Sky Blue
Bluetommy
Carlyle
AThousandCurses
The Raven Calls
HylianRose
TheMushroomLord
Heckno12
Lunarlord34
Collab Rikka and Magnhild
It had been some time after the nurse had given her the note and left, Rikka had tossed the note to the other side of the room leaving it lying defeated next to the facing wall. She had been quietly sitting on the bed drinking some tea with lemon and taking a few medications for a soar throat, nothing else to serious had fallen on the girl. The gas had done the most damage which wasn't much.
During her time that she was peacefully drinking her tea while staring at either the ceiling or her tea a familiar looking girl had entered the room as well like she was some sort of delinquent. Rikka had only yet noticed the girl when she walked a few feet towards her, Rikka lightened up in cheerfulness as she saw her roomie checking up on her. The only visit she got unfortunately... but a good visit at least! Rikka quickly noticed her old clothes on the chair next to her, just like any tiger trying to catch its pray Rikka lashed out towards the clothing swiftly moving the clothing under her sheets with some use of her time magic to slow down time so Mag wouldn't see. Rikka was happily smiling at the girl with a few sweat drops of panic along sides her head in fear the girl might have seen them. She was quiet cautiousness about someone seeing her clothes on the lose like that.
Rikka gave a short wave before Mag sat down, she seemed quite the delinquent the third time she had seen her. She pretty much looked like one as well but she didn't exactly expect Mag to act like one. Mag sat down next to her in the empty chair like some deliquent as well facing her in casual manner. Rikka stared at the girl her soft lips as she saw the pretty uncaring eyes above them. Mag asked her about the exam and how she was doing, Rikka looked around past the bed for a moment seeing her bag alongside the other side of the bed. She moved herself closer and sat on her knees while reaching down from the bed. Unknowingly her skirt was a bit shorter then she thought giving Mag a gap if she put a little bit of energy in it. Rikka took her notebook from her bag and a pen as she wrote back to Mag.
'I'm alright but, I didn't pass the exam.'
'How did you do?'
Due to her magical ineptitude, Magnhild didn't really notice Rikka's use of magic, rather she felt the energy of it.. Not enough to register any sort of reaction, but what did cause a reaction was the sudden disappearance of the clothes that once sat on the chair.. No questions were to be asked. She was actually glad that her roommate wasn't injured too badly. She would've smiled had the other girl stated that she had passed her exam, but there was really nothing to be ashamed of.
"I passed the combat exam. I think I failed the others." She wrote simply on the notebook in reply. Her handwriting seemed ever so slightly neater.
'I have the exact opposite of you I think >.<'
'You can talk if you want, it is alright. I can read lips'
Rikka gave a short smile at Mag that it was okay for her to talk regularly. That was the whole point of her lipreading so people found it easy to talk to her instead of keep having to write.
Rikka was a little curious how this girl could be so bad at written exams and any exam apart from fighting. It sounded like some fairy tale where in she grew up with wolves or something. Rikka imagined Mag with wolf ears and it fitten pretty well. 10/10 she would pet. The eyes matched as well so. But maybe she should give the reason she didn't pass the exam. It would only be fair to her roommate to tell her her secret first. Well secret, her whole group experienced her terror of bugs so she wouldn't be surprised if the whole school knew by tommorow.
'I had to fight a big bug, I don't really like bugs. They are pretty scary I think. So they ate my mask after I got tired of using my magic.'
'How did you survive through that exam? It seemed a little hard for an entree exam.'
Mag smiled back at Rikka when she was told that it was okay to speak instead of write. Her hand already hurt from holding the pen. When she spoke of the bugs, she remembered her fight sounding.. quite different.
"I had to fight a big bug too. It was like.. This big" Mag began, gesturing with her arms, suggesting it was many times bigger than a normal Ashhopper. She wasn't lying.
"It tried to chew my arm off, but it couldn't for some reason. Then it started kicking me in the leg.. That hurt a little." She continued, as she spoke she sounded pretty excited, almost like a kid that went on a big adventure. Something that nobody would expect from someone like Mag.
Mag showed Rikka with her arms how big the bug she had to fight was. Rikka sat a little unbelieving on the bed but suddenly seemed a tad shocked seeming how big it was from the look on her face. Suddenly sweating a little the memories of before came back. I-it tried to chew her arm off and kicked her... H-how was she still alive after all that. Dropping her pen Rikka sat there looking in shock at the girl unknowingly uttering a little with her vocals.
"E-e-eehhh"
Quickly grabbing the pen from her bed again she started frantically writing on the paper.
'Are you dead? Am I seeing ghost. No, no, no way you have survived that!'
Shivering a little again she poked out the pen at Mag after she had finished writing to push the back against her cheek to if she was real or not.
Mag has leaned forward to read what Rikka had written, only to have a pen poke her in the face. It tickled a little. The chimera chuckled before answering.
"It could be because of who I am. I'm a chimera. A Pangolin chimera at that." She said simply. Magnhild has little to no qualms with telling others that she was a chimera. Hell, Rikka probably already knew that she was. Humans somehow find out on way or another, right? Maybe they had some sort of talent for spotting chimeras?
"Erak, my foster father, always said that I was pretty tough, but I didn't think I was that tough."
Mag het cuteness made Rikka blush for a moment, it was too sweet to see her cheek bend in like that. The sudden word of Mag that she was a chimera caught Rikka a little off guard. She was? She truly, truly was a chimera? Mag didn't seem anything out of ordinary. Maybe something under her clothes somewhere. Was she right about the wolf ears? That would be a little weird but she could be hiding stuff with magic as well. Pangolin? She didn't understand what that was.
'What is chimera about you? If I may ask off course. You look human to me too be honest. YOU AREN'T AN INSECT ARE YOU?!'
Rikka really was paranoid about insects it seemed. She even went as far to have insect spray nearby in her room. It wouldn't end well for Mag if she was an insect. Calming down a little again Rikka wrote another question for her. It became a little clearer when she was told that she was a chimera.
'Is that why you are dumb...'
Holdup, that was mean to ask, Rikka quickly moved her pen over the paper a few times to erase the word and changed it for something else instead. It wouldn't be good for her if she started crying.
'Not so good at written exams?'
The chimera took awhile to read everything Rikka was writing, missing the words she crossed out, but ended up stifling a laugh. She shook her head, still smiling in amusement. "I never went to school, so I'm bad at everything, and no I'm not an insect." She answered as she took her jacket off, revealing her black singlet. She stood up from her chair, turning her body to the side; the back of her singlet wasn't there, replaced by a few straps that kept the cloth from waving like an apron. This design showed off her scales quite clearly.
"This is what makes me a Chimera." She stated simply, pointing at the scales as her other hand brushed her long hair away. In the back of her mind, she crossed out the possibility that humans had a talent for finding chimeras.
"Also, were you born deaf or did you get into an accident?" She asked bluntly. She remembered the old aunty again. She recalled being told that the aunty got into an accident and became deaf.. Or something like that. Maybe she was born that way. Mag had already forgotten.
Rikka looked surprised as she heard the girl never went to school, she imagined her coming from the boonies as well but at least Rikka got down mostly everything. Although that was also mostly because she is a huge nerd. You wouldn't want to see her book collection in her room. It was pretty big compared to normal human beings. Back to the point! Mag didn't study herself either, what had she done those first few years of her life? Gazing at Mag she mostly came to the conclusion of sleeping and eating. Rikka pulled a monotone look on her face as she thought about how see through this girl actual was.
'What did you do in all those years you didn't go to school?'
Luckly she wasn't an insect at least, Mag pulled the jacket off revealing that she had been walking around in a special singlet. This was not just a cut out piece of singlet but a special made one! Must be more of their sort around then, maybe there was a book about them as well. Rikka gazed at the scales in surprise. They were pretty cool, she looked a little like an animal with those scales. It looked cute and cool at the same time. Rikka didn't even excuse herself as she touched the scales. Firstly with her finger too with her full hand, softly brushing her hands over them. Scales were just like bones right, so she wouldn't feel it. Most likely. Rikka played around them for a while longer before looking back at the face of Mag in amazement, having missed anything she would have said during that time.
'They are cool! You are like a turtle!'
Mag asked a personal question to her short after. Rikka was caught a little off guard as she awkwardly chuckled a bit with a hand behind her head. She got this a lot, she didn't mind answering but she always felt a little awkward answering that type of question. Like what would they achieve with that info? Find a cure? She still hadn't gotten a cure from anyone!
'I'm a chimera as well! I'm part mole! I can see amazing underground!'
Rikka was making a joke, she did try to make it convincing by the detirmined look on her face. She then erased the part with a few scribbles and started over.
'It is from an infection when I was a baby. It is permanent brain damage near the root so I was pretty lucky it didn't do anything else bad.'
It took Rikka to write longer than normal, she had to put this to paper well and didn't want to make any faults and it to be completely clear in one go so Mag knew as roommate.
Mag could barely feel Rikka's hands on her scales, but it she knew what her roommate had stopped touching them. After the short session of show and tell, Mag put her jacket back on, resuming her seat as the human carefully wrote into her notebook once more. Mag gave the girl an amused smirk when she said that her scales made her 'like a turtle'. She hadn't heard that one before. Rikka's chimera 'joke' almost tricked Mag, but she wasn't that dumb. Rather, she was quite amused by it.
Mag simply nodded in acknowledgement after reading what Rikka said about her condition. "Hmm..? Well everyone's lucky in their own way, I guess." She stated plainly before remembering the other question asked of her. Her smile vanished, her expression returning to it's usual blank state.
"Fourteen years before I came here, I was busy begging on the street." She answered simply, her gaze locking with Rikka's. There was obviously a lot more to it. however, it was obvious that Magnhild wasn't saying any of this for pity. There was a slight pause before she continued.
"I spent the last four years getting used to this country.. And it felt a little late to join a normal school. That's what Erak said anyway." She shrugged.
Mag finished with telling Rikka they were happy about something all in a different way, it was true though. She felt glad that she wasn't some tomato plant at least. She could still live like a normal human despite her disability. It took a long time to lip read as good as this but she felt normal now at least.
Rikka didn't think about her question at all. It was clear she should have thought about it some more. The moment Mag her expression changed Rikka shifted her pose more towards Mag as she read her lips with her mouth somewhat agape. She was so totally wrong about this girl. She shouldn't have thought about it like that. This girl was trying her hardest to fit in by coming to school right now. It felt a bit shocking to see her history clearly now. The girl didn't show any sense or remorse or anger, it was just blankness like she hadn't cared for all those past years. Was she trying to forget them? or did she really not care? Mag spoke about this Eraq thing but didn't find it to be a fitting topic to talk about for now.
Rikka stared at the girl for a while longer after she was done talking. She didn't know what words she should say. She didn't know if she should either cheer her up or tell her that she felt sorry for her. With determined eyes she wrote and showed it to mag looking her directly in the eyes.
'You are the coolest person I have ever met Mag! Cooler than any manga superhero! You have a tragic past but also a wide futher! Maybe you'll become something like a fire fighter or something! They are cool!'
Although her expression was blank, she was actually trying really hard to steel her emotions. Rikka's determined expression surprised her, but what surprised her moreso was what she said. A grin returned to her face as wiped away the single tear that she had been holding back. She didn't really know what 'manga' was, but it was all going pretty overboard with the 'cool' part. She moved closer, gentle taking one of Rikka's hand into her own.
"Thanks, Rikka." She said.
Until now, Mag hadn't actually told anyone other than Erak about her past.. Even though she hadn't told the girl everything that had happened. Perhaps that was for another time, it was probably a little too heavy of a conversation for a infirmary visit.
Suddenly her stomach growled loudly. She'd just remembered that she was still hungry from the exam.
"Can you walk? We could go to the Cafeteria for some food." She asked, placing her other hand on her stomach as some sort of gesture.
Rikka her speech definitely hit something in Mag. The girl let out a tear as she took Rikka her hand gently into her own. Rikka just gave a suprised look as the girl suddenly got so emotional. Rikka couldn't look at her when she looked so sweet with the expression. Rikka softly turned her head away with a slight blush on her face. She softly nodded her head as she received a thank you from Mag from the corner of her eye.
Rikka turned back to Mag as she felt the warmth of her face disappear slightly. Mag asked her if she could walk. Rikka gave a nod before tilting her head to the side in question to why she asked... The armadillo girl put a hand on her own stomach, seemingly hungry. Firstly looking a bit surprise Rikka gave another nod that she was fine with going to the cafeteria. Must not have eaten yet before the exam.
Rikka got out from underneath her sheets and stood up on the ground again feeling a little weak legged still but could stand by leaning on the bed. Her clothes were still in the bed, she could probably put them in her bag without Mag noticing. Rikka put the stuff in her bag and left the notebook in her arms so she could talk with Mag. Quickly she put her hair in a short pony tail and hopped over next to Mag as she was ready to walk to the cafeteria with her notebook held in both arms onto her stomach.
When they were a bit further down their path Rikka wrote something to Mag again. It was a little dangerous to talk while walking but she was sure it would be fine.
'Can't you wear nice clothing because of those scales?'
After reading the question, Mag scratched her chin for a moment, thinking about what 'nice clothing' even meant. "By nice clothing.. Do you mean dresses? I don't like wearing those. I've done it once, and it was really uncomfortable. But.. I can." She responded, facing Rikka so she could read her lips.
"It's hard to put on and hard to move it... And someone gets angry if I get it dirty." She added with a shrug.
Rikka didn't know if she had any other clothing apart from those special singlets she wore but she bet Mag could expand her wardrobe with some other clothing, there was plenty of pretty clothing that could be both comfortable to wear and cute. Mag would look good in anything to be honest.
'Any top clothing would probably be hard to wear for you. You don't like to wear a skirt either? You can just put it over the clothes you wear now. I bet you would look good in it.'
Rikka gave her a comforting smile that she would look good in a skirt, hell Rikka even had a spare with her from her accident during the exam. It had been washed already. Mag would look cute in that she thought, the girl looked very pretty, it was a shame she didn't wear any cute clothing.
"Skirts are too.. air-y?" She replied, trying to find a better way to describe it. She was comfortable in her jeans. "I'm not really used to have my legs exposed." She added with some uncertainty. Mag didn't really care about how she looked, as long as she felt comfortable in whatever she was wearing.
It wasn't long before they made it to the cafeteria, since it wasn't a major meal time, there wasn't much being served other than soups, and rice-like foods. Perhaps bread as well. Not that it bothered the chimera all that much. Food was food. She promptly went to get some soup and bread, which she received quite quickly due to the lack of a queue.
It did seem that Mag didn't like skirt and maybe either hasn't been fond of trying them before. Rikka could understand why a girl with such personality wouldn't like them. Maybe it was better not to push all too girly clothes onto Mag, tomboyish clothes would work better maybe. Rikka blushed little at the thought of trying to dress her up. Trying to make her scale stand out was perhaps a big plus for her. She seemed a bit shy about it right now with the jacket over it even though it could be really pretty.
They arrived at the canteen, Rikka was happy they got to a place where they could sit down for a moment to chat. It was a bit difficult for Rikka to chat and walk at the same time, she was probably luckly that she hadn't walked into anything yet. Mag wasn't picky about her food, she just picked a few of the first thing she had seen and liked while not even looking at the rest there was. It was mostly the same thing they served right now, easy stuff to make and quick to cook. Rikka got some tomato soup and apple juice, she wasn't all that hungry since she had eaten before the exam as well.
Rikka waited for her soup to cool down as she was chatting with Mag a little.
'Do you have other clothes then this? It doesn't sound like you have an awfull lot of them.'
'We should go to the store sometime to dress you in something pretty.'
Magnhild slowly dipped a piece of bread into her soup as she read Rikka's writing. She was getting a little faster at it, she must be getting use to her handwriting already.
"Uhh.. I don't really own any other clothes... Other than a few pairs of the same clothing. Erak lived that way, and I didn't really mind it. As long as I had clothes, y'know?"
The chimera thought on the second statement for a moment before nodding a little, "We could." She said finally with a slight smile as she put the soup soaked bread into her mouth. The Pangolin began to wonder what she would even look like in whatever Rikka had in mind. Unfortunately, her imagination wasn't that great, so she just came up with blanks.
Like Rikka had imagined, Mag didn't really have much other clothes. If they were clean at least it wasn't as big of a problem. She mentioned the same thing as before, Eraq? Rikka didn't know who or what it was but Mag seemed fond of it. Rikka raised a brow as she wrote something short on the paper.
'What is this Eraq?'
As long as she wore clothes it was fine. She was right, it was better then no clothes. Mag carefully agreed with going, she didn't seem all to confident in going shopping with Rikka. Was she afraid it wouldn't be a succes or did she feel a little forced to come?
'I'm sure it'll be fun.'
Mag continued eating her soup and bread so Rikka copied her and did the same as well. She wrote a little alongside eating her soup from time to time. Rikka hadn't been in Mag's room yet so she couldn't get what this girl her hobbies were at all.
'Do you have any hobbies Mag?'
Mag stared at the page for a moment, trying to remember if she actually mentioned who Erak actually was. She shrugged, deciding to answer the question anyway.
"Erak is my foster father. He took me in when I first arrived here." She answered simply.
"As for hobbies...Does taking naps count as a hobby? Oh! I like taking care of those small trees..." The chimera said, gesturing their tiny size. "Bonsai tree." She added, remembering their name.
"There's one in my room, if you'd like to see it later." She offered, dipping into her soup again. She noticed that she hadn't really been asking Rikka any questions, thus..
"Do you have any hobbies?" She asked back.
Oh... Foster, he was her foster father. Mag looked so uncaring with every question she answered. Rikka didn't think she wouldn't care for her foster dad. He took her in when she didn't have a house or anything, just lived on the streets like some animal.
'Do you love him?'
Of course this girl had to answer with taking naps... Rikka swiftly wrote a big NO on her notebook while giving her an annoyed look. That was just being lazy and not having a hobby at all. It suddenly occured to the girl that she did like to do something in her free time after all, babying small trees? That was a bit of an odd hobby for a young girl. Her chimera aspect didn't make her like immortal like a turtle or something did it?
'Isn't that a hobby for old men?'
Mag offered her to show it later when they were both back at the room again. Rikka gave a small nod, she was please that Mag wanted to show her something out of own will.
Mag asked her the same question back, if Rikka had any hobbies. Rikka jumped slightly as a light blush gushed over her face. She couldn't tell her she tended flowers now after basically calling her an old man.
'I read a lot of books and like to play old games as well. I don't do them often though since I'm either at school or working.'
As expected, she was barraged by more questions after asking one. She wasn't too shocked to see Rikka reject napping as a hobby, but at the same time she didn't understand how someone could dislike it.
"I wouldn't say I hate him. He's a nice person. I was told he was one of the stranger foster carers. Anyway, I am who I am now because of him. I'm thankful." She responded. "And caring for Bonsai is an art." She added with a slight pout, feeling somewhat offended. But in her heart, she knew it was a pretty 'old person' thing to do.
Magnhild merely nodded in acknowledgement of Rikka's hobbies, not really sure what to say about them.
'Foster parents always sound like nice people. I suppose it must feel a little weird having to rely on another parent and suddenly having to like them.'
Rikka would have probably ended up better if she had foster parents as well. She didn't really like her own parents for how they acted towards her. Buying things she needed but still giving her that annoyed look afterwards. It was the worth feeling you could get from that look.
Mag seemed somewhat offended by Rikka calling it a hobby for old men. It was true though, she had never seen a girl of her age do the same. Was it fun to cut leaves of a small tree in very precise ways? Rikka didn't really think so. Mag pouting was a new thing though, it was cute. She wouldn't see this girl irritated a lot she supposed so she had to get this good into her mind before she had to make her mad at her again.
