The Tiberius J. Swann Education Facility

Who: Duncan and Adora
Where: Adora's Office, then to lunch
When: Around 12 noon
What: Duncan comes to drag Adora to lunch, as promised

Two hours, fifteen minutes and forty-two... forty-three... forty-four seconds had passed since Adora had put her away message up to ignore Nox. By the point she'd actually put that message up, it was because she'd finally started crying out of sheer frustration and anger, and she simply could not deal with him anymore. This... This martyr thing he was doing. Always being the fucking martyr. Why was it so impossible for Nox to realize that he was not perfect and that bad things happened? This whole thing with Elle had clearly not been his fault!

Adora spent the two hours and fifteen minutes after she'd stopped IMing him at her desk, occasionally bursting back into tears again. She was thoroughly blaming hormones, as she knew that while she was pissed off, sure, she should not have been crying every five seconds like a god-damned two year old. It was ridiculous, and it pissed her off, and it had only made her cry more.

Thankfully, the tears had stopped about ten minutes ago. So while she was still sniffling and had the millionth tissue in her hands in the last five minutes, it seemed, she wasn't actively crying anymore. Hooray, throw a party. It still didn't solve the very important problem of trying to get Nox to realize he was being stupid about this, holding himself to standards he couldn't possibly achieve.

Needless to say, by the time lunch had rolled around, Adora had completely forgotten she was supposed to meet Duncan, which meant... Duncan would have to find her.

Who: Duncan and Adora
Where: Adora's apt
When: 11pm & later
What: Adora needs a hug!

Before hanging up with Adora, Duncan had gone through a short list of things to say in response to the last thing Adora had said to him. He had crossed out all of the suggestions, however -- some being 'At least she called you,' as well as 'I've heard she's a little bit of a nut anyway' to 'but she's.. fine, then?' -- and instead opted for 'be right there.'

He hadn't bothered to change, so for anyone out past 11pm (and no one SHOULD have been out) they would have saw a lanky fire-demon wearing plaid red and black pajama pants, a green and brown striped scarf, and a black hoodie. He didn't need more than that -- his own natural temperature was very high -- and besides, he was running. Fast.

He arrived a little out of breath in front of Adora's door, his nose and ears pink from the cold, chest heaving. 

Knock knock knock.

Who: Duncan & Adora
Where: The art studio.
When: Late morning, early afternoon
What: Duncan is helping Adora move, because he's a sucker for girls who need help!

Duncan arrived just when he said he would, wearing a zipped up black hoodie and no hat. His hair was long now, long enough to cover his horns in tufty auburn semi-curls. He appeared almost cherubic, except for the laugh lines near his eyes and mouth. He wore ripped jeans and sneakers -- perfect moving day outfit, in his opinion -- and had taken off the silver rings he usually wore, because blisters were annoying.

His voice echoed as he popped his head in, then slid in the rest of him. "Hello? Anybody home?"

A pause.

"Luuuucy..."

Who: Duncan and Adora
Where: Starting where Duncan's got rehearsals, then probably to the cafeteria
When: Saturday, February 23rd, around 3 PM
What: Duncan and Adora are trying really hard to continue the whole "Getting to know each other" process here

Adora had taken her time getting up this morning, slept in a bit, and then took a little more time to organize the kitchen area of her apartment. She'd never known what the family-size staff rooms had been like, but now that she actually had one, she realized she had far too little to actually fill out the apartment. She'd have to get back into working on her artwork, because, clearly, she did not have enough there.

After wavering back and forth on where everything should go until about 2:30, Adora slipped into a pair of jeans and a black tank top, grabbing a blazer to pull over her shoulders so she wouldn't die from the cold. Stopping at the cafeteria, as he had threatened to do so, Adora made Duncan a cup of coffee - seriously? A lot of vanilla creamer - It was insane - and headed along to the rehearsal space that she wasn't allowed to actually go inside of.

Adora hovered around the door to the space for a few minutes, right around 2:45, and tried not to look as energetic as she felt. She couldn't help it, though. She felt wonderful. Morning sickness was finally gone, she had had an amazing meal, she did not plan on letting anything get her mood down. Oh. And she had her list in her blazer pocket.

Who: Duncan and Adora
Where: Outside, somewheres.
When: Afternoonish. After lunchtime.
What: Duncan catches Adora leaving Hopes office.

Duncan had an iPod. He was no run of the mill "old fashioned demon set in his ways, curse you kids with your music and get off my porch" horned fogey. Oh, no. The demon had a Blackberry, an iPod, and a laptop. The laptop rarely left his apartment, however, because he knew that, no matter how hard you tried, if you brought your laptop to the cafeteria to write and drink coffee, you looked pretentious. If you had spreadsheets and graphs up, you looked important, but if all that decorated your screen was MS Word, you looked like an ass. It was how it had been, since Windows...1, or however Windows had started. He forgot by now.

He was so wrapped up in quietly singing a number to the musical he was directing he didn't even see Adora coming at him. His voice, even muffled by outside noise and his own volume, was pretty spectacular. As he hummed/sang together in broken pieces he was walking with a brisk, hard, long-legged pace and fishing around in his messenger bag. Where the hell was his copy of the script? The white wire of the headphones clashed with his forest green tee shirt and the chocolate blazer he wore, making the attached iPod shuffle in his front pocket obvious. He appeared to be a bit of a hipster, unfortunately.

Who: Adora and Duncan (And anyone else still)
Where: The Main Entrance to the School (and then probably into the school)
When: February 20th, 2008, at around 11 AM
What: Adora comes back and has no idea what to do



Adora's footsteps slowed as she reached the main entrance to Tiberius J. Swann. Wow. To think that three months ago, she had wanted nothing more than to get away from this school and everyone in it, and yet somehow she found herself standing in her black pencil skirt, pink button-down blouse and black blazer, staring at the main doors. She wasn't even sure what had prompted her to come back here. After Swann had died, she'd only had a month or two of allowance left before she had to leave the apartment he'd acquired for her. She was back on her own.

After a few weeks of no contact with anyone, of traveling and considering where to go next, no one was more surprised than Adora when she found herself stepping out of a taxi and back into the school.

Of course, no one else knew she was coming. She hadn't had a chance to tell Nox she was even considering coming back. With a suitcase in hand of most of her personal belongings - her clothes were still packed at the hotel she had booked for the next few days - Adora wasn't sure if she looked out of place, or as if she knew every inch of the school. Both felt equally true.

"Well, no point in staring at the school if I'm not going in," Adora muttered, finally shaking herself out of her reverie. Glancing down to her stomach, she smiled a little and shook her head. "Well, little guy... or little girl... guess it's time to see what your Uncle Nox is up to." Heels clicking on pavement, Adora set off towards the doors.

Who: Duncan and Sydni
What: Duncan returns Sydni's dog, Molly
When: Er?
Where: Duncan's apt


Duncan had actually loved having Molly over. The halfbreed adored dogs, and, thankfully, they generally liked him back. He had spent the last few nights playing hours of fetch, and teaching her commands she didn't know yet. The thought had occurred to him that Sydni might not have appreciated this, but he couldn't help himself. Molly was one smart puppy, and so damned adorable. His plan was to test the waters; if Sydni's reaction to one learned command was unpleasant, Duncan wouldn't mention the other two.

His phone buzzed when Sydni replied to his email, vibrating hard on his counter top. "Er?" he said, looking up from dinner. He reached around the fridge for his cell, then smiled after reading. "You're going home," he said, looking down at the dog near his feet. Molly wouldn't come into the kitchen when Duncan had pots and pans out (one had fallen once, and scared her), but when he had exited to grab his phone she'd ran over.

Then the doorbell rang, and Molly was already there. She could obviously smell Sydni through the door, and was going nuts scratching at it. Duncan's laughter filtered through, and when he opened his door wide enough, the dog squeezed out to attack Sydni's ankles. "Guess she's happy to see you," he said, smiling down at the little pretty werewolf.

Who: Ciri, Duncan, Quinn, Tad, and Calvin (as an NPC)
Where: Kelleys' Place
When: 7 pm and onwards
What: Dinner.

( Read on. )

Who: Sydni and Duncan
What: Damsels need rescuing
Where: Sydni's apartment
When: Late

Since Mikhail had left, Sydni had been working on his safe return. Magickally, anyway. She had created a spell that was designed to be worked a little each night until Mikhail returned. She knew it would bring him home to her safely. Each night, she burned a light blue candle for his safe return, letting it burn to all as she slept. She took the proper precautions, using a fire safe stand, etc., but the best laid plans of mice and men...

Sydni awoke because Molly was crying and digging at her. The pup knew better than that. In her sleep induced stupor, the brunette wondered what was burning, until she realized, she smelled smoke. Bolting upright, she began coughing, even as Molly's cries were interrupted by coughs. Crouching down, the lycan grabbed the dog by the collar and practically dragged her by the Temple Room, the source of the fire. Molly did not want to go that way, but a forceful yank dragged the dog past the fire and they were both headed out the door. Why hadn't the fire alarms... Damn. They kept going off when Sydni baked. She mustn't have turned them back on last time.

Out in the hall, Sydni quickly checked on Molly and was about to go warn someone, when she remembered Henry. The little fish all alone in the Temple Room, about to become boiled fish. The scientist considered only a moment before groaning and running back into the apartment, slamming the door behind her. The thought of that little fish left to its own end made her stomach turn. She had to at least try. And the fire wasn't that bad...

At least, it hadn't been 10 seconds ago. But now it had caught the curtains and various other cloth adornments, and was spreading wildly. Sydni spotted her little fish, still swimming, and dashed over to it, catching it up, and turning to leave, when a heap of flaming wall hanging crumpled in front of her. Fuck.

In the hall, Molly was barking like mad, and had even taken to hurling herself at the door in an effort to get to her human. Anyone with any sense would know the dog needed assistance.

Who: Duncan & Calvin
Where: cafeteria
When: lunch-time
What: Calvin catches Duncan being an emo squirrel

He had developed a routine in the last few days, and he was beginning to like it. Get up, shower (actually, that was an occasional part of the routine), think about shaving, not shave, dress, go get food, return to apartment, eat alone with Maury on the television. Now that he had gotten all his memories back, he felt worse. He knew he was wiser and a better person, now that the important memories had been returned to him, but he couldn't help but wonder just how much wiser and better. Was it worth it? Had he been happier? He had never forgotten about J, so when his painful memories (for those are the ones you learn from the most) came back, they simply lumped on top of the dark time he'd spent in a literal dungeon. He figured that was a blessing; if he'd forgotten about J only to be slammed with the memory of years of imprisonment on top of a dead wife, he'd have come apart altogether.

Not that he was doing so well now. The fire demon was piling junk food into the arms of his sweatshirt and shuffling over to the check out line, his eyelids barely open. His sister, had she known about any of this, would have not recognized him. Then she would have told him to shut up and get over it; no one mourns dead spouses after a century goes by. Pathetic. Is that what I am?

Who: Duncan, Ciri, Onyx, Tad?
Where: Ciri's place
When: lunchtime
What: Duncan comes over for lunch to try and remember who Ciri is


She had asked him to bring apple juice. He didn't actually have apple juice, so he ended up purchasing four single-person bottles from the school's cafeteria. He had planned to just go and buy some from a nearby market when he learned he was on lockdown. Actually, he had known, but forgotten, and remembering it was just a little .. unsettling, to say the least.

He had thrown on a baseball cap which clashed with his nice leather jacket and jeans. He felt nervous. He didn't know who this woman was. The little boy, Tad, did, and had tried to help him, but to no avail. The tall half demon rocked on his heels outside Ciri's door after he had made his presence known, holding a paper bag filled with the apple juice.

Who: Duncan and EVERYONE
When: Saturday Afternoon
Where: Theater
What: AUDITIONS!!!! (true to his word, anyone not auditioning isn't watching, either!)

When he decided enough people had milled in (anyone who was late would have to take a cue from the proceedings and jump in), Duncan made his way to the front of the crowd and held up his hands for quiet. There was certainly a mixture there. The fire demon was dressed in jeans, slip-on checkered Vans, and a faded olive green tee shirt of Mr. Happy. His auburn tufty hair was messy, which was his style, and covered the miniscule horns jutting from his scalp, just over his hairline.

By now Duncan had developed a listing of those interested, and a clip board was resting at the edge of the stage, beside him. He was perched atop, feet hanging, legs swinging idly. His eyes were ablaze, even if the rest of him had just rolled out of bed.

"Alright..." he began, when more or less everyone was focused on him. "So here's how we're going to start. You get up, say your name, which part you're auditioning for, and then you do two things -- you act out your monologue, any monologue, then you sing a good part of a song. You don't need to sing the whole song. If I give you the Simon-American-Idol hand motion..." and here he demonstrated it, switching his coffee to the other hand, "...you can stop. These are only the first auditions, so I'm being loose. At the end of this all, if I contact you, you're good, if I don't... I still love you." He grinned. "I promise."

Who: Ciri, Duncan and Tad
Where: the Kelleys' apartment
When: Afternoon
What: Hot drinks!

Ciri had such a good time having Duncan over with her family that she decided to have another get together. Once she took a liking to someone, she siezed opportunities to see them and this was a holiday with plenty of excuses to be sociable. Though admittedly she was flighty in her attention at times, which had improved once Tad came to live with them. Now it was all about her growing family and making sure they were happy. She was sure having hot chocolate with Tad and Duncan was an activity they'd all enjoy.

She prepared mugs, hot chocolate mix and other things, then asking if Tad liked the idea. He seemed to be in a good mood and agreed to it without much persuasion.... until she asked him to go to Duncan's place to offer the suggestion. Tad huffed and Ciri knew he was not good with tact yet, adding the incentive of seeing the teacher's apartment. There could very well be cool items in it considering how old Duncan was. That cinched the deal for the elemental and he ran out of the apartment just after she told him where to go.

Against his better judgement, Tad liked Duncan if only for his cheerful attitude. There better be interesting things in his place because otherwise Tad was dragging the man back to the apartment to make Ciri happy. He ran to the right section, he was sure, and kicked Duncan's door twice. What was the point of knocking when he could make a larger and greater sound? "Duncan!" he called loudly. "I got to ask you something!"

Who: Arc, Ciri, Duncan and OPEN
Where: hallway
When: midday
What: water balloon prank

Before classes, Arc was bored and decided to spice up her life by playing a harmless prank on someone. Water balloons were the items of choice and she was fortunate to still have several left. She filled three with water, bringing them with her down the hallway. Hiding in a nearby corner of a corridor was the perfect spot to watch and wait. Who would her victim be? Thankfully Jeffrey was not here because he would disapprove, and the baby would give her cover away. Cassie needed to be here to get in on all the fun!

Ciri walked back from the library down the corridor, satisfied with the time she spent reading.about various parts of the natural world. She had no books, but was bundled up in sweaters and had a bounce in her step as she moved. A smile was present on her face like always and she could not wait to find Tad. Just when she reached a hallway, she saw Duncan at the other end. Wonderful, a friend! Ciri grinned and waved at him, increasing her pace to walk up to him sooner. "Hi, Duncan!" she said. "How are you?" She touched his arm in greetng. Onyx moved a little, a gentle fluttering and made her happy. "Onyx is glad to see you too!"

Who: Ciri and Duncan
Where: the cafeteria
When: midday
What: a slightly odd meeting

Lunch time neared and Ciri thought she'd go to the cafeteria to see if she might see anyone she knew. Eating with Calvin was one of the nicest part of her day, so being with a friend had to be almost as nice. She stood near the doorway, scouting for people and was disappointed. Wait, did she see correctly? A couple of blinks because suddenly her vision was fuzzy... and Calvin was by the shelves of food, near the desserts in particular. Confused, as she thought Calvin was working, she paused only a moment before she hurried forward and wrapped her arms around him for a hug. "Hi, Calvin!" she greeted and noticed he seemed shorter than usual.

Another few blinks and the image of her husband disappeared, morphing into a man she had not seen before (with brown hair at least, though). Ciri was so confused. "I am sorry. You looked like my husband until I came this close," she said. Not one to be flustered for very long, she stepped back and gave him a bright grin. "My name is Ciri. You have pretty eyes." Meanwhile, the fact that she had mistook him for Calvin worried her - she hadn't been in the cafeteria very long before she saw him. Was the baby making her see odd things? Just in case she was tired, she brushed her hair away from her forehead which helped her wake up sometimes.

Her confusion and slight worry was obvious as she was never one to hide her emotions although it only lasted for a very short time. Meeting someone new was always exciting and this happened to be no exceptions. Her hand fell to her navel, rubbing a little. "I wanted to eat lunch but none of my friends are here." Not that she had spent much time with them lately and that needed to be fixed at once. "May I sit with you?" If he was not going to remain here, that was fine, she'd eat alone. Her expression remained cheery and eyes shone up curiously at him.

Who: Duncan, Zevira
What: The new teacher catches a student singing
When: Around 9:30AM
Where: The front entrance

Gosh this was boring. Zevira could usually find something to do with herself while waiting for things to happen but she was up, awake, and ready to go. Her parents weren't supposed to be at the school until 10AM, but she was outside early just in case. She was pacing back and forth, balancing on the steps waiting for her ride. Even though it was damn cold out, she wasn't too bad off. A hat was pulled over her head and her jacket was puffy and warm. She was comfortable.

The usual scarf was wrapped round her neck, covering her face up to her nose. All in all, Zevira looked like a normal girl. Winter was a great time of year. She went for walks outside and no one was the wiser.

But here she was, standing outside all alone, bored, with a song stuck in her head. She was humming most of it, but the chorus came out again and again in murmurs. Every now and then she stopped, looked around warily, and continued. Rhianna just had to go and sing one of those songs that got stuck in your head no matter how hard you tried to get it out. So Zevira tried to forget it by singing, even if she wasn't so sure she had a good voice to begin with. "When the sun shines we'll shine together, told you I'll be here forever, said I'd always be your friend, took an oath, I'm'a stick it out 'til the end. Now that it's raining more than ever, know that we'll still have each other. You can stand under my umbrella. You can stand under my umbrella, ella ella, eh eh eh..."

Who: Duncan and Go'al'enu
Where: general outside-area
When: Monday, sunset
What: Duncan catches Go doing Tai Chi, and is amazed and amused.

Duncan made it a habit to take a very long walk every evening, from a little after dinner to just before bed time. He often wished he had someone to bring along -- even a dog, but, he wasn't sure if pets were allowed, and, if he were, how he'd acquire one -- but was generally content to just entertain himself for the adventure. Tonight's walk was more about exploration than relaxation; he was new to the area and wanted to learn more about it.

He was almost ready to turn around when he saw a tiny mobile tidal wave of dirt pass him on his right side. It was just in the farthest reaches of his peripheral vision, so, for a moment he thought he was seeing things, but when he pivoted on a heel to turn in the direction of where he thought he saw flying earth, he saw it again.

"Oooooh," he said, aloud, to himself, and immediately went toward the source of the uprising. He was careful not to go too close too quickly, unwilling to be swept up in the storm. He settled in at a safe distance, against a tree, and crossed his arms over his chest. He supposed he could fit "watching in wonder" to his nightly routine. He had no real agenda.

Who: Duncan and Zevira
Where: Bookstore
When: Tuesday late morning
What: Duncan recognizes what Zevira is.

"Next...?"

"NEXT?"

Duncan couldn't hear the cashier, because he was too busy staring at the pink-haired student that had just entered. The lanky new professor was holding an armful of Doritos, Vitamin Waters, Rice Krispie Treats, and a paperback book whose title was covered by more junkfood.

It wasn't necessarily a lurid, please-call-the-authorities, tongue-swiping-over-the-lips-too-slow stare. No, the wide eyes and slightly upturned mouth was more of an expression of wonder than anything else less savory. One of his eyebrows lifted a little above the other, and he craned his head to get a better look when she moved toward his peripheral vision.

( Was that..? Could it be? )