---

John sluggishly pulled out his phone and scrolled in his notes where the name and location of his first class was typed out. He looked up in the middle of his stride to see the large campus of the university and realized that he'll be late if he wasted his time going through every building to find the correct one. He might even have to talk to someone and ask them for directions, much to his discomfort.

Luckily, he wasn't forced to rely on such a method as a much simpler and more obvious assistance made itself apparent to his goal. A large map plastered on a sign telling him the directions. He traced the lines from where he was to find the building he needed to go and let out a smirk of satisfaction. He managed to avoid human contact, which would've revealed his absolutely atrocious social skills.

He quickly turned away from the map to reach his class in a haste. The quicker he arrives, the less eyes that'll be on him due to him showing up with a low amount of students already present.

It seems he was too hasty though. Vertigo assaulted his senses as he felt the world twist and turn with a sudden headache not making in any better. He could've sworn he saw his vision be clouded up by a fog or mist for a second, but with a blink, clarity returned to his vision and balance was restored to his brain.

"I should probably stop staying up that late in the future if this is gonna be what awaits me more often," he complained to no one.

Arriving at his first class, he put that odd feeling that occurred earlier behind him. Right now, he needs to focus on what will shape his future because that's all that matters now. The inner turmoil twisting in his gut seemed to aggressively deny his thoughts.

Who am I kidding? What kind of future is there for a piece of trash like me? A deprecating chuckle almost escaped his lips from the negative thoughts pervading his mind. That rotten ideology of his has corrupted his spirit and left what could be called a legacy of a misspent youth.

John sat down in his seat after nervously glancing at his professor who acknowledged him with a nod of his head. He put his phone on battery save mode and decided to scroll through the latest news until class started.

---

Gloria’s subconscious felt incredibly guilty for interrupting a conversation between two university students. It was heavily stupid in not reading the room properly, but she wanted to know were to get to her classroom so she isn’t late. However, she got the answer from the blonde male student, which pointed to a map on a desk of the University. This caused her to make her feel ungodly stupid but thankful for the male pointing it out at least. ”T-Thank you for location of the map, sir.” Gloria said, with guilt in her voice. It wasn’t that great to rudely interrupt a conversation in progress just like that, but she did and that made her feel stupid for that. The additional thing was she should’ve just looked for a map in the first place and kept herself from feeling like this.

"Next time maybe look for people not in a conversation, or wait until they're finished?”

These words specifically from Fidelity’s lips made her feel pretty bad for not giving a good impression of her. However, she could tell she really annoyed the hell out of Fidelity just by how she was acting towards her. ”...I-I will try not to do that again, Fidelity.” Gloria said, with an ounce of trying to save face. Its just so hard with how shy she was to properly talk to people with the same magnitude of others who are much more outgoing than her. The only consolation prize, which she got was the name of the woman with two dogs from the male university student. However, it isn’t much of a consolation prize if she pissed someone off.

However, the next thing out of Fidelity’s lips definitely implied something a bit harsh towards her. It made sense in why what Fidelity would imply specifically what Gloria thought to herself. ”D-Damn it… Gloria, why do you have to be such an idiot?” Gloria thought to herself, biting her lower lip. It was in frustration at herself for all the idiotic things she has ever done in her life trying to copy people who are just much better than her. ”I-I’m sorry, I should get goi-” Gloria said towards Fidelity but was interrupted by someone lightly tapping her on the shoulder. It made her shudder a bit since she was nervous who could been behind her watching this unfold as a definite horrible thing.

Gloria turns to the person who tapped her on the shoulder and it was a male student specifically asking her a few questions. However, his smile was gentle and much better than the fury behind her in terms of Fidelity that is. ”Y-Yes, first year philosophy I am in… Ooh, that’s where my class is, thank you sir. I should follow you since it would be better than to get lost…” Gloria said, kindly and shyly since she still heavily nervous. If more incidents like this happen, it’ll definitely hurt her already weak resolve and the fact she’s a pushover too. ”F-Fidelity, I hope you have a good day.” Gloria said, trying to smooth over even though that’s going to be a big hurdle. She definitely want to get to her class over fucking up anymore and it’ll be better to follow someone who’s more used to knowing where they are going unlike her.

She decided to follow the male in question, which she forgot to ask his name, who so happen helped her out much. However, she should introduce herself first to the guy who is helping her to get to her class. ”Uhh, thank you again… I should introduce myself, my name is Gloria Sosa Hathaway, so what’s yours fellow Philosophy student?” Gloria asked, curiously and nervously. Its polite to ask, someone’s name, which is from her family would tell her anyways.

Rose rolled her eyes at the redheaded young man’s response. Did he really just say that? Was she speaking to an adult or a child? He certainly looked like one now that she had a closer look at him. She took a breath. She had to keep cool. If he really was a child, yelling at him wouldn’t do any good. Yelling at anyone never did any good to be honest. ”That may be true, but that’s not the point.” She responsded calmly. ”You bumped into me because you were running like a madman, and the polite thing to do would be to apologize for your mistake.”

Sure enough, someone actually did apologize. Though, it wasn’t the young man she was speaking with. This was another young man with dirty blonde hair that looked vaguely familiar to Rose. Did she share a class with him? Most likely. She does vaguely seeing a face like his in the halls of the University. Though, she really didn’t know his name... She had difficulty meeting new people in University. Everyone is on their own schedule, no one really has time to chat. ”Oh, that’s quite alright. You did nothing wrong.”

She turned her attention back to the redhead fox child. ”You see? He apologized despite having done nothing wrong. That’s an example of being a proper gentleman.”

@Ryteb Pymeroce@Scribe of Thoth

After the incident with Mary, Alina gradually made her way to the nearest common room, turning the thought over in her mind repeatedly. Mary had a crush on her. Mary would ask her to play eroge games. Mary had hugged her tightly, for extended periods, more than once before. Mary had a crush on her. She had a crush on Alina.

Why in the ever-loving fuck did Mary have a crush on her?

Ugh. There was no reasonable explanation she could think of, and in her current mood, she'd never figure it out. She was already burnt out on, like... people today. Studying, lecture, home. That was her new plan. Hell with it all, she'd figure it out tomorrow. For now, she did need to do some actual work.

There was drama going on with some fox-eared kid, and two other people. Wait, fox-eared? No, that was just hair, at a second glance. He was cute, sure, but she was not interested in that. What else... hell. There were folks scattered everywhere, because of course. The only vaguely-isolated place had some pretty-girl lounging on the sofa. And it wasn't just that she was physically pretty; she literally had white hair and, on closer inspection, red eyes, like some actual anime prettygirl had stepped off the screen. Or like an albino person. Was she albino? Didn't seem like it, given her skin tone. Was that racist to note mentally? That sort of hair-skin combo wasn't too common, and to Alina's understanding it tied into a specific subculture in Japan. Though, this girl wasn't even that dark- okay, she needed to stop there before actual bad thoughts started up.

Fine. The single pretty anime girl could be dealt with discreetly. Alina walked over to the sofa, placing her own laptop on the nearby table and, as she pulled it out of its bag, briskly stating her case.

'I don't desperately want to talk to anybody right now. That's not an insult to you specifically. I'm just not in the mood to do much talking, and I need to get some work done anyway. Please don't have a go at me for it.'

There. Situation sorted, no need to elaborate further. With the computer extracted, she turned on the laptop and started to do whatever work she could bring herself to. Probably research, mostly.

---

"Something like that. Why, you care?" judging by the tone in that voice, the girl still seemed to be irritated by whatever had happened to her. Beau did have a habit of being over-friendly, but he guessed this was one of those times where he should back off a bit.

"No reason; I'm just the kinda guy that looks out for people," he answered honestly, "Sorry to bother you..."

With that, he returned his attention to his breakfast, splashing the oil over the top of the eggs so that the whites around the yolks would cook a little more, and then flipping the bacon and giving the sausages a shake. Eventually, the meat would finish cooking, so Beau moved that to the plate that he set aside earlier. He just finished adding the ingredients he sliced earlier when suddenly...

"Are you a... You a rugby player or something?"

Beau was wondering when he was going to be asked that. He did have that kind of frame after all. He took that in his stride.

"Yeah, I play a spot of rugby from time to time," Beau smiled as he said this, "I was the captain of my team back in my high school, and we were actually one of the top contenders. Good times."

Incidentally, it was at this time that another girl arrived and grabbed some cereal for herself. Beau turned away for only a second to keep an eye on his breakfast when that same girl bumped into the one he was just talking to and, as she apologized, explained that she had her eye on the microwave that whole time. The microwave now seemed to have captured Beau's attention as well.

"I was wondering what the deal was with that fish myself, now that you mention it. It's not my place to mess with other people's food, but..." Beau turned to both the girls, "Y'think I should shut this off? Just to guarantee it doesn't explode or something?"

Adonna wasn't expecting another familiar face, but it was a welcome sight.

"Hey, morning, Cara," she greeted in return, already nodding, "Yeah, let's. Thanks, I kinda lost track of time."

The tall woman waved a goodbye to Carol and the group⁠— still wrapped up in their last tarot reading⁠— as she and Cara retreated towards the general direction of their classes. Her phone buzzed, contending for her attention, and Adonna allowed a quick peek to check if it might be important. Unknown flashed on the screen, and the student simply silenced it.

Enjoying a moment of transitional silence, she recalled, "Doesn't your sister start classes today?"

---

Conversing with @Hero

For an indeterminate while after the call ended, Kirsty remained motionless, running over the situation in her head. The band, fallen upon hard times as is, lay on the edge of destruction. All too soon, it seemed, it would be transitioning from spinning its wheels to falling apart. Doing things like helping June move was Kirsty's way of making amends for her poor performance, trying to prove that she remained useful, but if June was set against her there was no point in making such pitiful attempts. Other than it being the kind thing to do. But June wanted her gone. Drew, meanwhile, wanted her to demonstrate her appreciation for his continued support. Kirsty felt trapped between them, forced to choose. Then again, it wasn't much of a choice. She needed to reciprocate for Drew, or she might lose the only person really looking out for her. But to do that, she needed money...

Something occurred to her, and she breathed a heavy sigh. Navarro. After class today, she would approach her professor and ask for work after school. Repeated sessions did nothing to mitigate the uneasiness Kirsty felt when doing it, but it couldn't be helped. Besides, hopefully being showing some eagerness would get her on Navarro's good side. Toward the end of last semester, when Kirsty started feeling reluctant, the professor let slip that her student's lack of cooperation might affect her grades. Now more than ever, Kirsty needed to decrease the pressure. There was no chance today wouldn't suck, but she could only grin and bear it.

As she neared the end of her thought process, a girl appeared. This in itself was no strange occurrence, and Kirsty felt a little better that people weren't avoiding her purposefully, but as the newcomer settled down she said something that was anything but ordinary. Whoa. For a moment, Kirsty was at a loss for words, which no doubt suited her new acquaintance fine. It wasn't every day that an introvert felt the need to try and suppress interaction directly. She tried to keep Kirsty from taking it personally, but it still stung. Well, ultimately her feelings didn't matter. Instead of feeling down Kirsty tried to look at it from the other girl's point of view. If she really wanted to be alone, why would she come to a place with people in the first place? Was this one of those 'cries for help' where someone tried to put others off as a defense mechanism but really wanted some human contact? Either way, Kirsty couldn't ignore this. To be silent and indifferent would be to to rail against her own nature. It took only a couple seconds for her to make up her mind. If this girl didn't like it, she should have gone somewhere without anyone around.

“Oh. I'm sorry to hear that,” she said, her voice low and full of sympathy. She sat up straight, her arms in her lap, to convey appropriate gravitas. “Things must be pretty rough for you right now. Well, I'll shut up, but if you change your mind I'd be more than happy to talk with you.” She couldn't help but wonder what struggles this poor girl might be going through. No doubt they dwarfed Kirsty's own, and stemmed not from her own failings but from misfortune and terrible circumstance. Kirsty wanted to help, but knew she might not be able to. Maybe I should have gone into psychology instead of journalism. Then I'd know what to say to people to make them feel better. All she could do was hope she seemed understanding and approachable enough to open up to.

---

Hm. Jory eyed the man, finding her first impression of him to be a good one. He was maybe overly nice, but that wasn't really a bad thing. By the sounds of it, his time with sports was in the past, which meant one topic that Jory had an easy time with that wouldn't be easily available. Ah well, she could talk about more than just sports. At least, she liked to think that.

Like cooking. He seemed adept at it from the bit she had seen so far. Not that she was particularly good at it though. She'd come off as slightly ignorant, but was interested enough in the subject that it might work.

A faint, foul smell tickled the girl's nose, redirecting her thoughts. She glanced back to the boy's food for a second--definitely not that. It was coming from elsewhere.

Jory pushed back her chair to get up and investigate further, but was run into from behind. She felt her temple twitch as she sucked in air and spun around, ready to give a piece of her mind to a second person today.

"Watch where you step, you--"

The girl trailed off, seeing the one who had bumped into her--a woman with long silver hair. The newcomer began to apologize, a bit flustered, but it mostly went in one ear and out the other for Jory.

She was cute.

Jory's cheeks began to warm again.

Cute, but like, objectively. From a totally unbiased perspective, save for an attraction to females. Not specifically Jory herself or anything, of course. Of course. Just... she was conventionally attractive, and that was all the thought meant to say. Right. Just that.

The redhead felt herself staring and quickly averted her gaze to a random corner of the room, giving a shrug as one hand moved up to play with her ear. "I-It's fine. I'm fine."

Jory managed to glance back to the girl for a short moment. "I shouldn't have gotten up so fast... I-I'm glad you didn't drop anything."

There. Her pulse that had quickened from the fresh shot of anger followed by her... observation... was beginning to slow again.

Right, the smell. The girl had mentioned something about a microwave when she said sorry. Jory looked over, seeing the boy interested in it as well.

Fish in the microwave. Which genius in this room thought that was an idea of any merit.

"Y'think I should shut this off? Just to guarantee it doesn't explode or something?"

Jory's nose wrinkled in aversion. "Preferably before I..." She was going to say puke, but realized she was suddenly feeling a lot more conscious about how she was coming off, present company in mind. After a quick sideways glance to the longhaired girl, she revised her words mid-sentence. "...have to scrub the smell out of my clothes." Not the smoothest save, but Jory cringing at herself was at least covered up by the face she had been making from the aforementioned stench.

Why even be so self-conscious, anyway? It's not like she was thinking that she'd... there wasn't any chance that--

Honestly, Jory was of half a mind to smack herself upside the head right now. It just didn't matter, regardless of how she felt--not that she felt any sort of way. But regardless of that, it was pointless to dwell on for even a moment. She just needed to stop. Stop.

...You're such a stupid mess.

_{@AdmrlStalfos19@Bee}

Thames’ Edge Campus
Monday Morning

“Uhh, thank you again… I should introduce myself, my name is Gloria Sosa Hathaway, so what’s yours fellow Philosophy student?”

The cold is chilling now, suffocating any other thought – correcting the mistake. Alistair reads the curiosity, the hope on Gloria’s face through her nerves, warm and dangerously compelling. You must not accidentally sabotage another. Nor may you dedicate time that must be utilised for understanding. Distance yourself, now!

You’ll hurt her…

Moreso by attachment. “Alistair Parton,” the boy answers, straining for a frigid tone and keeping his eyes firmly anchored forwards as he sets a rapid pace out of the building and onto one of the campus roads, where a slight rise and curve inhibit line of sight. “The building ought to be down there…” Alistair trails off from his attempt to sound authoritative, suddenly self-doubting – and then flinches. Stop undermining yourself! You look vulnerable; vulnerability endears; endearment creates connection and connection without comprehension risks harm to others! He nods in affirmation; “It will be down there,” he declares.

That is all that Alistair says as the two make the short walk down to the entrance of the Mary Wollstonecraft Building and then pass through its bright atrium to arrive at the doors of Lecture Theatre 2. There, he gives Gloria a swift nod, now working to not read her expression and focussing hard on keeping his own blank, before making his way inside to find a seat at the very front while hoping against hope that she doesn’t follow.

@Landaus Five-One

---

Internally Felix was torn between anguish at his inability to control himself and anger at this woman talking to him like a child. He hated people thinking he was a child just because he was short. Well, there was also his youthful appearance, but could he help it if none of his compatriots bothered to take care of their skin?

Wrenching his hand out of her grasp with strength that belied his small size, he moved away from the woman who was being so sanctimonious about everything.

"Well, I'm so terribly sorry that I'm not a proper gentleman." Felix responded, "But unlike some people I prefer action over meaningless words. As for 'rushing about like a madman', I was merely using the most expeditious method so that I could check out the library at my university before the start of lectures. I'm so sorry that you are more obsessed with acting like a proper lady of a bygone age that you'd stop someone you barely know to berate them like their mother. Sadly, I can't stay to indulge your delusional view of the world, for I have more important things to do."

Saying that, he darted off even faster than before, looking remarkably content as he ran. For he was as a fox, and the city was his forest.

---

”You see? He apologized despite having done nothing wrong. That’s an example of being a proper gentleman.”

He was the example of a proper gentleman? He probably bumped into people more than this overzealous preteen did. Then again, Leo did have all those etiquette lessons drilled into him as a kid. Outside the context of a four-course meal, though, he considered himself pretty unrefined. This was awkward. Maybe he shouldn't've stopped. But... the fact that he did made him kinda gentlemanly, right? Why was he even deliberating over this, it didn't matter!

Unfortunately, the kid did his little monologue and scurried off again before Leo had a chance to slip away. What a weirdo; that had to be the most sanctimonious response to bumping into someone he'd ever heard. He followed the boy with his eyes until the redhead had slipped too far into the crowd to see. Which, admittedly, didn't take very long, even with the kid's eyesore of a hairdo.

"Huh. Where are his parents?" Leo pondered aloud, still under the assumption that the redhead was an energetic grade schooler. Since when were kids in a rush to get to school, anyway? Or, no, school would've already started for them. Didn't he mention a library? Eh, whatever, Leo wasn't paying enough attention anyway. He turned back to the blonde girl and stifled a yawn. "You go to Thames' Edge, right? Need a gentleman to escort you there to avoid anymore misbehaved runners?" He grinned cheekily as he reversed her words on her. In retrospect, she really didn't seem like she had a sense of humor. Oh well, no loss if she stormed off.

---

@Crimson Flame@Ryteb Pymeroce

---

In Gloria’s mind was at ease from all the horrible interactions she had previously, which made her definitely frustrated at herself. However, when the person who she asked his name answered that question, which eased her a bit. She didn’t really like his frigid tone but he must needs to be distant alike she tries to be but it is a good name nonetheless. ”Alistair, good name you got there.” Gloria said with a smile on her face. However, she was trying to keep her attention to the front since it wouldn’t be that good to get lost at University again. It probably was that dream she had before she woke up, which screwed with her sense of direction. Doesn’t help she didn’t have a good deal of focus no matter what she tried compared to her sister’s skills to become what they’ve became. Always made her feel inadequate compared to them no matter what.

She would rather take this interaction over what had happened previously with Abigail or Fidelity. Even though Alistair was a bit fidgety or distant at least. ”I think my mother told me something about names are the link to people’s soul or something like that. It was over my head at that time since I didn’t really truly understand what mother believed in or not.” Gloria thought to herself. She liked her talks with her own mother but somethings are a bit too much her to think about when she was trying to take it as slow as possible. However, when Alistair specifically spoke about the location of the building, yet had a distinctive tone before it sounded off. In terms of specifically what she thought about Alistair was one word, odd. Even though it did sounded like he was hurting or something at least but she doesn’t know how to deal with that. Her parents were much better with comforting people who were hurt than she could probably be.

There was something she wanted to say but it would probably be more hurtful than helpful she thinks, unless it wasn’t. She always second guesses herself all the time and is very slow on the uptake of taking decisions. However, when he declared it will be down there, it reassured her a bit more since she didn’t really get it. It took her a few moments but she felt that Alistair is odd because that’s what he is, Alistair is Alistair plain and simple. Mostly from this slight interaction she had with him, much more refreshing than usual. ”That is definitely much better than my lack of knowledge on where everything is.” Gloria said. She definitely didn’t like the fact she didn’t know where everything was anyways, she needs to get better at looking for the right thing.

Gloria’s expression improved when they arrived at the building, which Alistair was showing her the way. She had a bright smile on, which was grateful towards Alistair for showing her the way so to speak. ”Thanks for this Alistair.” Gloria said with a definite grateful expression on her face. However, she did notice Alistair’s blank expression on his face like he was trying hard to keep it blank, which was odd. This somewhat made herself torn to what to do but not being in a classroom would suck. In essence, she decided to look at her cellphone to look up the Lecture Theatre in question. ”Should’ve looked this up sooner… but no… Alistair is definitely odd. Guess its a good thing I like sitting in the very back most of the time...” Gloria thought to herself, let out a small sigh of frustration. All roads lead to constantly not showing anything to the best to her ability because of her shyness.

It took a bit to gain enough courage to walk into Lecture Theatre 2, which she did after a few seconds. She looked for a seat specifically in the back of the Lecture Theatre 2, the very very back. Since its very embarrassing and frustrating to be in the front for her. Everyone has an odd quirk or what not but her butterflies didn’t help in this situation what so ever. ”I hope I don’t try to do anything more embarrassing… than what happened already.” Gloria thought to herself, annoyed only at herself completely.

---

Ah yes, the water fountain. The introverts expedite, the haven for all awkwardness, the great passer of time and the household of solitude. There were many alike, but this water fountain was much different. On the upper left corner of the common room, it held great distancing from the rest of the seating areas. A true reclusive settlement for those in need of a good think. Of course, this was all one big dramatisation for a man who'd basically been blindsided by someone's casual conversation making. He'd not exactly been completely disconnected from the idea of flirting, however its introduction to the conversation had definitely taken a toll on his flow of words, conversation and interaction. The water itself was a relief and a half. A soul-filled liquid cleansed his palette and left him with a hydrated throat. Back in the game, back into the action, as someone without any dignity might have said. Instead, he cleaned out his mind and dampened his face with a flicker of water, drying it with the sleeve of his shirt. He looked up at the clock positioned high at the back of the room. 10:39am. Most morning classes were in session, for those who at least had them. Those who were left with afternoon lectures or were left with the free day lurked as they always did: talking, working, chatting, laughing and all things inbetween. With a deep breath, he took one last swig of water before he began to return to where he was.

Fiddle was still in the same place as she had always been. The second girl had left, more or less. It was a blessing. He didn't know who she was; a common first year who hadn't figured out confidence looking for a way around the university. And a philosophy student, no less. It was a good tool for film and story-making, but when it came to the monotony of endless debates over which moral standard they think is dubious over the other, it irritated him just as much as the politics students did. All of their debate societies felt like an excuse to just get at each other's necks. It wasn't pointless, but the debates never went towards any product. Either way, his mind was off track already. As he shifted back to where Fiddle was waiting, her pups still sitting in their usual place...the dogs, not the-... He felt a small discomfort in his throat as he sat back down, nodding at her.

"Sorry about that. Just a bit overwhelmed by the sudden fluctuation of people, y'know?" With a gentle, soft smile, he made himself comfortable and welcomed himself back to his newfound acquaintance. She didn't seem to shift herself too much, concocting a delicate chuckle to herself. From what he could tell, it wasn't dainty or timid, but rather confident in its existence, something he seemed more comfortable with.

"No worries. I would have done the same but I doubt I could have kept pace." In most cases, he'd have felt inappropriate to laugh at the provocative jesting at her own expense, but the precedents had been set in motion, and her own laughter was quite infections. Lightly, he chuckled with her, watching her hands go down to her dog's head. Its fur-covered jaw rested against her lap comfortably, the sort of position other dogs would be blessed by. He smiled as she kept the dog entertained with her scratches and pats. "I was worried I had scared you off or something."

"Worried?" Again, he nervously chuckled, but still felt more composed than before. In his mind, he was just flowing the conversation naturally, building off of the things he said with small teases and jokes flickered between. And so, he tempted himself with the open question. "Awfully kind, but what would there be to worry about?"

Her eyes were left upon the dog for a short while, leaving a small, minute gap between their words. Soon after, she barely shifted in her seat, turning to face him. Of course, he couldn't have prepared himself for what she was going to say, as so far he'd been hit by curveballs after curveballs of interesting topics. As she looked at him, he felt his own hands go towards his laptop, picking it up and closing it slowly. She too thought similarly, as she revealed.

"Well for one, I was worried you’d forget your laptop. For another I was going to ask you to come to dinner with me, would have been hard if you just disappeared on me."

And once again, she pulled a fast one. The smoothest of criminals in all of the land, right there and then, she'd not only taken the opportunity but stole it. An Arsène Lupin of her time, she had a strange ability to just go for what she clearly wanted. His own self froze, looking down at the floor with flushed cheeks. Was it a request for a date or just dinner? It wasn't exactly something he had clocked onto straight away or anything he would've expected from coming back to her side. Fidelity, the girl he barely knew, just went all in, her cards on the deck and her bets on the top shelf. He couldn't help but admire the commitment and confidence she'd shown in those short few back-and-forth quips, leaving him with an open invitation to something he'd not have expected from the morning day. He looked at the clock again, seeing that another twenty minutes had already passed. Time had flown by at tenfold its usual pacing. His chest was engulfed in sporadic inflammation. The heat of his nerves was unsettled and shifted back to his face. He smiled again, uncontrollably as it took him a few seconds to process and answer her request.

He didn't know what to say at first. Yes? No? It wasn't like there was much to lose. She was a brand new acquaintance who'd just appeared in the light of day, a fellow student in the huge expanses of London's prime university. If it all went south, into the pits of hell, then he'd have at least the chance to melt back into obscurity and to be forgotten about. There was no such thing as a fate of collaboration, something that could melt a group together for anything out of a student's reach. So, he giddily tapped his fingers against his legs, shifted his feet and got his words out.

"Oh, uhm. Well if you want an answer, then I'll throw in a 'Yes'. A nice change in normality is always good for the mind...and body." He looked around. Thousands of questions flushed his mind. What was her intention? She'd been so forward with a close bonding experience that he'd been drowned in the apprehension of his own self-doubt. The pain of not knowing really struck him poorly. "What place do you have in mind?"

"There’s a great steakhouse not too far from here. It’ll be my treat." Without hesitation, she calmly offered her gift and place of interest. Laurence smiled to himself. And it would be her treat. Hell, if it went wrong, at least he'd get an absolute deal of a meal. He spent such little time thinking on the meal that he didn't notice her drawing her phone from her pocket, holding it aside. "What's your number?"

"Oh uhh..." As asked, he gave her his phone number on the spot, from the top of his head as well. Wasn't something he used outside of the usual semi-professional calls, so it was refreshing to see a potentially friendly face having a want for it. As she made a note of it, he smiled, letting of a small tease as he packed his laptop into his bag. "That was...surprisingly quick. Is it a place you always treat the usual people at?"

"Not quite, but I go there relatively often myself. Not too often I get to actually enjoy a one on one meal with someone.

"Then consider it my treat to attend." He smirked, slinging his bag over his back and standing up again. He gave into the temptation and pressed his hand against the dog's head, gently rubbing the hand from side to side. The soft fur was indeed a lovely morning sensation. For someone who never had a pet, those were the little experiences he tended to remember the most. "Maybe I'll see you later today, I've got some work I need desperately doing. Keep in touch, will yah?" And to take off the rest of his day, he wandered off elsewhere into the university's labyrinth. He wasn't aware of what was to come, or what changes the day would throw at him. All he knew was that it had just gotten the slightest bit brighter.

---

"Don't worry about it. I've got it."

Sure enough, the silver-haired girl was on the case, stopping the microwave before it could cook the fish any more than it did, and even proceeding to grill the moron that thought to put it in there in the first place. Beau felt a little sympathetic towards the guy, but then again, he really should've known better. Beau himself was no culinary expert, and even he knew the microwave was no place for a fish.

In any case, Beau started to plate his food now that he finished cooking it, starting with the toast he made earlier, then placing two of the eggs on the toast and leaving one to the side, and then the bacon and sausages and all the other ingredients. He left the baked beans til last, only putting on as much as could still fit. Although now that he thought about it, there was a strong likelihood that the stench of microwaved fish could overpower everything else, and ruin the entire meal for him.

"Good thing I brought this with me, then," Beau reached into his duffel bug once again as he said this, this time for an all-purpose cleaner. He then grabbed the microwaved fish by the tail and threw it into the bin where, hopefully, it would better contain the odor and prevent it from spreading, before proceeding to clean the microwave itself.

"I can take the rubbish out later on the off-chance that this still isn't enough to deal with that smell," he told the two girls as he finished cleaning, before pouring himself a cup of tea, and turning to the redhead specifically. "In the mean time, do you mind if I sit down next to you?"

Regrettably, Liam was already awake when the shrill digital beeping had begun. He'd spent yet another half-restful night involuntarily drifting between the unconscious and waking realms, finally dozing off after what seemed like hours of tossing and turning only to be cursed to repeat the whole process again all throughout the night. Sluggishly, and with no small degree of difficulty he wrested himself from the soft embrace of the sheets surrounding him, dragging himself to a seated position with his head rested in his hands. Of all the days for this to happen... of course it just had to be today.... The boy thought as he rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn before turning his addled attention upon the source of the alarm. Groggily he reached for the phone, having to squint as the display all but blinded him while he silenced the blaring electronic tone. Liam breathed a quick sigh of relief as the annoyance was dealt with before promptly discarding the thing back to the nearby nightstand for the moment. Forcing himself to his feet, much to the complaint of his fatigued limbs the blond-haired boy made his way to the nearby dresser and begun digging for something to get changed into. On any other day he might've considered going back to sleep, but today that was simply not an option. Today would mark his first "real" day at Thames' Edge, and being late on the very first day was tantamount to giving up on his future here in the eyes of some. What is that future though? Why the hell am I even here...? a part of him railed internally as he searched. Shaking his head as he dismissed the thought as a mere product of his fatigue mingling with his nerves, he was here to help people. Plain and simple as that. It would be madness to give up so quickly after arriving, much more so after putting in all the effort to get here in the first place. No time for doubts now.The drowsy blond thought to himself as he finally withdrew his chosen attire and started the uncoordinated walk to the nearby washroom.

One quick shower and change of clothing later, Liam emerged from his room into the shared space of the flat feeling only marginally less exhausted then before. Still dark, evidently none of his flatmates were interested in being awake just yet. Suited him just fine, the boy had more than enough to think about alone as he quietly prepared a relatively simple breakfast. A pair of eggs and toast would do just fine, there was no need to be too fancy. He halfheartedly watched the skillet as the whites and yolks gradually set and firmed up, his mind elsewhere entirely as he prepared his meal. Once the eggs were done properly, they were slid off into a waiting plate, the motion punctuated by the pop of the toaster just outside of Liam's peripheral. Deftly, he swiped the finished toast onto the same plate before making his way to a nearby table to have a seat and start eating. Just as he was about to dig in though, a feeling other than hunger occupied his thoughts. So this is it then, huh? There was something almost mystifying about the idea that he was now rightly and truly alone now, starting to find his own way at Thames' Edge. It wasn't unlike the childlike dread of beginning yet another academic year in a way, all the wonder and simultaneous worry right before and even leading up to the day. Though what concerned Liam wasn't so unfounded as that, he almost wondered if his concern over this change was warranted in a way. Did he even really-

A sudden electronic shrieking from his phone caught him unaware, swiftly stole his attention and broke his contemplative state. Right, he'd set a secondary alarm on the off chance he was still asleep. Though he rarely needed these sorts of things, recently he'd found that if he didn't make a conscious effort, it was likely he'd either under- or oversleep, he'd chalked it up to simple stress for the time being. Regardless, he silenced the device as quickly as he could manage, silently hoping he'd not awoken any of the others. A tense few moments passed, thankfully though it seemed he was alone in being awake at least for the time being. With a short sigh of relief, the boy began to dig into his meal undisturbed and by his lonesome. In his left hand he unlocked the previously screeching phone, looking over his classes for the day as he ate. He might be unsure of his current course, but there was no way in hell he'd let himself be the stereotypical lost fresher on day one. Pairing that with the digital map of the campus he'd gotten his hands on prior, Liam was confident he'd be able to make do. Perhaps if he left now he could be gone before any of the others had awoken. Quickly he cleaned up the mess he'd made, rinsed the plate he used, slung a hoodie over his shoulders, and just like that he was gone.

Navigating his way to the campus entrance, Liam was greeted by a veritable flood of students, fresher and otherwise. Unfortunate then, that his first class of the day was on the opposite end of the campus. Keeping mostly to himself as he waded through the mass of students whose moods ranged from nervous to excited to seeming indifference, he did eventually spot something rather... odd. A girl with long white hair and a seemingly cheery demeanor was going out of her way to greet and wish others well. Hell, it looked like she was even giving a pair of scared half to death freshers some directions. Watching the whole scene brought a genuine smile to the blond boy's face, even if it was as simple a thing as greeting people and lending a hand. It reminded him of the sort of thing he wanted to do eventually, to be somebody who can help others in ways big and small... as childish as that sounded.Maybe people here do give a damn about each other he thought to himself before turning his attention back to the digital map on his phone.

A short while later, Liam had made his way to the door of the lecture room his class would be held in, though as he approached something felt... off. He was absolutely certain that he had the right place, but in that case why did it sound like there was a lecture already well underway within? Was he late on his first day? No, that couldn't be possible, he'd planned for this explicitly. In disbelief he looked back to his schedule, perhaps he'd been mistaken about the location after all. As he looked at the timetable once more, any onlooker could see as his expression shifted from confusion to one of shock and realization. He had the place right after all, his misstep laid in the time. In his addled state, he'd misremembered the time the lecture was set to start at. In reality, his class wasn't scheduled to begin until about two hours from now, so much for all those preparations.... A nagging voice in the back of his mind jeered at him,

So what was all that about not being the clueless fresher?

Discouraged and thoroughly disappointed in himself, Liam decided to go and kill some time in a nearby common room, which was unsurprisingly packed, save for a few less-occupied spots. Interestingly enough, he spotted the white-haired girl from earlier sitting on a couch in the middle of a phone call, though with a much less sunny expression than earlier. Though he didn't want to eavesdrop, bits and pieces of the girl's call made their way to Liam's ears. He felt ashamed for listening in on someone's business, even if it was involuntarily. He thought back to the way she'd conducted herself out on the school grounds, Trying to help others, and only getting misery as your reward.... in that way, they were't too different. Then an idea struck him, perhaps he could help cheer up the one who was cheering others up mere moments ago. What's the worst that could happen, the two weren't even really acquaintances, the absolute worst outcome was he made an idiot of himself to a bunch of strangers. Not to mention that some altercation across the room between another group of students seemed to take the attention off of that side of the room... for now at least. He'd began to make his way across the room to talk to the girl, and noticed that she'd been joined by another person. Perhaps a friend of hers? It didn't matter for the time being, as the newcomer's body language and brisk movements suggested she wasn't too open to conversing with some random person. Nevertheless, Liam eventually found himself at the side of the couch the white-haired girl was sat upon as he spoke up with a smile of genuine appreciation on his face.

"Sorry to bother you, I saw you outside earlier helping out some of the freshers. The stuff you were saying to them was really nice. Lots of people are stressed right out on the first day, and little kindnesses like that tend to go unnoticed. So I guess I'm trying to say thanks for all that, from both myself and the people who won't say it, even though they mean it." With any luck he'd cheer the girl up somewhat, or at least, that was his aim.

Talking with Kirsty @Lugubrious and Liam @CriticalHit

As the white-haired girl decided to talk to her, instead of not doing that, Alina forced herself to suppress a deep sigh. Grand, she'd gotten an overly-chatty person. She had Mary for that already, if she decided that was what she wanted at any stage. Then again, how would she be able to tell from the off-set?

By waiting, apparently. Some guy showed up, and immediately began having a talk with the other girl. Were they friends? No, because the guy had apparently never chatted with her before. He just wanted to thank her for some freshers she talked to earlier, because they were both just nice like that, evidently. Good for them!

That sigh did come out, and Alina huddled further into her corner of the sofa to avoid the situation as much as possible. They were probably going to be blathering for ages now. For pity's sake, she just wanted to do some studying. She had chemistry to refresh herself on and everything.

While nothing the black-haired girl said indicated she'd be the least bit receptive toward an amicable gesture, Kirsty still kept half an eye on her as she tried to refocus on her laptop again. If it seemed like Alina might come around, Kirsty did not want to miss it. Her attempts to split her attention left her totally unprepared for the arrival of a third party, who took the form of a towheaded boy with a cool jacket and sunglasses dangling from his collar. More strikingly, he wore a bright smile, which boasted enough power to leave Kirsty speechless for a brief moment.

When she regained control again midway through his speech, she couldn't help but grow flushed. So, this guy spotted her helping out the freshers and decided of all things to take time out of his day to make sure she felt appreciated. How bizarre, yet how wonderful! here stood a ray of hope amidst the bleakness, cutting through the clouds fallen over her morning to shine some warmth down on her. Kirsty tried to stop herself from getting too upbeat. She glanced at Alina, who'd somehow collapsed in on herself a bit, clearly unhappy with all the chatter. She fidgeted with one of her hairtails, unable to suppress an embarrassed smile. “Oh...! Pardon me a moment...” Pulling a pencil and paper from her satchel, Kirsty tore off a corner and quickly scribbled a handful of characters. She stood and placed the scrap on the armrest by Alina. Then she stepped past Liam, murmuring to him as she went by. “Um, this way, if you don't mind,” she explained, indicating Alina. While she didn't mind talking to this guy more, doing so here would only make Alina more upset, so she resolved to relocate and give the girl the solitude she expressly desired.

On the scrap of paper was a lot of shorthand, hastily written and in surprisingly bad handwriting. Sry for bothering u. If u ever need anything or wnt to chat, my # is 020-811-4604

Once a fair distance away, Kirsty stopped by one of the common room's support columns and turned back to Liam. The expression she fixed him with was nothing short of apologetic. “Sorry to pull you around like this! It's just, she wanted to be alone, so I figured if we were going to talk more, we should go somewhere else.” She adjusted her bag, moving the jammed-in laptop so that it fit properly in place and then closing the zipper. “Not that I really had much to say. Just, uh, you're too kind. The directions and stuff...it was really nothing. I mean, thank you very much, of course.” Jeez, all of a sudden it turned into an action-packed morning. First the phone call, then the distressed girl, now this. Where did this guy get off being so weirdly sociable and nice-looking, anyway? In this day and age most people acted so impersonal. Maybe...he was a little like her? Minus the nice-looking part, anyway. If I looked good, people would actually want to be around me. They wouldn't mind...the rest of me. Realizing that she was standing there and just staring at the stranger, she cleared her throat and stuck out her hand. Now that he had been nice to her, she needed to repay him as well as she possible could. “Agh, where are my manners? I'm Kirsty. You're a freshman too, right? Need any pointers?” She glanced at a clock on the wall. Almost time to get to class.