Aramir was in their bedroom, unbraiding her hair in front of the mirror and singing softly under her breath. The day was over, night was falling, and while for the rest of the College (except for Uicle and Khan) that meant sleep, or eventually sleep depending on if they were occupying themselves as Auriel often did, for Aramir that meant wandering the well lit halls and perhaps talking to Khan or Uicle both. Idly, as her hands worked almost of their own accord down the familiar path of undoing her braid, she wondered where Auriel was. Typically, if the Forest Elf wasn’t in the room at this time, she was with another suitor. And hopefully, she was. Aramir had seen the question in her roommate’s eyes after the chaos of the demon attack was over, and she didn’t want to answer it. She didn’t know the answer herself. Thus, she had taken to avoiding the Auriel as much as possible, sure that if she was ever given an opportunity, she would ask Aramir why she had run through the battle torn halls just to reach her, while being half dead and having nothing more than a knife to use against the enemy. Just thinking about it made her uncomfortable, and the Snow Elf sped her unbraiding. Talking to one of the teachers would help her forget the question existed, or at least ignore it for a time.That is, she thought, provided I don’t run into that shadow…thing again. Aramir shivered in fear, remembering the touch of its shadows. She had seen it around the College, a few times, and it appeared to be both leaving her alone and bound to Khan. That didn’t make her feel any better or any less fervent in her vow to avoid it at all costs. As she finished undoing her braid and stood to leave, silver hair shimmering around her as she did so, the door to their room opened and Auriel walked in. For a moment, Aramir froze, staring at Auriel. Then she ducked her head down and headed towards the door. Which Auriel slammed in her face as she tried to leave, effectively stopping her. Keeping her eyes down and away from Auriel’s, “Please let me out.” Auriel looked down at the cowering Snow Elf that was her roommate. "Why are you in such a hurry?" She said, annoyance evident in her voice. "What is so important that you cant even say hello to me before rushing off." Normally Auriel was indifferent to her roommates wanderings, or even happy if it left the room free for her to enjoy someone elses company. But today, it seemed like Aramir had only decided to leave because she had arrived. Sure she was slightly late, but Auriel wasn't stupid, she could tell when someone was avoiding her. Most of the more prudish men did after all. But she hadn't expected it from Aramir. What had she done to the Elf to deserve this? Sure things were occasionally a little awkward between them, but not avoidance awkward, at least not in Auriel's mind. Aramir felt herself coloring as Auriel questioned her. Still she refused to meet her indignant roomamate's eyes, instead looking at the base of the door. Quickly she grasped for something that Auriel would accept as a believeable excuse. She wouldn't lie to Auriel, mainly because she was terrible at it, but she would just...not tell her everything. Like the real reason she was avoiding her. "I....Khan wanted to talk to me about something, I just remembered when you...walked in. I...didn't mean anything by it. I-I was just in a hurry." She shifted uncomfortably, practically feeling the scrutnity of Auriel's eyes on her. Please believe me and let me go...please believe me and let me go... She thought/prayed, hands fiddling with the edge of her shirt as anxiety forced her into motion. Auriel simply glared down at her roommate. Aramir was notoriously bad at lying or concealing the whole truth in any way, and it didn't take a skilled liar like Auriel to realise that the snow elf was not telling her everything. She leaned back on the door, as if to say 'this is not opening until I know everything' crossing her arms and staring straight at Aramirs averted eyes. "One day I should teach you to lie." She stated, sarcasm and annoyance filling her voice. She wasn't normally subtle, but she thought the message was quite clear enough this time, and just looked at Aramir expectantly. At Auriels words, Aramir turned almost completely red. Well, there goes that plan. And now the only way out was blocked by her rather large (by Aramir's standards) and certainly unmovable (once again by the small Snow Elf's standards), body. Aramir's fidgeting grew worse as the silence dragged out, shirt edge being twisted between her fingers as she tried to think of something that Auriel would believe. She came up with nothing. Finally she spoke, timidly as if she was afraid of what would happen if it was acknowledged, "Okay. I have been avoiding you. Because I can't explain it. I can't explain why I ran through demon infested hallways, unable to use any magic, armed with only a knife, found you and leapt to your aid. Not that you needed it. I only would have done that for a tribe member, and since my tribe tor....doesn't exist any longer, and you're not apart of my tribe, I can't explain it and I knew you'd ask about it so I decided to avoid you to avoid the question." Throughout that all-in-one-breath explanation, her twisting became rolling. Her fingers rolled her shirt up, to just below her sternum, and then rolled it down. And then the process repeated. Warily, the Snow Elf flicked her eyes up to meet Auriel's angry one, unsure of what to expect. When Aramirs eyes finally raised to meet Auriels, it was not anger but surprise on her face. Auriel had certainly not been expecting that to be the reason. For a moment she was speechless, a fairly rare occurence, before managing to stammmer out "That... was your reason? I had never planned to ask you anything like... that." She looked at the poor nervous, fidgeting snow elf in front of her for a moment, trying to decide whether to indulge her curiosity or hold back for Aramir's sake. As usual though, curiosity won out. "Now that you've brought it up though. Why did you do all that? I didn't think I was that good a roommate." The mention of Aramir not having a tribe anymore was something else she might press for answers, but not yet. She was only really beginning to figure out what it all meant for Aramir, and it seemed quite different from the relationship she had had with her village. Aramir sighed in relief, some of her redness going away, mistaking Auriel's surprise and stammered out reply as an end to the discussion. She took half a step forward to leave before realizing Auriel was looking down at her, not moving, and obviously deciding something. The Snow Elf got a bad feeling, which was confirmed by her roommate's rather pointed question. Aramir dropped her gaze from Auriel's, blushing again, using the motion to bring a curtain of silver hair between the two of them. For a moment she was silent, then she spoke softly, almost to herself. "I told you, I can't explain it. I only know that when I realized you were probably in the midst of all the chaos and death, I couldn't just let you face it by yourself and maybe even die, without me even trying to help you. Which is really confusing." She glanced up again, staring at Auriel through her hair. "We, that is, Snow Elves, only do that for our tribe members. The entire tribe is willing to give its life for one another. And I've never heard of a connection like that being made with another race. And I can't explain why it's happening now." "So...." Began Auriel, trailing off as she tried to figure out how to respond. She sunk down to the ground, crossing her legs while still leaning on the door to bring herself level with Aramir, not that she could see her face past the cascading silver hair. "I'm... part of your tribe now?" She said very slowly, totally unsure if that was what was meant. Aramir waited in silence for a few moments, unsure herself of what it all meant. Finally she took a deep breath, stopped her fidgeting, and pushed her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ears. She looked Auriel in the eye and stilled an unreasonable fear of what the Forest Elf's reaction might be to a confirmation. She spoke with a sureness absent from her before now, awkwardness and embarrassment receding. "In a sense, yes. It's not something that is consciously chosen. Otherwise, Tribe members may let someone die, or not risk their lives to save them, because of how they personally feel. It's a...." She struggled to find a suitable word. "Bond. A product of the environment we live in. Absolute trust is needed to survive, so absolute trust is given at birth. I didn't know it could form between two people not of the same tribe, much less two different races. Though in another, conscious, sense the entire College is my tribe as well. A group protecting each other. Though, obviously, I haven't made the same...bond, with anyone else." With the end of her speech, came the end of her confidence. She colored, though not as badly as before and she didn't stop eye contact. Auriel remained silent as Aramir explained. She was not good at responding to real feelings and she knew it. For a long moment she just looked at Aramir. Her culture was nothing like Auriels. Her village was tight knit but still placed great value on individualism. "Thats... good? I think? But... Why do you even need any more... bonds?" She said, half to herself. She had never enquired about Aramir's history. Why should she? It didn't matter to her. "You can go back to your tribe any time... right?" Auriel said, showing that she had not really been listening too closely before. Aramir sighed softly at Auriel's first words, a small smile crossing her face. If she only thought that was good, the Snow Elf didn't want to see what made the 'I know it is good' list. Though, I've already experienced that... She thought, remembering their first drunken night at the College. She blushed at the memory, and hurriedly opened her mouth to both explain a bit further, and distract herself from inappropriate memories. That's when Auriel continued talking, and Aramir's jaws shut so fast that her teeth came crashing together on the inside of her lip, tearing a small piece off and filling her mouth with the metallic taste of blood. She didn't notice, as she was visibly trying to maintain composure against the onslaught of unwanted memories Auriel's words brought. Her hands clenched into fists, fingernails digging into her palms, while her eyes squeezed shut, and she shook slightly. Not here. Not now. Not in front of her. Aramir practically chanted, as she unwillingly relieved the night her life went up in flames. A few long moments of silent passed before her eyes opened again. "No." Her voice shook, pain filling it. She was heedless of the red tint her teeeth had taken, or the bit of blood that dribbled out of the sides of her mouth. "I can't. Most of them are dead and gone, and the survivors have either died in the Frozen Plains or joined another tribe. My tribe no longer exists. All I have to remember them by are the scars on my side and back, my tattoos, and the symbols on my vest and on our walls. There's nothing else left. Flames took the rest." Auriel quickly realised she may have made something of a blunder with her question from the expression on Aramirs face. Normally she would try to make a quick exit at this point... But she couldn't really just leave Aramir, they had to live with each other after all. Instead she forced herself to listen. She shuddered a little as she compared what Aramir said to the vision the bitch of a psychomancy teacher had given her on the first day... It had been horrible. Except auriel had known that it wasn't real. It hadn't happened that way. Sure she might be arrested on the spot if she returned to her home, but her home was at least still there. "I'm sorry..." She began, once again without words. She hated not knowing what to say. Sheneverdidn't know what to say. "Well... At least you're still here? Right?" She simply sat looking at Aramir awkwardly. She just didn't know what to do. "Sometimes I wonder if that's even worth it..." Aramir replied quietly, before realizing that she was making more problems than she was solving. Quickly, she wiped her mouth, wincing slightly at the pain of her tore lip, before attempting a smile at Auriel. It worked...sort of. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to weigh you down with my problems. Somethings are better left off in the past, it seems..." With that, the Snow Elf herself fell into silence. She herself didn't know what to do, having completely forgotten that her original goal was to escape this room and avoid Auriel. "Yeah..." Auriel began before going back on herself. "I mean no, you can talk about it if you want. I mean... um. I don't know what I mean." It was all geting a bit heavy for her liking. "I think we both need a good drink." Auriel stood and crossed the short distance to her bed, where, within reach of where she usually lay was half filled bottle of wine, for when she really needed it. Like now. She uncorked the bottle and handed it to Aramir first. "Have as much as you like. There is always more a short walk away." "It did help the last time Satori warped the memories....and that was ten times worse than this." Aramir said, somewhat doubtfully. She also remembered what else it helped with, and blushed again. No. Not this time. The Snow Elf thought firmly to herself, before following her roommate. She raised an eyebrow as Auriel picked up the bottle of wine. "I want to say I'm surprised. I really do." A half-hearted smile crossed her face as she reached up and took it, sparing it one dubious glance before she took a couple large gulps, and handed it back. "At least it doesn't burn like the first one I had...Dragon Spite? Spire? Something like that." Auriel had to laugh at that, and remarked "That is certainly not one of the things I'd recommend as a first drink." Already she was reverting back to her usual, playful and light hearted self, relieved that the serious and difficult world of feelings was receeding. She took the bottle from Aramir when it was offered, holding it up to the light to see how much was left. Just under half. Enough for Auriel to be pleasantly inebriated, given the strength of the brews the college had. She took a swig on it herself then, her gulps far larger than Aramir's, and handed it back. "This is not really how I thought tonight would go." Aramir herself chuckled. "No one mentioned it to me before I downed the entire cup. That was just before I met you and we reached our room..." She left trailed off, blushing once more, coloring an interesting mix of blue and red. Obviously, she was thinking about what happened after they reached the room. Hurriedly, she took another gulp of the alcohol, already beginning to feel a pleasant...warmth beginning to spread through her body. "And no. this isn't how I thought having the door slammed in my face would end up either." She commented, hoping to change the subject before Auriel made the logical conclusion of where her mind had went and why she was blushing. Auriel would not be fooled so easily however, a grin spread over her facce when she saw Aramir blushing and looking timid - she had been with enough shy young men to know that look and it was hardly different on a womans face. "I was there Aramir" she teased. "You are welcome to talk about that fun little experience..." Auriel had found it somewhat strange in the beginning to have slept with another woman, but now that some time had passed it seemed less unusual to her. Fun was fun right? She took the bottle again, continuing to smirk at Aramirs amusing mix of colours as she took another drink. The Snow Elf turned red all the way to the tips of her ears. For a few moments she just kept silence, and then she spoke. Or tried to at least. "I-I-I-I....I...I...I guess." She spoke in a timid whisper, wishing she could hide behind her hair again. But that opportunity had long since left her far behind. Auriel couldn't help but laugh at Aramir's timid reaction. If she hadn't seen it for herself before, she would not have believed a Snow Elf could go that red. She couldn't resist. She just had to keep needling Aramir about it. "Come on.... I know you had fun!" She said before taking another swig and handing the bottle to Aramir pointedly. Aramir couldn't get any redder. She tried, but she had reached her limit. She took the bottle and a long drink from it, mainly just to buy time so she could try and think of a way to get out of the situation. She couldn't, though the pleasant warmth was now everywhere, and she could feel her embarassment receding. Just a little. Handing back the bottle and summoning up her courage, she nodded. "You're right...I did. Though, that wasn't how I envisioned my virginity to be taken..." Auriel stuck her tongue out in protest at that. It was less fun when they stopped denying it. Still, she could see that Aramir was becoming drunk faster than her. The bottle was rapidly going down, and she was still only just feeling the effects. "Of course I'm right." She said indgnantly, before returning to her same teasing tone. "You'd better finish the bottle then miss 'I enjoyed it...'" Aramir chuckled. A surprisingly easy smile crossing her face as she took the bottle. Perhaps there was something to this drinking thing. "I'll get right on that." She tilted the bottle to the sky, draining the rest of the wine. As she finished, she put it down, running her tongue along her bottom lip. A wince of pain, followed quickly by a frown, crossed her face. "I must have accidentally bit my lip. Look." She stuck out her bottom lip for Auriel's examination. "It hurts." She commented, still keeping her lip stuck out. Auriel watched as Aramir first drained the bottle and then stuck her lip out, grinning the whole time. "Oh no!" She said with mock surprise, she had noticed it earlier of course. "Here, i'll make it all better!" She went down from the bed to kneel next to Aramir and kissed the injured lip gently, enjoying every moment. Aramir had one confused moment to wonder how her roommate was going to make it better without medical supplies, before Auriel kissed her. She froze for half a moment, before she reacted on what she wanted, her carefully placed inhibitions and safeguards having been torn down by the alcohol. Her arms went around the Forest Elf's shoulders, and she kissed Auriel back, ignoring the last remaining bit of sanity in her head that warned where this was going to go. Breaking the kiss she stayed within a hairsbreadth of Auriel's face. "Still a good kisser?" She asked, giggling. Auriel smiled pleasantly as Aramir broke away fro a moment, and replied softly, saying simply "The best."