Agreeing wholeheartedly with that sentiment and all there is to learn about life and people, Mei hops to her feet and softly bumps her shoulder to Mellori's in a small show of friendship. "Me too! Let's learn together then, shall we?" It's probably too soon to call her Mel, though, isn't it?
"Oh, let me quickly just, um--" Mei turns this way and that, looking for any visible sign of her unseen servant. Spotting a bottle of shampoo pulled from her bag and begin to head towards the bathroom, she pipes up to switch their current task, "Snacks and tea, please! For the lounge. Thank you!" Joining Mellori in the hallway, she yawns behind her hand and then grins, "Let's see what Mae is up to! Not, er, me-Mei, but Mae-Mae..." and gestures towards Maeleve's room.
Coming out into the central levitation disk area, the purple-skinned tiefling glances around to orient himself, and as Knap starts talking to the tall blonde girl from downdisks he decides to take a quick tour of the floor, making his way over to the study room, quickly glancing into room 402 on his way there, spotting the other two girls from downstairs and giving them a brief and hopefully polite smile, trying to not smile wide enough to show his somewhat sinister-looking sharp teeth. Mellori and Mei he recalls, confirming it by taking a quick look at the name cards on the door as he proceeds to the Study room, stepping inside, wondering if this would be his safe haven when Knap and Guardok rehearsed together.
Investigation to explore Study room, if there is anything at all to discover ;-) :14
The Study Room is filled with several desks and chairs. There are a couple of small tables as well and some high-backed chairs.
The room is decorated with just a few simple paintings. They give a bit of color to what would otherwise be a somewhat drab space. They're are also a number of plants positioned here and there on the shelves of bookcases scattered about the room.
The bookcases themselves do contain a few books. They seem to be mostly fiction. Malvyn notes one called A Dance with The Devilkin and another called Tales from the Vastlands.
There's not really much else to discover in the room.
Malvyn had never cared much for fiction, it didn't quite seem to fill any purpose to him, the vast ocean of true knowledge at his disposal was quite enough to satisfy his mind's craving for stimulation. Still, he had heard others took interest in the fantasies that fiction offered, like pretending to be someone else for a while, perhaps he should try it. At least reading some fiction could give him a more available topic to bring up with his floor mates he thought with a small chuckle and opened up A Dance with The Devilkin, hoping to get a sense of what kind of story was told within it.
On exiting his room, Knap turns to go check in and see what Mei and Melori are up to but overhears them talking about other planes and the Feywild. With a sad sigh he turns the other direction and instead goes to the check in on the flaxen-haired bard. Standing about a foot from Mae’s door so as to not impose himself on her space: “Hey, it’s Mae right? Sorry, I have a terrible memory for names. And, sorry about the noisy song I was singing earlier; it must be the altitude… Where are you from? What's your favourite song? How long have you been following the bardic ways? Knap somewhat inconsiderately but entirely innocently bombards the bard with questions. "Anyway, Malvyn, Guardok and I are heading to the lounge if you’d like to join us? No pressure, it’s been a long day.”
Mae continues her soft, rhythmic finger drumming, just barely brushing the skin head of her small drum, even as she now smiles back softly at the satyr. "I am Maeleve, yes. Mae is just fine though. I'm sure your music was beautiful, though I'm afraid I wasn't paying too much attention I think. I'm from another world...or plane? I'm not really sure how that works exactly. I had a mentor friend who probably could have explained it better. But I suppose my favorite song is whatever will move my audience the most in the moment. I'm also rather fond of the -Winds of Wendolyn-."She finally put her instrument down, leaving it on the bed, but pulling out a wooden flute and putting it in a holster on her side, picked up her satchel, leaving her books and such on the bed for later, and got up to look out at the circular hall, though she didn't quite leave the room just yet.
Guardok pats Malvyn on the back when he apologises, "No need to apologise Malvyn, the truth is the truth. Consistency is probably one of the things my folks are looking for me to learn here".
When Malvyn and Knap head out, he follows, noticing Knap stop and chat at another room and Malvyn head into the study. He wasn't about to start studying before the semester had even started, and so he bypasses that room and heads straight for the lounge.
Picking up A Dance with The Devilkin, Malvyn can see the cover depicts a menacing looking Tiefling, tall and muscled, in what looks to be a romantic embrace with slim human woman. Quickly leafing through it, it appears to tell a story of this Tiefling, new to the town, and the daughter of a prominent businessman who falls in love with him.
Guardok also notes a site to the left corner of the room, headed outside its would seem. He doesn't see anyone else there at the moment.
The lounge is brightly decorated with various colorful framed paintings and drawings throughout. They range from landscapes to the abstract. This room has a couple of small bookcases and shelves, and you note various sculptures and plants decorating the place, amongst the books.
There is a long rectangular table to one side with several chairs. Multiple plush couches and apholstered chairs are scattered about the room. There are a smattering of little tables - some with decorative items on then - throughout. And another small round tablethat looks to stay only 4 is ticked away in another corner.
Perhaps most notable is the large window looking out on the campus. Just below the tower is the road that heads to the Quandrix campus. You can see a variety of green spaces, other towers and buildings, and even what seems to be a large major house out across the road.
Guardok ignores the plethora of knick-knacks and the view and decides to wait for the others to arrive whilst lounging on one of the plush chairs, which looks a bit like a couch to him. He gently plucks at the strings of his lute and attempts to tune it.
Looking around, he wonders whether there is any food or drink on this floor, or whether they have to go to find a cafeteria for that. It will be his first comment to whoever arrives at the lounge next, "No kitchen or pantry on this floor. What do you think about repurposing some of these shelves?".
The purple-skinned tiefling scoffs as he realizes the indecent subject of the book he's holding, but he goes on reading a bit more, just to affirm it is truly not worth his time, scoffing to himself with each page he turns, but as the book reaches the point where the tall and muscled tiefling romantically embraces the slim human woman he stops scoffing, his reading more focused now as his cheeks and pointed ears grow hot. Suddenly he hears a sound from just outside the study room and he quickly shuts the book close and replaces it where he found it, trying to put it back in a way that no one would realize he had even touched it. After making sure he was not seen he draws small breath of relief and decides to proceed to the lounge. He didn't quite get the last passages he read though which bothers him a bit. Maybe he would be able to find out more if he went to study late, just as a part of his education.
Regaining his composure after his reading, Malvyn crosses the central area of the floor and finds Guardok in the lounge. "Repurposing shelves? For what exactly?" The purple-skinned tiefling asks, not quite understanding what the genasi was even talking about. "I'm sure there will be refectory or something similar where we are supposed to have our meals." He says, hoping it didn't sound too condescending, but then he shrugs and smiles. "Perhaps we could talk to Lesviel about it, I'm sure she will be happy to answer your questions Guardok."
Revitalized by her cat nap and a new friend, Mei's step has a bit of extra pep in it as she and Mellori circle round the outer levitation chamber on their way to room 405. Peeking at the other doors and names on the way, her eyes widen to see someone already outside Mae's room--perhaps they had the same idea? "Oh, that's one of the first-years you were with down-disk, right?" she whispers with a gentle touch to Mellori's elbow to get her attention. Worried about interrupting, Mei waffles their approach, turning to go back the other way, then back again, then about-facing once more.
Mae softens her finger drumming a bit and looks over at Lesviel for a moment and blinks. "I am alright I think, thank you. I think it will take some time to feel really settled. Can't speak for Chara though, I haven't even seen her yet."
"Oh?" Lesviel replies to Mae. "I thought Chara had come up with Mellori. Wonder where she's gotten to." She shrugs a bit, not seeming too concerned. "I can totally understand it taking a bit to settle in. That's pretty normal. If you want to talk, anytime, I'm in Room 401. It's... well... I imagine you can figure out where it is. Anyhow, some of the others mentioned gathering in the lounge. If you head back towards the Levitation Disk it's just past that. If you wanted to join them of course." She gives Mae a smile. "I'm headed back downstairs for a bit. We still haven't seen Piero. And I guess we need to track down Chara too! But I'll be back up in a bit."
She gives a quick wave and heads for the Levitation Disk.
Speak of the devil (well, tiefling), Chara raps on the door at that moment.
"Um... hello?" she calls into the room. "Would I be disturbing anything if I come in right now?"
As soon as she gets the go-ahead, Chara pushes the door open. She looks overwhelmed by everything...
"Well, looks like we're rooming together," Chara says with a nervous smile, holding out a hand to her new roommate. "I... I'll try not to be a bother."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Mae looked at the much darker tiefling that came in. "Hello, I'm Maeleve, but everyone calls me Mae. You're not disturbing anything at all! This is your room it seems as much as mine." She clasped the hand of the tiefling between her two hands and smiled before letting go. "I suppose I'll try not to be a bother either. I'm sure once we know each other better we'll get along just fine. I think some of the others on our floor though were gathering in the little lounge area over there. Perhaps you can join us for a bit."
Overhearing their intention to go to the lounge too, and realizing they’re all headed to the same place, Mei grins at Mellori and goes clockwise back around the disk chamber. With a light knock on the door frame, she peeks her head in to the lounge.
A soft voice chimes in over the plucked lute strings. “Do you mind a bit more company in here?” Mei’s eyes flick from the tiefling to the seated genasi to the lute in his hands with a curious tilt of her head. A bard, maybe? “I have an offering of snacks and tea to pay our entry if needed,” she teases lightly at them both.
"Hey there, come in, come in. Everyone is welcome in the lounge", Guardok replies to Mei with a gem-y smile. "Especially those with offerings of snacks and drinks, which is what I was referring to Mal. We have a nice spot to relax with tables and chairs, but what about snacks and drinks? We can't be expected to go to the refectory every time we get peckish".
As if to emphasise the point, a low rolling rumbling emits from his belly. "First lesson on Earth Genasi, well at least this Earth Genasi, when they get hungry, they get hungry", he says to Malvyn and Mei with a jovial laugh.
Mei's smile reflects his own, not gem-y but pearly in its own right. She tugs up the collar of her robe to hide a laugh underneath it at the hungry rumbling. "Maybe we should keep a snack pouch on hand just for hungry Earth Genasi then," she grins, though only her crinkled eyes are visible. "And oh, do they not have a space for--" dropping the collar she glances about the lounge, pointedly avoiding the view from the window. "Maybe they're worried about ants? Though I doubt they'd know how to use the levitation disk to get all the way up here." It's hard to tell if she's joking or genuinely considering how ants might operate an arcane lift.
"I wonder if I should tell them to wait until we've checked with Lesvi--" a floating tray of tea and snacks glides into the room and Mei's brow creases with light worry, "--oops. Too late." The tray is sat gently down on a coffee table near Guardok and small, handleless cups are set out around the teapot. "Better to... ask for forgiveness than... go hungry?" she says with a sheepish bite of her lip as she takes a seat on the floor at the coffee table. Cradling the teapot in both hands, she whispers the incantation for prestidigitation and, gradually, steam begins to rise from the spout.
She leans back to glance up at Malvyn then at Guardok, "I hope you all like green tea? And um, there's black sesame rice crackers here," she nods at the round crackers then at a pile of snacks on another plate, "and those are honey pancake sandwiches with a sweet bean paste filling! Specialties where I'm from. Have you ever--ah, roots below, I lead with the snacks, sorry! I'm Mei Fujimori," she says, reaching across the table and nearly knocking over the teapot to offer a spell-warmed hand.
As Mei enters the lounge, Malvyn instinctively takes a half-step back against the far wall of the lounge, offering her a polite smile as he regains his composure. The energetic girl seemed quite pleasant but the purple-skinned tiefling honestly felt a bit intimidated by her straight-forwardness. Luckily Guardok was there to speak to her. It had truly not occured to him that snacks would be of such interest. Maybe the genasi was really very hungry for them, or maybe this was simply a social play to connect, a simple enough subject to agree on. He realized it all had a purpose but he had yet much to understand about the need for people to connect. He did want someone to call a friend eventually but being friends with as many people as possible seemed to be unreasonably important to most people around him. He watches as Guardok and then Mei laughs, they had connected, were they friends now?
As Mei starts worrying about ants he is about to explain that Strixhaven most likely do not have ants on it's grounds but decides to let it go, he had learned the hard way that pointing out things like that was not always welcome. As Mei offers her hand in a handshake Malvyn leans forward to accept it, hoping the girl would not retract her hand in revulsion over his black almost claw-like nails. "I am Malvyn...just Malvyn."He says with an insecure smile, quickly letting go of the girl's warm and soft hand, then taking a seat in a chair by the coffee table. He looks with uncertainty on what Mei had generously offered him and Guardok. He knew he was supposed to accept but he hadn't tasted green tea or the different snacks she had put on the table. He looked over at Guardok, hoping the genasi would go ahead and be more of a gentleman to hopefully make himself a bit less awkward. "So where are you from Mei?" He asks with a polite smile, as he was supposed to.
Mellori never had friends. Brothers? Yes. Acquaintances? Yes. But friends? For Mellori it wasn’t about being anti-social but her inability to read clues that others seemed to take for granted. Not that it bothered her – she was quite happy to be self-sufficient – but her parents had warned her that she might find the volume of interaction a little daunting.
So, was the shoulder bump from Mei a friendly or aggressive act? It was gentle, but was that in some way a sign that she was being friendly? It was a little beyond Mellori’s understanding.
Now in the hallway, she tagged along with Mei, allowing her room-mate to take the lead. One to one was fine for Mellori, but a group? Well, the rest will have seen her either remain silent or babble.
Nodding at Mei’s question she was unsure where they were heading, but duly followed.
They ended up – after a fashion – at a room that was clearly not a bedroom. A lounge then, judging from the response. Not that Mellori had ever been in a lounge before – her home consisted of a few bedrooms and one communal eating, cooking and living room. But the mention of food made her wonder if this room served the same purpose.
The array of food was…interesting. What was green tea? And rice crackers? And the rest she couldn’t even remember as they were mentioned by name.
Watching Mei offer her hand, Mellori wondered if she were to do the same thing. But before she could, the conversation re-started, so she decided against it and remained quiet and watchful.
"Better anything than go hungry, and that is a great idea, the snack pouch. I like the way you think", Guardok says watching the tray glide in and levering himself up a bit so he can see what is on it. His smile broadens as he sees the plates of food and the teapot.
"I am sure they have some druidic magic to keep the ants happy and in their place", he suggests helpfully, not wanting Mei to change her mind about offering the food.
He watches as she heats up the tea, seeing the familiar results of the prestidigitation spell. "I will confess, I like an earthy flavoured tea, so that will do me fine", he adds reaching forward to help himself to some crackers and sandwiches. He does a bit of a cross armed manoeuvre as she introduces herself, going for the sandwiches with one hand whilst offering his other underneath that arm to shake hers. "I'm Guardok, and it is very good to meet you, Mei", he says before taking a bite out of a honey pancake sandwich. "Mmm, that's good", he says after swallowing. "You should try these Mal, they're delicious". He spots Mellori hanging a little behind Mei, "Have you tried these? If you are Mei's room mate, you are very lucky", he adds offering Mellori his hand to shake next repeating "Guardok".
"Now, where do I get a floating tray of food and drink? Is that taught in a module I can sign up for?", he asks seriously, trying the rice cracker next and dropping a few crumbs over himself.
"Um... okay,"she says with a little smile to Mae. "Lead the way."
Chara will go ahead and follow her much more outgoing roommate to the lounge. As usual, she looks awkward and overwhelmed... there is just so much to take in. She's rarely even been outside of her hometown, let alone to an entirely new plane of existence! And... she suddenly feels a pang of homesickness. Her village, and even her family, were never especially kind to her... but they were what she knew. Where she was at least somewhat comfortable. Now she's in a strange new place. She turns away so that no one can see the pained look that passes over her face.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Malyn relaxes and even smiles a bit as Guardok talks, relieved that the genasi was so easy-going and didn't seem to have any trouble speaking to Mei in a polite way. "Thank you, maybe a bit later." He says politely as Guardok suggests trying the exotic sandwich. He frowns slightly as the genasi drops crumbs, hoping cleaning services in Dresar Hall would be sufficient to keep the floor tidy, which is what he would need to stay focused on his studies. As Guardok offers his hand to Mellori the tiefling almost surprises himself by following suit. "Malvyn."He says, hoping his smile is pleasant enough to not scare the red-haired girl. She seemed quite different from Mei he thought, even downstairs when they signed for their rooms she felt a bit shy, and Malvyn finds himself sympathizing, he was not alone. As he looks up he notices more people entering the lounge, moving his chair slightly to make room for everyone. He notices again the winged tiefling from downstairs and can't help but look at her, awkwardly much. He wonders how her life as a devil-spawn had been, better than his he hoped sincerely, maybe he would find out eventually. He notices how she turns away and can't help but wonder if something is wrong. He finds himself wanting to check on her, making sure she is alright, but he seems stuck on the chair, feeling ashamed to not be able to stand up for his kin even.
Agreeing wholeheartedly with that sentiment and all there is to learn about life and people, Mei hops to her feet and softly bumps her shoulder to Mellori's in a small show of friendship. "Me too! Let's learn together then, shall we?" It's probably too soon to call her Mel, though, isn't it?
"Oh, let me quickly just, um--" Mei turns this way and that, looking for any visible sign of her unseen servant. Spotting a bottle of shampoo pulled from her bag and begin to head towards the bathroom, she pipes up to switch their current task, "Snacks and tea, please! For the lounge. Thank you!" Joining Mellori in the hallway, she yawns behind her hand and then grins, "Let's see what Mae is up to! Not, er, me-Mei, but Mae-Mae..." and gestures towards Maeleve's room.
Coming out into the central levitation disk area, the purple-skinned tiefling glances around to orient himself, and as Knap starts talking to the tall blonde girl from downdisks he decides to take a quick tour of the floor, making his way over to the study room, quickly glancing into room 402 on his way there, spotting the other two girls from downstairs and giving them a brief and hopefully polite smile, trying to not smile wide enough to show his somewhat sinister-looking sharp teeth. Mellori and Mei he recalls, confirming it by taking a quick look at the name cards on the door as he proceeds to the Study room, stepping inside, wondering if this would be his safe haven when Knap and Guardok rehearsed together.
Investigation to explore Study room, if there is anything at all to discover ;-) :14
The Study Room is filled with several desks and chairs. There are a couple of small tables as well and some high-backed chairs.
The room is decorated with just a few simple paintings. They give a bit of color to what would otherwise be a somewhat drab space. They're are also a number of plants positioned here and there on the shelves of bookcases scattered about the room.
The bookcases themselves do contain a few books. They seem to be mostly fiction. Malvyn notes one called A Dance with The Devilkin and another called Tales from the Vastlands.
There's not really much else to discover in the room.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Malvyn had never cared much for fiction, it didn't quite seem to fill any purpose to him, the vast ocean of true knowledge at his disposal was quite enough to satisfy his mind's craving for stimulation. Still, he had heard others took interest in the fantasies that fiction offered, like pretending to be someone else for a while, perhaps he should try it. At least reading some fiction could give him a more available topic to bring up with his floor mates he thought with a small chuckle and opened up A Dance with The Devilkin, hoping to get a sense of what kind of story was told within it.
Mae continues her soft, rhythmic finger drumming, just barely brushing the skin head of her small drum, even as she now smiles back softly at the satyr. "I am Maeleve, yes. Mae is just fine though. I'm sure your music was beautiful, though I'm afraid I wasn't paying too much attention I think. I'm from another world...or plane? I'm not really sure how that works exactly. I had a mentor friend who probably could have explained it better. But I suppose my favorite song is whatever will move my audience the most in the moment. I'm also rather fond of the -Winds of Wendolyn-." She finally put her instrument down, leaving it on the bed, but pulling out a wooden flute and putting it in a holster on her side, picked up her satchel, leaving her books and such on the bed for later, and got up to look out at the circular hall, though she didn't quite leave the room just yet.
Guardok pats Malvyn on the back when he apologises, "No need to apologise Malvyn, the truth is the truth. Consistency is probably one of the things my folks are looking for me to learn here".
When Malvyn and Knap head out, he follows, noticing Knap stop and chat at another room and Malvyn head into the study. He wasn't about to start studying before the semester had even started, and so he bypasses that room and heads straight for the lounge.
He heads in and takes a look around.
Picking up A Dance with The Devilkin, Malvyn can see the cover depicts a menacing looking Tiefling, tall and muscled, in what looks to be a romantic embrace with slim human woman. Quickly leafing through it, it appears to tell a story of this Tiefling, new to the town, and the daughter of a prominent businessman who falls in love with him.
Guardok also notes a site to the left corner of the room, headed outside its would seem. He doesn't see anyone else there at the moment.
The lounge is brightly decorated with various colorful framed paintings and drawings throughout. They range from landscapes to the abstract. This room has a couple of small bookcases and shelves, and you note various sculptures and plants decorating the place, amongst the books.
There is a long rectangular table to one side with several chairs. Multiple plush couches and apholstered chairs are scattered about the room. There are a smattering of little tables - some with decorative items on then - throughout. And another small round tablethat looks to stay only 4 is ticked away in another corner.
Perhaps most notable is the large window looking out on the campus. Just below the tower is the road that heads to the Quandrix campus. You can see a variety of green spaces, other towers and buildings, and even what seems to be a large major house out across the road.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Guardok ignores the plethora of knick-knacks and the view and decides to wait for the others to arrive whilst lounging on one of the plush chairs, which looks a bit like a couch to him. He gently plucks at the strings of his lute and attempts to tune it.
Looking around, he wonders whether there is any food or drink on this floor, or whether they have to go to find a cafeteria for that. It will be his first comment to whoever arrives at the lounge next, "No kitchen or pantry on this floor. What do you think about repurposing some of these shelves?".
The purple-skinned tiefling scoffs as he realizes the indecent subject of the book he's holding, but he goes on reading a bit more, just to affirm it is truly not worth his time, scoffing to himself with each page he turns, but as the book reaches the point where the tall and muscled tiefling romantically embraces the slim human woman he stops scoffing, his reading more focused now as his cheeks and pointed ears grow hot. Suddenly he hears a sound from just outside the study room and he quickly shuts the book close and replaces it where he found it, trying to put it back in a way that no one would realize he had even touched it. After making sure he was not seen he draws small breath of relief and decides to proceed to the lounge. He didn't quite get the last passages he read though which bothers him a bit. Maybe he would be able to find out more if he went to study late, just as a part of his education.
Regaining his composure after his reading, Malvyn crosses the central area of the floor and finds Guardok in the lounge. "Repurposing shelves? For what exactly?" The purple-skinned tiefling asks, not quite understanding what the genasi was even talking about. "I'm sure there will be refectory or something similar where we are supposed to have our meals." He says, hoping it didn't sound too condescending, but then he shrugs and smiles. "Perhaps we could talk to Lesviel about it, I'm sure she will be happy to answer your questions Guardok."
Revitalized by her cat nap and a new friend, Mei's step has a bit of extra pep in it as she and Mellori circle round the outer levitation chamber on their way to room 405. Peeking at the other doors and names on the way, her eyes widen to see someone already outside Mae's room--perhaps they had the same idea? "Oh, that's one of the first-years you were with down-disk, right?" she whispers with a gentle touch to Mellori's elbow to get her attention. Worried about interrupting, Mei waffles their approach, turning to go back the other way, then back again, then about-facing once more.
Speak of the devil (well, tiefling), Chara raps on the door at that moment.
"Um... hello?" she calls into the room. "Would I be disturbing anything if I come in right now?"
As soon as she gets the go-ahead, Chara pushes the door open. She looks overwhelmed by everything...
"Well, looks like we're rooming together," Chara says with a nervous smile, holding out a hand to her new roommate. "I... I'll try not to be a bother."
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Mae looked at the much darker tiefling that came in. "Hello, I'm Maeleve, but everyone calls me Mae. You're not disturbing anything at all! This is your room it seems as much as mine." She clasped the hand of the tiefling between her two hands and smiled before letting go. "I suppose I'll try not to be a bother either. I'm sure once we know each other better we'll get along just fine. I think some of the others on our floor though were gathering in the little lounge area over there. Perhaps you can join us for a bit."
Overhearing their intention to go to the lounge too, and realizing they’re all headed to the same place, Mei grins at Mellori and goes clockwise back around the disk chamber. With a light knock on the door frame, she peeks her head in to the lounge.
A soft voice chimes in over the plucked lute strings. “Do you mind a bit more company in here?” Mei’s eyes flick from the tiefling to the seated genasi to the lute in his hands with a curious tilt of her head. A bard, maybe? “I have an offering of snacks and tea to pay our entry if needed,” she teases lightly at them both.
"Hey there, come in, come in. Everyone is welcome in the lounge", Guardok replies to Mei with a gem-y smile. "Especially those with offerings of snacks and drinks, which is what I was referring to Mal. We have a nice spot to relax with tables and chairs, but what about snacks and drinks? We can't be expected to go to the refectory every time we get peckish".
As if to emphasise the point, a low rolling rumbling emits from his belly. "First lesson on Earth Genasi, well at least this Earth Genasi, when they get hungry, they get hungry", he says to Malvyn and Mei with a jovial laugh.
Mei's smile reflects his own, not gem-y but pearly in its own right. She tugs up the collar of her robe to hide a laugh underneath it at the hungry rumbling. "Maybe we should keep a snack pouch on hand just for hungry Earth Genasi then," she grins, though only her crinkled eyes are visible. "And oh, do they not have a space for--" dropping the collar she glances about the lounge, pointedly avoiding the view from the window. "Maybe they're worried about ants? Though I doubt they'd know how to use the levitation disk to get all the way up here." It's hard to tell if she's joking or genuinely considering how ants might operate an arcane lift.
"I wonder if I should tell them to wait until we've checked with Lesvi--" a floating tray of tea and snacks glides into the room and Mei's brow creases with light worry, "--oops. Too late." The tray is sat gently down on a coffee table near Guardok and small, handleless cups are set out around the teapot. "Better to... ask for forgiveness than... go hungry?" she says with a sheepish bite of her lip as she takes a seat on the floor at the coffee table. Cradling the teapot in both hands, she whispers the incantation for prestidigitation and, gradually, steam begins to rise from the spout.
She leans back to glance up at Malvyn then at Guardok, "I hope you all like green tea? And um, there's black sesame rice crackers here," she nods at the round crackers then at a pile of snacks on another plate, "and those are honey pancake sandwiches with a sweet bean paste filling! Specialties where I'm from. Have you ever--ah, roots below, I lead with the snacks, sorry! I'm Mei Fujimori," she says, reaching across the table and nearly knocking over the teapot to offer a spell-warmed hand.
As Mei enters the lounge, Malvyn instinctively takes a half-step back against the far wall of the lounge, offering her a polite smile as he regains his composure. The energetic girl seemed quite pleasant but the purple-skinned tiefling honestly felt a bit intimidated by her straight-forwardness. Luckily Guardok was there to speak to her. It had truly not occured to him that snacks would be of such interest. Maybe the genasi was really very hungry for them, or maybe this was simply a social play to connect, a simple enough subject to agree on. He realized it all had a purpose but he had yet much to understand about the need for people to connect. He did want someone to call a friend eventually but being friends with as many people as possible seemed to be unreasonably important to most people around him. He watches as Guardok and then Mei laughs, they had connected, were they friends now?
As Mei starts worrying about ants he is about to explain that Strixhaven most likely do not have ants on it's grounds but decides to let it go, he had learned the hard way that pointing out things like that was not always welcome. As Mei offers her hand in a handshake Malvyn leans forward to accept it, hoping the girl would not retract her hand in revulsion over his black almost claw-like nails. "I am Malvyn...just Malvyn." He says with an insecure smile, quickly letting go of the girl's warm and soft hand, then taking a seat in a chair by the coffee table. He looks with uncertainty on what Mei had generously offered him and Guardok. He knew he was supposed to accept but he hadn't tasted green tea or the different snacks she had put on the table. He looked over at Guardok, hoping the genasi would go ahead and be more of a gentleman to hopefully make himself a bit less awkward. "So where are you from Mei?" He asks with a polite smile, as he was supposed to.
Mellori never had friends. Brothers? Yes. Acquaintances? Yes. But friends? For Mellori it wasn’t about being anti-social but her inability to read clues that others seemed to take for granted. Not that it bothered her – she was quite happy to be self-sufficient – but her parents had warned her that she might find the volume of interaction a little daunting.
So, was the shoulder bump from Mei a friendly or aggressive act? It was gentle, but was that in some way a sign that she was being friendly? It was a little beyond Mellori’s understanding.
Now in the hallway, she tagged along with Mei, allowing her room-mate to take the lead. One to one was fine for Mellori, but a group? Well, the rest will have seen her either remain silent or babble.
Nodding at Mei’s question she was unsure where they were heading, but duly followed.
They ended up – after a fashion – at a room that was clearly not a bedroom. A lounge then, judging from the response. Not that Mellori had ever been in a lounge before – her home consisted of a few bedrooms and one communal eating, cooking and living room. But the mention of food made her wonder if this room served the same purpose.
The array of food was…interesting. What was green tea? And rice crackers? And the rest she couldn’t even remember as they were mentioned by name.
Watching Mei offer her hand, Mellori wondered if she were to do the same thing. But before she could, the conversation re-started, so she decided against it and remained quiet and watchful.
"Better anything than go hungry, and that is a great idea, the snack pouch. I like the way you think", Guardok says watching the tray glide in and levering himself up a bit so he can see what is on it. His smile broadens as he sees the plates of food and the teapot.
"I am sure they have some druidic magic to keep the ants happy and in their place", he suggests helpfully, not wanting Mei to change her mind about offering the food.
He watches as she heats up the tea, seeing the familiar results of the prestidigitation spell. "I will confess, I like an earthy flavoured tea, so that will do me fine", he adds reaching forward to help himself to some crackers and sandwiches. He does a bit of a cross armed manoeuvre as she introduces herself, going for the sandwiches with one hand whilst offering his other underneath that arm to shake hers. "I'm Guardok, and it is very good to meet you, Mei", he says before taking a bite out of a honey pancake sandwich. "Mmm, that's good", he says after swallowing. "You should try these Mal, they're delicious". He spots Mellori hanging a little behind Mei, "Have you tried these? If you are Mei's room mate, you are very lucky", he adds offering Mellori his hand to shake next repeating "Guardok".
"Now, where do I get a floating tray of food and drink? Is that taught in a module I can sign up for?", he asks seriously, trying the rice cracker next and dropping a few crumbs over himself.
"Um... okay," she says with a little smile to Mae. "Lead the way."
Chara will go ahead and follow her much more outgoing roommate to the lounge. As usual, she looks awkward and overwhelmed... there is just so much to take in. She's rarely even been outside of her hometown, let alone to an entirely new plane of existence! And... she suddenly feels a pang of homesickness. Her village, and even her family, were never especially kind to her... but they were what she knew. Where she was at least somewhat comfortable. Now she's in a strange new place. She turns away so that no one can see the pained look that passes over her face.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
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Malyn relaxes and even smiles a bit as Guardok talks, relieved that the genasi was so easy-going and didn't seem to have any trouble speaking to Mei in a polite way. "Thank you, maybe a bit later." He says politely as Guardok suggests trying the exotic sandwich. He frowns slightly as the genasi drops crumbs, hoping cleaning services in Dresar Hall would be sufficient to keep the floor tidy, which is what he would need to stay focused on his studies. As Guardok offers his hand to Mellori the tiefling almost surprises himself by following suit. "Malvyn." He says, hoping his smile is pleasant enough to not scare the red-haired girl. She seemed quite different from Mei he thought, even downstairs when they signed for their rooms she felt a bit shy, and Malvyn finds himself sympathizing, he was not alone. As he looks up he notices more people entering the lounge, moving his chair slightly to make room for everyone. He notices again the winged tiefling from downstairs and can't help but look at her, awkwardly much. He wonders how her life as a devil-spawn had been, better than his he hoped sincerely, maybe he would find out eventually. He notices how she turns away and can't help but wonder if something is wrong. He finds himself wanting to check on her, making sure she is alright, but he seems stuck on the chair, feeling ashamed to not be able to stand up for his kin even.