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Emy · Feb 9, 2016

@Monad @Thoth

Xun Zhen Lin

Lunar New Year usually tended to involve candles, firecracks, and fireworks. To Xun, those were all ingredients for a nice weekend spent in a partially self-induced coma. The Year of the Monkey was supposed to be one of the more unlucky ones on the calendar so he supposed that it was only fair that this year was probably the worst he had experienced in recent memory. Good Year of the Monkey, indeed.

He couldn't wait for summer. Fall meant fires for the leaves. Winter meant fires for warmth. Spring meant even more fires for warmth. Summer, though. Summer meant random bonfires and the keyword here was random. Meaning that most people wouldn't be burning them, and that there would be less of them to skirt around. Summer was the best time of year and that was probably why he hadn't been born during it.

In five more hours, I can go home. The administrative building was safe, though. Very safe. Except for the candles here and there or the students practicing fire magic just outside. Xun stared blankly at his computer screen, randomly mashing the arrow keys around. Students had been processed. Taxes had been filed. Records had been updated. Wasn't somebody supposed to come in for a tour at some point? Giving or receiving, he couldn't quite remember. He would probably go with them, though. He hadn't been burned by something all day.

Reincarnation, Xun found, tended to poke holes in his logic from time to time. Safety was sadly boring.

Monad · Feb 10, 2016

@Emy @Thoth

Olaf was, understandably, pretty nervous. Why wouldn't he be? Aside from the usual anxiety of changing schools and moving to a new place, the last week or so had been a whirlwind of packing and preparations, and the flight to Manta Carlos had felt like an eternity (though really it was only a day at the most, and the Academy had been kind enough to pay for the trip). Add the revelation that magic was real and that he wasn't entirely human on top of that, and you'd forgive him for feeling just a little bit overwhelmed. Still, there was something exciting about it all. Walking through the front entrance had felt like his first steps into another world, a secret place just for people like him.

Walking into the admissions office didn't feel nearly as good. In fact, Olaf found the idea of asking for a tour a lot more nerve-wracking then coming here in the first place. He'd already had to ask for directions twice now, and he wasn't interested in wasting anyone else's time. With one hand stuffed into the pocket of his hoodie and the other readjusting the duffle bag slung around his shoulder, he puffed out his chest and approached the desk.

He cleared his throat, a sound like gravel in a rock tumbler, and tried not to stare at the man behind the desk (at least they looked like a man. Olaf didn't want to assume anything.) Between the bandages and those glittering, golden wings, he wasn't sure what to keep his eyes away from first. Either way, he fought to retain eye contact. Didn't want to be rude.

"Ah, excuse me." He grumbled, accent still heavy even when run through the translation enchantments. "Is this the admissions office? I was told to come here for a tour." His inflection was flat as he tried to hide his nervousness.

Romi · Feb 10, 2016

For every student Ion showed around, he ended up getting paid. It wasn't much - it wasn't like he was getting a hundred dollars for a tour or anything - but it added up. Even better, he did the tours on campus, and that meant literally not one person was going to raise an eyebrow about him studying while waiting. Some jobs would get you in trouble if you were buried in a book when a customer came in, but that was one of the big advantages of working in the school.

It wasn't unusual for Ion to be tucked away in a corner of the admissions office. Sometimes he sat in the chairs, but most of the time he simply hunkered down in the corner, face pressed in a book. Sometimes he was there for hours without anyone new coming in, but the difference between reading in a corner and reading in his room wasn't significant to him. Most of his work was just reading through stuff, and then if he thought it was important, writing down notes as he went through it again. Lots of what he read wasn't important. They might be interesting, but they weren't actually important for his major.

The fact that he'd been sitting tucked in a corner silently for hte better part of four hours meant it would probably come as a surprise when he seemed to spring out of nowhere, jumping to his full height, his book temporarily forgotten.

"You need a tour?" He blurted, as if summoned from the wall by the very mention of one.

@Emy, @Monad

Emy · Feb 10, 2016

Xun Zhen Lin

People had shown up! Just in time, Xun stopped himself from slamming his hands against the desk and screaming thanks to high Heaven. Maybe it would have been more accurate to say that a person had shown up while another had just started to be interesting again. That observation was also highly uncharitable of him and immediately, he felt ashamed for having thought it and hoped that whoever the newcomer was, telepathy was not one of his powers.

"Hello! Welcome to SA! I mean -welcome to the Academy!" He grimaced, grinned, and closed his eyes for a moment in embarrassment, holding his hands under the desk so they wouldn't be waving around. "You're new? Great! That's Ophion over there, one of our student guides. He'll be the main person showing you around today." Did he sound overly cheerful? Xun thought he sounded overly cheerful. He should stop.

He turned his attention to Ophion instead. "I don't think there was supposed to be anybody else coming in today." And if there was, nobody had told him beforehand. "If you're not too bothered by it, would you mind if I came with you?" The office is incredibly boring today and I would rather be set on fire right now. "I need to drop off class schedules. Everywhere." Maybe he sounded a bit too desperate. It wasn't like it was a lie, though. He always needed to pass around papers. It was just that he tended to delegate those tasks off.

Monad · Feb 11, 2016

Olaf nearly jumped out of his skin. Either his eyesight was fading prematurely, or he really just hadn't noticed the man sitting in the corner this whole time. He wasn't sure which to believe more. He was, after all, a tall man, only a few inches shorter than Olaf himself. Either way, he tried his best to keep his composure, which he managed fairly well, wit only a look of mild surprise to show for it.

He gave the man, Ophion, a curt nod. "It's nice to meet you." He intoned, his attempt at a polite greeting coming off as more forced and robotic than anything else. Just his own way of keeping them from seeing the butterflies in his stomach. "I hope I wasn't too late in getting here. There was, ah, some difficulty in finding the office. If you aren't too busy, I'd like to start as soon as possible." No, of course he wasn't too busy for a tour. That's what he was there for! Stupid, stupid, stupid! They probably thought he was some kind of bumbling oaf now, and Olaf couldn't move to hide the blush creeping up his neck without giving himself away further.

Instead, he fell silent, mouth pressing into a flat line as he reached out to drum his thick fingers on the edge of the desk. He slowly shifted his gaze between the two of them, like a metronome, unsure of who to focus on. "I wouldn't mind you coming along." He finally said, addressing the golden angel-thing. "That is, if Ophion is alright with it." Someone else to help keep things lively would be nice, and a second perspective on the campus in general wouldn't be bad either.

That, and Olaf wasn't entirely sure how to say "no" to him.

Romi · Feb 11, 2016

The newcomer to the school - the one who needed the tour - looked like he'd ran into a wall face first. Or maybe someone had just broken his nose, because it was large enough that it should have stuck out and instead looked oddly pressed back.

Perhaps most of all, he was young. He definitely had the height of a fully grown man, but Ion would have guessed he was firmly in high school. He was... well, he was unusually tall for his height, a solid two inches over Ion himself. Not that it was unusual, but nothing else about him particularly screamed that he was non-human.

"I'm fine with it." He added, even if a part of his brain was mentally checking to make sure that no, nothing in his contract forbid it, and he'd still get full pay even if he had 'help'. Probably Xun was just bored. It had been a slow day, and he didn't seem to be doing anything else, so why not tag along?

With practiced ease, Ion stuck his hand out for a handshake, a grin on his lips. "Names Ophion. I do tours around the school, and I'm a masters student in history. I've spent my whole life here, so if you've got any questions, you're free to ask." It was his standard spiel, and there was no doubt Xun had heard it a few times already. "You're in highschool, right? Probably best to start with the highschool dorms."

@Emy, @Monad

Emy · Feb 12, 2016

Xun Zhen Lin

Oh. He should introduce himself, right? Or maybe he should have done it earlier? Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, he said, "Ah, I'm Xun Zhen Lin. Xun is fine. I may not have been born here like Ophion but you learn a lot from working the desk a few years." Mostly, he just saw a lot of different people and beings. Angels were rare but nice to see, even if he did personally feel like they were all a bit judgmental. It probably just came with the territory.

This new student, though, he wasn't quite sure what he was. 'Human' didn't seem quite right and Xun had the distinct feeling that he knew very well what he was. It was simply eluding him at the moment. He knew that it would come out eventually, though, so there wasn't much use in pondering it over. To be honest, as long as he wasn't a demon, Xun would probably be fine with him. Even if he was, too, but.

In the middle of picking up the folders he needed, Xun looked up suddenly. "Oh, sorry! I'll need to log your name in. Er, do you mind?" That student hadn't actually introduced himself either. "It would only take a moment."

Monad · Feb 12, 2016

Olaf gave another nod of confirmation and an uncomfortably firm handshake, the kind where you have to put your free hand on the other person's forearm for stability. It was very official-looking. "I... think so? I'm in 10th grade, if that helps." How long was high school again? The school system here was really hard to wrap his head around. "And I'll keep that in mind. The questions thing. I'm still trying to, ah, get my bearings here, you see."

After what seemed like a million years, Olaf broke off the handshake, but just as he was about to suggest that maybe they should get moving, Xun had to remind him of the one thing he'd forgotten about. "Oh. Oh!' He exclaimed, shuffling closer to the angel. "I'm so sorry! It's, ah, Olaf. Olaf Jakobsen." God, how could he even forget to introduce himself? It was the rudest thing he could've done, short of lighting a small fire on the desk. Hopefully they wouldn't take it too personally.

He smoothed back a stray hair, smiling sheepishly. Any trace of his earlier stoicism had pretty much disappeared. Either it was the embarrassment or the comfort of knowing their names that did it, but Olaf was starting to feel just the slightest bit more open. "Really, I'm sorry. I was so caught up in seeing the school, I forgot to tell you my name! Please, forgive me."

Romi · Feb 12, 2016

The handshake was a bit unusual, but nothing worth even a raise of Ion's eye. "Tenth grade would be firmly in the middle of highschool, yep. I'd say the majority of newcomers are around high school age or a bit older. Lots of powers show up around the end of puberty, so you'll see lots of people in your classes that have only been on the island a few months." He explained, feeling slightly awkward as the handshake seemed to last forever.

Finally it was over, and of course Xun had to go delay the tour. He didn't mind the missing name. Some of the student didn't even have names. He'd had to name not one, but two different students at different points in his career. Well, one had a name, only it was completely unpronounceable by human mouths, so Ion had been forced to give him the closest approximation.

"Olaf it is." He said, eyes fixing firmly on the folders in Xun's hands. "Well, once you've signed in, I figure we can do the dorms, living areas, and then classrooms. That'll cover the big stuff, and we can both answer questions you've got. Then I'll get you to sign my thing to say you got the whole tour, and by then it should be..." He paused, suddenly blanking. How long had he been in the office exactly? "Dinner." It was probably two, if he had to guess. Which meant he'd been there for three hours already.

"So, what're you on the island for? What got you your magic invite letter?" The letter was not actually magic, but lots of people thought it was.

@Emy, @Monad

Emy · Feb 23, 2016

Xun Zhen Lin

He was not going to panic, he was not going to panic, he was not going to panic-

Xun practically smashed the keys in as he typed out the information into the relevant forms. “Ah, it’s nice to meet you!” He called over his shoulder, just a bit worriedly as the heat rose in his face. Some people blushed but Xun simply turned bright red all over. That was why it was a good thing nobody could really see his face all that well. It was only the fact that he was supposed to be doing a job that he wasn’t falling over himself trying to accommodate the new student in every way. That could wait until later. Probably.

He snatched up the folders that he needed, nodding hastily at Ophion to let him know that it was all right to start walking, before wincing at the sound of the drawers slamming shut.

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Emy

Well-Known Member

Monad

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Romi

Secretly a Bird

Emy

Well-Known Member

Monad

Guest

Romi

Secretly a Bird

Emy

Well-Known Member

Monad

Guest

Romi

Secretly a Bird

Emy

Well-Known Member