Ah, polite! Always a good sign, in Hazel’s opinion. It was always a little disheartening to meet unpleasant freshman; of course, when attending fraternity parties and living as the “house mom” for Lamba, she’d encountered many undesirable characters, but the majority of these tended to only rear their ugly heads at dimly lit parties - presumably, they did not make a habit of attending classes. “Of course, of course. I must admit it has been a little while since I was a new student here, but I have not quickly forgotten the trepidation I felt when I first arrived.” When she had first arrived at Llynhurst, two of her elder siblings and several cousins were still attending the college, which had helped more than a little, but this did not need to be passed onto her new acquaintance. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Cora - I’m sure you will have an excellent experience here.”
“Oh, most definitely! I have found that it gets harder to leave for class when the semester gets nearer to winter, however. There is something quite unpleasant about awaking to a dark sky, isn’t there?” Though summer had its perils and unpleasantries - as a redhead, sunburn was one of the vampire’s worst enemies - it was far nicer to be able to bask beneath the sun on a walk to class, instead of hurrying through a wintry mist. Eyeing the mailbox, Hazel pondered the question. She could, perhaps, purchase another beverage to take with her… and it would certainly be a good deed to offer this freshman some sort of reconciliation coffee. It would help her feel more welcome, perhaps. “It’s less of a caffeine addiction and more of an expensive handwarmer for me,” the vampire admitted, “but I’ll gladly pay a visit to the Steam Room. Would you allow me to make up for this confusion by paying for your beverage?”
It was certainly a warmer welcome than she’d received from anyone previously. Or at least, a better expressed one. Though it wasn’t her intention to imply anything less of those others, she made a note of this particular moment for safe keeping – half to pull from in future greetings, and half to simply remember. “Ah, thank you. So far, so good!” And it was. It really was. Tossing herself into any sort of established society had been a leap, but one she was firmly able to say she was glad she’d made.
For the ghoul however, the dropping temperatures were the real misfortune to the seasons changing. With very little meat on her bones, winter winds had a tendency to cut through every layer of cloth she wore – biting straight down to her core. Soaking up sunlight when she could on cooler days was fast becoming a habit. But dark skies had been greeting Cora into consciousness for almost as long as she could remember, and they remained like a familiar embrace. A small, fond kick to start off the cold days on a good note.
“I can’t say I mind the sky so much. I’m waiting for it to snow and really kick my ass, you know?” She huffed a laugh. “I’ve gotten stuck in snow drifts taller than I am before. Hopefully that won’t happen here.”
Her home in Greece had barely seen snow. What fell never stuck, and was hesitant to fall in the first place. Moving the the US had really been a shocker in that sense, even if she was slightly exaggerating the encounter.
“Coffee sounds wonderful! As do handwarmers, actually. Though, I don’t think I could let you pay for it. The company would be more than enough, thank you.”
At the mention of snow, the vampire pressed her lips together for a split second, nostrils flaring, before her face regained its usual cultivated composure. “My goodness, I can’t say I find even the thought of snow particularly pleasant. I’ve got little in the way of circulation, you see, and it takes rather a few layers to prevent me from… well, I suppose it would be similar to frostbite - if you’ve seen that before, that is.”
Still a little shaken from pre-winter thoughts of snow, Hazel blinked at the girl’s statement - goodness, really? How terrible. “Did you live somewhere particularly cold, or were you simply rather unlucky?” She sorely hoped it was not the kind of incident that would ever befall her; indeed, that would render her an icicle within only a few minutes. When she was many years younger, her family home in England had endured several deep snowfalls, but it had seemed to her that there was much less snow to be found this side of the 1950s - a blessing, really, although humans were so very concerned about the phenomenon of “global warming”.
Truly, she should have tried to insist that she paid - it was not as though she was particularly financially challenged, and she held the responsibility as the older student… or at least, as the more experienced student - one should never attempt to judge the age of one’s peers, especially in such a diverse environment as Llynhurst. Regardless, her new acquaintance’s charming turn of phrase had left the vampire particularly pleased, and far more willing to acquiesce. “I’m not sure that I can muster an objection so early in the morning, Ms. Marinos, so I suppose I’ll agree.” Resting one hand lightly on her satchel, she added as an afterthought, “I should consider requesting handwarmers for the more temperature-challenged students, though. That may help us both with the coming winter.”
