Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): Monster Academy - Chapter 3: Planning

[z-Skye Angelus]

“We will have to live with one another,” Kozue said, his voice still sharp with the irritation of his reply. “It seemed prudent to be courteous with you.” His tone hinted that he might regret that now.

“It is,” Kurosoroshiimaru assured him. Again, they were dancing the cruel dance of pointed words.

Kozue smiled. “I’m glad to be right again.”

Kurosoroshiimaru nodded once and turned to study his side of the room. Behind him, Kozue told Rica, “Begin unpacking. You know how I like my things.”

Skye’s hand tightened around Kuromaru’s but all she said was, “Would you like some help unpacking?” When he glanced down, she was smiling up at him, tension in her eyes. “Rather than me just standing her, I could help… if you don’t mind me touching your things, that is.”

[Karren Gaunt]

Originally Posted By: Kyradathea

So, when they entered the library, she reached out to put a hand on Yuuki's shoulder, and gestured to Delilah.. "Why don't you show Kyohei some of those spots, the Dyrad and I will explore the library and have a bit of a talk while you do." Her sharp sense of smell had already identified Yuuki's race to her, and her hearing would allow her to know where Delilah and Kyrhei were while she had a talk with the Dryad. "I think about 15 minutes or so, would be right."

"It's pronounced dry-ad, Kyra-San," corrected Yuuki mildly, politely as possible removing the larger girl's hand from her shoulder, "And I would not object if Kyohei-San desired such a thing to work out any complications."

So. A Succubus with... intentions towards her roomate of some unsavory sort that he was clearly not entirely opposed to. Okay. At least it distracted from the fact she was in a room with at least five times more paper than she'd ever seen in her life, too much of it to have been culled from a dying tree or recyled over time if this Academy was only a 100 years old.

[Justin OOC]

Kyohei looked to Delilah as Kyra effectively took Yuuki for a tour, leaving the two of the alone.

"Well, that was slightly unexpected." He was actually smiling, and his guard was completely down.

[Delilah Synn]

"I'll say," Delilah said, adding an extra sultry tone to her voice as she inhaled deeply and pressed her outlandish proportions against Kyohei, shoving him against one of the stacks. "If a girl is going to be your room-mate, it should be me. We'll hafta see about trading rooms."

After the tension building between them for the last while, it was nice to be able to talk to him easily. If she could get the surly, half-angel Skye involved with the arrogant hengeyokai prince, well her and Kyohei's problems were small potatoes. With a wicked grin, Delilah led Kyohei deeper into the Library.

She skipped over the first intimate nook she led them to, tasting the eager lust emanating from it... though not without taking a quick peek inside. That was fine, there were plenty of nooks - she drew Kyohei to one of her favourites, hidden in a far corner of the Library on the third floor. In the hollow concealed by carefully arranged shelves, there was a thick mass of soft pillows.

The demonically strong succubus shoved her boyfriend to the ground then curled up on his lap. She placed one of his hands on an over-abundant breast, one of her hands slipping inside his pants with deft skill.

"I think I want you as my Mate of Fate, Kyohei, but I need to know if you want that too," Delilah asked seriously, not hampered in the least by their intimate position. "But we'll talk more of that and what it means later. Right, I just want to make-out and forget about our troubles, at least for now."

[Justin OOC]

Kyohei for his part took the situation in stride. It was more than he expected, but it wasn't like he really wanted to fight back... much.

He nodded and suprised her with how forceful he could be, his hands not sitting idle as he pulled her to him and kissed her.

Sometime later he came up for breath.

"You..Know.. This is.. probably why... We aren't... Roommates."

[Togashi Kagato]

Originally Posted By: Skye Angelus

Skye’s hand tightened around Kuromaru’s but all she said was, “Would you like some help unpacking?” When he glanced down, she was smiling up at him, tension in her eyes. “Rather than me just standing her, I could help… if you don’t mind me touching your things, that is.”

He considered that for a moment, his eyes on hers. Normally, he'd have servants do all of the unpacking, ensuring his clothes were washed and pressed after travelling, arranging his toiletries, and making sure that his bonsai plants, books, scrolls and so on were arranged just so. Much like Rica was currently doing for Kozue, though of course his servants were not slaves, but honored hengeyokai who jealously guarded their privilege of service.

But here he had no servants. Admittedly, he didn't have the usual thirty-and-one cases of belongings that comprised his 'travelling baggage' when he travelled his father's lands. He had one trunk and one case, a pitiful sampling of his usual panoply. He sighed a little when he thought of it, then shrugged, nodding politely to Skye.

"I would be glad of your assistance." he told her with formal gratitude. She smiled back and moved beside him as he pressed a palm to the seal on the trunk, which glowed and then disappeared under his touch. Throwing open the trunk, he repeated the opening on the suitcase and began carefully bringing out the selection of 'human' clothing that his sister had sent as gifts on learning that he'd be coming here. It was quite a wide selection, ranging from fine silk pyjamas to suits in various cuts, t-shirts, jeans, and footwear of varying types. Skye noted that with each article, Kuromaru would hold it up as though examining it for the first time, feeling the cloth and studying the clothing with an air of detached curiousity.

[SalmonMax]

"I take everything seriously," Aria rebutted. "But I don't see that I'm in any more danger now than before. We've known a powerful, potentially violent presence is working behind the scene here for some time. To be frank, there's nothing we can do about it except flee, or fight. We already decided to fight, and to do that we need to know more. I will be careful, but freezing in our tracks at the first sign of what stalks us isn't going to save us."

She glanced briefly down at the imp, then back at Darrick. "Interesting that this...whatever it is...is so powerful, but so careful. What is it hiding from, I wonder?"

[Delilah Synn]

Originally Posted By: Kyohei

"You..Know.. This is.. probably why... We aren't... Roommates."

"This is exactly why we should be Roommates," Delilah countered, her voice breaking into a squeal as Kyohei's lips left her mouth and drifted lower. Though her breath was coming faster, but she was hardly out of it - after all, she was a succubus, intimacy simply filled her with even more energy to expend. It was a vicious cycle, which Kyohei might one day fully experience.

There were worst ways to die than through being pleasured into mortal delirium.

"After all, they must know we're gonna do this anyway - we're just gonna waste more school time sneaking around." With Kyohei's mouth occupied elsewhere, she assaulted him with her deft fingers and coy tongue, her sensual voice taking on a sweetly reasonable tone, if being no less sultry. "In fact, separating us when there is another option will make our studies suffer. As an educational institution, it is their duty to let us share a dorm-room... purely for the sake of our studies, of course."

Before Kyohei could respond, Delilah's mouth found his again, once more stealing his breath.

[Toby Lupin]

Darrik's brow furrowed in thought, before he glanced at Aria, meeting her gaze levelly. "Equals perhaps. If this is indeed a powerful entity, well, I don't doubt the teachers and Headmaster, should the need require them to fight, are well above our level, and there so far is only one of IT. A stand-up fight is not the best tactic in such situations, and the further our enemy remains largely unknown, the less we understand of their capabilities."

Another thought occurred to him. "On the other hand, I know that dragons, vampires and demons all can wipe memories, I know. Not necessarily the more powerful ones. Not that I am certain of this, but he, she or it may be weaker than we think. To our knowledge the only demonstrated victims are my imp and Saizo. We could be fooled into overestimated power levels by the sheer shock of an immediate kill or complete mind wipe, never mind how much energy it really took the perpetrator to achieve."

"Anyway, I suppose if you're willing to take the risk, so be it. I don't think I should provoke the threat-maker just yet."

[z-Skye Angelus]

Skye watched him for a moment, then asked, “Do you know what this stuff is for?”

“That is why I am here,” Kurosoroshiimaru said, saying no without actually confessing ignorance. “What are these for?” He held up shiny black dress shoes, looking to his human-world tutor.

“Those are for dress-up occasions,” Skye explained, digging around for a moment before coming up with a silk button-down shirt in dark gray and finely-woven black wool pants. She draped the shirt over his shoulders so she could get an idea of what it’d look like on him: hot, of course. “Where is… ooo…” Skye all-but cooed when she saw the carefully packed ties. “Sorry,” she said, pulling out a black one and holding it over the shirt. “Getting to dress a guy is a lot of fun.”

Kozue was in the room, so he didn’t smile. But she saw the warmth in his eyes as he told her, “These things would all go together?”

“Yes, for a dance or something. Though prom would be a tuxedo,” Skye said, putting the tie back and pulling down the shirt. There were hangers in the closet and she started to hang up the shirt and pants.

Kuromaru watched and then began to help, putting the clothes away. “And this?” he asked, holding out a soft-knit jersey shirt.

Skye smiled and rubbed a soft sleeve against her cheek. “This would be good for just hanging out on a day too chill for short sleeves and too warm for a jacket. And it’s soft. Perfect for-” She abruptly remembered Kozue, who had nothing to do as Rica was unpacking for him. A covert glance revealed that he was reading a book, his feet propped up on his desk. “Perfect for wearing,” Skye finished, leaving off statements about snuggling against the chest of the wearer.

As she arranged shoes in the shoe tree, she heard him ask. “When should I wear these?” Skye turned to find him holding up a pair of white briefs.

“Merhp!” Skye yipped and turned around, her face coloring. She’d never seen boy’s underwear before. Thank god he wasn’t wearing them, she thought, right before she chided, And you just acted like a total spaz in front of your super-hot demon boyfriend. Skye forced herself to turn around, though her eyes were firmly on his and refused to drift lower. “That’s… underwear. Intimates. Worn under the clothing to keep… things… in place. I think. That’s how it works for girls. You should ask Kyohei about them.” Her face was a brilliant red as saw him glance at the hangers; she quickly added, “Most people fold them in drawers. Where they can’t be seen.” He looked at her and she locked her eyes on his green ones. “And some people find them to be sexy, since they are only worn under clothing or in private, with people you’re close to. I’m not sure what the correlation in your world is.”

[Kyradathea]

Originally Posted By: Envoy

Originally Posted By: Kyradathea

So, when they entered the library, she reached out to put a hand on Yuuki's shoulder, and gestured to Delilah.. "Why don't you show Kyohei some of those spots, the Dyrad and I will explore the library and have a bit of a talk while you do." Her sharp sense of smell had already identified Yuuki's race to her, and her hearing would allow her to know where Delilah and Kyrhei were while she had a talk with the Dryad. "I think about 15 minutes or so, would be right."

"It's pronounced dry-ad, Kyra-San," corrected Yuuki mildly, politely as possible removing the larger girl's hand from her shoulder, "And I would not object if Kyohei-San desired such a thing to work out any complications."

So. A Succubus with... intentions towards her roomate of some unsavory sort that he was clearly not entirely opposed to. Okay. At least it distracted from the fact she was in a room with at least five times more paper than she'd ever seen in her life, too much of it to have been culled from a dying tree or recyled over time if this Academy was only a 100 years old.

"Dryad, dry-ad.. it's all the same to me, though I suppose if I decide your not a danger to my friends, it will be important to know how to say it.. and as a dry-ad, likely you are too vulnerable to fire to be dangerous to me.. and you are quite polite and beautiful, you may worth knowing." She was being quite blatant and direct, leaving little doubt as to her concern and why her concern was so sharp.. she was a dragon protecting her horde.. which in this case, were her friends. "So.. you smell like trees and flowers..what kind of dryad are you?"

[Karren Gaunt]

"I am Hina Yuuki of the Hina Clan, a Dryad of born of a blessed Sakura Tree and an Aware of sixteen winters, sent to learn what this Academy may teach us before my Clan entrusts more of my sisters to it's care," she replied with the serenity possible only to the near immortal, green eyes blinking up at the girl confronting her. Fire, fire... Fire elemental, demon, or dragon? It didn't particularly matter which Krya-San was, there were botanical counters to all of them. Still...

"And yourself, Krya-San? There are many monsters with an affinity for the flames that clear out deadwood and open up the canopy for new saplings."

[Kyradathea]

In typical draconic arrogance, Kyra completely forgot that one of the general weaknesses of dragons was the strange and mystical plant that grew in certain very isolated places in the Monster realm... known as Dragon's Bane, that could be used to weaken and even better hurt a dragon. A dryad would be very well positioned to make use of that particular weakness.. but Kyra didn't even think of that, it didn't even cross her mind... though she should have, there were reasons why the Dryad groves were not under the rule or protection of the Dragons... except where they wanted to be.

She took a deeper sniff of the air around Yuuki, and she smiled, and somehow softened slightly. "You smell very good, a rich smell of tree and flower... Sakura tree.. that makes you nobility of a sort among dryad's, doesn't it? Very well, my formal title is that of Princess, I am daughter of the Dragon Lord, and as yet, only of the Royal Dragon Clan... but I am generally called Kyra here.. " She didn't yet give her full name, as she wasn't sure that Yuuki was worthy of it yet.

[z010]

Rica went about her assigned duty with silent grace. She placed all her master's clothing in their respective places, arranged his shelves of books and small art pieces he had brought with him with a trained eye for the aesthetically pleasing. She even made his bed and set out a bottle of honeywine and filled a fluted glass for him when she finished unpacking.

She sat on her knees at his feet and held the glass up to him. "Your belongings are unpacked, master. Do you have another task for me?"

"No, Rica," he took the glass without bothering to look at her, his eyes still on the book in his lap. "You may have the afternoon, as I said. Return here at nightfall. You will sleep here until I decide otherwise, understood?"

"Yes, master."

She stood in a fluid motion, but hesitated before leaving. She was intrigued by the hengaiyokai lord and the woman that followed him, but was unsure if she should approach them. They were awkwardly courting, from what little she had observed, and she was uncertain if Kozue would forbid her from socializing with them if she did so in front of him.

[Karren Gaunt]

Originally Posted By: Kyradathea

She took a deeper sniff of the air around Yuuki, and she smiled, and somehow softened slightly. "You smell very good, a rich smell of tree and flower... Sakura tree.. that makes you nobility of a sort among dryad's, doesn't it? Very well, my formal title is that of Princess, I am daughter of the Dragon Lord, and as yet, only of the Royal Dragon Clan... but I am generally called Kyra here.. " She didn't yet give her full name, as she wasn't sure that Yuuki was worthy of it yet.

"Thank you. You have a very acute sense of smell, Krya-San, to detect that when I have my Mask in effect. Back home, together with my sisters and my aunts and the matriarchs all in their natural form, every room smells of sakura blossoms and fresh growth, even in depths of winter. It's going to be one of the things I'll miss while here," answered Yuuki plesantly, not even giving the potential matter of a Dragon's weaknesses a second thought as long as Krya was being so polite, "And the Hina are simply more organized and numerous than most Dryad Clans. We, like all Elementals, dance to the infrequent flicker of the Elemental Lord's desires."

Her smile turned considering and she gestured at the imposingly vast collection, "But please do tell me of the Newspaper Club. I was told that it was akin to a group for heralds and scribes, but have some trouble understanding the why and the how."

[Kyradathea]

"I am part of the club.. but we seem to be more about investigating things then scribing or heralding them.. though we then write them into the newspaper... it's some sort of human behavior, apparently, that they consider very useful and important.. I find it a bit odd.. if you want to know stuff, why not look into it yourself.. but it has been interesting and fun." The last was said with almost a dreamy tone to it, as though it has been a bit more then fun for her.

[Karren Gaunt]

"Ah, I see," answered the young dryad musingly, hands folded in front of her and quietly considering the tomb of trees they were walking in, shelf upon shelf packed with paper and wondering which forest they ravaged to produce so many books in so little time, "If I have time for some involvement after seeking out the Earth Elemental Kara and the Gardening Club that the plants we have passed mention, I shall heavily consider looking into it."

"So, what else should I know of this Academy while our other guides are... distracted, Krya-San?," Yuuki asked with a smile.

[Justin OOC]

The rest of the day passed simply enough, with everyone seeing to new arrivals, and making plans, be it for a date, club activities, or on how to deal with the danger in their midst. Miss Nekomone informed them all that evening that they'd meet with the Theater club in three days time, to formally discuss their involvement in the festival.

(OOC I'm going to end this here and award everyone 10 cp for a great job. If you wish to continue, I won't lock this thread, but the next chapter will be starting today.)

[Togashi Kagato]

"There." Kuromaru said as he stepped back and examined his desk and shelves. Everything was arranged to his satisfaction, and with Skye's assistance it had gone faster and smoother than otherwise. There had been a few things he hadn't allowed her to touch, for her own good. The collection of scrolls that his father had sent with him so that the prince could continue delving into the basics of royal hengeyokai magic were carefully sealed. Anyone other than his father or he that touched them would risk injury and pain, and if opened by the wrong hands... well, it would be best not to be in the vicinity.

"My thanks for your assistance." he told Skye with a brief smile and a slight bow. She smiled back up at him, her cheeks rose-tinted.

"No problem." she replied, stretching as she straightened up. "Feels like dinner-time to me. Would you like to come and eat with me?" She felt a little shy, fighting the urge to look up at him through her lashes like some coy naif she instead looked straight into his eyes. Luminous pools of green that went on forever and ever and-

Maybe looking up through her lashes would be safer, Skye mused as she managed to break the eye contact. Casting about for a save, she spotted Rica nearby not-watching her and her boyfriend. "Are you coming to dinner too, Rica?" She flicked a glance at Kuromaru to see if he objected, but the Cat Prince's face was impenetrable as he too glanced at the vampire's 'property'.

"I understand the meals are taken in a public setting." he said coolly, giving Rica a faint nod. "That being the case, if one cannot have privacy then one might as well have polite company." It was as close to an invitation as a slave would receive from him, at least on first acquaintance.

[z010]

Rica bowed politely to Skye and Kurosoroshiimaru. "Thank you for inviting me to accompany you to dinner."

The three filed out of the room with no further comment from the vampire left behind. Once away from her master, some of the coiled meekness melted away from the young woman. She pulled out the map of the campus she had tucked into her belt and found the cafeteria. "Mi- Skye, have you been at the Academy for long? I know very little of it, other than that my master's family and the other noble vampire families send their young here to hone their hunting skills in the human world."

She was not trying to exclude Kurosoroshiimaru from conversation, but the daiyokai seemed disinclined towards her because of her master so she opted for the safer conversational companion.

[z-Skye Angelus]

Skye shrugged. “About three weeks,” she sighed, “three long, miserable weeks.”

“Is it so bad here?” Rica asked, looking a little concerned.

Skye opened her mouth to say yes it was and then stopped. “Well… I don’t want to be here,” she said softly, her blue eyes troubled. “My father sent me here. I want to be home, on Earth. But my mother and grandmother are dead, so that’s not really an option unless I want to be in foster care. My father… I don’t think he knows what to do with me.” Skye said the hard truth firmly, making herself say it instead of dancing around it or whining about it.

“I guess this place isn’t quite that bad. Everything’s just a little off, though and it’s kinda getting on my nerves.” Skye waved at the serving line. “Like this looks like a cafeteria, but there’s different food.” She eyed the dishes, all so similar but otherwise alien. “It’s almost home but then it totally isn’t. It’s… annoying.”