2022-05-04: Rain Delay
- Log: 2022-05-04: Rain Delay
- Cast: Elisa Kafim's NPC Shari Loom, Milly Ashford
- Where: Ashford Academy
- OOC - IC Date: 0096-05-04
- Summary: Milly gives a few friendly nudges to a transfer student and tells her just a little bit about how Ashford works.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Classes are over for the day, and not barely! One notable pinkhair Shari Loom is still on the grounds, which isn't particularly unusual, but it's a day when tennis practice is cancelled, so there is that. Where does this find her right at the moment, then?
She's by a fountain, sulking about the fact that her practice is cancelled, obviously! Her uniform is mostly regulation except for the black tights she's added to it, and she happens to be tapping at a phone at the moment, firing off a couple of messages.
It's fine.
The cancellation? Because of weather; the rain out past the roofed areas is definitely coming down.
"Ugh..."
She practically exudes grump waves!
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Ah, rain. That perpetual enemy of sports clubs and ally of gardening clubs. Milly is more of a sunny days person herself, but she doesn't mind the rain, either; there's something about it that makes her productive. She's churned through all of the things she has to do today pretty early, which means --
So does she find a student sulking at a fountain. She shifts her umbrella around a little bit, and looks that grumpy young lady over once or twice. "Let me guess. Something cancelled on you?" she asks, casually. "You should probably get inside, at least. You're going to catch something out here, you know."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Shari's OK with rain. Usually. It's usually fine! It's just that right now it's inconvenient rain which makes it the worst thing, ever!! ...Shari, when you get close enough to look at her, doesn't exactly look like a stranger to sulking in the first place; dark makeup, heavy on the eyes, dark everything that isn't uniform-required-to-be-bright...
At first, hearing someone talking doesn't actually make her look up, because she gets that all the time whether there's people or not. But then when Milly continues to exist after a moment, Shari actually startles a little. "Uh?" she says.
Pause. "...Well, yeah..."
To the cancel, or what she should do, or both?
"...I mean, it's not like I was just going to stand here all day," she says, when she was probably going to just stand there all day being annoyed her plans changed. She is caught!
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"Hmmm. Date, club, or plan?" Milly asks, looking Shari over; without worrying about it too much, she promptly moves into Shari's bubble. The reason for this is twofold. One, to share her umbrella -- and two, to see how she reacts to having her personal bubble casually broken like it's nothing.
Milly may be a good person, but there are axes on which she's not necessarily particularly nice.
"C'mon. What's your name? You're..." She takes a moment to size Shari up. "... Second year?" She notes, "I don't think we've met before, actually." It would be hard to miss Milly, granted, given she's student council president (and is indeed technically unelected, at least by the current body, since the bylaws kind of choke on a fourth year student).
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"...Club," Shari allows, though the fact that it was club not date makes her slouch a little further. But then suddenly Milly is IN HER SPACE and Shari startles openly about it, though not enough to get out from under the umbrella. "Uh?" she begins, but then Milly has started asking her name and all that and--
"...Shari," she says after a little difficulty, "Yeah. Second-year. Transferred in this year." She has seen Milly around, but they haven't actually met! "Probably... not? I mean I don't... meet a lot of... people."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"Great! That's something that's going to change now that you're here," Milly says, brightly. She moves to give Shari a bit of a hip-bump and then starts moving toward the main building, *hopefully* with Shari with her.
"That's part of why we make everyone join at least one club, you know. You don't want to get out of the springtime of your youth without making at least a few friendly memories!" There's a couple unstated premises there -- ones that would sting Milly a little bit if she examined them *too* too closely -- but Milly is honestly great at coping with the shape of her life and just doesn't kick herself in her own sore spots.
"Really, if I had *my* way, I'd make it two. One sports, one culture. Are you in a culture club yet?" She kind of doubts it, but she's been known to be surprised.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Um." Pause. "Is it?" Shari has met a lot of new people recently already! But she '!'s at the hip-bump and... nevertheless, continues along with Milly now that she's under the umbrella. "I'm not sure--"
Hm. "The springtime of my youth, huh...? I dunno about..." Pause. it's fine not to examine things too closely. Because look at what examining things closely gets you: it gets you Shari, right now, blinking her way. Two?? On top of her... extracurriculars?
"Aren't you the President??" Shari wonders of her having it her way. "But uh, no. I'm not. I just signed up for tennis."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"I can do a lot in the day-to-day," Milly says, "but that doesn't mean I set policy for the whole school! Even the fact that the headmaster is my grandfather doesn't *quite* mean I can just do whatever I want." ... now, even Milly would admit that it's pretty close to that, but there are things she can't actually change.
Milly thinks for a few moments, as they approach the building. It's not actually very far, so this takes like a minute. "So, hm. Tennis... you know, that seems a little preppy for you but that's actually a good thing," Milly reflects. "What do you think of the other Tennis Club members? Or did you *just* join?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"...It doesn't?" Shari finds herself asking of Milly, when she puts it that way. "Well, I guess not. Or it'd be the rule already." But that's a lot of authority to invest in one girl!! ...Well, it's fine.
"Yeah," Shari says, "I know, I got some weird looks when I showed up. But I like the game." She shrugs a little. "They're... fine, I guess. I mean, I don't really know them that well yet. ...I guess it hasn't been that long. But you have to sign up for something, so..."
Pause. "Anyway why's that a good thing?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Cracking a smile, Milly decides to skip to the honest answer. Sometimes she likes to make people work for it, but Shari seems like a good enough bean to her and she's feeling chatty. "I think things get pretty weird if you just let one person decide everything," Milly says, without a hint of irony.
"A world that changes on the say-so of one or two people... even if you trust me, now, who's to say next year's Student Council President isn't going to be some Blue Cosmos Youth Auxiliary member? We have a lot of Honorary Britannian students." A beat, before she explains, much more frankly, "I *can* keep failing my exams forever, but it gets weird if I'm not out of here next April."
Is there a point to all this? "Anyway, those two questions kinda end up in the same place. It's good because if you keep interacting with new people and meeting people, you're going to change. And if you *don't* change, you die. Maybe you die slowly! But you die." (What does that say about Milly, the Student Council President who retains her position because she's failed her exams on purpose? ... Don't ask her to self-examine on this one.) As she gets the door for the two of them, she finishes, "... or it could just be because I know there are three single boys and two single girls on the tennis team and I'm *dying* to see a transfer student shake that up. That's up to you~."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
One person deciding everything... Nope! Shari wouldn't know anything about that! She prepares to hedge--but then Milly goes on for a particular what-if that makes Shari blanch a little. "...Oh. Yeah. I guess I can see that."
She blinks, openly surprised about Milly being the sort to just outright say 'you die!' but starting to smile a little after, because she is exactly that goth. "Oh, I--"
"Pfhfhbtbt," Shari explains eloquently, "Absh, pdt..."
She is thoroughly red, all the more obvious because of how pale she trends and how much that contrasts all the dark makeup. "I mean! Um! It's--I mean it's not like I need to--"
She is definitely about to run into the doorframe.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly turns to Shari as she starts stammering about the possibility of stirring stuff up among the single members of the Tennis Club. She sees her take a step. She sees her take another step.
Milly decides to close up her umbrella in preparation to go in rather than stop her from running into the doorframe. This will be an important lesson.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
BONK.
As it turns out, the special qualities Shari has do not prevent her from occasionally looking like a dumbass over romance. Or more than occasionally. She walks right into the doorframe and physics sorts the rest out. In a few moments:
"...ow..."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Now, here's the fun part: Milly will gleefully let you walk into a doorframe because you're a dumbass, but she's not going to totally leave you to fend for yourself. "If that got you that badly, just wait until the first big school event," she says, as she reaches out to dust Shari off, help her get oriented, and check her for wounds more pressing than the occasional bruise.
"So. What are you going to do with your new free night?" she asks, cracking her knuckles absently as they *actually* head in now. (The umbrella has been stowed in an umbrella holder immediately inside, while Shari was, presumably, reeling.)
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
As it turns out, she is pretty much fine. Her makeup isn't even particularly smudged. "I mean, it's not like I... noticed, or anything," Shari defends herself for a moment--but when Milly actually helps her out, she laughs a little. "...Okay, maybe I was trying to figure out to ask which ones were those..."
She does head inside, and Shari was already rained-on enough that falling wasn't a huge deal in terms of Damp anyway.
"...Dunno," she admits. "I hadn't thought that far ahead yet."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly nods once she's certain Shari's fine, and starts to head in in earnest. She stretches out a bit, trying to figure out where she was going to go; the truth is that *she* was at a loose end a bit and looking for something to do.
"Hmmm... I think I'll let you figure that one out on your own," Milly says. She could dish, but she's reasonably confident that Shari is smart enough and savvy enough to figure that out on her own, and Milly doesn't want to deprive her of that. Every now and then you do get a trauma case at Ashford who needs a little more help than that, but Shari...
... well, Milly can't see what she's experiencing, so it's fine. "Why don't you take a peek in a few of the club rooms?" she offers, casually. "I hear someone's trying to get Landmine Club going again..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Shari can probably figure that out on her own, along with which of the mysterious five actually has her interest. "I guess it's not that hard to figure it out..." She is not terrible with people; she has a pretty good sense for them, sometimes too good. So it's fine. But what she's experiencing, well...
"What, and be the weirdo staring into the room? Awkward." Pause. "...Making landmines, or--I mean--like, they're not super high technology. But it's not like it could be--" Pause. "Oh, you're messing with me again."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"Actually, no. Placement theory and disposal practice. There are a lot of anti-MS mines that didn't get triggered during the invasion because KMFs just aren't that big," Milly answers, without a hint of irony. "It's good practice to get used to the theory of defensive warfare without the odds of getting blown up."
(The chance isn't *zero*, but you know, the chance of being blown up isn't zero waking up in the morning either. Milly received a 2:30am reminder of *that* a week or two ago.)
"But seriously, you can just audit a club, you know. It's only *weird* if you do it twice," Milly explains, electing not to volunteer that she pops up at the Fantasy Seduction Club once every other week. (That's not auditing, Milly. We call that leering.)
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Oh. That's..." A reminder that warfare and munitions can affect the day to day life of people who aren't using them! "Depressing," Shari elects, and then frowns, glancing to the side, towards--well, whatever it is, Milly doesn't see anything to glance at! "Don't even start," she cautions... the air? Under her breath. And then, a little more loudly, as if drowning something out, "A-anyway, I'm not sure where I'd start! And they might want to talk to me or ask me what I'm doing there or--I mean, what clubs are you even in?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly glances where Shari glances, and sees nothing. She considers that for a moment, committing it to memory; she could just be jumpy, but... 'don't even start...'
... well, it's her business for now. "Student Council! It counts," she says, brightly. "I used to be in Fantasy Seduction Club my freshman year, before I was President, but we tend not to keep treasurers and I have to maintain some neutrality in club funding as a result..."
She starts heading toward the club rooms, glancing back. "People are going to talk to you. Sometimes you're even going to have to talk to them."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
The pink-haired girl looks back at Milly and then, "Oh. I guess it does count, huh?" She hadn't thought of that. Then she flushes red again at the note of that club's name. "I thought that club was a joke..." But maybe not??? or is it?? she can't tell! It's distressing!
Shari follows desite her protests, though. "...Well yeah, I mean, obviously. But talking one to one is different from being in front of the whole group with everybody staring at you. And you..." Pause. "Wait, does that mean you were President as a second-year too?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Nodding, Milly gives Shari a smirk. "It's only barely holding up with the membership threshold, but it *is* a thing. If you like cute clothes and talking about why people develop kinks, it's a good time." (Milly does like those things, so it's a good time.)
"I was," she answers, on the other topic. Milly has already led Shari most of the way to the Light Music Club at this point, a thing that becomes obvious as music becomes audible. "Anyway, trust me: people want you to do club stuff with them. They don't mind if you sit in a time or two to figure out if it's for you."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"...And they let you have that as a real club?" Shari wonders. Now it's past her embarrassment threshold and right on into something different. "...I assumed this school was going to be kind of stuffy like my last one..." But apparently whatever it is it is not that.
Music! Shari looks... Well. Milly can probably tell she was getting a little agitated, but the music helps with that a bit. "...Well it sounds all normal when you put it like that. I just..."
"...Well, people don't usually want me to do club stuff with them after they get to know me, is all."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"I think a healthy, intellectually diverse, well-stimulated student body does a better job of making interesting memories than some stuffy, boring classes." That's not to say that Ashford *always* lives up to Milly's personal preferences, granted. The faculty can fail that metric pretty hard; there's a lot of casual Britannian supremacy that goes semi-unchallenged. But where Milly can create a more complex, more interesting Ashford, she does.
"Hmmm. Why's that?" Milly asks, at the latter topic. There sure are a lot of recent transfers and first-years, she thinks, who're pretty lonely and isolated. Definitely the right call to stay just a little longer.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"...That makes sense," Shari admits. "Interesting memories..." Change or die. It was a pretty interesting sentiment to hear from a student council president. Shari is not really in a position to notice all of the things that go unchallenged there; but.... "Hm."
The question of why, though? "Kinda varies. Sometimes it's just saying the wrong thing, sometimes it's 'it's creepy how you pre-empt what I was going to say all the time' or 'talking to yourself is weird, Shari' or some stupid stuff like that. ..." She hedges. "...And they don't like it when you correct teachers. Even when you were totally right."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"If you're correcting teachers on the regular, that's on them," Milly says, with a little roll of her eyes. "And maybe a little bit on my grandfather. If that happens here, let me know. Advocating for students is my responsibility as Prez!"
She thinks about the other parts, though. ... yeah, she was definitely right to notice earlier. "... You aren't the first person I've known who does that kind of thing," Milly says, a little more serious. "I can definitely see where that's both a gift and a burden." She sounds serious for once. "I can't actually tell you how to live your life, but... people are born different, and that's why things change. Sometimes that change is bad and sometimes it isn't, but similarity stagnates. If you're weird, you can probably make the world a better place."
It's an unmistakably Britannian philosophy, but tilted on its side a bit. "It's going to hurt sometimes, but that's what growth is!" Milly gestures to her own chest, noting, "These hurt growing in." A snap-to-finger-guns at Shari's chest. "Bet those did, too."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"...Sure." Not that Shari plans to do it here, but sometimes she does things she didn't plan to do. Like today! She definitely didn't plan to open up a bit to Milly. But she's easy to talk to! And... well, theres still that matter from earlier that keeps trying to take her attention instead. But when Milly gets serious...
"A better place, huh?" Shari says, and thinks about it. She seems a little glum, actually, as that goes on. Right up until Milly follows up. Growth!
"You--" She stops. She stares. And then.. she cracks up. "Ahahahahahah. Ahahahahah!"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly joins in the laughing, because she's having a legitimately good time here; this is the type of thing she does. Honestly, if she could spend her time vaguely sexually harassing new students into being better people forever, she'd take that in a heartbeat.
They stop outside the light music club room, though, and once Milly catches her breath... "I'm not gonna make you go in," she says, "but if you're looking for a way to kill a dead afternoon, you could do a lot worse." She actually sounds a *little* serious on this point, now!
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Okay, okay," Shari says after she likewise catches her breath. It takes a minute. Of all the things she was expecting today, boob jokes from the student council President and a personal invitation to try another club were not really on the list. But since she's here...
"...I guess," she admits. "It's not like i have anything better to do right now." She pauses, and glances at the room, and back to Milly. "...You're...." Hm. "You're pretty weird yourself, Miss President. I guess I'll see you around."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"I don't dispute that," Milly concedes, with a playful, confident smile. "I'll be seeing you. ... If you end up in two clubs, odds are decent you'll end up representing one of them to *me*, so maybe sooner than later, too."
She trots off, feeling like she's successfully done her good deed for the day. ... Maybe it's time for a shopping trip, she reflects; she could use the change of scenery *herself*.