I'll be serious when I'm dead

Your name is ARADIA MEGIDO and you kind of go to a SUPER PRESTIGIOUS HIGH SCHOOL. It isn't so bad. It's actually a pretty cool place. You aren't worried about thing. ((Closed Aradia for Crocker Institute AU.))

[cynicandcritic]

Ikatteiru?

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia was in the middle of saying goodbye to a teacher when she felt something. As a fanatic of all things horror, Aradia did an okay job keeping that small jolt of fear down when a ghostly pair of arms grabbed her. “ Anata wa watashi o bikkuri!” She spun around with her hand over her thundering heart, smiling regardless.”What are you doing here, Damara? You’re not going home for break,” she asked, giving her big sister a tight hug before pulling away.

TN: You surprised me!

[cynicandcritic]

Shrugging, Damara replied, “ Watashi ga okonau ni wa hoka no ōku o motte imasendeshita… Dakara watashi wa jibun jishin o sukoshi sanpo o toru koto ni shimashita.” she shrugged as she too pulled back from the hug. Switching to English to save her sister some headache, she continued, ” Yeah, I’m staying on Skaia over the summer. How about you, Lil’ Sis, heading off world?”

TN: I was bored and didn’t have much to do… So I decided to take myself a stroll.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia rolled her eyes affectionately and wrapped her arm around one of her sister’s and pulled the other girl off to the side. “Actually, I’ll be staying on Skaia as well! I have some internships and jobs to take of here. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.” Aradia beamed at her sister, but there was a hint of exhaustion in her eyes from just trying to set everything up. “Hey... If we’re both staying here, what’s mom going to do by herself?”

[cynicandcritic]

Ikatteiru?

Damara strode confidently down the corridor, pale hands idly toying with one of her hair pins as she walked, the other securing her hair in its customary bun/ponytail. As she walked she spotted a familiar face among the others in the halls, and grinning she shifted her heading towards her little sister, who currently had her back turned. On her way, she replaced her hairpin into its normal place, before snaking one arm around her sister’s stomach and the other across her shoulders, hugging the girl tightly as she cried, “Yoi anata o mite, imōto-chan!”

TN: Good to see you, Sis!

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia was in the middle of saying goodbye to a teacher when she felt something. As a fanatic of all things horror, Aradia did an okay job keeping that small jolt of fear down when a ghostly pair of arms grabbed her. “ Anata wa watashi o bikkuri!” She spun around with her hand over her thundering heart, smiling regardless.”What are you doing here, Damara? You’re not going home for break,” she asked, giving her big sister a tight hug before pulling away.

TN: You surprised me!

[graciousaphrodite-blog]

“Heh, it’s all alright.” The way she was actually embarrassed from her just mentioning the party told way more than it should. She wondered, int he back of her mind, if something happened besides just the prank on Jake. If she was correct, then she believed that there was quite the commotion in the bathroom. A high alcohol tolerance and a sharp eye made itself useful at times. “I thought it was hilarious, myself. Although I did feel bad for Mr. English, even though I’ve never really had the pleasure to make his acquaintance as of yet. I’m personally glad that I can make your acquaintance, now.” She watched the girl’s reaction to that one over the cupcake that she brought up to her lips. She only ever liked the frosting, so she swiped her tongue across it while her eyes softened to make the small flirt hit home a little. What she didn’t realize was that a dab of frosting still remained at the end of her nose, giving her a white clown nose of sorts. Since she didn’t notice this incident, she just kept flirting as per her norm.

“You know, you were quite amusing; even when you weren’t pulling the best prank of 2014.” She set her cupcake down in front of her, letting the silence between her words linger a little as she tapped her fingers restlessly on the baked good. “It’s also very rare to meet someone here that speaks another language as fluently as I. Not that I’m that familiar with Japanese, mind you.” She brought one of her hands up to rush her black hair away from her face which normally gave her eyes a nice, dark frame with her hair to convey just how interested she was, but the whole picture she usually prevented so perfectly was smudged only slightly. “I think you could have guessed by now that my own tongue is French.” Her eyes fluttered down even more until her eyelashes were brushing against her cheeks. Her tongue slid out from her mouth and slid across her lower lip just slightly before she spoke her next line in her thicker french accent. “Softcore inuendo implied.”

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia brought her mug up to her lips to take a drink when she noticed the little dollop of frosting on Porrim’s nose. She snorted into the cup before she could stop herself. Hot liquid splashed onto her apron as a result and she winced, grabbing for a napkin and wiping her face. Thinking fast, she tried to cover it by coughing, which wasn’t actually all that hard to fake under the surprise of splashing herself with a fresh cup of coffee. Aradia felt a lot better about her own embarrassing escapades knowing now that Porrim wasn’t as smooth and quirk-free as she appeared. She giggled, staring at the spot on her nose and zoned out.

Something about a bathroom floated in one ear and out the other, but Aradia came back to reality just in time to nod in response to the comment about language. “My mother is very traditional and would’ve hated it if I didn’t speak our native language.” She smiled at the thought of her mother and of home. Aradia tried to ignore the frosting on Porrim’s nose but it ruined her attempts at flirting, though they were flattering. “Porrim, I would love to hear more. You’re accent is sexy as hell and I bet you could say some very dirty things, but…” she reached forward with a smirk and wiped away a bit of icing with her index finger, “it’s hard to take you seriously when your face is what’s dirty.” She popped her finger in her mouth and hummed. “Delicious.”

[rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal]

Checking out the coffee shop

[rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal]

Jade raised a curious brow at the sudden subject change. Why was Aradia suddenly so curious about Eridan? “Well um…” Jade bit her lip, her brow furrowing a bit “Eridan is sort of…complicated. I mean he has never really treated me badly aside from some teasing but even that is friendly banter for the most part. He can be sort of a snobby rich kid though I guess and, while I have never personally seen it, I have heard that he can be sort of a jerk. I mean he makes Jake run a ton of extra laps so that might kinda count I guess but that is really all I have ever witnessed.” She explained.

Jade sipped at her drink for a moment “Why the sudden curiosity about Eridan though? Did he do something bad I should know about?” She asked, looking worried. She had pretty much made it her own official job to watch over him and keep him out of trouble after all. Can’t have a repeat of the Christmas party.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

“Oh um... Well...” Aradia visibly struggled for a moment to find the words to say. The incident with Eridan still left a bad taste in her mouth. “We didn’t meet on the best terms.  He said some things I didn’t like and I left pretty angry.” She slowly rubbed her arm, feelings something like a scolded child even though Jade hadn’t said a word. “He kept telling me that I was an easy target for people to take advantage of and that I wouldn’t be able to handle myself here because of... my background. I got so mad.”

Complaining about the friend of friend to the mutual friend in question felt weird. No, it felt down right alien. Still, she needed a third party to help her make the right next move. If there was one.

[melodicprincess]

Mythological Dig Site

When she had first arrived, she had made sure to check out any upcoming fieldtrips in the year. Luckily for her interests, she had found on that involved going to Terra for a few weeks on an archaelogical dig. Signing up right away, she couldn’t be more excited for the day to come.

Her alarm clock rang, waking her at 5:30am. Four hours before the designated meetiing time, She used this time to get ready and get some food, as well as double check her bags for necessary hygiene items and clothing. There wasn’t a lot of clothes since she didn’t figure that they’d be given much time to switch out after a busy day.

As she made her way to the meeting point, she stood in line waiting for her name to be called out; which she replied cheerfully to. Although today looked a little downcast, she was chipper as ever. Bouncing on her feet, a detail was brought to her attention: They’d be getting partners, who they would accompany and help each other while digging. She made a face (not a mad one or anything) as she thought about who her partner would be, this Aradia Megido. Would they be a mythos buff like her, or more the dig type? She waited by the bus door, hoping to catch who it was and sit with them. Who said they couldn’t get together now and talk and learn about each other? She twiddled her thumbs as she waited for the other students to file in.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia rushed to the meeting site in a flurry of grey fabric and wild black hair, on time as always. Missing this dig was out of the question and she had been counting down the days ever since she signed up. Her fingers twitched around the straps of her backpack, practically aching to be wrapped around a trowel. If she was to be one hundred percent honest, the current overcast wasn’t her idea weather for this dig, but even that couldn’t dampen her quiet, but physically noticeable, enthusiasm.

She calmed down her restlessness while waiting for to hear her name. It didn’t seem to in any particular order, which was weird, but she didn’t think much of it. She got her partner’s name without issue and headed toward the bus. Shifting her pack on her back, she shoved a few fingers through her hair in a poor attempt to tame her wild locks.

Failing that, she turned to the girl by the door and gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry to bother you, but…” she started, somewhat embarrassed by her current state, “you wouldn’t happen to have any hair ties on hand would you?” To emphasize her question, she bunches her hair up into a loose ponytail on top of her head in one fist. This girl had long dark hair, like her own, so Aradia hoped she had some thick enough to keep from snapping. “I have a few of my own but I must have left them.”

[rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal]

Checking out the coffee shop

[rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal]

Jade didn’t miss how happy Aradia looked at the offered money and it brought a smile to her face. She liked making Aradia happy. Aradia was just one of those people who deserved to be happy and making her happy made Jade happy. Jade nibbled on her cinnamon roll and sipped at her coffee a bit as Aradia got situated in her seat.

Jade wouldn’t mind Aradia bringing up what was clearly on her mind but if Aradia wouldn’t bring it up then neither would Jade. “Ah, yeah! Roxy was telling me a little bit about her at our last gun club meeting! She doesn’t sound anything like Roxy but they sound like they get along pretty well. I’d like to meet her. It would be interesting to see the differences between the two of them you know?” Jade replied with a wide grin.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia grinned back. “I haven’t met either of them yet so I can only imagine. Unless Roxy was at one of the parties?” Aradia tried to picture Roxy in her head, to see if the name rang any bells, but there was only the faintest chime. She just couldn’t remember and shrugged the thought away. “I heard her name was Rose. She sounds super pretty.” The sentence trailed off into a comfortable quiet as Aradia allowed relaxation to seep into her bones. Aradia opened her mouth to speak, furrowed her brow, and closed it again. She struggled internally with this for some time.

“Jade…” she began, “is Eridan nice to you? Or at all? I can’t help but think I didn’t try hard enough to be nice to him.” She chewed on her bottom lip, mostly thinking to herself. She tried to wrap her head around the problem of Eridan and no matter how she looked at it, he seemed like a huge jerk. Jade would probably be the only person to sway her one way or another. At the end of the day, she just didn’t want to make a mistake in judgment.

[graciousaphrodite-blog]

When the girl scuttled away, she took the opportunity to slide out her phone to see if she could get a wifi signal. A sigh of relief left her hen she realized she could so she used the chance to check her blog. A few people had sent her messages, asking about a few controversial subjects, and she started thinking about how exactly she could respond. She closed her phone and rose it up to her lips as she thought, eyes focusing, but the same time not taking in any information, on the television. She bit the top edge of her case absentmindedly which was a habit that she normally didn’t let others see. When her friends in France once called her out on it, she had laughed it off in saying that she just really liked biting. It must have been a combination of her being so frazzled by the storm and the coffee shop seeming so desolate around her. Not to mention that the only other presence in the room was someone who had offered her a smile and help instead of telling her the coffee shop was about to close and kicking her out into the storm.

This presence was one she completely forgot until the girl came back and pushed a tray of assorted sweets towards her. She blinked a few times before she could concentrate once more on the scene before her. The girl pulled up a chair and Porrim really seemed to notice her for the first time instead of denouncing her as just warm help. In fact, she almost seemed familiar, but she couldn’t exactly place where she had seen her before. “Oh, that sounds just fine…I’m sorry if this is out of the blue, but did you go to a certain party a day or so ago where someone drew an AK?” It’s certainly something anyone who was there would remember, no matter how drunk they were. “It was the party where that boy had gotten tied up to the pole in front of the dormitories…and you don’t mind if I take one of these, right?” Her phone still rested against her lip, being supported by one of her hands, but the other one reached forward and took a cupcake between her fingers. She was completely prepared to drop it again with an apology if need be. 

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia came back the table feeling good. She was warm, she had snacks, and she had company. Although, it seemed as though her company forgot about her if only for a moment. Aradia noticed that the other woman had been starting at her phone rather intensely on her way over and concluded that she probably shouldn’t take any offence to  the momentary lack of recognition. Speaking of phone, the phone in question was up to the noirette mouth and marks as though it had been nibbled on were present. Aradia stared for a second before giggling softly. So everyone had their quirks, even gorgeous girls who looked fresh from a Paris runway.

Aradia was drawn from her amusement but a twinge of embarrassment at the question she was asked. “Oh that party? Hah... Haha, yeah. I was there. I kind of crashed it, since I wasn’t invited.” Aradia distinctly remembers stealing something from that party too, though she can’t remember what it was. As for the boy tied to the flagpole, well, she needed to come clean on that one. “Ah that guy, the one tied to the flagpole, I did that…” Her face burned with shame, even though it was a great prank. She rubbed slowly at the back of her neck and kept her gaze down. Seeing a chance to ease the pressure only she was feeling, Aradia jumped at the chance to say anything else. “Oh! Please, help yourself! I got them for both of us and they’re on the house.”

[rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal]

Checking out the coffee shop

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal:

Jade was glad to hear that Aradia could take a break for a bit and have coffee with her. She looked like she could use the relaxation and company and personally Jade was looking forward to having someone to talk to while she hopped herself up on caffeine. Jade made her way to the empty table and sat down “You can keep the change by the way Aradia” Jade muttered off offhandedly. After all, Jade had more money than she knew what to do with and Aradia worked hard for hers. The way Jade saw it Aradia deserved a nice tip.

"Oh, there isn’t much up with me." Though after the little incident at the new years party she knew that Aradia most likely knew that wasn’t exactly true. She would wait for Aradia to bring that up before talking about it though. "How about you? You doing anything interesting lately? Hear about any good gossip going around?" Jade asked, sipping at her coffee.

Aradia tried not to look too pleased at the offered money but every little bit was a step closer to something she needed. “Thanks, Jade,” she chirped happily, slipping the change into the pocket of her apron. Aradia slid into the chair and set the tray down on the table, Jade’s coffee and cinnamon roll facing Jade. Now the she wasn’t on her feet, Aradia allowed herself to slouch and she let out a relieved sigh. Finally, finally, she got to get off her aching feet. She didn’t know how badly she needed Jade until that moment. This was the life.

“Nothing, huh?” Aradia face was seriously skeptical. Aradia knew what Jade was avoiding and figured bringing it up right away would derail the conversation before it started. This was supposed to be a fun chat and not an interrogation. “Hm, nothing’s really new with me either. I did here that I wasn’t the new girl anymore. In fact, I heard that we have quite a few new kids coming in.” Aradia let a grin slip. She leaned over the table to whisper. “I heard one of them is Roxy’s sister…”

[rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal]

Checking out the coffee shop

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal:

"Hmmm…Large please!" She said, deciding that the more caffeine she fueled herself with for the night the better. Especially since Aradia was working right now. The last thing she wanted was to end up passing out at one of the tables and Aradia having to take care of her yet again. Ugh, how embarrassing would that be? Besides, she didn’t want to make Aradia’s shift any harder than it already was.

"Hey…you know this place doesn’t look very busy. Think maybe you could take a break from working the register and come have a cup of coffee with me?" She asked, figuring some company would be nice. Poor Aradia must be bored out of her mind working these late hours with so few customers. Then again, this was probably preferable to the morning rush they undoubtedly had to deal with. Maybe this was just kind of a nice break for Aradia. 

"I mean if you don’t want to that’s fine!" Jade reassured "I wouldn’t want to end up getting you into trouble or anything." Gosh that was the last thing Jade wanted. That would be so horrible especially after Aradia had been so kind to her already.

Aradia hummed and nodded to both her order and her request for company. There were only one or two other people and they paid for and received their orders already. A break would be a much welcomed relief. She plucked the large cup from the stack and began to prepare the cappuccino with a little more pep than usual. In between, she prepped two cinnamon rolls to be warmed and mad a small hot chocolate for herself.

"I'd love to take a break with you! When the day winds down like this, the bosses get a little more relaxed. As long I help a customer when they need it, I can be wherever." Aradia accepted the 20 dollar bill and continued to handle the register. When the drinks and the rolls were done, she slid them onto a tray and pushed it across the counter to Jade. She grabbed the change and moved from behind the counter and picks up the tray again. She nodded toward one of the many available tables.

"Shall we? I want to know what's up with you. You know, gossip and all that."

[rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal]

Checking out the coffee shop

Who ever said dogs were a girls best friend? Well….Jade really liked dogs. But Coffee was a close second. Coffee was truly a narcoleptic best friend, especially when the tests she had coming up required late night studying. Thank god the coffee shop was open late.

The thing about Narcolepsy was she still slept the same amount of hours as a normal person. Maybe even a little less. She just didn’t get that sleep in one chunk of time. Instead that sleep happened throughout the day in small chunks. This made studying a bit difficult though but hopefully the coffee would help her stay awake long enough to get a decent chunk of studying in.

She walked up to the counter, glad that the coffee shop seemed pretty empty. Of course it did, people didn’t typically drink coffee this late in the day. She dug in her bag and pulled out a $20 dollar bill, figuring that they could just break it for her so she wouldn’t have to waste study time by digging out smaller bills. “I’ll take a cappuccino please! And…hmmm…do you guys serve cinnamon rolls? Because if so i’ll take one of those to”

It wasn’t until after she had glanced up from digging for her cash that she realized the face behind the counter was a very familiar one “Aradia!? No way! kinda funny that I decided to visit here at the same time you were working. So this is where you work huh?” She asked as she handed the money over and waited patiently for her drink to get made.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

The old fashioned bell above the door was truly God's gift to overworked coffee shop employees. If not for that bright jingling sound, Aradia would never know when to look up from her book and greet the customers. She shouldn't even really be reading but between practice and work, time for homework became relatively non existent. When the bell rang, Aradia quickly closed the book and hid it on the shelf under the counter. She glanced up and grinned with the same smile she gave all her customers. When she saw who it was specifically, her smile became sincere. Clearly, taking the night shift was the best decision she ever made.

Aradia chuckled quietly as Jade shuffled around for money, opting not to say anything at first. She only spoke up when Jade finally recognized her. "Must have been fate, huh?" She laughed. "Yep, this is it. Welcome to Skaia Cafe, where we proudly serve Starbucks coffee." She held out her arms in a grand sweeping motion, gesturing to the whole building with a hint of dry humor.

She tapped a few button on the register to ring up the order. "Now, you said you wanted a cappuccino and a cinnamon roll? Small, medium, or large?" Aradia cocked her head to the side, expectant look on her face, and rested her hands on her apron-covered hips.

[graciousaphrodite-blog]

"We’ll be okay…heh. You sure are optimistic." She rose from the table and leaned her shoulders forward so she could stretch out her knotted back. Afterwards, she settled back in her chair and showed the girl that her black painted lips could actually have an upward arch to them. "It’s infectious. Hmmm…" She looked past the girl for a moment, eyes focusing on the board above the counter of the cafe. She usually got a mocha frappaccino when she went into starbucks but she didn’t exactly know what the equivalent to that was here. Instead of just continuing the spaced out smile, her face contorted slightly until she was biting her lip with her eyebrows drawn together. Why was ordering a drink harder than calculus these days. Eventually she gave up and blew out some hot air before returning her eyes to the waiting server. "I don’t know, I guess just a medium hot chocolate? I thought I’d have to wait to be of age to be confused with drink orders."

She smiled to herself at her small joke before trying for conversation with the other girl. “So, I just moved here. Does it always snow like this? Back in France, it would snow more often the more inland you got, but I can’t ever remember not being able to get home. Oh gosh, how are you going to be able to get home? I mean, there’s worse places to be stuck in than a coffee shop, but being stuck anywhere still bites.” Was she rambling? Did the cold fry her brain that badly? And shit, she was also sing her accent on every word she spoke. It was a surprise that she wasn’t kicking herself under the table. She never just let herself loose like this. There was always some form of control to her, but heck, she was kind of a wreck anyways. Instead of just looking towards the girl, she actually focused and looked at the girl in front of her. Great. She was pretty with a sweet face and a hair that looked like a cloud or a cute sheep. She was a wreck compared to her normal self in front of someone she would normally be flirting with. Great. Fantastic. Wonderful.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia flushed again, this time more out of pride than embarrassment. She grinned, hugging her notepad to her chest and backed away to give the other woman room to move before she found her place again. Infectious wasn't something she heard often, at least not in relation to her personality but it was actually a good description of her. Aradia decided to happily take the compliment and ignore the flutter in her stomach at the other woman's smile. She really did look twice as gorgeous when she smiled.

Watching her struggle to find something to order was a touch more amusing than it should have been. Her face was amazingly expressive, each emotion vivid and clear. Of course, she settled on something simple, so there was no need to write it down. Aradia laughed softly at her humor, then hummed in thought as she tucked her notepad back into her pocket. "Winter here isn't normally so bad...." she sighed, sliding her pen back behind her ear, "The snow and the cold really only got this bad starting last year." Crossing her arms over her chest, Aradia sighed. "I don't know how I'm going to get back other than to suck it up and just go. 'Cause you're right, being stuck anywhere really sucks and I'd rather brave the storm than stay here." Aradia allowed that statement to hang in the air but doesn't let it keep her from smiling. "If you want to wait just minute, I can get your order and we can continue this little chat."

She bowed her head quickly and apologetically and dashed off behind the counter. She plucked the medium cup from the seemingly endless stack and held it under a machine. With a few quick buttons, the machine buzzed to life and began to fill the cup with soothing mix of chocolate and milk. Aradia busied herself with preparing a couple of warmed pastries. When both were done and the hot chocolate machine chimed, Aradia loaded everything onto a tray and carried it back to the table where she helped herself to a seat. "Here you are! I hope you don't mind if I join you?"

[graciousaphrodite-blog]

The upbeat girl behind the counter made Porrim actually relax a bit. “Ah, thank you.” She just realized that she had let her french accent slip a lot and mentally reprimanded herself. She only ever let herself slip when she wanted someone else to fall over themselves after her. That didn’t mean that when she was distressed she could hide it, though. She blew a loose piece of black hair out of her face with frustration before turning heel and striding over to one of the free tables that had a seat facing the TV. She also shrugged her jacket off to hang it round the back of the chair that she plopped down onto.

The TV didn’t help her mood either. The news anchor was pointing at a large map of the area, but not a single icon showed anything but snow. The black text was just him droning on about how the storms will continue well into the night, increasing progressively as the hours tick by. That pretty much told her that she had lost all opportunity to make it back to her dorms. She groaned as her head sank into her crossed arms on the table. The only thing that broke up her pity party was the sound of footsteps approaching her table. She turned her head, but her cheek was still leaning against her arms on the table. “Looks bad, doesn’t it?” She mumbled out to the girl who was approaching. She was obviously coming to wait on her table, but someone wouldn’t be human if they weren’t distressed about being buried in snow. Her accent slipped again, but she didn’t catch herself this time.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia felt herself flush slightly. It was entirely unreasonable to feel so flustered over this... woman, but Aradia isn't always in the company of someone so beautiful. She felt plain in comparison. The noirette unconsciously attempted to smooth down her fizzy hair on her way to the table. The long hours in the warm cafe didn't do her any favors. However, she really shouldn't complain. It was better than being outside.

"It does look pretty bad..." she agreed somberly as she came to a stop beside the table. It looked like she'd be working overtime tonight. She cocked one hip to the side and dug a small notepad out of the pocket of her apron. Aradia flipped to a new page and plucked her lucky red pen from behind her ear. Her cheek burned once again at the accent, but she did her best to suppress it. "We'll be okay! What can I get you?" Aradia smiled brightly to keep the mood up, tilting her head with the question. This woman should being smiling as well. There's not doubt that she would probably glow if she did.

[graciousaphrodite-blog]

"4 hours…." Porrim grumbled into her scarf. It really had been 4 hours since the start of her small modeling gig. She thought it would be a quick in and out since it was her first one for only a small sweater line, but lighting alone ended up taking an hour. Then there was make-up, hair, costuming, the photographer was late, one of the models kept taking breaks….Even though she was the novice, she was really the only one acting professional there. She just hoped they remembered that for the next time they needed a someone.

Now she was just trying as hard as she could to make it back to the dorms before the storm that she had been hearing about all day. It was certainly cold enough. As she shivered again underneath her not just 2, but 3 layers, she chanced a look up at the sky above her. The cold stung her nose that was previously snug and cozy in her scarf, but soon her cheeks started stinging as well from the small snow drifts that were falling from above. The black sky turning starry with the white flakes constantly swirling in the wind was enough to make her cry.

So she started looking anywhere but the sky; searching for some kind of shelter she could hide within until this supposed blizzard passed. She actually sort of recognized her surroundings and guessed that if she was where she thought she was, then the cafe that was infamous among the student body would be just ahead of her. She started jogging down the street in the hopes that the cafe would still be open, and thankfully, her prayers were answered. She burst in the door with panting breaths and bright red cheeks, just relieved to be out of the storm that was now raging just beyond the door. Snow clung to every part of her body and she was pretty sure that she could be easily mistaken for a snowman. To absolve whoever could see her’s intuitions on her being some species of ice monster, she pulled off her scarf to reveal an almost exaggerated frown from how unhappy she was. Her shoulders slumped as she moved over to the counter and made eye contact with whoever else was behind it. “Hey, do you have a radio or a television in here?” She took off her hat next, shaking out her long, thick hair until it resettled around her face and shoulders. It made her feel a bit better, but still her body felt frozen and she wasn’t going to feel better until she was back at the dorms, taking a hot shower.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

The weather outside was truly, truly frightful. Aradia dreaded having to walk back in once her shift was over. The wind was howling like an angry beast and it a wonder how the walls manage to hold up and keep the place warm. As much as she hated her hours sometimes, at least she was safe indoors. That much couldn't be said about other people.

She was wiping down the counter while waiting from the last few patrons to finish up eating. She didn't mind them staying pass closing, especially with this blizzard, but she still had a job to do. The bell above the door jingled as another customer walked in. Aradia opened her mouth to greet them but her words were quickly stolen by how beautiful that woman was and by how utterly upset she looked, presumably because of the weather. Aradia gasped at her for a minute before realizing she asked a question.

"Oh! Yeah, we do!" Aradia pointed to the mid-sized TV suspended in the corner of the room. "Sit wherever ever you want," she quickly added. Aradia grabbed the remote and clicked the TV on, which was, thankfully, already on the news channel. She let the remote drop back to the counter top with a tiny click of plastic on marble and rushed over to take an order or help or do whatever she could.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Working Girl?

[whiteprinceblackheart-archi-blog]

Eridan rolled his eyes with a sigh propping his face up by the palm of his hand and looking bored. “The law of conservation says that the amount of energy in a closed system like the universe is limited, thus all of life is a competition to gather the most resources an equipin’ yourself to make opportunities to get more represented through money. Now because these resources are valuable an by definition limited they take an expenditure of energy an time to acquire makin’ it so you have to constantly ask yourself ‘is this worth the time an energy I am puttin’ into it?’ Thus by helpin’ others get the resources they want or protectin’ them from others you are weakenin’ yourself. There is strength in numbers sure but outside of your pack then you are weaker.” he sighed again giving her a ‘This is fucking basic.’ look, it seems the future serial killer was nihilistic as fuck. “So there for while you have a pack to support you an help gain more resources you also require more resources as upkeep, where as someone who is opportunistic an takes every advantage they can by destroyin’ the weak will become greater due to the increased resources.”

This really wasn’t brain surgery still he did love that look of disdain she had, it give him quite the thrill. “Its nature, just like the wolf devours the rabbit an becomes energy to it, those a the lower classes provide resources for the strong.” She didn’t seem to be receptive to his message he noticed. “Tell you what, scientific theory is supposed to constantly be tested if you can prove me wrong I’ll buy you coffee for the rest of your stay at the school. The decision will be made by a neutral third party that we both agree on.” He extended a hand to her offering her a deal. “What I win I’ll decide later, I just really enjoy gamblin’.” He offered her a smirk sure of his own victory. “We will determine the neutral party sometime later since your break seems to be over now.” All he really had to do was find the biggest douchebag on campus other than him and get him as the ‘neutral’ party.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Aradia found herself with a pounding headache. Consider this conversation the worse mistake of her life thus far. The amount of bullshit coming out of his mouth could pack a landfill and still have some left to spare. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides and it was taking all she had not to shake. "You are literally the worst." She took a deep breath in through her nose and released it slowly through her mouth. "All you've told me is that the 'strong' can't do anything. All that strength and hard work comes from someone else. If you were truly strong what would you even need the weak for? A competition for resources? If resources are really so limited it's because of the excessive consumerism that run rampant among the rich, who buy more than they need or want just because they can. You logic is not only flawed, it's archaic." Aradia glanced back at her coworker who shot her an irritated and expectant look. She shook her head.

Without another word, she turned and started to walk away. "I don't make bets, Ampora. And free coffee is a shitty prize anyway, I work in a damn coffee shop." She called over her shoulder. "I'll prove you wrong without the bet. If you're done, you should leave. We have other customers to seat."

[rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal]

Jade took all of the information in, hoping to remember as much of it as possible since it all seemed like it would eventually end up being very good and very useful information. It was a shame that she couldn’t just spend the whole day with Aradia though since Aradia seemed to be pretty cool. And not just because she had totally saved Jade from something bad possibly happening to her while she was passed out in the hall.

"Oh, ok. I’ll just have a quick word with your teacher then when we get there and then i’ll be on my way so you can get on with your class. We should totally hang out after school or something though because it’s sort of a shame we didn’t get to hang out longer" Jade gave her a soft smile

"If you are free after school today maybe we can work something out?"

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

It was little bit depressing to have too say good bye so soon but eventually all things must come to an end. In no time at all, Aradia's classroom door came into view. She came to a stop just outside of it and turn back to Jade with a small, slightly embarrassed, smile. It was only now that she realized she never asked the other girl what her class was so it was entirely possible that they either passed it on the brief tour or missed it completely. She reached her stop, but would Jade be able to find hers?

"You really don't have to do that. I just wanted to help, but I would love to hang out with you more! School hallways are definitely not the best places to hang out for extend bits of time." Aradia's small smile grew a little wider, already feeling better knowing they won't be parting for long.

"I have nothing after this, so feel free to text me whenever!"

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

Working Girl?

[whiteprinceblackheart-archi-blog]

He snorted in amusement watching her offence jump to her body language, she ended up looking like she was about to cause a scene for a few minutes. “You look like such easy pickin’s, you have that aura of ‘nice new kid’, you see the new kids are always easy pickin’s until the end of their second year.” Leaning back he shoot his head, she was pretty fun to tease if nothing else. “You have that whole, ‘I will protect the innocent’ thin’ still around you like you’re unused to how thin’s are here, its not blood thirst however except in certain cases. Lets give you an example, take the history department once per year seven excellent student get to go on an actual dig. Its free labor and everyone would get the shit jobs, but it looks amazin’ on a resume, the future archeologists fight over these spots in the student way, they suck up, try to discredit each other, try to sabotage everyone else, because these spots are limited an depend on your test scores.”

He paused when she mentioned nails looking to make sure he didn’t have any dirt under them. “You only say that because you’re probably poor.” He gave her a flat stare taking her appearance in once again. She looked nice but something about her screamed ‘I’m lower class’. “Let me guess, you struggled and worked hard to get scholarship, your family even had a party for you before you left, or maybe you’re an orphan an the whole orphanage chipped in to buy you a heartwarmin’ gift, perhaps the watch.” His dry mocking tone showed what he thought about that idea.”An you think if you work hard an keep your nose to the grindstone you’ll come out an get any school or job you want..” He shook his head, that was a tale older than the school he swore poor kid enters rich kid school does well despite overwhelming odds, it made him want to puke. “Its useful too, nobody messes with you if they think you may murder them in their sleep later. A course I can’t let there be too much stock in it, that’s the trick you have to apply just the right about of intimidation an make everythin’ look effortless.” He paused. “Also you don’t fuck with the math nerds, they bite accordin’ to a few rumors.” He paused and grinned. “I bite too a course in much more interestin’ places though. I am however much better than you thought.” It was half a test, he wanted to see how she responded to his flirting, some blushed, some flirted back, he had one girl take him up on it. Now that had been quite the experience.

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

"Helping people who need it isn't being weak or an easy target. Look and be deceiving. Clearly, I am capable of dividing my time evenly while still getting the best results from myself." Her expression turned dark and stony. "If you think for even a moment that because I help people that I won't take what want when I want it, you have another thing coming." Aradia was beyond annoyed by this guy. The idea of being looked down on because she wasn't born with a silver spoon in her  mouth made her feel sick. At some point she had grabbed a napkin and began twisting tightly between her fingers.

This guy loved to hear himself talk. "My parents," she ground out, "threw me party when I left because I worked hard. That is true. However, this watch is something that was past down to me. Now, I'm sorry your parents never loved you and that your nannies weren't paid enough love you like one of their own, but don't you dare mock me or my family." The napkin was steadily ripped to shreds in her hands. "Get off your damn high horse and open your eyes. Money can fix a lot of things and get you to a lot of place, but it won't fix your shitty personality." She stood up from the booth, a pile of torn napkin on the table in front of her. She eyed him up and down, flushed with anger and sneering. "Try that line on someone else. My break is over."

[rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty-gal]

"hmm…"Jade seemed to pause to think a moment, making sure she wouldn’t forget to ask anything important "Do all the buildings have faculty offices? And if so are all the faculty offices on the top floor of the building?" She sure hoped so. It would make things a little easier on her if she knew where to go for help no matter which building she was in.

For now though she was just trying to pay as much attention to her surroundings as possible, hoping to memorize the hallways so that she wouldn’t get lost and she would be able to find her classroom later in the day when she actually needed to be in the language building.

"Oh, and are all the buildings this big?" She asked, not that it was necessary information but just because she was curious "Well, I mean aside from the buildings with the dorms. I imagine those are the biggest buildings right?"

[clockworkarchaeology-blog]

"All buildings have offices. The dining hall and thy gym and stuff don't obviously, but otherwise they all do. Not all building have classrooms, though. In some places, all the faculty have offices on the first floor, some are in the basement. Some times, there are classes and offices are on the same floor. I think this building is just weird." Aradia shook her head. "It can get a little annoying, but for most part faculty is usually on one floor at a time."

Still walking through the halls of the building, Aradia points out that the rooms are actually in order by number, not like some places where the odds were on a whole different side. A short while later, they reach the hall her classroom was in.

"Some building are a lot smaller, thank goodness. It depends on the department I think. Math, Language Arts, and Science are the biggest, while sub-subjects like Foreign Language and History are in smaller building." Aradia checks her watch again and she seems to be about fifteen minutes late... "Ah, well my class is coming up soon, Jade."