Session One

From Greenthings

<Greenling> It's a cold day, but the skies are surprisingly clear and snowless. Bits of frost still dot the city from last weekend's massive ice storm, but the electricity's back on and the roads are clear.
<Greenling> Just in time for classes to resume for the new semester.
<Greenling> It's early morning on the first day of classes. Where is everyone?
<Esther_Shalev> COFFEE. And then the Methods of Listening course
* Charlie strolls up to campus, stretching her arms out and yawning widely as she does, staring whistfully at cars she passes
* Jayle has commandeered a corner of the gym and is currently listening to her iPod while working her way through her morning exercises
* Arista is currently reading through some classic literature -- Kafka in this case -- in the far corner of the student cafe, waiting until she needs to go to her English class.
Coincidentally, the best coffee is in the student cafe.
* Esther_Shalev yawns, mumbling to herself in some language or another, half-asleep at her table, coffee held close like a loved one.
<Greenling> Jayle: there are a few people in here other than you. A couple of athletes and what seems to be a professor.
<Greenling> Charlie: oooh, that one's fancy.
* Ran| is running through town. Cold is the best wakeup, and early is good. Less people to give you weird looks when you vault guardrails or fences. >.>
* Charlie admires, and then sadfaces
<Greenling> Charlie: you notice someone that seems to have just done a flying leap over a tireless car with PLESE BUY 910-5567 on the windshield in spraypaint.
* Charlie briefly ponders the virtues of steeling tires from other cars...
<Greenling> You'd have to catch one first.
* Charlie knows where all kinds of stopped cars are at night.
<Greenling> There is that.
* Charlie disregards the notion though and headds off to class with a sigh
<Esther_Shalev> Yaaaaawn. Esther stands up, buying another coffee and a pastry of some sort, thanking the attendant. "Shalom, have a great day..." With a tired wave, she hobbles off towards the communications hall.
* Jayle bolts out of the gym as she finally notices the time, diving into the locker room for a shower and to change into her clothes, before she heads for her first class
<Esther_Shalev> She looks at her watch in stark amazement. It was military issue...but she had terrible luck. Sometimes, the ODDEST things would happen...
<Greenling> It's also possible you're five minutes late. But it's one of those two things.
* Jayle sprints around the corner as she takes off from the gym
* Arista once it gets closer to class time, Arista tosses her book in her bag and slings it over her shoulder, stomping off toward her English Lit class.
<Esther_Shalev> Either way, best to sprint for the classroom
<Ran|> Ran's watch beeps for some reason. Oh, wait. Class. Right. Is five minutes enough time to get across town? Probably.
<Greenling> Run, Ran, Run.
* Ran| runs!
<Esther_Shalev> And promptly collides with a blindly running pile of girl, coffee, and gray wool
<Jayle> "GAH!!" Jayle grabs Esther's coffee before it hits the ground, while Ran manages the rest of the 4-student pileup
* Charlie eyes the fast girl who backflipped over the car from earlier from across the street as she liesurely strolled towards class, content to be late.
<Charlie> She stopped though and did a double-take. "Are you all seriously roommates?"
<Greenling> Ran: you end up on top of the pile, at least!
<Ran|> "Gah! Epic bail! DX "
* Ran| is on her feet probably before anyone else even realizes what happens, checking herself over. "Hm, that works... that works... nothing wrong there...awesome! Oh wow. Are you okay? o_o "
<Esther_Shalev> There's a muffled groan from the bottom of the pile. "...always happens to me..." Her accent is high and light, with only a hint of what might sound British. "Is everyone okay?"
<Jayle> "I think I rescued your coffee..."
<Greenling> Poor Esther. Now your watch is squished. :<
<Greenling> Charlie heads in, precisely one minute late.
<Greenling> The teacher's stuff is there (or you presume the stuff on the desk is theirs), but not the teacher. This early in the morning, it's a small class.
<Greenling> There seem to be five other people in the room.
* Jayle brushes herself off as she walks in, wincing as she tries to fix something...uncomfortable
* Charlie manages to be...on time by comparisson?
<Esther_Shalev> She gasps, staring. "...my father got me this watch...he said it was bomb-proof.." She wipes her eyes, taking a slow, shallow breath...her shoulders stopped shaking and she stood.
<Greenling> Hey, if the teacher doesn't notice, you're not tardy. :V
<Greenling> It's kinda bent, but it looks like it might be fixable?
* Charlie stands outside the classroom and waits to be late, not wanting to give the teacher the impression that she was highly motivated or anything.
<Esther_Shalev> She takes it off of her wrist and tucks it into her pocket, ducking into a quiet corner of the room before the pile of people starts talking to her.
* Arista grumbles, brushing past the others. "And I thought high school hallways were bad," she mutters. She takes a seat near the corner in the front of the room closest to the window.
<Greenling> The teacher comes out of the bathroom and looks at Charlie.
<Greenling> "o_O"
* Ran| thinks better of vaulting chairs and sits somewhere in the back.
<Greenling> The rest of you walk past the two of them, and then, the teacher enters.
<Greenling> She looks like she's been at the gym this morning. She walks up to the front of the class and sips her coffee.
* Charlie waves to the teacher and then follows her in after a few seconds
* Charlie reckons she'll sit near the uncoordinated lot, they'll be more interesting
<Greenling> Takes papers out of purse, sorts.
<Greenling> "KHEM."
<Greenling> "CAN YOU IN THE BACK HEAR ME?"
<Ran|> "I thought this was Communication, not Chem! I'm in the wrong room! D: "
<Charlie> "What?" She craned her head and cupped a hand to her ear
<Greenling> "...That was a joke, girl."
* Jayle sighs
<Ran|> "....right, I knew that."
<Greenling> "Not you."
<Charlie> "What?" She leaned forwards
<Greenling> She walks over to Charlie.
<Greenling> "Are you honestly having trouble?"
<Charlie> She sighed and waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah, I can hear fine"
<Charlie> "No ADA on my end."
<Greenling> "Good." She hands Charlie the stack of papers and walks back to the front of the room.
<Greenling> "This is Communications 120, and I'm Dr. Anderson."
<Esther_Shalev> Esther yawns, paying attention with an open notepad
* Arista rolls her eyes. Further proof of how much she was going to had this class.
<Greenling> "...We had a full load last I checked, I don't know where the hell the rest of you are."
<Greenling> "That's the syllabi. You can pass them out if you want, it's boilerplate stuff."
<Greenling> She pulls up a rollychair and sits down.
<Charlie> She shrugged. "'K." She turned and offered the stack to the nearest person
<Greenling> "So. Introduce yourselves, will ya? Right of the room first, then on down the rows." She points to Arista.
* Arista shoots the teacher an incredulous look. "My name is Arista Whitman and I'm thrilled to be here," she deadpans.
<Esther_Shalev> Esther kinda looks down at that...great, already on someone's shit list.
<Greenling> "Do you have a major, Arista Whitman?"
<Arista> "English literature."
<Greenling> "Good. Generic, but good. Now you," she points to Jayle.
<Jayle> "Eeep! Yes Ma'am." Jayle waves to the class, "Hi, I'm Jayle Voss. I'm a [insert major here] major. And, in spite of having five roommates, I have yet to see a single one of them in the room."
<Jayle> "They have a lot of stuff, though."
<Greenling> "Heh."
<Greenling> "Good luck with that." She goes on to call on the other cluster of people, also mostly girls, before moving on to Esther.
<Greenling> "Sad girl with the coffee, your turn."
<Esther_Shalev> Blink. Blink. "-Oh!" She stands up straight, her chin tilted up a little. "M-my n-name's Esther. Esther Shalev. I'm studying here for Comm- no, for Political Sciences....Science. Sciences? er....Government."
<Esther_Shalev> She bows her head, sitting back down immediately.
<Greenling> She gives you an odd look.
* Jayle winces
<Greenling> "And now the last of you. You two. One of you"
<Greenling> She points at Charlie and Ran.
<Ran|> "Hmf? Ran Hashigawa," she mumbles through a half-chewed protein bar. "And I was on the other side of town," she checks her watch, "five minutes and thirty-eight seconds ago."
<Greenling> She snorts and takes a drink of coffee.
<Charlie> "Charlie. Communications Major. Here for the bare minimums. Call me Chuck and lose teeth. Can we either start class or leave now?"
<Greenling> "Class started five minutes ago."
<Greenling> "If you don't like my wanting to know which of you showed up today, you can be on the drop list if you like."
<Charlie> "Shouldn't the people who didn't show up be the ones on that?"
<Greenling> She drains her coffee and stands up. "You're not very quick, are you."
<Charlie> "Quicker than you are Professional."
<Greenling> "Right." She pulls a book out of her purse none of you have seen before. "How many of you've got the text already?"
* Ran| is kind of amazed that she won't be the one wrecking the grade curve this time.
* Jayle raises her hand
<Esther_Shalev> She blinks. "...I-I-I didn't see one on the course list....did I look at the wrong web site?"
<Charlie> "Just waiting on the financial aid check."
<Greenling> She sighs.
<Greenling> Pointing at Jayle. "Where'd you get it?"
<Ran|> "....there's a textbook? Man..." Ran took this class because it was about talking. >.<
<Greenling> Jayle is the only one with her hand up. <_<
<Jayle> "I know someone who took the class last semester, ma'am."
<Greenling> "Oh." She looks at the rest of you.
<Greenling> She mumbles curses under her breath. "They've fouled up the order again. They keep sending my texts to the other Dr. Anderson in Classics."
<Greenling> "I'll talk to him later and email you about the book tonight. For now, try to find and read Chapter One by the end of the week, will you?"
* Esther_Shalev nods. "Yes, ma'am!" Curt and to the point. Does she think the teacher's packing?
<Greenling> She opens up her copy. "We'll go over it briefly and then I'll send you on your way."
* Charlie pulls a book out of her bag and flips it open
<Greenling> This goes on for about five minutes. Apparently it's something she finds annoyingly basic about how people come from different backgrounds and that this affects various nonsense.
<Greenling> "Any questions?"
<Greenling> "The sooner we can get through this thing, the sooner we can get to something that has a point to it."
<Esther_Shalev> "...isn't this the foundation, though? The most important part?"
<Esther_Shalev> She realizes she spoke up a second later and pretends that she didn't
* Arista slips her Kafka book out of her bag and into her lap, alternating between reading it and listening to the teacher. Honestly, this wasn't anything she hadn't learned in high school sociology.
<Greenling> "No. Before we get to the foundation we have to chip through whatever misapprehensions you have about the course, including the misapprehension that we trust you to have a basic high school education."
<Esther_Shalev> "But....the way people have differing perspectives, that's probably the most important thing to remember...if we don't go into that the first day....how...how will anyone understand anything after?"
* Ran| is busy mentally working on the best route from her dorm to this class. If she goes through the windows instead of the doors she can probably save fifteen seconds...
<Greenling> She gives Esther another odd look.
<Greenling> "You think this stuff is interesting? The stuff I've just mentioned?"
<Greenling> "Is this new to you, or... what are you on about?"
* Arista glances back at Esther. She was getting the impression that she was either going to hate this girl or absolutely adore her.
<Esther_Shalev> She looks down. "....I'm sorry. I guess it's all very simple." She slumps a little in her seat. "....I just don't think anybody understands anybody....so I thought it was interesting."
<Esther_Shalev> She looks like she wants to bolt
<Greenling> The teacher stares at you for a minute.
<Greenling> "...Well. If there are no other questions, class dismissed."
<Greenling> "And I'll see you on Wednesday."
<Charlie> She shut her book quickly, slung her bag over her shoulder, and was headed for the door, hopin to meet Arista there
<Esther_Shalev> Esther finishes her coffee quickly and tries to duck quickly for the door. A couple of hours of reading syllabi...no...she wasn't in the mood anymore. To her new room, then! The boxes should be delivered now.
* Jayle slings her book into her own bag, walking...right behind Esther
<Jayle> "..I wonder..."
* Arista throws her stuff into her bag, trudging toward the door. This class was going to be /horrible/.
<Charlie> When Arista approached she spoke up. "Hey, nice to know you're not thrilled to be here either."
<Ran|> "Hmmm. Door. Window. .... window." Ran pops the window in the back of the room, hops out, and counts a half-second gone for the courtesy of shutting the window before she's off.
* Arista nods at Charlie. "Are any of us? This class has no genuine merit. That woman is probably so bitter because she has to teach such a useless freshman class."
<Esther_Shalev> She keeps walking...nervously looking over her shoulder. After a while, a hand digs into her shawl and she half-turns. "....can I help you?" She looks at Jayle.
<Charlie> She shrugged. "So what was your name again? I wasn't quite paying attention." She grimaced a little and started walking
<Jayle> "Uhm...no, I'm actually just headed for my dorm room." Jayle grins, "I thought you might have had a point in class, though. Don't tell Dr. Anderson I said that, though." She winks
<Arista> "Arista. You're Charlie?"
<Esther_Shalev> She relaxes slightly. "...thank you...Jayle?" She smiles softly. "But I should go. See you at the next period." And she actually jogs away.
* Jayle continues to her room
<Charlie> "Yeah. So, what've you got planned for the rest of the day?"
* Arista shrugs. "Remaining classes, food, unpacking at my dorm, wondering why the hell I'm here. You?"
<Esther_Shalev> Esther ducks into the door...looks for the small room with her number, and ducks in, not even pausing to look around. From inside, purring and rather bedroom-toned words in...what the hell language IS that? can be heard.
* Jayle opens the door a few minutes later
<Charlie> "No more classes for me on Monday. Probably just wandering around for a while, maybe going to a grocery store, then probably just heading back and reading for a while."
<Greenling> So. Dr. McNeal.
<Greenling> It's 9 AM on a cold January first day of classes. Where are you?
<David|> Waiting just outside the class, tapping his watch and scowling at the students.
<Esther_Shalev> The door in the far back is already shut, locked, and The Clash is BLASTING through the walls.
<Greenling> Whatcha teachin'?
<Jayle> "OI!!! ROOOMIE!!"
<Jayle> "DON'T MIND YOUR MUSIC, BUT WOULD YOU MIND INTRODUCING YOURSELF!!"
<Esther_Shalev> No response.
<David|> Walking in the front door, pulling it shut, he announces "Welcome to Introductory English. This is the only day I'll allow you to be late."
* Jayle pounds on the door
<Greenling> The room is crowded.
<Ran|> "Hmmm~" Ran pokes her head out of the BEST room. The one with the window she can climb out of. "Hey, what are you doing in my room? and man, these walls are thin, where's that music coming from?"
<Greenling> Many young faces, and a couple not so young, look at you.
<Jayle> "Other roomie."
* Ran| looks at Jayle.
<Ran|> "Ohhhhhhhh."
<Jayle> "She, apparently, likes the Clash."
<Esther_Shalev> No response.
<Ran|> "Music battle!"
<Ran|> "Help me set up my stereo!"
<Greenling> Many are yawning.
<David|> "I am Professer David Archibald McNeal. Laugh when you get it, and don't think about it again. This is a mandatory class, and it is my job to ensure that all of you are able to, by the end, express yourselves adequately on paper."
* Charlie walks in and looks around. "Seriously...can the music be quieter?"
<Jayle> "..."
<David|> "My assistant will pass around the syllabus. The syllabus may as well be the word of God, as far as you are concerned."
<Jayle> "Ok, seriously, what are the chances of three of us being in the same class?"
<Ran|> "No! Its a Music Battle! Or it will be as soon as I can find my New Young Pony Club CD...."
<Charlie> "Low."
<Jayle> "No."
<David|> "We will be doing a lot of reading, a lot of writing, and there will be liberal amounts of red ink used. I don't care what your major is, and how little you think that the ability to coherently detail your thoughts to another person will be."
<Charlie> "But I'll say this now AS LOUD AS I CAN." She took a deep breath.
<Jayle> "Someone get me a sheet of paper."
<David|> "Questions, comments, or mockery?"
<Charlie> "IF THE RACKET DOESN'T SETTLE TO A GENTLE ROAR IN THREE MINUTES, I'M BLOWING OUR CIRCUIT BREAKER."
<Greenling> Two people raise their hands.
<Jayle> "Hey, Surly and Disrespetful, you have a sharpie?"
<Jayle> "I think she can't hear us."
<Ran|> "Styx.... They Might Be Giants.... Hendrix... where the hell is it....or was it in the box with my climbing gear?"
* Charlie heads to one of the empty rooms and starts carrying in boxes, looking over to Jayle. "You mean me?"
<David|> "Yes?" Pointing to the one student, then the other.
<Jayle> "Ran didn't mouth off to the professor in the first minute of class, so yes, I mean you."
<Charlie> "Huh, nice to know I'm surly. Yeah, I've got a sharpie, I'll dig it out for you if you can call me Charlie." She popped open a box and started rummaging around.
<Greenling> "I didn't see any required texts on the site. Is this an oversight?"
<Greenling> The other student lowers his hand, and they all mumble.
* Jayle scribbles, "Please come out and meet us" on a sheet of paper and shoves it under the door of Esther's room
* Charlie starts unfolding a paper-clip and bending it in a U shape
<Esther_Shalev> After a few moments, there's a crashing noise, lots of swearing, and more noises of things hitting things. The music turns off...and a bit later, Esther steps out, pulling a sweater down over her stomach. "Oh...h-hello....is this a study group?" She looks...concerned.
<Ran|> "Do you think Dragonforce would do instead of N- oh hey is the battle over already? D: "
<Jayle> "Jesus H Christ on a Cracker, someone has a sense of humor, and its not me."
<Jayle> "What are the fucking odds of FOUR of us sharing the same class."
<Charlie> "Ok...you should seriously think about buying some soundproofing for your room lady."
<Jayle> "Sorry Esther."
<Ran|> "Oh wow I didn't even notice that. You guys took forever getting here, I thought I had the place to myself!"
<Esther_Shalev> "...you're all...living here?"
<Jayle> "I'm in that one." She points to the one next to Esther
* Arista enters the front door of the suite, cheap Chinese takeout in tow, glancing around the room. "Oh, hell, aren't you the people that knocked me on my ass this morning?"
<Jayle> "Ran's over there and Charlie is in th..."
<Charlie> "Wether or not I am, I still have a key." She shrugged. "So expect me to be here when I need sleep."
<Jayle> "..."
<Ran|> "That was me!"
<Jayle> "Ok, so this is starting to wierd me out."
<Jayle> "And apparently Arista is in the last one."
<David|> "Absolutely not. I don't set the texts until I have a chance to find out what you, as a class, are interested in. I find that results in more interest and a higher quality of work."
<Esther_Shalev> "...t-together?"
<Jayle> "By process of elimination."
<Charlie> She looked around and cocked a brow. "Yeah...I'm honestly surprised they didn't subdivide this further..."
<Charlie> "I could have two people in my room, no problem."
<Greenling> Many of them look surprised.
<David|> "You will, in all likelihood, want an unabridged manual of style, containing both major formats."
<Esther_Shalev> "You..." She reddens. "....sorry about the music."
<Ran|> "Yeah, turn it back on, we want a music battle!"
<Greenling> Some of them are taking notes.
<Ran|> "Who else has a stereo? This'll be awesome."
<Charlie> "No. No we don't. I'm jamming this in the electrical socket if a 'Music Battle' happens." She held up the paper clip.
* Arista raises an eyebrow. "What's this about a music battle? I have a laptop that'll bust your eardrums if I turn it loud enough."
<Esther_Shalev> "...won't you electrocute yourself?"
<Charlie> She reached in her box and held up some rubber-gripped plyers
* Jayle gives Esther an odd look, and steps over to her, giving her winningest smile and offering her one hand, "I'm sure we can get along together just fine. It'll be like family away from family. And at least it wasn't, say, Jonas Brothers or some other teenfodder crap."
<Jayle> "The Clash actually reflects decent taste in music!"
<Esther_Shalev> She scoffs, giving Jayle's hand a hard squeeze. "Of course! They are the gods of punk! The Clash! The Ramones! And I like some new stuff, too, like the screamy American stuff. Have you ever heard of Flyleaf?!"
<Esther_Shalev> She will ask rapid-fire questions until she realizes or is stopped.
<Charlie> "Music style's fine. I like old stuff like that. Just keep the volume down a bit." She nodded and started taking all of the boxes into her room, lining them up in stacks agaisnt the wall. "Hey, Friendly and Courteous, can I have my sharpie back?"
* Jayle lobs the sharpie at Charlie's head. Not too hard, tho
* Charlie tries to catch and misses, shrugs it off and shuts her door.
<Greenling> While David is talking, something falls on his head.
<Greenling> It seems to be a large clump of snow.
* Jayle grins and yammers back about the West Coast music scene, although she doesn't know as much about the Punk part of it
* David| nonchalantly balls it into a hard mass, directs my TA to open a window and tosses it through.
<Greenling> You nonchalantly toss it out the window right into the face of the Department Head.
<Greenling> He seems to have been walking along the sidewalk one floor below.
* Ran| gets bored and sits in her room trying to figure out the best way to jump through her window without injuring herself on the way down.
<Esther_Shalev> "...right! Sorry!" She runs a hand through her hair, looking embarrassed. She then yawns rather loudly...and then looks mortified for yawning.
* David| directs the TA to close the window.
* Charlie comes out about ten minutes later. "Ok, all unpacked."
<Greenling> The TA does, quickly.
<David|> "And that, class, is why you always look before you throw."
<Greenling> You think they like you.
<Greenling> On the other hand, snow is still dripping down from the hole in the ceiling tiles.
<Greenling> Snow and, now, cold water.
* Charlie points at Esther. "You, name again?"
<David|> "Ahem. Someone please throw me a bucket." David steps away from the open hole.
* Jayle smiles at her, "Its fine, really. Hey, you had a really good grip..."
<Greenling> People look for a bucket. ... ... "Maybe you should ask the janitor," one of them suggests.
* Arista tosses her stuff into her room, unpacking it hastily wherever it happens to fall when she slings it.
<Esther_Shalev> "Esther Shalev." And she frowns in thought. "...and Jayle Vosser...Arista Whiteman....Ran Ha....Hasa....Ran. And...um..." She frowns again. "Chuck, was it?"
<David|> "In fact, class, why don't we amend the syllabus, and use today's class to tour the library? After all, you will be spending more than a little amount of time there." David walks over to the trash bin and places it under the hole.
<Greenling> The students pack their stuff back into their bags.
* Charlie moves to punch Esther in the arm, Hard.
<David|> David leads them on a tour of the campus, to the library. "Here is where you will be spending a lot of time. For your sakes, be polite to the librarians and staff." He waves, smiles, and greets most of them by name.
<Greenling> Most of them are relatively fond of you. Mr. Elkin doesn't count.
* Jayle jumps into the way
* Jayle does this slightly too late to avoid the inevitable, however
* Charlie misses spectacularly and stumbles forwards a bit
<Esther_Shalev> In a flash of movement, Charlie finds his arm yanked behind his back, his knees snapped forward by a kick, and pressing being applied with increasing force...yeah, that arm might snap, at least until Jayle contacts into them both, making Esther realize and suddenly let go.
<Greenling> The students spread out a little.
<Ran|> "Huh? What's going on out here?" Ran pokes her head out again. "...catfight?"
<Greenling> A librarian comes up and asks you happily if you need anything.
* Charlie scrambled to her feet again. "Lousy...I was just gonna punch you once...think you're so fancy and better?" She was spitting mad and pulled her fist back again
<Esther_Shalev> Esther crouches low, defensive. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't want to have to hurt you!"
<Ran|> "...catfight."
<Jayle> "...Ok." Jayle grabs them both, "Looks like we all learned something. First lesson to you, Charlie, is that you do not punch Israelis. Krav Maga is nasty and they train for instant response."
<David|> "Oh, no. Just making use of the introductory day to show the students to their new secondary home on campus, and to allow them to begin thinking on what we will cover this semester." Turning back to his class. "Before you're all dismissed for the day, your first assignment is as follows! I would like one hand written page on the strength of first impressions."
* Charlie readies to kick when told not to punch
* Arista pokes her head out the door. "Good freaking lord, can you people just chill? What the hell are you even fighting about?"
<Jayle> "Charlie, stop. NOW!"
<Greenling> They chatter amongst themselves.
<Greenling> Then, some of them disperse.
<Ran|> "Yeah, if you guys bust up the room we'll lose the security deposit. Have your battle for honor on the quad!"
<Greenling> The others decide to take a look at this place.
* Jayle sighs
<Greenling> After that, there's more snow on your head.
<David|> David waves. "Enjoy the extra 15 minutes until your next classes!" David looks up.
<Esther_Shalev> "...I'm sorry...oh! Was it the....oh, I'm sorry! Charlie!" She winces, moving her hand away from her belt.
<Greenling> ...You can't tell where that came from.
* David| shrugs.
<Esther_Shalev> ...A knife sheath is briefly visible under her tank and sweater.
* Charlie backs away and makes a disgruntled sound before just heading out the front door
<Jayle> "Charlie, stay here so she can apologize properly. And so we can get you an ice pack for your shoulder."
<David|> "Oh well." David leaves the library and starts heading for his office.
<Jayle> "Please."
<Charlie> "I'm fine!" She barked out. "Appology Accepted!." Angry-voice!
* Jayle sighs
* Jayle turns to Esther
<Esther_Shalev> Esther...just kind of slumps. She reaches out in the direction of thedoor, but doesn't try to stop him. "...zayin b'ayin...shit."
<Jayle> "You and I need to talk. Your room or mine?"
<Esther_Shalev> She pulls herself up. "Nothing to talk about. See you at class." She goes into her room, slamming the door behind her.
* Charlie goes to buy groceries.
<Ran|> "...whoa. Drama."
* Jayle leans against her door, "Yes there is. And I'm not going anywhere. I want to be your FRIEND, damn it!"
<Esther_Shalev> The music starts up, but not as loudly as before.
<Greenling> Hey, Charlie, that really fancy car from before is sitting half on the sidewalk.
* Arista stares at the drama unfolding for a moment, then rolls her eyes and flops into a chair, all but attacking her Chinese takeout with a pair of chopsticks.
<Charlie> Well, that's just a public service to move then. Not to mention driving will cool her heels
* Charlie looks around to see if there's many people watching
<Greenling> It's in an alley by one of the main class buildings. Everyone seems to be either asleep or in class.
<Greenling> Or both!
<Greenling> It seems like a glorious golden opportunity to get to know this oh wow, leather interior.
* Jayle grabs a few sheets of scrap paper and scribbles a note on the back of one, pushing it under the door
<Greenling> David: So, whatcha doing now?
<David|> Preparing more syllabi, contacting the janitorial staff about the hole in the English department. In general, all those annoying first day of school things that need to be done.
* Charlie kneels to "tie her shoe" and pulls out the lockpicks and hotwiring equipment from it's slim metal case strapped to her left shin
* Jayle sorta gives up after a little while but sits on the floor by the door listening to the music and reading a book anyway
* Ran| climbs up on the roof just to see if it can be done. Didn't even need rope!
<Jayle> "So, Arista, where are you from?"
* Arista glances up. She shrugs. "No where special. I'm from a bit upstate." She continues to devour the take out. "What about you?"
<Jayle> "Portland."
<Jayle> "Er, the other one."
<Arista> "Oregon?"
<Jayle> "Yeah."
* Arista raises an eyebrow. "No offense, but why the hell would you want to come here?"
<Jayle> "The enviroment," she grins, "No, seriously. I like the weather and the surroundings out here."
<Ran|> Awesome! Now to survey the campus from a great height and determine shortcuts and other buildings near enough to jump to, if any!
<Greenling> David: you go to your office, contact the janitors, talk to people...
* Charlie kneels to "tie her shoe" and pulls out the lockpicks and hotwiring equipment from it's slim metal case strapped to her left shin
<Greenling> About an hour later, you have the now familiar feeling of cold and wet on your head.
* Arista pokes the bottom of the box. "Damn. Still hungry." She sighs and tosses it in the garbage.
<David|> "David slowly looks up again, biting back curses."
* Charlie sets to work on the car locks
<Greenling> The snow slides off your head and onto the floor.
<Ran|> "I heard the h-word~" Ran has apparently crawled back in the window. "Food is always welcome!"
<Greenling> You see the ceiling of your office. It looks normal.
* David| grabs a small broom set, takes and dumps the snow outside, before sitting down on a bench.
<Jayle> "So what are your intrests?"
<David|> "Fine, if I seem to keep getting snow on my head inside, I'll just sit out here for a bit." Biting back more curses, one hand slaps where a pack of cigarettes used to be.
* Arista stares at Jayle for a moment, trying to decide whether or not she wants to answer and just how sarcastic the situation warrants. "Making ritualistic sacrifices of small children and eating their charred flesh afterward."
* Arista smirks. "Other than that, loud music and classic literature."
<Greenling> Charlie: I believe that's Dex+Larceny.
<Jayle> "Yeah, I deserved that. Question was epiclly lame."
<Greenling> ...You wave the lockpicks at the door and it opens for you, as if frightened of your prowess.
* Charlie hops in and leans down with her tools to the steering column to hotwire it
* Arista pokes in the refrigerator. "When those two trigger-happy morons stop sulking, we need to come up with some sort of plan for getting food, because I'm damn well not going to spend my hard-earned money so other people can eat my food."
<Greenling> You make good progress, but are beginning to see people on the street.
<Greenling> None of them are looking at you currently, or very close by yet, but still.
<Ran|> "They had guns? I saw a knife b- oh that was a metaphor. Yeah, food! We need it." Ran claims the provided couch. Rahr.
<Jayle> "We need to work out quite a few things."
<Jayle> "Not the least of which is a way to know how not to push each other too far. I don't know about you two, but I KNOW I don't have a good grip on my own temper."
<Greenling> It's chilly out, but no more snow, David.
<Ran|> "Just as long as I don't randomly body-checked or whatever happened in the hall."
<David|> "Ah. A while yet before the next class, and the freshman course didn't seem too bad."
<Greenling> The sun shines through the cold clouds. Birds chirp. Students walk past.
<David|> Deep breaths. Enjoying the chill air, the simple day.
<Greenling> The Department Head walks past.
<David|> "Time to get ready for the next class." David stands up, smiles at the Head, opens the door for them.
<Greenling> Charlie ducks as people walk past.
<Greenling> He nods at you. "Freezing out here."
<Greenling> "Some idiot hit me in the face with a snowball earlier."
<Greenling> Charlie: you think you've almost got it...
<David|> "Really? That's a damn shame!"
<Greenling> If you can just stick that there...
<Greenling> "Did they give you the memo about the meeting Thursday morning?"
<David|> "I'm not sure, I was actually just heading to my office now. Is it different from the usual meetings?"
<Greenling> Brr-j-j-j-j-jrrrrw.
<Charlie> There we go. Just wait for an opening and ease her out into the street and in the direction of the grocery store
<Greenling> He sighs and takes off his coat as he walks in. "It's the one trying to find a replacement for the non-Western literature position."
<Greenling> Easy enough, Charlie.
<Greenling> Grocery store's halfway across town.
<Greenling> "So we're going to have to deal with those people from the History department."
* Charlie tunes the radio to something pleasant and rolls the window down with her arm hanging out the door. She takes a glance around and takes stock of the things in the car, besides its fine leather upholstery
<David|> "Oh, how joyous. Interdepartmental wrangling for the position." David smiles to ensure his Department Head catches the joke. "I can't say I envy your position."
<Greenling> "Mmh," he grumbles.
<Greenling> Charlie: nice heater, nice satellite radio...
<Greenling> You drive past various buildings.
<Greenling> Dr. Giles turns his head.
<Greenling> "...Why does that look like my car driving by?"
<David|> "You know, I'm not quite sure. But surely you parked it in the employee lot. About that non-Western literature seat, who were you thinking of?" David walks into the building, talking with Dr. Giles.
<Greenling> "Uh, the lot was full, I parked it... nah, couldn't be."
<Greenling> "I don't know. We're going to have to pull in offers from outside, so it's probably up in the air."
<David|> "Really? But wouldn't bringing in someone from outside the university ruffle quite a few feathers?"
<Greenling> "Yes, that's part of the problem, but it's written into the rules for multi-department positions for some damned reason."
* Charlie parks at the grocery store and starts scrounging around in the car, looking to see if there's any money in it
<David|> David blinks. "Well, that is a problem. Good luck soothing academic egos while I'm teaching more freshmen." David waves as he heads back to his office, to gather the things for his next class.
<Greenling> "Er, you're invited, but..."
<Greenling> Charlie: nope. Just paperwork.
* Charlie leaves the car unlocked, chec ks the trunk before going to do her shopping
<Greenling> Oh. And some photo of this old dude and his kids.
<Greenling> Generic trunk stuff in the trunk.
<David|> "The meeting? Of course sir, I'll be there. Unfortunately, you know how the scheduling goes."
<Greenling> "Yeah. I'll see you, I guess." He heads to his office.
<Greenling> Charlie goes shopping. What is Charlie buying?
<Charlie> Lots of potatoes, cooking oil, bread, a gallon of milk, cheap meat, and vitamin tablets.
<Greenling> Arista, Ran, Jayle. Whatcha up to?
<Charlie> Oh, and salt and pepper
<Greenling> Charlie buys tasty things to make the GM hungry.
<Ran|> "Fooooooooood~" Ran is on her back on the couch, kicking her legs in the air and staring at the ceiling. Why? Because she is Ran.
<Greenling> When you leave, the car isn't there anymore.
* Charlie heas back out to the car, oads everything up, and starts to drive around, looking for an empty driveway that's not too far from her dorms
<Charlie> O:
<Charlie> Seriously?
<Greenling> Well, you
*did* leave it unlocked.
<Charlie> Somebody just happened to walk by and check the door?
<Greenling> How irresponsible of you :V
<Charlie> Damn. Nice things go fast.
* Charlie watches for somebody arriving
<Greenling> The grocery is slow at 11 AM in a college town.
<Greenling> Ran: you see snow come from the ceiling and land on your face.
<Charlie> But fast enough to get a car lifted...
<Greenling> Yup.
* Charlie shrugs and goes for a nondescript looking car to re-lift
<Ran|> "Pfeh! Stupid insulawait a second, ceiling insulation isn't cold and wet! DX "
<Greenling> You can find a junker with cool stickers and a generic older car in the back.
* Arista looks up after Ran's outburst. "Where is that damn snow coming from?"
<Ran|> "Up! DX Pfeh pfeh."
<Greenling> The ceiling looks normal.
<Greenling> Do you go for either, Charlie?
<Charlie> Cool stickers obviously loves their car. They keep it. Generic oldie it is.
<Ran|> "Why is there snow in the ceiling? DX"
* Charlie drives around and looks for an empty driveway that's within easy walkin distance of the dorms to pull in at.
* Ran| stands up on the couch and starts poking at it.
<Greenling> You poke at the ceiling.
<Greenling> Charlie: you find one a couple of blocks away.
<Ran|> "What the hell. D:< "
* Jayle has read through the chapter for the communications class
<Greenling> Poke poke poke.
<Charlie> Good enough. She pulls in and gets out, picks up her groceries, and heads back homewards.
* Ran| is convinced that more snow is going to fall out, and stares intently. >:| "
<Greenling> Nada.
<Jayle> "..."
<Ran|> Standing on top of the back of the couch.
<Jayle> "Where did that snow come from?"
<Greenling> Meanwhile, snow lands on Jayle's head.
<Ran|> "Right her- WHAT."
<Jayle> "YEEEEEEEARGGHH!!!"
<Greenling> And slips off onto the book.
* Ran| gets down and starts scooching the couch over so she can get up close to the ceiling over there.
<Greenling> The couch seems to be bolted to the floor.
<Ran|> "FFffff MOVE COUCH! DX"
* Arista moves so that the snow doesn't fall on her book, turns her music up louder, and continues to ignore her roommates.
<Greenling> You hear a small screeching sound, but the couch does not move.
<Ran|> "Grrrr. CHAIR!" Ran steals a chair and uses that instead. Going to find that damned snow. >:|
* Jayle quickly dumps the snow off the book before it ruins it, and goes to get a towel
<Greenling> The book is soggy. :<
<Greenling> Ran stands on the chair. What does she do to find it?
<Ran|> It came from the ceiling, dammit! DX Snow doesn't just come from ceilings!
* Jayle pats the pages dry carefully, then goes to dig out her hairdryer. Fucking snow
<Greenling> You see neither snow nor openings in the ceiling.
<Greenling> It seems to have come from thin air~
<Ran|> "What the hell! That's cheating! D:< "
<Arista> "Maybe we have a poltergeist."
* Arista seems unconcerned about the snow.
<Ran|> "Those come out of TVs, I saw the movie! This isn't fair! >:< "
<Ran|> Still on the chair.
* Arista glares at Ran. "Living proof that the stereotype 'All Asians are smart' is untrue," she grumbles.
<Ran|> "Bite me! I was kidding! Jeez. You just wait until you get snowed on indoors! D:< "
<Greenling> As Ran says this...
<Jayle> "It is rather annoying."
<Greenling> Arista's butt is suddenly cold.
* Arista jumps up, looking down at where she was sitting.
<Greenling> You seem to have sat in show.
<Greenling> Er, snow.
* Jayle tosses the towel to Arista
<Ran|> "....ha! Told you. Stupid snow."
* Arista wipes the snow off her leather skirt. "What the hell was that?" She glances around.
<Ran|> "Snow! Friggin' snow indoors. No holes in the ceiling." Still on the chair, she pokes the ceiling. "And now, from below! The plot thickens."
<Greenling> Ran pokes the ceiling.
<Greenling> The ceiling goes tok! tok! tok!
<Greenling> And then it goes thump! thump! thump!
<Ran|> .....
<Greenling> Charlie returns with food! :V
<Ran|> "Why is the ceiling tapping back?"
<Greenling> David: whatcha doing?
<Greenling> You are in a multifloor dorm.
<Arista> "Ok, who wants to come with me to talk to the idiots upstairs?"
<Ran|> "....hey, yeah! But how are they doing it without holes in the ceiling. o_O "
<David|> David is noticing he misread his schedule! And doesn't have class right now. Time to head to the cafeteria, close by the dorms, for some coffee and bagels.
<Arista> "Who knows. Magic."
* Charlie walks in, slings the milk in the fridge, and the rest of it in some pantry or another, then the meat in the fridge. "Hey, nobody eat my food without askin' alright?"
<David|> "Its good to be a Professor." David is all smiles. Until the next bit of snow hits him, at least.
<Ran|> "Food! Delicious sustenance!" Ran's still on the chair. "You have delivered us from the terrible grasp of hunger!"
<Ran|> "Be wary though, for snow is afoot."
<Charlie> "...who're you again?"
<Ran|> "....Ran."
<Ran|> "I live here."
<Charlie> She gestured to reiterate her point. "Don't eat my food."
<Ran|> "But... we're all this together. All for one and one for all! Together we strike a blow against the forces of not having food. :( "
<Arista> "Snow is materializing out of nowhere. I'm going to see if the morons upstairs have anything to do with it. Also I'll pay the difference if you'll pick up my food for me from now on."
<Charlie> "Well, I'll already beat those for me. I've got enough here to last a month living eating cheap."
<Ran|> "You know you should watch your carb load, you don't have near enough protein in th- hey, yeah! To the upstairs! A mystery is afoot."
* Jayle sighs and flops in a chair, having mostly rescued her book from damage that was too severe
<Charlie> "Potatoes are good, fry up nice, and filling in the blanks is what these are for." She shook her bottle of supllamental tablets
<Arista> "I'm surprised it's not all ramen. You're living large."
<Charlie> "Ramen's more expensive for less food, and less nutritious."
<Ran|> "Ew, name brand. I only eat supplements in delicious bar form!" She hops down off the chair.
<Ran|> "Now to more pressing matters: indoor snow! Awesome when predictable! Annoying when not."
<Greenling> David: no snow. The secretary dumps some things on your desk, though.
<David|> "Thanks!" David smiles as he starts going through the pile.
<Arista> "Alright, who's coming with me?"
<Ran|> "Me! It's the buddy system."
<Greenling> Memo: something's wrong with the textbook system. Memo: you're asked to consider advising three student groups. Memo: would whoever keeps taking lunches from the department minifridge cut it the hell out.
<Arista> "Charlie, Jayle, are you coming or are you leaving me alone with Chibi Moon?"
<Ran|> "....okay now that's over the fucking line. >:( "
<Greenling> Memo: Thursday meeting with the History department. Memo: your final class schedule for the term never made it in.
<Charlie> "Chibi moon?"
<David|> "Crap. Damn. Not me. Yup. Barely muffled in time MOTHER.FUCKER."
<Greenling> Memo: Thursday meeting again. Memo: people calling out sick that day will need to bring in a doctor's slip.
<Greenling> Memo: email system also apparently broken. Memo: can we unblock youtube?
<Arista> "That one wasn't even meant as an insult."
<David|> "Meeting. Paperwork. Crap, I'll have to go check with IT. Not a chance."
<Ran|> "...you clearly never watched the show, then." She shudders.
<Greenling> Memo: please stop giving the secretary unnecessary memos. Memo: Candice, can we meet re: Alison's major tomorrow evening?
<Greenling> You've never met a Candice.
<Charlie> "O...k...I'm gonna stay here then and make food. You want some Arista?"
<Arista> "Yes, please. Whatever you make is fine, it can't be worse than my mother's cooking."
<David|> "What the hell. Misfile." All the junk ones go into the recycling bin.
<Arista> "Come on...what was your name?" She looks back at Ran. "Let's go try and figure out what's up with this god damn snow."
<Jayle> "I'm gonna try and dry everything up in here."
* Charlie starts peeling potatoes
<Ran|> "Ran! How hard is that to remember? >.< " Ran stalks out in search of the Snow Bandit. Snow Avenger? Hmmm. Need to think of a name for the culprit before he's apprehended...
<Greenling> The janitors call you back.
<Greenling> They double-check the room number, then tell you there's no hole and no snow.
<David|> I thank the janitors, apologize for wasting their time from what must have been a student's prank.
<Greenling> You all head to the floor above.
<Greenling> The door is closed, as you would expect.
* Arista knocks loudly on the door.
<Greenling> "Coming!" you hear a voice call.
<Greenling> A moment later, there's a chubby young woman in what looks like pajamas and socks. "Hello?"
<Ran|> "Why is there snow in our room?! D: "
<Greenling> She blinks and stares at you.
* Arista smacks Ran on the back of the head. "We keep hearing weird noises and snowballs keep falling through our ceiling. Do you know anything about it?"
<Greenling> ... ..."W- huh?"
<Ran|> "ow! >.< "
<Greenling> "Oh. Uhm. Well, we're still moving stuff, so I'm sorry if there are noises?":<
<Arista> "But you don't know anything about the snow?"
<Greenling> Another couple of girls in back seem to be trying to deal with a huge bookshelf.
<Greenling> "No? Maybe you should close the windows."
<Ran|> "It's not coming from the windows. I saw it come from the ceiling. Like, in the middle of the room."
<Greenling> She blinks and looks at you.
<Greenling> "There's a hole in the ceiling?"
<Greenling> Glances back at her roommates.
<Arista> "No, that's the problem. There's no hole in the ceiling and still there is snow coming from it."
<Greenling> She steps back a bit.
<Arista> "You haven't seen any snow in your room?"
<Greenling> "Uhm, I can't help you with that. No, we haven't seen snow coming from the ceiling."
<Greenling> You get the distinct impression she thinks you're both stoned out of your gourds.
* Arista decides against trying to freak the girl out further just for kicks and giggles. "Well, let us know if you do. Bye."
<Greenling> David: what now?
<Greenling> ...More snow. Puff!
<Greenling> The girl shuts the door.
<Ran|> "Huh. That's annoying," she says as she walks away. "Where's it coming from, then?"
<David|> "God.Me.This." David is going to first deal with getting the scheduling straightened out.
* Arista heads off. "Should we try and talk to the administration or something, or should I just call an exorcist?"
<Ran|> "All joking aside, that's really irritating. And I don't think an exorcist would help. :/ "
<Greenling> It seems to have begun snowing out again, as David can see outside his office window.
<Arista> "Suggestions, then? What should we do?"
* David| calls up the appropriate department to discuss the scheduling mishap.
<Ran|> "Well hell, I don't know. It's never snowed on me indoors! I mean, I kept some snow in a cooler once and hit someone with a snowball in May. Heh. But this is different."
<Greenling> David: they seem to have gotten the impression that you're not teaching classes this semester.
<Greenling> They ask you to call the person they got to stand in for the class you're teaching T/R.
<David|> David quickly dials up the appropriate number.
<David|> "I wasn't planning on a sabbatical."
<Arista> "Well, we could try and talk to administration and tell them there's snow coming from out ceiling, but they'll probably think we're stoned and tell us to piss off."
<Ran|> "...that is super annoying. But, an exorcist isn't gonna do anything we couldn't do. I can throw water around and mumble just as well as a priest can. :/ "
<Greenling> The person in question is mildly annoyed, as (from what you know of them) they have wanted to teach that class for a while.
* Arista rolls her eyes. "Your faith in the occult is astounding."
<Ran|> "I played with a oujia board with some friends once, but all it would spell was "B-U-T-T" and things like that, so either they were screwing with me or I dialed up a ghost with a dirty mind."
<David|> "You're actually �happy� being stuck with a lower division class?" David is mildly incredulous.
<Greenling> "No, I'm happy being stuck with a class in something I like teaching, rather than a lower division class in something I'm just in because absolutely no one else wants to teach it."
<Greenling> "Would you like to do Intro to Music for Math Majors? We could trade."
<David|> "Ah. We are discussing the English 1035, Special Needs, right? Intro to Music for Math, huh? I thought all you needed to do was tell them to play in an odd time, and they'd be all over themselves with joy."
<Greenling> "Wait, are we? I'm not teaching that one. I thought we were talking about Modern American Lit."
<David|> "And, Trey, how did you manage to land yourself into a cross-discipline schedule like that? English, Lit, Math and Music?"
<Greenling> "I have a second bachelor's in music theory? Other than that, I don't know." :/
<David|> "Its got your name here on the sheet. Alright, call up your boss, I'll call Giles, we'll get this straightened out."
<Arista> "Ouija board." She snorts. "Mickey Mouse stuff. So where to?"
<Greenling> "Gotcha."
<Ran|> "Well if you're so knowledgeable about all this mystical stuff, why don't you do it? :P "
<Greenling> David calls Giles?
<David|> Indeed he does!
<Greenling> "Hello?"
<Arista> "Do I look like a priestess?" >_>
<Ran|> "Hey, you're the one who called my oujia board 'Mickey Mouse stuff.' Show me what you got."
<David|> "Giles, its David. It looks like there was a bit of a scheduling mishap. Trey, over in Lit is listed as teaching my English 1035."
<Arista> "I know occult lore, that doesn't mean I have the power to expel demons from our house."
<Greenling> "Oh, hi. Sorry, distracted- why's that?"
<Greenling> "Did you send in the schedule?"
<David|> "Most likely a computer error. Absolutely, two months ago, at the deadline."
<Ran|> "Ohhhh, I see. Power level only 8,999?"
<Greenling> "Did you- damnit- so what is it you need me to do?"
<David|> "You know how this system is. Anyways, he doesn't actually have it listed, so we're just contacting our Department Heads to let you know of the switch. I'll have the official paperwork for it to you before Thursday's meeting."
<Greenling> "I'm going to have to call the police back and leave in a minute."
<Greenling> "Sure, whatever. Is that all?"
<David|> "The police? What happened?"
<David|> "That's it, sorry to trouble you since you're busy."
<Greenling> "My car is on the news!"
* Arista rolls her eyes. "Look, I can try to expel the damn thing, but even if it is a demon or a spirit or a poltergeist, there's nothing saying the damn thing would listen to me."
<Greenling> "Someone stole it and is running around downtown with it chasing little old ladies off the sidewalk!"
<Ran|> "Then let's burn incense or something. Maybe if we make the room smell really awful it'll leave.
<Ran|> "...I can't believe I'm actually talking about this like our suite is possesed. =_= "
<Greenling> "Anyway, thanks, David. I'll see you tomorrow."
<David|> "Guess that was your car this morning. Good luck!"
<Arista> "If not, maybe we can cause enough smoke damage to the suite to get a different one. >_>"
<Greenling> He hangs up. Meanwhile, there is another plop of snow onto Ran's head.
<Ran|> "FFFFF! STUPID SNOW EVEN OUT HERE! DX "
<Greenling> Plop, plop, thwack.
<Greenling> That's hail.
<Ran|> "Ack! DX "
<Arista> "...ok, it's following you." Arista looks up. "I think it's some sort of spirit, and it hates you."
<Ran|> "It snowed on you too!"
<Ran|> "This isn't all on me! >:< "
<Arista> "It snowed on you more."
<Ran|> "Rgh! >_< "