Melody ran her hands through her hair, part of her unable to believe what had just happened. Why on earth were people like this? Would it really hurt them to talk about their problems instead of beating each other senseless? She breathed a heavy sigh, and retreated back to her room. She still had to unpack and meet her new roommates. That last thought gave her cause for hope and excitement. Though the night had started off less than ideally, surely meeting new people would lighten things up, right?. She made her way up to the top floor of the fifth dormitory , and was surprised to see the different door. She tilted her head in curiosity and slowly slid the door open, "Helloooo?" She called into the room, stepping in and laying her stuff against the door. A pleasantly surprised expression danced across her face as she looked at the black marbling and high ceilings. "I've never seen a room like this before... It's kinda nice!" She said, looking around.
Abi had the.. fortune of leaving early. Some gossip that passed in whispers spoke of a giant 'student', who just so seemed to make a ruckus so soon. The girl had to remind herself that it was just the first day of class. Ruby eyes stared at the ceiling idly. Abi had already situated herself in a part of the room: the one as far away from the window-- darkness offered some comforting solitude as she lay on her bed arms wide.
She took a deep breath and rolled over once she heard the voice. The girl, despite her smile, gave no other welcoming gesture. She merely looked at Melody and spoke. "Did you have a good time?" Abi almost tweeted with twisted delight, well aware already who her room mates would be. Her lips curled into an unassuming grin.
How could she not have checked who she was rooming with as soon as the opportunity presented itself?
Melody cocked her head and grinned, "I had no idea we'd be rooming together!" She said. This would be wonderful! Being roommates with one of her new friends, this year would surely be amazing. She quickly crossed the room and embraced Abi in a hug, "We'll be the best of friends, I'm sure of it! This is so exciting!" At this moment, she processed Abi's question and shook her head, releasing her and placing hands squarely on Abi's shoulders, her tone dropped significantly as she said. "Oh Abi, it was horrible! Morholt's challenged some poor young first year to a duel. The poor soul." She then tsked and continued. "I only wish there was something we could do to help her." Melody then continued to walk back towards her stuff, and move it to her room, propping the door open as she went.
"But let's not focus on the negative." She said, starting to move her clothes from her bags into her dresser. "This room is different from any other I've ever seen here." She remarked, "It's really kind of nice, isn't it?" She shot a pleasant smile over toward Abi, "This is much fancier than the room I have at my Mistress's. "A clean mind needs a clean place to live", as she always says." Melody said, giving a giggle, " She prefers to keep things as simple as possible, in a lot of ways, coming here is more like a break than anything." Melody then left the rest of her things on her bed, and went back out to lean against the wall next to Abi, "What about you, what's life like at home?" She asked and gave a quick glance to the larger room and mace hanging on the wall, "And do you have any idea who our third roommate is? I'd love to meet them as well."
She blinked with every other other word that Melody said. (My. Such a simple question and here she is speaking in litanies~) Of course, who was Abi to turn a deaf ear to someone speaking so passionately? The girl had an attentive look to her face, eyeing as her room mate seemed to just bounce around the cavernous room-- like a rabbit.
"hop.
hop.
hop hop hop." Cheekily, she whispered with every step Melody took. Her playful grin was wiped off as a pair of hopefully-washed hands grabbed her brocade corset by the shoulders. "Pii!"
She tried not to think about the hands-- it was hardwired to be so averse to it.. Not many people had the opportunity to get so close. Abi was already fidgeting for her umbrella, how she wished it would be appropriate to flinch away. "I--'m glad someone came, though. Who knows what could have happened if the encounter continued?" Was it a proper time to speak her mind, though?
Abi tried to at least be nice. "As for you." She slowly backed off, enough to keep a friendly proximity, then holding Melody by the first digits of her hands. (Oh thank goodness they're clean!)
"Don't go running all gung-ho next time, alright? You would have been part of the mess he would have made." How Melody could have missed the clues to their third roommate, Abi was so clear to point out.
Melody blinked, as she started to realize just who else would be living with them, "H-He?" She asked, looking around the room one more time, a look of fear crossing her face for a moment, "Morholt will be living with us then.." She had no idea how she felt about this. She always tried to see the best in people, but after seeing how angry and brutal Morholt could get, Melody worried that any attempt to help him would end... painfully. She shook her head, "Problems for later, I'm sure he'll be tolerable, right? And even if he isn't we're a couple of powerful young witches, I'm sure we can protect ourselves."
Personally looking for anything to distract herself from the prospect of living with Morholt, she decided to latch onto the topic of Abi's magic, "By the way, can I see your magic?" She asked, her tone turning cheery again, "You said earlier you can make an alter, right?" She'd only heard a very little bit about them, and her knowledge about that magic capped off at how Abi had described them, "It sounds pretty cool, could you show me?" She eagerly requested.
"OH. huh." Abi tilted her head to the side in surprise. Her grey locks bounced softly as she did so; like loose springs they were.
A finger hovered over Abi's lithe lips. She slowly gave off a drooping, playful expression. "Alright then~ Since you asked so nicely." She put some distance between them, pushing herself away so there was some few inches to display her shadow. Her expression instantly changed to that of excitement; displaying was, of course, typical for such highborne mages. Abi put her hands slightly forward, her left over the right and palms up. "Although, I can't show you the alter just yet. You're going to have to wait a little bit.. but for now--"
As she spoke, a little orb erupted from her palm. It hovered slightly, bobbing slowly as she continued speaking. "So.. if you don't already know: I'm a shadow alter conjurer. Pretty cool right?" Abi loved displaying her power, so she continues by having the little ball fly around her swiftly. Her hands were already down as her gaze turned in unison to the orb. It almost looked like the ball had life with how familiar the shadow seemed to flit softly by her side. Everywhere the ball went, the immediate surrounding seemed to be robbed of light, as if it emanated darkness. "--but that's not all I could do.." Even when she lowered her voice, the excitement was palpably present.
She had the ball then hover around Melody. It circled her head, leaving a small trace of shadows until there was an opaque film that would cover the girl's sight. Then, as she called back the shadow, Abi was already inches away from Melody's face. Her eyes speaking in volumes, even before she could say "Pretty cool right??"
