridge of her nose, and watches the few other inhabitants of the room.  Those lucky jerks clearly do not have anything better to do with their Friday night other than to goof off in the residence lounge.  And okay, there's a high probability that her dislike for them stems from not having the freedom to do exactly what they are doing but she can't feel any shame in being hypocritical when she's been so thoroughly screwed by the system.

[asymptoticgeometry]

==> Fall 8ack

Okay, she knows her undergrad class is over three hundred students and it'd be impossible for her to know all of them, but ever since she entered the room she hadn't seen a single familiar face.

It takes until the unknown professor begins to speak for it to truly sink in that Vriska is not, in fact, in her statistics lecture.  Completely bewildered, she looks between the clock at the front of the room and a crumpled, paper printout of her schedule for the semester.  It's the same time and the same room that her class had been held at every day for the past couple months and nothing is making any sense.

She suddenly regrets choosing to sit in the middle of the rows of seating because now she's boxed in on all sides and she knows there's no real way to escape without drawing unwelcome attention.  Not that she really cared about being the focus of a couple students for a few brief moments, but she wanted to figure out what exactly was going on.  Her class couldn't have just disappeared over night... right?

She turns to a student sitting to her left and quietly asks, "Hey, this is going to sound weird but... What class is this?"

[asymptoticgeometry]

==> Reunite with loving sister

[asymptoticgeometry]

"Oh…my bad," she says lightly, embarrassed that she hadn’t put the clues together sooner.  Way to go Serket, you’ve just made one hell of a first impression.  She would apologize but the off-hand way Terezi mentioned her own lack of sight made her think it would seem more condescending than helpful.

"Well, I suppose if you don’t mind I’ll hang around.  I don’t have anything better to do with my time than wait on her anyways."  She didn’t really know if staying in a room alone with her sister’s roommate was the best idea seeing as she had no idea when Aranea would be back and the fact that she had only met Terezi moments ago.  Hopefully it wouldn’t become toooooooo awkward.  Granted she didn’t know her own roommate too well yet so it couldn’t be that different and one failed social interaction won’t be that big a deal.  Besides, when she peers into the room over Terezi’s shoulder, she can see several items of her sister’s that were just begging to be tampered with and like hell she was going to pass up the opportunity to meddle.

[seer-of-nothing-blog]

Terezi moved aside to let Vriska in. She wasn’t exactly sure whether or not Vriska was actually trustworthy but she couldn’t just leave her roommate’s sister out in the hall to wait right? “It shouldn’t be that big of a deal as long as you don’t manage to destroy the dorm.”

She turned and walked into the dorm, going to her desk and sitting down in the chair. She signaled Pyral to her and took the dogs harness off, giving the dog the okay to mess around. The dog immediately went and got one of his toys. The toy was a little dragon stuffed animal that Pyral brought up to Vriska and dropped at her feet. The dog looked expectantly at Vriska, waiting for the toy to be tossed. 

[asymptoticgeometry]

If Vriska could read thoughts, which she can't, she would assure Terezi that she was, in fact, 100% correct.  It would have been incredibly rude to leave her waiting in the hall and inviting her in would have no negative consequences whatsoever.  Alas, Vriska cannot read thoughts, but she senses the other's hesitation and attempts to ease her worry with a cheerful reply. 

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that!  It would take a lot of work to completely destroy a dorm room and I'm not the least bit prepared to put in the effort on such short notice. Besides! Why would I want to ruin the place of my favourite sister and her lovely roommate anyways!? "

She steps into the room after Terezi, sights set on dive-bombing her sister's immaculately made bed, when a stuffed dragon lands on her toes and pulls her attention away from her hastily made plot.  Vriska looks down curiously, glancing between the dog and it's owner, before succumbing to the puppy-dog eyes and tossing the toy for the dog to catch with a small sigh.  This could be fun too, Pyral was pretty cute after all and Vriska honestly hadn't had many chances to play with animals over the course of her life so this was a welcome opportunity.

[asymptoticgeometry]

==> Move In

Vriska unlocks the door to her new domain with a satisfying click, pushing the door open with her hip as she drags her luggage inside to dump on the floor next to her unmade bed. At least, she assumes its her’s as the other bed in the room seems to have already been claimed, however absent it's claimant may be.

Room 238. Not perfect but it would do.  The room itself is smaller than Vriska had expected. She hadn't had high hopes for getting a decent amount of space to share between her and her roommate but even this was pushing the limit.  Really, the desks are practically butting up against each other under the room's long window and, sure, their positions could change but there wasn't really anywhere better to place the things.  She was going to have to get real close with this new roommate of her’s, lest she confine herself to library couch purgatory.  She'll likely spend a lot of time at the library regardless but she was hoping that she’d enjoy spending time in her own room as well.  

She hurriedly unpacks, sorting and tossing her unfolded clothes into the empty drawers of a dresser on her half of the room.  She places her cosmetics on top of the dresser much more neatly than the contents within it, lined up in descending order of product height.

She then turns her attention to the bed, placing a cobalt fitted sheet on the thin mattress covered by a grey duvet with white spider web silhouettes. Vriska is continually grateful for the marketing exploits of businesses and their ability to create products for every given holiday, otherwise there was no way she’d have been able to get her hands on all these tacky spider themed sheet sets unless she relied solely on Spider-Man merchandise.  

Pushing her, now empty, luggage carriers beneath the bed, she puts the final touches on her room with a handful of blue dice of varying sizes in a glass bowl on her desk, a hilariously inaccurate magic 8-ball next to her alarm clock, and a few posters and hand drawings.

She places her hand on her hips, gives the room one final 360 degree look before nodding in approval.  Everything is in its right spot.  It’s a shame it’s not going to last but hey what can you do right?

Vriska sits down on the edge of her bed,  bouncing slightly on the mattress from the force of her descent as she grabs her mp3 player off the side table and places the blue ear-buds in their designated positions.  Hitting play and she flops backward to lie, stretching her legs out on her new bed and pulling her arm across her face to shield her eyes from the light.  She was asleep before the end of the track.

[greaseandmagic]

==>

[greaseandmagic]

Cronus looked up, realizing that the figure in front of him was not some shred of his subconscious he had imagined, but an actual living being. He quickly remembered what a state he must be in, he rubbed the tears from his face and tried to collect himself, which was a completely impossible task. He still shook weakly as his body continued to be on alert, the urge to run rising like bile in his throat.

"I…" His voice was raw, fuck. "I’m fine. Nothin’ ‘ta see here."

Not his most convincing performance.

[asymptoticgeometry]

She resists the impulse to roll her eyes at his statement. “Don’t worry tough guy, I didn’t come here for a show.”  

She slips her bag off her shoulders and props it on her knee as she unzips it to rifle through its contents; all bent notebooks and loose papers and misplaced stationary. Her searching fingers land on a crumpled package of tissues that she pulls out and tosses to him with a smile she hopes is reassuring. And sure, those tissues might not be in the best of states, with bits of lead and pencil shavings that wormed beneath the plastic layers that protected tissues with fraying edges, but it's the thought that counts right?

Talking down at him probably wasn’t helping him feel any more relaxed so she drops her bag quietly on the tiles beside her and slides down the wall to sit opposite to the other with her knees drawn up loosely against her torso. 

"Nice place you’ve got here.  It’s such a great spot, I hope you don’t mind if I join you for a while. It looked like you could use some company."

[greaseandmagic]

==>

It was in English when the memories flashed by his eyes like an old film.

He remembered the day his father left them. It was Sunday, Eridan was watching Spongebob on the huge flat screen out in the living room. Cronus knew something was wrong the moment he stepped out of his bedroom. The house reeked of spirits, several chairs were overturned and his father was holed up in the room at the very end of the hall neither of them were aloud to go into, under any circumstances. When his father finally walked into the kitchen, Cronus had made himself and his brother pancakes.

“We’re leaving. I expect both of you in the car in ten, not a minute later.”

He was struck with a sense of foreboding, stuffing his brother’s army men and his favorite stuffed seahorse he had gotten from his friend Terezi into his backpack before dragging him away from the T.V.

His stomach turned as he clutched at his pencil, willing those thoughts away. He looked down at his hands, finally noticing the violent shaking that had overtaken them. Without a word he collected up his things, stumbling out from his seat, bowling past his teacher in his hurry to get away from the overwhelming noise.

Eridan was so happy to hear they were going to see the trains, it almost soothed over his anxieties, but the grim look on his father’s face brought the feeling back like a wave. He hustled them out of the car, stopping to sit them down on the bench. 

"Stay there. I’m going to get a drink."

He began to walk away, but turned back around to drape his enormous leather jacket around his shoulders.

Cronus knew he wouldn’t be coming back.

Time passed slowly, Eridan began to whine that he was taking too long, taking out his toys and starting to play out on the floor in front of them. People began to give them worried looks around the second hour. Soon the man behind the glass booth asked them where his father went, and if he should call a nice police officer to help them find him. He accepted the offer.

He curled himself up under a flight of stairs, shaking violently as tears ran down his face with abandon. Cronus didn’t notice the person calling to him until they finally leaned down to touch his shoulder.

"Don’t touch me!" He recoiled away violently, falling back to stare like a cornered animal.

[asymptoticgeometry]

She was late.  Again.  Today, like every other day this semester, she had waited too long to leave for her philosophy lecture because she really really did not care to learn about that bullshit.  Philosophy, seriously why had she thought that was a good idea?!   Every class so far had left her bored out of her skull and her 'notes' had become a series of blank lined sheets barring the doodles that bleed out of the margins.  Still, even if was her least favourite class, and hence the reason she was running behind, she had no intention to miss it when she'd spent actual money to pretend to learn about the subject.

Of course, plans change, and they sure do change quickly when, halfway up the stairs, the muffled sounds of the stairwell's other patron intersect  the pounding of her sneakers on the concrete slabs.  She stills, a tight knot forming in her throat as she recognizes those tones translates to harsh breathing and choked back sobs.  She frowns, takes a deep breath and wishes her good attendance good-bye as she turns on her heel to descend.

She so did not have time for this but it wasn't like she was going to leave some kid alone when they were bawling in a secluded corner like their world was ending.  No one cries at school where their peers could see them (and laugh and talk shit about them behind their back), not if they can help it.  She would know, after the unfortunate mess that were her middle school years, that its nothing anyone would choose to do.

"Hey. Kid."  She calls out curtly as she leans over the metal railing into the shaded corner that held the quaking dark-haired boy. At his lack of response, she rounds the bannister and over to him, repeating a little softer, "Heeeeeeeey.  Come on, it's going to be okay."

And when she places her hand on his shoulder to get his attention, she's caught completely off-guard by his change in demeanor as he lashes out at her before drawing back inward upon himself.  Vriska snatches her hands to her sides and raises them, palms open in sign of surrender, and takes a few steps back until she bumps into the opposing wall.  If he needs space she is more than willing to give it to him but she's not leaving unless he asks.

"Whooooooooa. Okay... No touching.  Gotcha.  Just uh, are you okay?"  Ugh, dumb question Serket, of course he's not okay...

[asymptoticgeometry]

==> Reunite with loving sister

[asymptoticgeometry]

Hearing footsteps nearing the door she pulls herself upright to avoid falling forward upon its opening.  Hands clenched “innocently” behind her back, she puts on her most charming smile that falls quickly when the door opens to reveal a much unanticipated occupant.

Riiiiiiiight.  Aranea had mentioned she was living with someone but she’d forgotten all about that until this stranger, and surprisingly her dog, were in front of her.  Not that it mattered.  Roommate or not, Vriska would have made her appearance in the exact same fashion.  Being subtle wasn’t exactly her thing and neither was being polite.

"Wow! I wasn’t aware Aranea had security measures in the event that fearsome visitors come to her door.  If you’re going to sic your ferocious guard dog on me I guess I have no choice but to reveal myself!  I’m Vriska. Aranea’s sister… the resemblance is uncanny I know." She adds sarcastically, knowing full well that they look nothing alike.

"And you areeeeeeee?" Vriska crosses her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing slightly as faint irritation filters into her tone, "Or is the name of my interrogator classified information?"

[seer-of-nothing-blog]

"This dog isn’t anywhere near a guard dog. He’s a service dog." Terezi opened the door up a bit more. Aranea’s sister? Had Aranea mentioned a sister yet? "Well, even if there was any resemblance I wouldn’t be able to see it. I have a seeing eye dog for a reason you know."

"My names Terezi, and this is Pyral. Do you want to come in and wait for Aranea to get back?" Terezi wasn’t exactly sure what to do. She didn’t know Vriska but if she was Aranea’s sister the right thing to do would be to let her in right? Either way that’s what she was going to do.

[asymptoticgeometry]

"Oh...my bad," she says lightly, embarrassed that she hadn't put the clues together sooner.  Way to go Serket, you've just made one hell of a first impression.  She would apologize but the off-hand way Terezi mentioned her own lack of sight made her think it would seem more condescending than helpful.

"Well, I suppose if you don't mind I'll hang around.  I don't have anything better to do with my time than wait on her anyways."  She didn't really know if staying in a room alone with her sister's roommate was the best idea seeing as she had no idea when Aranea would be back and the fact that she had only met Terezi moments ago.  Hopefully it wouldn't become toooooooo awkward.  Granted she didn't know her own roommate too well yet so it couldn't be that different and one failed social interaction won't be that big a deal.  Besides, when she peers into the room over Terezi's shoulder, she can see several items of her sister's that were just begging to be tampered with and like hell she was going to pass up the opportunity to meddle.

[asymptoticgeometry]

==> Reunite with loving sister

Vriska strolls down the dormitory’s third floor hallway, each door as identical as the last, dark wood planks in dark frames, repeating every few metres on either side of her. She periodically checks the small brass numbers on the wooden doors and compares them to the number written in blue ink on the back of her hand. Room 307 right? This should be the place, providing her sister gave her the correct information. The door is as unassuming as the rest of them in the quiet hall, lacking in personality to distinguish its residents from their neighbours aside from the polished numerals.

She raises her hand to the door, knuckles rapping briskly against the wood. She sure hopes Aranea is in her room right now and not out enjoying her day or in classes or something not as lame as staying inside all day. Maybe she should have checked first, made sure her sister didn’t have any plans, granted, that would have ruined the surprise of her visit. Aranea knew she was coming to Skaia University, but she probably wasn’t expecting a visit from her amazing sibling so soon after her arrival. They haven’t seen each other in about a month, both of them being so busy with their own lives and Vriska couldn’t wait to break that trend.  Well, she could wait but she didn’t WANT to.

Hearing nothing after her first knock, she decides to ignore common courtesy and bangs her fist against the door like a drum roll, grinning as it echoes through the hall. “Araaaaaaaaneeeeeeeea,” she sings, drawing out the vowels for far too long as she leans forward to rest her forehead against the smooth lacquered wood, “Guess who’s here to see you!”

[seer-of-nothing-blog]

Terezi heard the first knock, although she wasn’t exactly sure if it was at her door or another door so she stayed where she was. She was currently trying to read over a section in her history book. Apparently whoever was at the door had a different idea. Terezi called Pyral over to her and went to the door opening it up and seemingly looking straight ahead. 

“Araaaaaaaaneeeeeeeea,” Terezi started in a bit of a mocking tone. “Isn’t here, and by the sound of your voice I have no idea who you are.” Terezi turned her head down to Pyral for a moment, feeling the movement of the dog that was currently in the harness. “Doesn’t seem like Pyral does either, so who are you?”

[asymptoticgeometry]

Hearing footsteps nearing the door she pulls herself upright to avoid falling forward upon its opening.  Hands clenched "innocently" behind her back, she puts on her most charming smile that falls quickly when the door opens to reveal a much unanticipated occupant.

Riiiiiiiight.  Aranea had mentioned she was living with someone but she'd forgotten all about that until this stranger, and surprisingly her dog, were in front of her.  Not that it mattered.  Roommate or not, Vriska would have made her appearance in the exact same fashion.  Being subtle wasn't exactly her thing and neither was being polite.

"Wow! I wasn't aware Aranea had security measures in the event that fearsome visitors come to her door.  If you're going to sic your ferocious guard dog on me I guess I have no choice but to reveal myself!  I'm Vriska. Aranea's sister... the resemblance is uncanny I know." She adds sarcastically, knowing full well that they look nothing alike.

"And you areeeeeeee?" Vriska crosses her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing slightly as faint irritation filters into her tone, "Or is the name of my interrogator classified information?"

[asymptoticgeometry]

==> Reunite with loving sister

Vriska strolls down the dormitory’s third floor hallway, each door as identical as the last, dark wood planks in dark frames, repeating every few metres on either side of her. She periodically checks the small brass numbers on the wooden doors and compares them to the number written in blue ink on the back of her hand. Room 307 right? This should be the place, providing her sister gave her the correct information. The door is as unassuming as the rest of them in the quiet hall, lacking in personality to distinguish its residents from their neighbours aside from the polished numerals.

She raises her hand to the door, knuckles rapping briskly against the wood. She sure hopes Aranea is in her room right now and not out enjoying her day or in classes or something not as lame as staying inside all day. Maybe she should have checked first, made sure her sister didn’t have any plans, granted, that would have ruined the surprise of her visit. Aranea knew she was coming to Skaia University, but she probably wasn’t expecting a visit from her amazing sibling so soon after her arrival. They haven’t seen each other in about a month, both of them being so busy with their own lives and Vriska could’t wait to break that trend.  Well, she could wait but she didn't WANT to.

Hearing nothing after her first knock, she decides to ignore common courtesy and bangs her fist against the door like a drum roll, grinning as it echoes through the hall. “Araaaaaaaaneeeeeeeea,” she sings, drawing out the vowels for far too long as she leans forward to rest her forehead against the smooth lacquered wood, “Guess who’s here to see you!”

[asymptoticgeometry]

==> Press Start.

The loud trill of an alarm clock sounds, followed by mumbled curses and the smack of hand against the cheap plastic alarm clock frame. And then it hits her, this is the day she gets a head start on her new post secondary life. Excitement bubbles in her chest as she flips back the covers and scoots out of bed. Vriska Serket wakes up on the morning of move in day feeling exhausted but very enthusiastic about the day to come.  

She pulls on the outfit she left on the end of her bed, hopping into crisp blue jeans and speedily buttoning an orange blouse before striding over to the full length mirror across the room.  She attempts to style her hair, threading her fingers through the dark locks and wincing as they halt  on the knots that are forcefully tugged out moments later.  Once sufficiently tangle free, she runs her hands down over the length of it and shrugs at the tousled mess that resulted from her efforts. Whatever, she looks hot anyways. She pulls out her makeup bag, stepping closer to her reflection to carefully line her eyes, painting a tapering broad stripe of bright blue from the inner corner of her eyelid to wing outwards, framing her almond shaped eyes.  Next comes matching mascara, with whichs she definitely does NOT accidentally poke her eye causing her to curse venomously while holding back tears.  The finishing touch, a layer of her classic blue lipstick, a staple of her daily routine for the past six years since she was thirteen and old enough to decide that adding her favourite colour to her outfit everyday was a thing she should do.

Sliding her glasses up her nose, Vriska steps back to admire her work, hands resting on her hips as she gives her reflection a rueful smile, her eyes glinting in the rosy light of the rising sun that peeks through the blinds of the dimly lit bedroom.  Pale flecks of blue within her grey eyes shine beneath eyelids coated in their layers of cerulean blue, the shade a strikingly contrast against her brown skin.  Decked out in her flashy style, all sharp angles and confident charm, she’s ready to hit the city of Peoria, Illinois.

She gathers up her luggage for the upcoming school year, packed up and stacked by her bedroom door the night before. She turns around, giving one final look at her childhood bedroom, walls covered in game and movie posters, crumpled black bedsheets hastily pulled into order, floor miraculously cleared for once.  It wouldn’t stand up to a close inspection mind you, most of the clutter has been shoved under her bed or dressers or behind the suspiciously closed closet door, but it would do until she came back from the university on christmas break. She ain’t coming back before then, thats for sure.  She lets a sigh, a bit sad and a bit relieved, that causes the bangs sliding across her forehead to fluff up momentarily and then she’s out the door.  No turning back now.

She’s a bit late for the semester, having missed a week of classes but, whatever, shit happens.  She has the next four years to get to know her classmates in the mathematics and statistics program at Skaia U. Besides, she really doesn’t have much to worry about anyways.  As a wise poet once said, “The party don’t start ‘til I walk in” and, with Vriska Serket, those words have never been so true.