Headwing Central (IC)

[Meany]

Dosve didn't even slow down in his moving about, checking that all things were in place to his satisfaction.  "Even a paperweight can be a masterpiece, can be beautiful.  Even if the devices I craft do not function as intended, they will be excellently made."  The boy almost goaded Dosve into lashing out.  His lack of being able to train with his own sword had gotten the better of him; he was losing the self-control that had lasted him so long.  This couldn't happen here, not ever here.  Not when she was watching.

"Though I suppose I haven't answered you either/or question.  Allow me to reintroduce myself.  I am Dosve Donya Piflak, former King of Donya.  To answer your question: I am a politician."

[Tapewolf]

"No-one I know here really does have a taboo on speaking," Niall said simply.  "It's too inconvenient.  Even those who can survive without breathing still breathe in order to speak.  Thought-reading is considered a breach of trust, and most of the non-'Cubi staff can't do it anyway.

"My clan, my Lord Daryil hopes to achieve some measure of peace and cooperation with Beings, so naturally we need to be able to speak to them and understand how they live.  Which isn't really much different from us, frankly.

"I have been studying music," Niall said.  "More recently, the Being science of manipulating electricity.  It is a Being world out there, so it behoves us to have at least some basic understanding of the devices Beings may build.
"More recently I have been combining the two disciplines," Niall said.  "Electrically amplifying a lute or guitar allows for interesting new tonalities which could not be achieved otherwise.  I have heard that Beings are starting to use this technique themselves."

[LionHeart]

Mira waited until Kart left the room before shedding her skirt in favour of a pair of culottes, in a green which matched her hair. This could get awkward, she thought, in an unconscious echo of Kart's own opinion. I can't keep kicking him out of the room every time I want to change clothes. Hmm, maybe a screen of some sort? I might have enough fabric with me to fix something up...

When she was 'decent' again, she opened the door, and waved Kart back in. "I'm thinking we need a screen or something for changing behind," she told him. "I'm not exactly body-shy, but it doesn't seem fair to interrupt whatever you're doing every time I want to change. And I suspect the same goes for you - you probably aren't all that comfortable changing in front of me, especially since we don't know each other that well yet. I'm guessing this is your first time sharing a room with a female?"

[Eli_In_Chains]

"A politician, huh? So in other words, you're both? Suppose that does explain your expert spin on a device that doesn't work being a good paperweight. I suppose you would know, though, about things that are best at just sitting around and doing nothing." Gideon smirked and stuck out his tongue at the other cubi before he glanced around at the things he was arranging throughout the room. "You know, Dosve, I have to hand it to you... you are exceptionally good at keeping yourself in check. Probably a good survival tactic, for a politician such as yourself. Any fights would have to be started by the other guy, so it'd make you look better, yes? And I imagine you think I could stand to learn something of that from you as well. It would likely assist in my strategic endeavors, that's for certain, but it would be unacceptably boring. What about you? Don't you ever get bored of holding back your emotions?"

[AmberCross]

Left to his own devices once more, Tristan considered what he should now be doing. His roommate would be tied up for the foreseeable future (unless you were Fa'Lina of course, but that was cheating) and he was just about finished with the library for now. His constellations were... mostly back in order and he didn't feel like tracking down the minute details of what stars were out of place just now so he decided that he may as well head to art class early. By now he had practiced enough that he could sketch a decent figure, but he was still working on getting the shapes right, especially the hands. As he waited for the class to start, he would pick a random person nearby who wasn't going somewhere and try sketching them before moving on to a new target. A few he even tried to sketch from memory when they went by too fast. Mostly he kept the sketches small, several to a page, but ocasionally he would do a larger scale and every so often he would get irritated and shake the paper, effectively wiping it clean of what was on it. Using paper that cleared so easily was very convenient for not running out of paper when you didn't really want to keep the results around.

[justacritic]

"An intelligent idea, true this is my first time sharing a room with a female. Even then however I prefer to keep my modesty intact. " Kart sat back down.

[Meany]

Really.  The boy was trying to provoke him, a seasoned -if weakened- veteran, into violent action.  Perhaps the cheetah was a mix of Owona and Taun, but then the Shadows also had an affinity for rage...  Either way, the display did little than turn to face the feline fully; leaving the final items to settle on their own.  "Is this how it shall be between us?  I make conversation, you metaphorically play 'I'm not touching you' until I snap and engage in a brawl with you?"  Irritation began to bleed off him before the gaps in his reversed emotion filters were filled.  "As a matter of fact, no.  Politics was secondary to that endeavor.  I learned self control so that I could fight demons and other such rabble effectively.  And no, I do not hold back on my emotions at all.  I feel them, and let them pass, but do not act on them."

The canine stood, balancing on his one leg while his arm stretched out, bidding his crutch to come through the air to his hand, while the chair rolled into a corner.  "I have no intention of teaching you anything you neither wish to learn, or do not ask for.  That is the task of the professors.  Now, I am going to go out and see to my first class of the day.  May I see your key to make a copy?"

[JamesCray]

The fun-sized-fox, upon regaining his consciousness, immediately picked himself up, straightened his clothes, and defaulted into deadpan snarker mode. His 'son I am disappoint' face was legendary among people who knew him, almost Tommy Lee Jones impressive. It didn't last all that long however, once the miniature fox got a decent look at his new roommate's dentition, at which point it all fell apart again, along with any hope he had of retaining any shreds of his dignity.
"Ah yes, pranks. I really should have anticipated something of the like, I suppose. I'm Kody Craig, and we're going to be best of friends, you and I, I can just te-heeeeeeeth..."
The resultant alarmed look on Kody's face is utterly priceless.

[Eli_In_Chains]

Gideon pulled the room key from his pocket, tossing it over to Dosve and chuckling to himself. This promised to be more fun than he had expected. The canine may not have been showing it, but he was angry. Angry enough, at least, to permit his tongue to lash at his new roommate, with whom he had no doubt expected to be on good terms. "I wouldn't say this is how it'll always be, by the way." Gideon said, watching Dosve on his way out of the room. "I was simply feeling you out, today. Don't expect much attention from now on; I have classes too, y'know. Can't spend all my time screwing with my roommate. Enjoy your class."

---

Matthias stretched his grin, gripping the momentarily paralyzed fennec's paw and shaking it warmly. "My smile? Why, I'm glad you like it! I'm from the clan Kish'ta; it's just part of how I look." He wiggled his little rabbit-tail happily, ushering Kody into the room and setting him down on an electric blue couch. "It's nice to meet you Kody. My name's Matt, and as you've probably guessed, I like scaring people. So that's going to include you. A lot. But don't worry, I won't really hurt you." Matthias paused as if considering something, counting silently on his fingers. "Oh! Except in, like, a few weeks or so. But don't worry about that either, you probably won't even notice."

[Kafzeil]

Roxanne giggled, not losing the spring in her step for a second. "Oh, Golgotha tend to be hush-hush. Even I didn't know who they were until I got to SAIA. But mom being sorta dead kinda had a hand in that situation."She sighed, becoming only slightly less excited. "Man I can't wait to find the guy who got the drop on her. Maybe I'll show him his own entrails before he dies! Or she." She laughed. She didn't sound angry...more like a kid proclaiming what they'd ride first when they got to WallyWorld.

Roxanne smiled, giggling. "Oh we had running water back home! Of course my home is sorta being centric and advanced. Well, sorta. We had the world's best technology!" She laughed. "if it had to do with fish and fishing. Yeah, most advanced fisheries in the world. Dad was a fisherman." She chortled. "And Yes, I've spent time at sea. SAIA's my third home. Kinda wish they had more naval classes, but eh. I've meant to bring it up with Fa'Lina when I get the chance."

Roxanne rolled her eyes."There I go again rambling on like a total blabbermouth! Dad said mom was like that. Hard to get a word in with her edgewise and OHBYTHEOLDONEYOUNEEDTOSEETHESHOWER." Roxanne darted to the bathroom, then poked her head out a moment later. "Get over here! You'll love this thing!"

[VAE]

"I ... so sorry to hear that. Filthy scum like that deserves to have their souls eaten. Or.. or worse."
The statement-of-fact tone in which the Roxanne spoke of the tragedy was rather ... jarring, Kallis thought. Beings killing each other was one matter, but murders of creatures, even though unfortunately common back home, was something not taken lightly. But then, this place *was* full of surprises.

For the time being, the cat placed her suitcase into a corner near the bed, and shut off the hover spell, continuing to listen to her roommate's chatter. The suitcase landed with a distinct thud.
"Running water at home, and advanced beings, I see..... what else did you have, a gryphonless carriage? Cold torches? Literate weres?"  A smile spread on her face, and she began to giggle, perhaps even louder than her roommate. "Come on, Roxanne, you have to try harder than that, I wasn't born yesterday."
Still chuckling, she followed Roxanne into the bathroom.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Horethen was starting to become tired of this long conversation, and he was having trouble adjusting himself to the decidedly odd notion that he would be the odd one, not flapping his gums to produce sounds like the rest of them. 'Cubi should be better than this. Where as the pride and the might that was the heritage of the race?

Still, this Niall had done him no injury, and it would not do to offend the fox. He twisted his mind shield lower for a reply.

"If you do not wish to open your thoughts to me, and I have no desire to force the issue, than there can be no breach of privacy. By raising and lowering my own shield, I can transmit; it seems the only privacy at risk is mine alone. But you are quite correct, about the Beings. They multiply, they expand, they develop. Much faster than we; I think it is their short lives, when you only have six or seven decades to pass what you can make to your heirs, you must need take risk, and attempt great things. But their strength worries me. The story is taught to all in our clan, though it was before my time, it was when the Patriarch was younger than I am now. But Beings very nearly slew all creatures in my homeland, and to this day, large stretches of Narukh are unpopulated from the wars. Many a house of Angels, Demons, and 'Cubi clans are gone. And the forces that drove them back were also mostly Beings, though in Astarea many can trace some measure of lineage to Creatures.

He raised his shield again quickly, for the sight of the other 'Cubi in the bed and his musings about the darkness in the past had tired him, and even the steady, pulsing waves of emotion coursing in from all directions seemed insufficient for a nonce. Such weakness could not be exposed, not to an outsider, no matter how friendly this one seemed.  And electricity; he was familiar that some of the beings there used it, mostly for lights, that someone would spend something so expensive on a frippery like music implied that it was far easier to generate than what they knew back home, and THAT had some troubling implications.

[Tapewolf]

Niall picked up on the other's discomfort and got down off the bed.  After all, unless there was some kind of crippling disagreement, they'd likely have decades to get to know each other.  It was time to change the topic.

"So," he said, "Do you need a hand unpacking?  Anything you want to know about the Academy?  Anywhere you'd like me to show you?"

[JamesCray]

The reference to the upcoming event in a few weeks provoked more confusion than anything else, as both Fa'lina and his mother had made it clear that the students are under protection at SAIA. Kody returned the handshake with a lack of resistance that spoke of his mind being elsewhere. "Pleasure to meet you Matt. You'll be happy to learn that, as has been amply demonstrated, I am rather easily startled. In fact, that was likely why our headmistress placed is together, both to keep you entertained and well fed as well as to inure me to these sorts of things." The fennec's tone was controlled, and those who knew Kody better would recognize his analysis of Fa'lina's motivations as having an implied "so she's neither actively malicious nor a complete imbecile" at the end.

[Eli_In_Chains]

Matt smiled, flexing his wings. So then, how to get this little fennec to warm up to him now that he was reasonably well aware of the situation awaiting him as roommate to a Kish'ta. After all, he didn't want the poor thing not to like him; nobody should have to stay with a roommate they couldn't stand. And he'd gotten his fill of scaring the newbie for at least the next few hours. Lessee... he's a new student, so he's probably still eating and sleeping. Maybe take him to go get a bite to eat? Or ask about his classes or something, getting to know him would be a good start. He was, of course, not stupid enough to ask about Kody's life before SAIA. Plenty of the cubi here had traumatic backstories and, on the chance that Kody was one of them, it was best to wait until they were established friends before opening that can of worms. Food it was, then. "Yeah, she generally knows what she's doing. She's really smart and has everyone's best interests at heart; part of that is trying to make sure new people always get paired with someone that knows how to show them the ropes and stuff. Like for instance I bet you still eat, like, food and stuff, so you'll want to find the cafeteria, right? I can take you there if you want. Or we could just, you know, talk and stuff. Of course since we can do that while we walk..." He took hold of the fennec's wrist and pulled him out the door, the picture of a happy and bubbly incubus as he led his roommate down the hallway. "So Kody! Do you know what you're going to study? I'm going into cinematography myself. Horror movies and acting and stuff like that."

[Meany]

Dosve's class went smoothly.  A lecture upon the basic principles of artifice; establishing a function, creating a stable and long lasting power source, and the pathways from the power source to all affected areas.  As it was the first day of the first year of study, they learned primarily about the different types of power sources; and a bit about functions.  Which power sources were stable/unstable, which lasted the longest while remaining stable, and of course where a soul ranked alongside the standard sources.  Neither the most powerful, or the most stable, but the most renewable over a long period of time.  Dosve had already moved to filling quartz gems with magical energy; making the little rocks batteries that he could cheaply use to recharge magical items, or provide a boost...once he learned how to establish a connection between the rock and the item.

Dosve would venture to the library after class. His metallurgy lesson would not be starting for hours, and so he had time to read through the text book.

[AmberCross]

After a number of sketches, several of which Tristan actually thought looked pretty good and considered keeping, Tristan packed up his stuff and headed over to class. Today's lesson was on painting a scene in motion. The idea was to find a point in the scene you wished to use, and then paint it from memory and prompts of what was left over but in a different position. Assuming you painted well enough, there were additional bonus points for accuracy, but also bonus points for creativity if you take the objects and put them in something that could have happened even though it did not. Tristan was unable to pick up either as his painting looked blotchy and somewhat indistinct as if someone were viewing it through a pair of incorrectly focused lenses. Still, this was a marked improvement upon the smears he wound up with the first time he tried this, so Tristan left class with a cheerful demeanor and headed to the library where he would often hang out when not engaged in other activities.

However as he entered the room, he paused a moment, spying an unfamiliar cubi. He wasn't giving off much in the way of emotions, although that was actually not too uncommon and even Tristan himself kept a tight leash on what he broadcasted, but whether from the missing limb or his overall stance the other cubi seemed fairly intimidating. Tristan decided that he did not want to attract this cubi's attention too much, so decided to head to a different wing of the library where he wouldn't attract the other's attention by being too close.

[LionHeart]

"Well, I have had some experience sharing rooms with people of both sexes," Mira replied. "Plus I'm a costume designer by trade, so I'm used to seeing folks in various states of undress. I did bring a load of fabric with me, so we can rig something up for now."

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Horethen's back itched. Glancing around, there seemed to be little to do at the moment, so he thought he'd take up hiis new roommate's offer. Lowering his mind shield, he projected,

It is some hours before my first class, on Thak'um Literature. I already have the first books, and my family is expected to send the rest later. But  have not had an opportunity to stretch, and I miss it. I am certain that SAIA has gymnasiums or the like, but I do not know where they are. Could I impose so much as to beg you to lead me there?

Awaiting a response, Horethen fished out his first two books, (he had skimmed them, but the sorts of emotions they tried to convey were strange), and waited for the fox to either deny his request or to lead on. He re-raised his mind shield.

[Tapewolf]

"Certainly," Niall said, and began to lead the other down the corridor.  "The gym facilities are quite extensive.  A lot of students and staff make use of it, after all.  There's a sparring area as well, but that's usually booked up by the adventuring and battle classes." he gave a small bark of laughter.
"Quill has been running that department for... I don't know how long," he said.  "She's a Taun.  But it's kind of creepy to think that even though Quill is such a fixture, Fa'Lina was ancient while Quill was still a... calf... cub... whatever she was when she was small.  No offence intended," he added hastily, glancing at the ceiling with a reverent expression.

"I dunno," he said, "Maybe I'm still used to looking at things from a Being's lifespan, even after spending several centuries here..."

The fox turned a corner.  "It's around here," he said.

[Eli_In_Chains]

The room Niall entered with Horethen in tow was expansive and, as expected with an academy full of students who don't catch a wink of sleep, replete with Cubi going through all manner of exercises. Whether weightlifting, stretching, tumbling, or gymnastics, if it was a physical activity, it was represented in this room. Nearest to the door was the warm-up area, with a number of students going through their stretches. Not far away was a sprung floor, with a few Cubi taking turns tumbling down the lanes at various levels of skill. On the distant end of the room was set up a number of what appeared to be rings or arenas, all of them occupied by sparring students and most of them surrounded by classes. Between were the exercise machines and assorted gymnastic apparatus, including several sets of high bars, most of which were being used as pull-up bars rather than for gymnastic routines, though there was one incubus going through such dizzying moves as backflip aerials. In the weightlifting and general exercise area, most of the equipment was unsurprisingly low-tech, considering the insularity of the school, but there was a very wide range of kettle weights, dumbbells, medicine balls, and some magical machines such as treadmills. All of which were, as with every gym ever, occupied. And on the far left, the delighted squeals of some wonderfully colorful Cubi could be heard, varying in pitch and volume as they bounced up and down on what appeared to be an enormous trampoline. It's never, after all, very difficult to find someone who loves a good trampoline, and judging from the height these Cubi were getting to, it was not an entirely mechanical one; it was just a good thing the ceiling was raised so high.

[justacritic]

The panda nodded when suddenly a warp-aci popped in front of the incubus. "And what is this about?" Kart noticed that this warp-aci bore the symbol of Clan G'ian, his own clan. "The warp-aci said "Hey it's your turn to pick up the medicine, I've been told to tell you." The warp-aci popped out of existence again. Kart's face took on a look that was a mix of disgust, annoyance, and denial. "Ugh, why must I be selected to pay a visit to Dr. Ink again." The panda incubus frowned.

[JamesCray]

The fennec was borne behind the bubbly bunny, bearing a bemused expression. This was already more conversation than he was used to having with someone he wasn't close with in a day by far, and was beginning to approach the amount  he allotted for the average week. "Yes, I still eat food, although as much for pleasure as for necessity if I'm honest. I could probably subsist on emotion at this point, my mother explained it and taught me the basics, but I like food so I keep eating. And my initial speciality is in watchsmithery, I've always had a fascination with timepieces, you couldn't keep me away from them as a little one. Also, fine timepieces, antique and modern, will likely always require maintenance and repair, so it should be a fairly steady career."

[LionHeart]

Mira gave the panda a concerned look. "Medicine? Do you have some illness that I should know about?"

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Horethen followed the fox, making sure to keep always more than four feet but less than six away from his guide, and trying to get a grasp of the maze of hallways through which he was being led. When they finally arrived at the gymnasium, Horethen's breath was taken away.

It was far, far more elaborate than the facilities they had back home, and there were scores, perhaps hundreds of other 'cubi wandering to and fro and using the equipment. While most of the stuff like the weights and the mats and the Rolling Balls were familiar, there were a number of strange apparati, such as a moving strip of floor that some seemed to race against, and a bouncing mat; although its users seemed more like children at play than doing serious workouts.

Horethen turned to his guide and smiled, giving a short bow in thanks for the guidance, and headed to a relatively quiet section of the gym. He hoped he didn't need some kind of permission or reservation to be here, but surely Niall would have mentioned if that were the case. Another gaze around the room, at all the frenzied activity, and Horethen quailed a bit inside. So very, very many, and none of his clan.  If he were to misstep or his best was below par here, it could bring shame on all Aldoraethar. Still, to slink away after coming here without doing any exercise would be worse.

Horethen gave his tendons a little pull, via shapeshifting, feeling the back of his legs twinge ever so slightly; he had moved too quickly. He started his stretches  for real now, using a bit of magic to "harden" some air so he could stand a bit above the floor with only the balls of his feet supported, and his heels pressing downward, and behind his knees he felt the pull. Then dismount and toe-reaches, side stretches, splits, and shoulder stretchings, two minutes per muscle group.


Feeling more limber, Horethen looked around; there really wasn't enough space to do the full blade dance routine, not without accidentally lopping off someone's limbs. He tried to substitute in his mind an equivalent routine, one with an unarmed fight instead of an armed one, and quickly lost himself in spinning,  sidestepping, blocking, and punching, punctuated with occasional bursts of magic (merely making hardened platforms of air to spring against) and occasionally shapeshifting in the direction of an attack or a parry.

[Tapewolf]

Niall watched his room-mate at the gym for a bit and then grew bored.  He wasn't exactly a gym-rat himself, but he did have a routine and he knew from bitter experience that to disturb it in any way would ruin it.

He seems happy enough, the fox thought.  And he knows where the room is, or if not Fa'Lina or someone can guide him to the appropriate wing.

He wandered down the corridor for a little way and then stared at the wall.  "So, anyone in need of some love...?" he asked it.

"I've told you before, this is an academy, not a dating service," Fa'Lina replied, appearing behind him.

"It was worth a shot," he said.

[Eli_In_Chains]

Matthias nodded, yanking Kody around a corner he'd nearly missed, walking just fast enough to avoid technically running. "That's good to know. I mean, watches and clocks are neat stuff... I've never been able to figure out all that gear-ratio and mechanical leverage stuff, myself. It's complicated. I don't suppose I could get you to make me a clock during your studies, could I? A really cool clock though, one that went to thirteen hours instead of twelve. And at random intervals it'd, like, have tentacles come out and like scream and everything! Could you do that, do you think?" Matt asked, grinning widely over at his new fennec roommate, the juxtaposition of his predatory smile with his innocent nature proving, as usual, to make him look utterly ridiculous.

[Tapewolf]

"I suppose I could go from door-to-door," Niall mused, glancing at Fa'Lina.  "Actually, have there been any other new arrivals?  And are any of them cute...?"

[Eli_In_Chains]

"Still not a dating service, Niall... But if you want to welcome some poor, unsuspecting soul to the academy, there's a new student getting out of his first shielding class who will probably be utterly lost without you." Fa'Lina pointed down the hall at a now-open door, a yellow fox stepping out calmly and glancing around as if unsure of which way he had to go. He hid any nervousness well, at least externally, but his shields were leaking emotions like a sieve and betraying his unfazed exterior. Now, which way did I come from to get here...? How long was that class anyway? Is it still morning? Lunchtime? This place is terribly confusing... Which way will take me outside? Biggest damn building I've ever seen... Blaine was still frustrated by the prank his new roommate had played on him, and as a result his thoughts and emotions were all over the place despite his attempts to keep them in check.

[Tapewolf]

"Thank you, Fa'Lina," Niall said, and was not wholly surprised that when he turned back, the poodle was gone.  Although he didn't have a true Clan Leader, Niall was aware that a Tri-Wing was able to create projections of themselves and he took it for granted that Fa'Lina did this extensively.

He's a fox too, he thought dreamily, and then chided himself mentally.  Whatever he had said to the headmistress, seducing a new arrival was kind of callous, even in a place like this where the occasional fling was taken for granted or considered to be casual.

"How are you finding things so far?" he asked politely, approaching Blaine.