Cryptiic — Roleplayer Guild

- Ivory Dorms >> Grand Hall -

"Hi. Am Nellia. I like airplanes. I like anywhere that isn't a proper place. I like in-betweens..." was the answer provided by her strange, gown-clad roommate.

Gracie... wasn't quite sure what to make of her, to say the least. Considering that the farthest she usually went in her assessment of other people was determine whether she should bother pretending to be interested into what they were saying or not, that was actually saying quite a lot. Normally, people tended to fit rather neatly into one of two distinct categories: "People who will try to socialize" and "People who won't". Personally, she liked people in the second category much better. She typically got along with them much more easily. Just like her neighbor on the train, he minded his own business, she minded hers, simple. Interacting with people in the first one was much more complicated, first you had to nod, agree, and make approving noises when appropriate, then there would be awkward silence for a while, and only then would they go back to minding their own business. Far too many unnecessary steps, in her opinion, just a very indirect and roundabout way of doing basically the same thing.

In this particular instance, however, she wasn't quite sure what the young woman was saying. Was she making some sort of joke? Some sort of cultural reference she didn't get perhaps? Was she supposed to smile? Or maybe she was mocking her, as people were sometimes wont to do, in which case she definitely shouldn't smile. Actually, come to think of it, maybe she was teasing her? No, that couldn't be right, her lips weren't really curved upward like they were supposed to. She seemed... excited? Nervous? Happy? Sad? Was she being sarcastic? Or maybe she was just socially anxious? She'd heard that socially anxious people sometimes said weird things when they didn't know what to say. She mentally shrugged the questions out of her consciousness. It didn't really matter, as long as she could get the obligatory social interactions out of the way so she could unpack and go back to reading.

"There is a ball tonight." her interlocutor continued, taking a hesitant towards her. "We have to dress up and wear masks and look ravishing. Ravishing is a nice word, I like it. Let's go together, I am a bit afraid of the corridors, some of them get you lost and I'd really hate to be late."

Great... Just what she didn't want to hear. She now found herself with the obligation to attend the ball, which she quite definitely did not want to do. Sure, she could probably have just politely declined, and if it were just some random stranger she were talking to, she probably would have. However, this was the person she would be trapped sharing a dorm with for the next few months, and it wouldn't really be "proper" to refuse such a direct invitation. She had learned many foster families ago that it paid to act nice for the people you would be living with for extended periods of time sometimes.

In her opinion, the whole ordeal sounded like just one big, uncomfortable moment. First of all, she had just arrived here, didn't even have the time to unpack, categorize her library and get settled... And somehow, she was now supposed to go spend a few hours in a loud, crowded room with a bunch of people she did not know. She would have greatly preferred if the administration had given them at least a day to get situated before thrusting this burden upon them. She didn't like it when she didn't have time to settle into new situations. Secondly, she found the way that they had already picked their attires for them a little presumptuous and unsettling. She wasn't sure why, she just didn't like the thought of wearing some fancy, impractical costume someone else had chosen for her. Thirdly, it promised to be a loud, crowded social event, full of dancing people and music, and she had a pronounced dislike for loud, crowded social events, dancing, music and interacting with other people in general...

She hoped that her outfit fit her, at least, as she had ordered her school uniform with skirts that were several sizes longer than they were initially meant to be. She didn't really like the length of the ones in the standard uniform, and had intended to tailor them to her measurements herself once she received them. Come to think of it, however, that might just provide her with an excuse not to go. She couldn't be blamed if her dress didn't fit her, could she? With that in mind, she responded:

"Sure. Just give me a moment to prepare myself. I have just arrived. I will join you in the main room when I am done. It should not take too long."

After heading back to her room, she found that, unfortunately, the dress they had chosen for her was sadly the correct size. Well that was inconvenient. Oh well. At least they hadn't given her one of those ridiculously elaborate ones like she had seen other students wearing on the way to the dorm. As far as costumes were considered, she would even go as far as to admit that they couldn't have picked a better fit for her. It was a surprisingly sensible, long sleeved, ankle length grey dress, which came with a pair of very high heeled white sandals and a simple, unembellished traditional white theater mask with a neutral expression on its face. Best of all, however, the dress was long, opaque, and covered most of her body, which meant that she could wear some of her regular clothes underneath it unnoticed. That way, not only would she feel less exposed, but she could always take it off later if it made her uncomfortable. A bit improper, but she didn't really care at that point. Also, proper or not, there was no way she was wearing those shoes. They were just an ankle break waiting to happen. No, she was sticking with her usual black flats, regardless of what anyone else might say, thank you very much.

She got dressed quickly, thinking of possible ways she could excuse herself from the masquerade as she did so. The mask, while it didn't have any mouth holes, was unexpectedly comfortable, and, though it muffled her speech slightly, didn't really impede her breathing to any significant degree. The dress was thankfully simple to put on, and it took her no longer than a minute or two to tie it up at the front over her regular clothing. Checking herself in one of the room's many mirrors, she noted with satisfaction that she couldn't see the plain jeans and tee shirt that she was wearing underneath. Good. She hesitated a little bit, then picked up a worn out, modestly sized black purse from her luggage. Despite being slightly larger than the ones people usually took at these sorts of events, it probably wouldn't be too noticeable, and would give her the capacity to carry things. She quickly added a few items into it, then headed back to the main room, where her dorm mate was waiting for her.

Although she wasn't very adept at reading other people's expressions, she was fairly sure that she could literally see her red haired new companion shimmer with excitement as they headed for the hall. Because of her little impromptu tour of the school grounds while looking for her dorm, she had a fairly good idea of where it was, and they arrived there without too much trouble. It appeared that fair number of people had already arrived, and were already beginning to mingle with one another. They were all dressed in appropriately silly costumes and masks, although admittedly some were more extravagant than others. She began to wander around the crowd, hoping to lose Nellia quickly in it so she could return to her room.

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