Logs:Extra Pep

Extra Pep
Dramatis Personae Aeryune, Harm, Nanami
In Absentia	2020-05-19 "You could find out all kinds of information on boys!"
Location <XAV> Foyer - Xs First Floor
Xavier's foyer provides a suitable introduction to the opulent mansion. Teak-paneled, wood floors immaculately polished, vaulted ceiling ribbed with dark wood boning, there is no doubt this school was built with no expense spared. The hallways branch off to the separate wings, with the grand staircase spiraling upwards to the residential dorms above. It's a beautiful spring day outside and late in the afternoon the grounds at Xavier's are far more boisterous than the mansion itself. Classes done for the day but several sports practices in full swing, a number of people taking to the gardens or playground to study or relax. Even many of those who might normally tend to hang around the mansion for their studying seem to have taken off, long weeks of isolation prompting many to take trips into Salem or the city, grateful for an end to the enforced lockdown. The heavy door opening spills fresh air and a burst of sound -- laughter, yelling, some distant guitar -- into the foyer. Nanami's face is still flushed as she tumbles back into the mansion, her breathing just a little on the short side. Her long black hair is meticulously braided, and she wears a pale pink v-neck athletic t-shirt with a drift of many-colored plumerias across the front, purple athletic shorts with a white stripe just above the hems, pale pink knee socks with white stripes at the cuffs, and a pair of purple-and-white cross-trainers. She's just taking a swig from a water bottle decorated with large hibiscus flowers and plastered with a large red and yellow sticker of a stylized mountain (it reads "Ku Kia'i Mauna" underneath) as she starts for the large stairs at a jog. Harmony is coming down the stairs, pushing their bangs out of their eyes as they go. They're dressed in their usual fashion, if a bit more warmly today than over the weekend, a light, loosely knitted sunset ombre sweater, loose wide-legged black woven pants, and dark green boots, a black satchel made from bicycle inner tubes slung over their shoulder. "Oh, hey!" They wave as they spot Nanami heading for the stairs. Aeryune just arrived last night. She's gone out as her things were delivered - well what she didn't arrive with anyway. The vertically challenged 4'7 blonde with brunette highlights wears a blue plaid long-sleeved shirt that's fairly snug, a blue knee length skirt, purple leggings and brown boots. (with blue laces). She carries a guitar case slung over her shoulder and two fairly large size overfilled and somewhat battered rolling travel-suitcases, one for each arm, as well as a few duffels over her opposite shoulder. She almost looks like she might teeter over. Stopping at the stairs in the foyer she looks at the rolling bags, then up at the top of the stairs. "Hmm. This could be a problem!" Looking over to Nanami as she almost bursts in behind her she offers "I like your water bottle! It's very flowery! " Her accent is undeniably Irish, that rolling r, the twisting of english unapologetically. "Howzat?" Nanami's eyes open wider, brows hiking up at Aeryune's words. Only a moment later does she glance down at the bottle in her hand. "Oh -- yeah. Right. Uh -- thanks." She taps the sport-top closed against her thigh, jerking her chin up to Harm. "Nice sweater." She taps the heel of her water bottle absently against the palm of her opposite hand, head tilting to one side as she examines Aeryune and her luggage. "You good with all that? It looks a little -- well. It looks a lot. I got a hand if you want one?" Harm brightens at the compliment. "Thanks! I -- made it myself." They pluck at the soft, curled hem of the sweater as they descend the last few steps so as not to block Aeryrune's path. "Yeah, I can probably grab one, too. Still might want to use the elevator, though." Prioximity to Aeryune typically can mean one feels..better. Physically. If their body was fatigued, it would be like that fatigue would just fade away and their body would be re-energized. Nanami might potentially to feel oddly refreshed after her run. Depending on distance, her own body, and all kinds of crazy non-explainable elements on if it affects or not. Aeryune blinks "Wait, there's an elevator? Why didn't we take that in to begin with? That would have been so much easier! Can we all fit in it together? I know my family can squeeze all into one uncomfortably. We don't get to take one often because someone usually hits all the buttons. I've done that a couple of times." Wiggling her mouth as she considers the offers for help, she offers each person a handle to the rolling suitcases "Okay, I could use some help! This stuff is really heavy! I might've gotten over-packed, but there wasn't much choice. I need to go to the girl's dorm. My name's Aeryune. It's Air-ree-yune. Nice to meet you! I've never been at a fancy school like this. What do you all do at night? Make smores in the oven, stay up late and talk about boys like something from a teen novel? That actually sounds like fun..can we do that? Let's totally do that!" Unselfconscious, Nanami tucks the water bottle into the waistband of her shorts to free up both hands for the heavy suitcase. Her brows pinch sloooowly together while Aeryune speaks, fingers squeezing at the handle of the rolling case. "I think I caught, like, half that, tops," she admits freely after the other girl is done. "But trust me, there are no boys here worth talking about. I'm guessing Harm stays up at night and -- knits? How long does it take to make a sweater because my ballpark guess would be like. A century." What was that about an elevator? Nanami seems to have already forgotten about it, bright and energized as she hoists the suitcase and heads to the stairs. "I'm Nanami. I haven't been here long, either. It is posh as hell." Harm blinks, their dark eyes widening just a touch. "Um -- yeah, the elevator is..." But Nanami is already going for the stairs. They shrug, and point to the end of the foyer or Aeryune's benefit, "It's back there, but it doen't look like an elevator. Big wooden door." They wheel the suitcase until they get to the stairs, then start hauling it up carefully with both hands. "I think most kids play video games or...watch TV, I guess? Probably some talking-about-boys, whether they're worth it or not." They blush slightly, dropping her eyes to focus on their load "But yeah, I do a lot of knitting and stuff like that. A simple one like this takes maybe two weeks. Longer if I'm busy and only picking at them." They shrug. "Anyway, welcome to Xavier's, Aeryune," they say the name carefully, "I'm Harm, and I've been here...wow, since last winter." "Oh..oh, okay! The stairs then I guess!" She she carefully goes up the stairs with the others "Well it's nice to meet you Nanami and Harm. So boys are kinda meh eh? I thought that the girls would be gossipping about boys, and sneaking out to have bonfyres, and and..get up to trouble like changing out the different checkout cards on the library books or something. I guess I just don't really know what people do in a fancy school. It's not like teen novels and the CW shows as well." "Do we have like cheerleaders and a football team? Well..probably not I guess. No Pep squad. Though there's that person playing guitar wherever they are. I play guitar, well, I guess you can tell. I have one right here. Isn't there a market for afgans where they can actually sell for quite a bit when sold at the right places when they are hand made, with knitting skills? And..sewing machines maybe? Maybe a loom? I'm not really sure how it all works." "There's a football team, and there's cheerleaders. I would have expected that mutant sports teams would dominate in everything, but we actually kind of suck at everything. I feel sorry for the cheerleaders, honestly." Nanami's words are a little strained now with the effort of hauling the suitcase up the stairs, but she seems to be managing alright. Leeeeaning to one side to compensate as she lugs it up to the second-floor landing. "There's a whole entire pool in the basement, and stables out there. It's wild. I don't know what people do usually, lately they've just been glad to get out again. I think after being locked in here with each other for weeks everyone is glad to go out to town and see a lot less of these walls." She sets the suitcase down with a satisfied smile when she reaches the top. "Do you sell those? I'd think the market lately has probably been like -- stuffed. If insta is any indication, everyone and their cousin has decided the 'rona is a perfect time to take up knitting or beadwork or pottery and sell their ugly knockoffs to whoever they can -- uh, not that your stuff is ugly, you look like you know what you're doing. But there's a lot of people cooped up in their houses who are like, oh, I totally learned to bead during the past three weeks the virus had me shut indoors, I'm an artisan now." "Um..." Harm chews on their lower lip, their cheeks flushing further. "Well. Nobody really gossips about boys in the boys' dorms, that I've noticed. Maybe they do in the girls' dorms?" Needing to pause for a moment on the landing, they lag significantly behind Nanami, but do manage to get the suitcase to the top at length, breathing a little hard by then. "I used to make stuff for my um...family to sell? Mostly yarn, but we sold some knits and crochets. I've never sold stuff myself, but maybe it's time to try. My mom just keeps sending me wool and I don't know what to do with all this yarn." They flash a bright smile back at Aeryune. "I play the mandolin -- some other stuff, too, but mainly mandolin. Maybe...we can jam sometime?" Aerin reaches the top as well behind everyone. "I play the bass guitar, I'm not sure what kind of sounds we would make it it would be sure fun to find out, so sure!" She purses her lips as she lingers at the top. "Well...I guess I was locked up too." The look on her face betrays a more literal than metaphoracal way. "I'm not sure I should really be here instead of with my family. I also..think..well. I'm not sure that staying inside when other people are suffering is the right thing to do. Though I'm not really safe at home anymore. I'm not sure where's safe anymore. Especially since the virus." She takes a hand and pulls some of her hair over into her face against her cheek a bit. Then shakes her head to have it fall back into place. She smiles, a bit forced. "Though I like cheerleading, I hope it's not too late to make the team. All that cheering and pep has always been rather fun for me!" "Wait, you're in the boys' dorm?" The look Nanami gives Harm now is blank. A blink, a small tilt of head, a longer scrutinizing glance. "Huh." Her head shakes, and she adjusts her grip on the suitcase handle as she starts tugging it off towards the girls' wing. "Do you know which room you're in, Air... what did you say it was again, sorry, I swear I'll remember but I already forgot. Anyway, the term's just about over so it's definitely too late to make the team, but I'm sure you can join once a new term starts. This place could use some extra pep." She lifts a hand, toying with the end of her braid as her eyes drop to the floor. "Been a rough year, huh? WHere is your family? I hope they're safe, wherever it is." "Bass is amazing, and I play guitar, too, if it comes to that -- just not very good." Harm hasn't stopped blushing, though they do look up to meet Nanami's gaze. "Yeah. It's...complicated?" they say, shrugging one shoulder in a way that was probably meant to look a lot more casual than it came out. They quickly turn their attention back to Aeyrune as they start wheeling the suitcase after Nanami. "I'm sorry if the situation was extra bad where you were. We had like...cushy quarantine where we didn't have to distance from anyone on campus. Just, couldn't leave. But as far as the virus goes, you're pretty safe here. We're all immunized." They push their hair out of the eyes again, nodding emphatically at Nanami's question. "Doesn't make it any less of a crappy year, for sure." Laughing, Aeryune reaches over to pinch Nanami's cheek. "Aeryune! Air-ree-yune. That's me!" She shakes her head "I stayed in this one over here, so I'm assuming I'm in that one. In the girl's dorm." She hmmns. "My family is all back at home in Wisconsin. We have a large family. Sometimes when someone has a lot of money they think they can have whatever they want. And sometimes, they feel entitled to take it even when someone says no or isn't interested. If your someone that can do things like make sure you dont get sick, or make you heal from the virus..even if you don't know it, people can get grabby. Clingy. And take things that don't belong to them." She frowns for a moment feeling grumpy. Then just as fast she's over it after a huffy breath. She leans over to try to bump Harm's hip with her own, though she's probably more likely to bump her with one of those duffels. "Complicated huh? Well it doesn't seem that complicated to me, you can be our inside source for information about the boys! Oooo, like a sleeper agent. Like..like double-O 2, or or..um..some other secret neat agent." Nanami stiffens, pulling sharply away with narrowed eyes when Aeryune touches her. An extremely mild pop of static shock accompanies the touch -- hardly even painful, more surprising really. Her lips have compressed into a thin line, her voice much softer than before. "Excuse you, Aeryune." Her grip on the suitcase has grown tighter. She wheels it toward the indicated dorm, setting it neatly down outside the door. "Sounds rough. I'm glad you're safe now." She plucks the water bottle from her waistband, taking another sip. "... complicated? Mmm. A...ight. Guess there's no dorm for that?" Harm's eyes go slightly wide again, skipping aside to the two girls, though they make no comment on the exchange. Their brows furrow deeper and deeper as Aeryune recounts her home situation. "That...is something people do," their voice is quiet and careful here. "I'm sorry that happened to you." Distracted by whatever that story made them think, they're caught off guard by the bump and emits a small, startle yip. "Y-yeah, they just told me to pick one." Their frown grows less troubled now and more just confused. "I'm not sure what kind of information you'd want on boys, though, or how great of a secret agent I'd be. They mostly think I'm weird, too." Aeryune jumps a touch at the shock. "Whoa! They really need to set up some humidifiers in here or something!" She walks towards the room she's in "Well..I'm not sure safe is the right word. But I don't want to be just the sum of what I can do for people." "You could find out all kinds of information on boys! I have brothers, they're quite different from girls. They think differently. Like really a lot differently. You can find out which ones are jerks, and which ones aren't. Which ones look good in pajammas or oh goodness, you might even get to see who has the cutest butts if you get to see them in PJ's!" She slaps her fingers to her cheeks, blushing furiously. "You can find out when they are planning to do pranks, like..like panty raids, and..and sneaking in liquor to the punch bowls, and who is going to ask out who to dances! Eeee, your in such a good position! Lucky!" She opens the door to her room "Well..don't get me wrong, girls can have nice butts and stuff too. Shapey, roundy, jiggly, bouncy, wiggly, firm, there's all kinds of them. But meh, I live with a bunch of sisters. I've seen all kinds of butts in all kinds of undies. Slim, Trim, Thong, boycut, and I get to see my own. Boys in cute PJ's though. That I don't get to see everyday! I wonder if the boys wear shirts when they go to bed?" Nanami wheels the suitcase just inside the door. Sets it down against the wall just beside the doorframe and steps promptly back out of the room. "You've clearly spent a lot more time thinking about butts than I have. Don't have much to do for fun in Wisconsin, huh?" She rocks back on her heels. Takes another swig of her water. "Well. Nice to meet you, Aeryune. Welcome to Xavier's?" The upward lilt of this makes it sound not entirely confident. "I better get back to..." This just trails off. She waves her water bottle vaguely down the hall. Presumably her dorm is -- somewhere. Down there. She's wandering off with a last farewell waggle of the bottle towards the others. Harm's eyes grow wider and wider at the litany of things they might be able to report back about boys, cheeks flushing steadily redder. They shoot a bewildered sidelong gaze to Nanami somewhere in the middle. Finally, blinking as they gather their thoughts, they venture, "I don't think people um...do those kinds of pranks? Here?" They do not actually sound certain, and a moment later quietly adds, "I hope, anyway." They fit the suitcase they'd been escorting neatly next to the one Nanami has just deposited. "I don't think I'm the spy for this job, though. People find plenty of cause to bully me and I'd rather not hand them more." They wave as Nanami turns to go, then turns back to Aeryrune, "Tuesday's usually taco night, by the way. I'm sure I'll see you around." They offer Aeyrune a polite bow and pads off back in the direction of the stairs. Aeryune hmmns. "You think so? Well I was a cheerleader, and at football games the boys bent over all the time. You see a lot of butts as a cheerleader. It's just one of the hazards of the occupation. And well hee, my parents did have 9 children!" She waves to Nanami "Okay! Thanks for the help! I'll see you around!" She turns to Nanami "Well that's what I've seen on TV, they've had movies and stuff about that sort of thing for years!" Frowning she puts down her guitar case, then her bags, then rests her hands on her hips. "Is someone bullying you? I'm not going to let them get away with that! I didn't stand for that in Madison, and I'm not going to stand for that here either! People deserve to be who they want to be, and not be bullied about it. So if I see someone bully you, or anyone else, I'm going to put a stop to it! People aren't going to get away with that." Harm hesitates, glancing back at Aeryune, their expression difficult to read. They lick their lips. "I don't think standing up to bullies works as well in real life as it does in the movies, but...thank you for caring about that. I'll be alright, though." They hesitate as they turn away again, adding, "I've had worse" before hastening on their way.