(no subject)

[quintessent]

Who: Allura + Anyone!
What: Allura gets acclimated to school and also probably punches Keith
When: Late July
Where: Various
Warnings: n/a



I. School's out for summer
[She's never had a traditional schooling before. Just tutors and governesses. And while she's never felt like she was missing out, and there's a dozen other things to worry about, there's something exciting about starting something new. Desks and classmates and teachers!

Except for the fact that it's summer. And there are no classes right now.

Somehow Allura missed that memo.

She doesn't think twice when the classroom she enters is empty – she'd been early on purpose, but when she checks the one next door to the same result, and the next, she starts to get nervous. Eventually she ventures out, seeks out the first student or faculty she can find,]

Ah, excuse me. Can you tell me where all of the other students have gone? All of the classrooms appear to be empty.


II. Getting settled
[It's. Cozy.

It makes sense, she supposes. Anything is going to be a step down from a giant castle in the outlands, but she's not fully prepared for how small the dorm is. On the floor near her feet, four mice skitter into the room, sniffing around, mostly interested in the stuff on her roommate's side of the room, until Allura beckons for them, and bends to scoop the four up in her hands.]

It looks like this is home sweet home for now. [She leans in close, whispering to the mice,] Don't worry, we will return to the castle from time to time.

[((ooc: Allura is in Lumière Dormitory 105 but anyone is welcome to be passing by for any reason!))]


III. A rude awakening (Closed to Keith)
[A few days have passed since she woke up, and while she's not sure what exactly broke through the magic spell that's been keeping her asleep for so long, she's willing to guess that it has something to do with why the lions have been so restless.

Her trips outside of the castle have been short- and every time she does, she's struck by how different everything is. Where the kingdom used to stand there was nothing. Not even broken buildings or ruins to mark where it had once been, and the landscape itself was different. Like the castle had been picked up and left in a new location. The lions, then, were a comfort. Their massive forms lined the courtyard, standing stoic and at attention, their energy thrumming even if their pilots were nowhere to be found. Blue, Yellow, and Green were still napping, it seems, and as for Red and Blue-

She almost missed him, at first. In fact, the first thing she sees is the shadow of a man. Sitting in front of the Red Lion and at first glance her heart leaps in her chest. Father-! She opens her mouth to say the same, but her optimism dies when she actually catches sight of him. She's still too far to make out much detail but he has black hair. Definitely not her father.

Disappointment shifts into suspicion and her fingers curl at her side,]

Hey! [So much for the element of surprise. She's marching straight for him, her long gown swishing around her ankles.] What are you doing here? Who allowed you into our kingdom?


IV. Wildcard! [ooc: hit me up with anything! Or throw me a note and we can plan something!]

(Also OOC note: I'm out of town for the rest of the week so tags will be sparse! I will 100% pick them back up when I get home!)

Comments

ii

[highelves]

[ the mice are...interesting, but ana's happy to have company. when allura enters the room, ana stands up from her bed and walks over to her in greeting. ]

Hello, you must be...Allura? I'm Anastasia, but you may call me Ana.

[ she looks over to see if allura has any belongings. ]

May I help you get settled in at all?

[quintessent]

[Allura straightens upon realizing that her roommate is already present, and smiles when the girl approaches. Other than the mice, Allura has just a single piece of luggage, just big enough to carry a day trip's worth of belongings. She smiles and stoops to pick it up.]

Thank you, Ana. I think I should be alright.

[Princesses travel light, apparently. Also she has a whole castle and a hardcore state of denial regarding how soon she'll be going back to live there.

She drops her hands, and the mice scatter, running past Ana and into the room where they set to doing more exploring. With a laugh-] I hope you do not mind a few extra roommates.

[highelves]

[ these two are so polite. the most polite roommates ever. ana steps aside to let allura unpack, and she looks over at the mice with a small smile. ]

Oh, of course not! I'm actually quite fond of animals, you see, so they shouldn't be a problem.

[ she watches them explore the area. they're adorable. allura's company is also welcome. there's something ana should tell her about, being her roommate, but first: ]

It's a pleasure to meet you, by the way. Please let me know if there's anything at all that I can help you with. I've only been here for a little less than a month, but I like to think that I'm acquainted with the campus and its lifestyle.

I. School's out for summer

[yokeye]

The Azures~!

[He's saying it wrong, and doesn't know what the Azores are anyway. Toki smiles at Allura, one eyebrow lifting subtly with interest.]

Perhaps, if a lovely lady like yourself is wishing for companionship on this fine day, I could show you around~! Would you like to see the theatre? An ethereal beauty can only belong on the stage~!

[His blatant attempt at flirting may come off even more awkward considering he's wearing a bright yellow cat backpack with an attached leash, and is accompanied by a guard. He's regretting his selection of "cute cat" over something less obvious more and more.]

[quintessent]

[From the moment Toki opens his mouth, Allura's expression goes on a journey. What starts as confusion shifts into just a nanosecond of a smile at the first bit of flattery, but falls right back down into a frown when the he dials it up to unabashed flirting. Not to mention the backpack (which is very cute!) and the guard. There's a Lot to take in here.

And now Toki will be treated to Allura's brand of blatantly ignoring his flirting:] Where are the Azures?

[Her eyes flicker to the guard. Uh.] And why are you on a leash?

[yokeye]

[Not even shot down, but completely ignored. How cruel. Though that only makes him want to try harder, when the timing is better. There's a brief look of confusion on his face before he's smiling again.]

The Azures!? They're uhh, a mountain range in... Greece! Yes! They've all gone up north to Greece! You can probably still get in on that if you want to, but France has mountains too, so why bother~!?

[Toki stalls for a second, because he can't explain the leash without giving Allura so much background information. Which he would have done a month ago, rambling on for twenty minutes. Instead, he's going for the first excuse that comes to mind and dismissing the whole thing.]

Oh, that!? I lost a bet! It's unimportant~!

I

[ahew_kha]

[Of all the people to avoid a vacation, of course it's Kisara. She's fine not dealing with beaches or sun or whatever, she's had more than enough of that for a lifetime. But she's blinking slowly as she's stopped, a chihuahua sized dragon happily held in her arms.]

On the school sponsored vacation? I honestly don't remember where it's gone to, but you could always go if you wanted...? Classes don't start again for a while, anyway.

[quintessent]

A... school sponsored vacation.

[She repeats back slowly, not in confusion, she knows what a vacation is, but the information is processing in the same moment that Allura sees the small creature in the woman's arms. Her face lights up and she leans in to get a closer look,]

I did not realize there were dragons beyond the Outlands! Or... I suppose maybe he is visiting. That would make two of us, then.

[ahew_kha]

[School stuff is immediately out of her mind as soon as the topic of the baby comes up, because of course that's exactly how this sort of thing would play out. Hosni is making a tiny squeaking noise before he's try to boop her with his snout, because he's an absolute ridiculous nerd.]

Ah, he's not the only one here. He's... actually a younger and slightly distant relative of mine. [Kisara, that is not subtle. In the slightest.]

you know

[marmoron]

[The Red Lion remains unmoving in front of Keith and likewise Keith has chosen to be unmoving in front of it. Call it stubbornness or defiance or sheer stupidity, but he's determined to work out what on earth this robot cat wants from him. By now he's fairly sure that they're supposed to be getting along in some capacity, considering he was briefly allowed to pilot it to fend off whatever the hell that other robotic creature was, but ever since it's been a weird "relationship" -- if you could even call it that.

The wolf pup sitting in his lap stretches his legs then yawns, flopping back down on the ground. Keith can't deny that he's starting to feel similarly. He's snapped out of this when an unfamiliar person starts coming towards him and for a moment, he's utterly thrown. By now he'd been fairly certain the castle simply didn't have anyone inside it because the commotion with the attacking robot didn't seem to trigger any kind of activity from inside the building, though in retrospect the fact that there was a barrier around the place at all had to imply something or someone in there was worth guarding.... right?

The question makes him blink and perhaps for better or for worse, his first instinct is to ask:]

....what kingdom? [A beat, then he gets to his feet.] Wait, who are you?

i love that they're always mad at each other in every thread we have

[quintessent]

[What kingdom That question hits her like a brick and she stops in her tracks, reeling from the sudden, sick feeling in her stomach. Her kingdom's disappearance isn't news to her by now but it hurts to hear. Which is unfortunate for Keith because it's not really his fault he's already set her on a bad mood because he's not her father.

She scowls, straightening into her full height. Which is just about as tall as Keith.]

I am Princess Allura. [She stalks forward, placing herself between the Red Lion and the stranger. As if the lion needed her protection. She leans closer, hands crossed in front of her,] And you're just a human. What are you doing here? What have you done to the Red Lion?

allura started it!!

[marmoron]

[Keith stares right back as the alleged princess tries to stare down her nose at him. He doesn't know, yet, what he's done to incur her apparent wrath, but it's not something he's inclined to take lying down. His own arms fold over his chest as she positions herself between him and the lion:

And you're just a human. He bristles. That's just what he needed -- some holier than thou Outlander with pointy ears and ridiculously floofy hair being all patronizing.]

What and you think that makes you the boss of me?

[None of this is technically surprising. The castle had been right there which suggested some kind of royalty lived within it. And technically he also knew there was a high likelihood that they were the owners of the mecha lions, but -- GAH. He was literally telling Lance that whoever the owners were that they'd be furious that the lions had been tampered with. Why the hell is Lance not the one dealing with this earful....]

I didn't do anything to the lion. It wanted me to help fight off some robotic monster that showed up here.

[His eyes narrow. Presumably it wanted to defend elf-girl and he's starting to feel a surge of pettiness over time wasted.]

II

[fullthrottleammy]

[Ammy's just passing by when she sees the mice. Old habits die hard, as she reaches into her robe and pulls out a bag of seeds. She sets the bag down, opens it, and waits in the seiza position. She doesn't seem to be acknowledging Allura.]

[quintessent]

[The largest of the mice, Platt, picks up on the scent first, and before long, all four are scurrying back into the hallway, swords the scent of the seeds. (Is there such a thing? Mouse intuition) They stop just short of Ammy, the lean blue mouse taking the lead to stare at the stranger suspiciously.

Meanwhile, Allura is busy unpacking her luggage, although she seems to keep an eye on the situation. There's too much psychic mouse chatter going on for her to be totally unaware.]

[fullthrottleammy]

[Ammy just smiles and gestures at the seeds. They're yours!]

I

[onebetter]

[ Keith has brought an Outlands princess to the school. Keith has brought a literal princess back like some kind of cat leaving various animals at their owners doorstep. James is still not over it. Technically he understands that waking up this princess wasn't a bad thing, but yet... it's too confusing to be true.

He's glad when he finds her and the fact that she looks utterly confused certainly tracks. Daybreak is a lot to get used to even when you're not waking from a coma. ]

Princess! It's summer break currently, classes won't continue until fall. Though... one professor is still teaching runes even against the regulation against summer class.

[quintessent]

[He certainly did. Though in Keith's defense, she most likely insisted on following him back once she learned that it was her best bet for figuring out what happened to her people.]

James. [She smiles upon seeing James. It was only a brief, hurried meeting that they had earlier, but his is probably the only thing approaching a friendly face she knows here. The jury's still out on Keith.

He's helpful, and his explanation lines up with this Summer Vacation that the administration had mentioned when she went through the rigamarole of becoming a student. She just hadn't fully realized what that meant, academically.] I see. [Hm.] And how long do your summers typically last on Earth?

[onebetter]

The academic summer vacation is from July to September. A little less than three months. We're still in July, so it will be a while until formal class resumes.

[ Which is kind of a pity of a time to come to a school at. Self-study is easily said and done for established students, but from what James understands, the princess has never even set foot into a modern school before. Awkward.... ]

What kind of classes were you hoping to take?

II

[lastexit]

*Maya hears magic, in the simplest terms her power lets her sense various energies at play in people. Those are a bit more specific, people- rather anything with a personality and identity, have their own sound. And the number of people living at the school changes often.*

*They are not, normally, so low to the ground.*

...Your mice sound weird.

*Maya didn't make any noise approaching the room, another fun side-effect of her powers. But she appears harmless enough. A little vacant, like she's not entirely sure what emotion she should be feeling. At the very least she's not making a fuss over there being mice?*

[quintessent]

[Allura can't help but jump at the sudden voice, spinning to face the door, as the four mice scurry behind her legs. Any question of who or what is momentarily delayed as she catches up with the woman's statement, and she blinks,]

They do? [Allura glances downwards, to the mice scurrying around at her feet, before looking back up at Maya. three of the four mice peek their heads around Allura's ankles, appraising the stranger,] You must have very good hearing, to hear them from all the way over there!

[The way Allura "hears" them is a little bit different, with her psychic link, but she always assumed they just sound like normal mice to the average human.]

[OOC: I'm going to fill out your permissions in the near future! I was going to before I tagged you back but I need to think more about my answer! But if you need a general impression, Allura's would probably be something like Determination.]

[lastexit]

*Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser. She listens and watches a moment or two to be sure, but whatever she's hearing from the mice is harmonic with the woman. Which makes sense, they were talking to each other. But first, Maya has to remember herself.*

Sorry, I try not to sneak up on people. Or at least warn them I do that before I do it. I'm Maya, your neighbor.

*She expresses the regret about that well enough, but she doesn't really express much in the way of excitement. Just an understated interest from the doorway, not overstepping her bounds anymore than she has.*

And you could say my hearing is spooky good.

*...She's also a giant nerd.*

1

[partiallysquirrelblood]

Vacation, sorry. School doesn't start back up until fall.

[Doreen's attention is quickly drawn away from Allura by Allura's tiny entourage.]

Dude, those are super-cute mice. Hi guys!

[She grins at them, and Tippy-Toe chitters a greeting, the squirrel waving as she does so.]

[quintessent]

[Allura's mouth turns down, but her disappointment fades just as quickly as the conversation turns to her companions.]

Oh- Thank you! [She smiles and the four mice that have been following along at her feet skitter up to sit on Allura's shoulders. To the mice.] Now, be polite and say hello-

[The lean, blue-green one (Plachu) wriggles his nose as he stares at Tippie-Toe suspiciously, while the friendly looking pink and blue ones (Chuchule and Chulatt, respectively) wave back. The fat yellow one (Platt) seems content just being there and makes no indication either way of his friendliness.]

It's all of our first days, though they technically aren't students.

wow let's pretend this isn't as late as it is

[thegoofball]

[He doesn't recognize the girl in 105, but he has a feeling he knows who she is. Ana did give him a heads up that she has a roommate now, so this must be the Allura she mentioned.

And she...has mice? Strange, odd mice. Must be magical mice? If she's talking to them, anyways.

Alternatively, she's crazy.]

Oh, hey! [He raises a hand in greeting.] You must be Allura.

Don't worry! I'm slow so time is an illusion

[quintessent]

[As if Lance wouldn't talk to his pets!

At the sound of a voice in the doorway, Allura straightens where she'd been folding up clothes in the school-provided dresser, and turns,]

Oh- [She blinks,and lifts her own hand in a mirror of his greeting, albeit a little awkward and unpracticed, before dropping her hand down and switching to a much more comfortable nod.] Yes, I am Princess Allura. [The clarification and title is meaningless here, but old habits. And maybe she's a little sentimental over the kingdom she's left behind.

Then, an apologetic smile,] I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with your name.