Post by Alexandros Skouriá on Oct 21, 2019 3:32:12 GMT -5
Haven was a big place.
It went without saying, of course, but that didn't make it any less true. The hunting academy technically fell under the Cloud District of Mistral due to its placement high up above the rest of the city, with its great number of buildings spread across a substantial area of the mountains not taken by private residences or especially well-off businesses. Having been born and raised in the kingdom's capital only one layer lower in the Wind District had its benefits for the young Skouriá, not the least of which being a familiarity with the general layout and 'flow' of the city; it was a rather pleasant and welcome surprise to find out that the school which Alex would be attending for the next three years was really not so different. Haven was a touch more sparse, however, than the city it called home, likely out of necessity to accommodate all its required facilities without interrupting or destroying the natural layout offered by the twin peaks; where the city was an intricately woven layered labyrinth of twisting and turning streets and alleyways run through by the occasional broad avenue or parade road, Haven was a touch more designed in its design.
Still, that didn't change the fact of the matter: Haven was big. Alexandros had quickly found himself able to find his way through the place, but the same could not be said for everyone.
Due to a mishap with an alarm set on his scroll, Alex had arrived very early for one of the day's classes. He was early enough to be early, but not nearly early enough to have the time to wander off and do something else -- he was the worst sort of early, where his sole option was to just sit around and wait for something even mildly interesting to happen. With nothing else to do, Alexandros pressed up against the side of the building in a relaxed lean, folding his arms and flicking his attention around in an attempt to find literally anything at all to be entertaining. From up against the wall, looking out into the open, the boy saw some birds, and some trainees, and... some more birds. Oh, and some more trainees.
Oh, good grief, he thought as his mind rotted away into a bored mush. This is hellish.
A quick look somewhere else: more of the same.
Another look, all the way out across to his right: unsurprisingly, yet more of the same.
Another look, this time to the left: to no great surprise, more of- wait, no! Something was happening!
Slowly but surely, a fellow student came pacing ahead. Her stride was one of clear purpose, held back by some sort of hesitation or uncertainty; Alexandros narrowed his eyes and focused in from where he stood, and noticed that the young woman was periodically slowing to scan through windows or search for labelled placards, presumably in order to understand whereabouts she was on the sprawling grounds of Haven. The boy stayed up to the wall, watching with an easy -- if somewhat awkward -- half-smile as the blonde pressed closer and closer.
"You look a little lost," he said, still leaning up against the wall. "Still trying to learn your way around the place, I take it?"
Alexandros was fairly certain he already knew the answer to the question, but there was no harm in asking it all the same; basic compassion and concern weren't at any sort of bizarre premium, leaving little reason to not simply ask the girl. After all, the situation wasn't one that was rich with options. Alex could have perhaps taken a silent approach and done nothing were he an asocial or rude prick, but even in the no-thought-given fleeting mental hypothetical it seemed horribly out of character. While it was fair to say that the boy possessed a quiet and somewhat unassuming quality, his nature was still one drawn to conversation and good-hearted companionship.
Ah, but all of that was largely beside the point -- not that there was any inherent point to all this. She looked unsure of where exactly she was going, or where she meant to be, and so the young Skouriá extended a small and honest kindness out unto her from the wall he finally unglued himself from with a press off from one foot.
The boy was at least half-certain that he'd seen her around, somewhere, but couldn't place any sort of name to the face; his synapses were firing like madmen with machineguns in a race to scour through memory for even the hint of a name, but it was to no avail. Whoever she was, she wasn't part of Lucian Van Sange's red class, which logically left only one alternative. Alex thought further, scratching at his temple, mentally taking himself back to the morning before the class draft which had been spent making an effort to learn more about his potential teammates.
It's Alice, or Emily, or... well, he thought, giving a tiny sigh of defeat, it's something.
"I'm really sorry, but I can't recall if we've met before; I'm Alexandros," he spoke further with a warmer smile than only moments before, making the journey of a few strides over and offering a handshake. "You must be in Deraine's group, right? The green class, under Miss Shadecloak?"
It was -- to say the least -- immediately obvious that there was some sort of divide between the two of them. She had an almost regal or noble air about her, while the boy quite clearly did not; every aspect of her seemed well-maintained and impeccably presentable on all accounts, while he instead gave off his rather usual impression of indifference with good intentions. Alex's hair was something of a choppy mess, and hers was not; Alex's uniform was a deviation by way of open black jacket and white dress shirt beneath, but the other rather rigidly -- and in the way a model student would -- wore hers perfectly with perhaps just an understated hint of pride. Even in the much more subtle ways of body language and posture, it was keenly apparent that the two of them really were quite different. In fact, just about the only common ground presenting itself was the plainly and stupidly obvious fact that both were students of Haven, and... well, no, that was about it.
She looks like she'll be polite, at least, the boy convinced himself, bringing up his other hand and giving it a quick run through his hair. People can look polite, right?
--
WC 1100/1100
It went without saying, of course, but that didn't make it any less true. The hunting academy technically fell under the Cloud District of Mistral due to its placement high up above the rest of the city, with its great number of buildings spread across a substantial area of the mountains not taken by private residences or especially well-off businesses. Having been born and raised in the kingdom's capital only one layer lower in the Wind District had its benefits for the young Skouriá, not the least of which being a familiarity with the general layout and 'flow' of the city; it was a rather pleasant and welcome surprise to find out that the school which Alex would be attending for the next three years was really not so different. Haven was a touch more sparse, however, than the city it called home, likely out of necessity to accommodate all its required facilities without interrupting or destroying the natural layout offered by the twin peaks; where the city was an intricately woven layered labyrinth of twisting and turning streets and alleyways run through by the occasional broad avenue or parade road, Haven was a touch more designed in its design.
Still, that didn't change the fact of the matter: Haven was big. Alexandros had quickly found himself able to find his way through the place, but the same could not be said for everyone.
Due to a mishap with an alarm set on his scroll, Alex had arrived very early for one of the day's classes. He was early enough to be early, but not nearly early enough to have the time to wander off and do something else -- he was the worst sort of early, where his sole option was to just sit around and wait for something even mildly interesting to happen. With nothing else to do, Alexandros pressed up against the side of the building in a relaxed lean, folding his arms and flicking his attention around in an attempt to find literally anything at all to be entertaining. From up against the wall, looking out into the open, the boy saw some birds, and some trainees, and... some more birds. Oh, and some more trainees.
Oh, good grief, he thought as his mind rotted away into a bored mush. This is hellish.
A quick look somewhere else: more of the same.
Another look, all the way out across to his right: unsurprisingly, yet more of the same.
Another look, this time to the left: to no great surprise, more of- wait, no! Something was happening!
Slowly but surely, a fellow student came pacing ahead. Her stride was one of clear purpose, held back by some sort of hesitation or uncertainty; Alexandros narrowed his eyes and focused in from where he stood, and noticed that the young woman was periodically slowing to scan through windows or search for labelled placards, presumably in order to understand whereabouts she was on the sprawling grounds of Haven. The boy stayed up to the wall, watching with an easy -- if somewhat awkward -- half-smile as the blonde pressed closer and closer.
"You look a little lost," he said, still leaning up against the wall. "Still trying to learn your way around the place, I take it?"
Alexandros was fairly certain he already knew the answer to the question, but there was no harm in asking it all the same; basic compassion and concern weren't at any sort of bizarre premium, leaving little reason to not simply ask the girl. After all, the situation wasn't one that was rich with options. Alex could have perhaps taken a silent approach and done nothing were he an asocial or rude prick, but even in the no-thought-given fleeting mental hypothetical it seemed horribly out of character. While it was fair to say that the boy possessed a quiet and somewhat unassuming quality, his nature was still one drawn to conversation and good-hearted companionship.
Ah, but all of that was largely beside the point -- not that there was any inherent point to all this. She looked unsure of where exactly she was going, or where she meant to be, and so the young Skouriá extended a small and honest kindness out unto her from the wall he finally unglued himself from with a press off from one foot.
The boy was at least half-certain that he'd seen her around, somewhere, but couldn't place any sort of name to the face; his synapses were firing like madmen with machineguns in a race to scour through memory for even the hint of a name, but it was to no avail. Whoever she was, she wasn't part of Lucian Van Sange's red class, which logically left only one alternative. Alex thought further, scratching at his temple, mentally taking himself back to the morning before the class draft which had been spent making an effort to learn more about his potential teammates.
It's Alice, or Emily, or... well, he thought, giving a tiny sigh of defeat, it's something.
"I'm really sorry, but I can't recall if we've met before; I'm Alexandros," he spoke further with a warmer smile than only moments before, making the journey of a few strides over and offering a handshake. "You must be in Deraine's group, right? The green class, under Miss Shadecloak?"
It was -- to say the least -- immediately obvious that there was some sort of divide between the two of them. She had an almost regal or noble air about her, while the boy quite clearly did not; every aspect of her seemed well-maintained and impeccably presentable on all accounts, while he instead gave off his rather usual impression of indifference with good intentions. Alex's hair was something of a choppy mess, and hers was not; Alex's uniform was a deviation by way of open black jacket and white dress shirt beneath, but the other rather rigidly -- and in the way a model student would -- wore hers perfectly with perhaps just an understated hint of pride. Even in the much more subtle ways of body language and posture, it was keenly apparent that the two of them really were quite different. In fact, just about the only common ground presenting itself was the plainly and stupidly obvious fact that both were students of Haven, and... well, no, that was about it.
She looks like she'll be polite, at least, the boy convinced himself, bringing up his other hand and giving it a quick run through his hair. People can look polite, right?
--
WC 1100/1100