With: Corbin Moreau Location: Lounge, Chicago O’hare International Airport
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“Sorry to bother you.”
It was a good thing thatYasu Kudō was startled out of his thoughts by… someone he couldn’t quite recall. Had they ever interacted before? Yasu was almost sure they hadn’t. What wasn’t so good, though, was the fact that his fight-or-flight instinct had flared up as soon as he noticed that he had let someone sneak up to him without noticing, and that said someone was talking to him. He wasn’t expecting to have to engage in human interaction this early on. Despite that, Yasu’s face remained as neutral as ever as he processed the fact that he was being addressed.
“This is news to you, right?. Corbin Moreau, by the way. Recent transfer from Quetzalcoatl into Caesar.”
Okay, they definitely hadn’t interacted before. But so far Moreau seemed to have no intention to harm or even annoy him in any way. Ignoring his instincts, Yasu nodded his head slightly as a greeting.
It would probably a good thing to talk to someone from House Quetzalcoatl.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Moreau. My name is Yasu Kudō.” He swallowed, trying to recall how he had seen other students interacting when meeting new people. “And yes, I had not yet learnt about the news. I had only known about the leak.” Now, how did people make conversation again? Maybe he should ask Moreau something back. “Was House Quetzalcoatl aware of what happened?”
“I’m sure you can make an awesome pretzel. It may just take a few tries.” Claire encouraged Levi as he shrugged to her suggestion. “And hopefully, we will get a day to unpack when we get to school so you can rest up.” Claire began to nibble a bit on her tiny pretzel piece, feeling bad for Levi that he had so much jet lag.
Claire was beginning to feel a dull in the conversation and began to feel awkward, before figuring out something to say. “So uh…have you been here before? Like…did you go to school here last year?” She asked, trying to continue the conversation since it just felt rude and awkward to just sit there. @Ouijaloveletters - Levi
With: Kelian Avet Location: Lounge, Chicago O’hare International Airport
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After a couple minutes,Xinyi Liu still hadn’t managed to pull themself out of the shocked state he had been in. They weren’t a stranger of never talking to staff from a school, but in all other cases, it had been Xinyi who’d left.
Should they send an email to the counselor of his last school? Xinyi began imagining what they’d write when a familiar face approached them.
“Were you two close?” Xinyi’s mood changed right away. They were ready to playfully greet Noé before he spoke again. “I’m sorry, I don’t even know them. I’m new here.” Well that was new. Xinyi could’ve sworn this dude was Noé. but so far, Noé had never seemed keen on playing around with them. Whatever, weirder stuff could happen.
A newbie, huh? Xinyi quickly pulled themself out of their head. He couldn’t let their first interaction go poorly. “It’s okay, thank you,” He replied, quickly folding the letter and saving it inside his pocket. “We weren’t that close, it’s just surprising.” They shrugged. Time to change the topic. “This sure is a way to greet you tho, huh? I promise things are usually nicer around here,” he said with a chuckle. “I gotta say, you have a nice eye for people. I’m Xinyi Liu, if you wanna know anything about social activities or people around you, I’m your pal.” Was that too much? Xinyi hoped not. Hopefully the fingerguns he was making at the guy would make things friendly.
Levi smiled. “Ja, I doubt it’ll be too hard. Just need to get the dough in the right shape. Im sure it’ll be fine.” He took another gulp of coffee. “Ja, ich brauche schlafen. Bitte. To translate, I need sleep. Please. At least I have coffee.” Levi shook his head. “No, I’m new here. You? I’m a Junior.” He explained, finishing his pretzel and licking the salt off his fingers. He wanted Krapfen. Schiße. His stomach growled. He grabbed the second pretzel, beginning to eat. @Bexs - Claire
Why do I keep talking about food?!
Alora wouldn’t credit herself with being particularly observant, but even she could notice the several oddities of this year. Having been a student of Kalopsia since her freshman year (and also because of her certain history with the academy as a result of her family), she had become accustomed to a certain standard, so for the school to so suddenly fall beneath it was stutteringly noticeable. It was as if there were little cracks running through the school’s otherwise pristine reflection; not only were they glaringly obvious, but they seemed far more severe than they would’ve on a glass that survived many battles.
It was a bad omen that school hadn’t even begun, and yet already the cracks were continuing to spiral outward. The different airline. Crack. The cheap blankets. Crack. Most things were the same, yes, like how accustomed the staff was with her, but it was the small things being weird that were most worrisome to her. Alora knew, probably better than most, that it was these small cracks that belied a greater problem beneath the surface. As she made her way into the lounge, designer purse in hand, a part of her had to wonder how long until the glass shattered, leaving her with hands encased in blood and shards digging into her skin.
If Kalopsia was going to have some sort of fall, like a once-great empire, it was very inconvenient that all of that had to happen during her senior year, which was supposed to be the pinnacle of high school. Putting aside everything wrong with Kalopsia at the moment, she also had to deal with her uncle’s mess—the bastard child, Taiyo—who, in the matter of moments, it seemed, was now taking up far too much space in her personal bubble. Though he was technically a Sommer, it still felt to her like an intruder was in her home, sitting at the breakfast table and breaking bread, as if his presence was not inherently weird and unwanted. Well. Unwanted by her, at least. She couldn’t say the same for the rest of her family.
Out the corner of her eye, she could see him now, in the lounge, seeming to be walking towards her—as if they were now some sort of buds simply because they were in the same grade, school and, astonishingly, House? Narrowing her eyes, Alora swiftly side-stepped him, nipping the impending conversation in the bud with a curt “Nope,” before walking off in the opposite direction. He was another fissure in the glass, but he was only temporary; in truth, she did not believe he would last the year. She loved her uncle, but, well, Taiyo was his son and the apple never fell far from the tree.
To add to the growing cracks was the unexpected announcement that came from the House teachers as Alora continued on her path away from her cousin—this, caught her by surprise, halting the click of her heels on the tiled floor. Maxen Labelle? Dead? She knew of him more than she knew him, but she recognized him as staff to the school, and so the fact that the gas leak had actually killed one of their admin… Her brows creased slightly, before she caught herself and cleared her expression. It was beginning to feel like her elder sister had dogded some sort of war zone simply by graduating a year earlier. Which, of course she had.
After the moment of silence, she continued moving, her strides leading her towards Carmo, someone she’d describe as a welcome annoyance and also someone she had wanted to speak to as soon as she’d received her welcome letter. The letter was only another demonstration of the school’s sudden competency, but she felt Carmo would be the best person to discuss it with. So, she plopped down next to xem without much of a warning, a light smile dancing across her lips. “Iiiii bet you missed me, Carmello,” She said as a way of greeting, modifying xir name without much of a thought and while deftly ignoring the monumental words that’d come from their teachers minutes ago. Her hand disappeared into her purse, where it dug for the letter. “And so, I’ve come to fulfill your greatest dreams with my presence. And ah, don’t worry, no need to thank me, I’m a woman of service.”
Her hand emerged from her bag, clutching the letter, which she passed over to Carmo, clearly for xem to read it. “So, in other news, apparently I am a fencer now? Which is awful news for you simply because I feel like I am an excellent fencer and so you’d finally have proper competition, but, also is news to me.” She gestured at the letter she’d given xem, watching as xe took in the written words.
I suppose if it had been me in this situation, as embarrassing as admitting it might be, I would have been a bit startled. Yasu, however, looked rather calm for someone who had moments ago been paying no mind to those around him.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Moreau. My name is Yasu Kudō.”
I wasn’t sure if Yasu was using Moreau as a nickname or my proper name. Many teachers addressed me as Moreau, it was just odd hearing it from a fellow student. However, I nodded my head in response, as to infer the pleasantness of the acquaintance.
“And yes, I had not yet learnt about the news. I had only known about the leak. Was House Quetzlcoatl aware of what happened?”
I pursed my lips. Maybe I was chasing wild geese, maybe I had a point. Heavens know this wouldn’t be the first time Kalopsia has hidden something shady to avoid the press - or perturbed parents. “Do you find it… odd… that no one had heard of this?” I couldn’t decide if I could tell Yasu. The last thing I wanted to do was waste his time with childish claims, but if House Caesar was really as close as it claimed, shouldn’t I share? It seemed the right thing to do. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but if one of my administrative staff perished tragically in a gas leak in my prestigious academy, I would have told the press to alleviate public fears… and to avoid callous rumors.” I began biting my nails. Or, at least, trying to. The gloves made it awfully awkward. Never mind, it was probably for the best. It was a nasty habit in the first place. “No, I don’t remember being told of his death. But, to be completely honest, my head was elsewhere in the last few weeks of school. It was a rather hectic time with the transferring… and all.” I hoped he couldn’t see my nervousness. The last few weeks were incredibly hectic, some may say the worst of my life, but not because of the transfer. That was actually one of the easier things. At least that was logical.
Location : Lounge, Chicago O’hare International Airport
With : Shay Knox
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Upon turning off the airplane mode and connecting to the airport’s wifi, a few notifications vibrated her phone in her palm, one of which was from Noé. Now she did not wish to disturb his conversation with the girl, so she replied with :
I landed safely. And I see you did too. Talk to you later at school.
That being dealt with, she was fixated on the match. It was one match from the Olympics, the very famous one in which the critics spotted a special attack. With the airpods blocking the chaos she did not belong to, Seung was biting on the her thumbnail unaware of her surroundings, out of a habit too shabby / unladylike for an heir of the Ahn family, while analyzing the movements on the court featuring on her screen. Until her concentration snapped, due to a sudden commotion. With a blunt sound her phone landed on the ground and some of the iced drink on her hoodie. “I-It’s…alright.”,she blurted out, bending down to pick up her phone. To be honest, it should be their fault for not paying attention at all. “My fault… Just need to get a tissue.”. They mumbled brushing her fingers against the stain.
Unlike the previous two or three ventures of starting a fruitful conversation since the students had been led into the lounge, Kelian this time seemed to have found the right person to talk to. ‘Well , fourth time’s the charm.’, he thought or however the phrase went.
However, even though it was a fraction of second, he could not miss the alteration of his reaction at the statement he added later, changing from surprise to curiosity. So far, everything about KA appeared too good to be true, perhaps being mean towards newbies was the catch, though Xinyi did not give off that vibe in his responses. “Such an accident for a popular school. The authorities must be concerned about the image, right?”, he wondered, but since Xinyi diverted, he choose not to pry more than he had done already.
Kelian chuckled a little at his reassurance. “I’ll take your word for it. Thought that was some students’ rule to greet newbies.”, he shrugged his shoulders. Kelian had faced way too many j€rks like that. “I’m glad I found someone to talk to. I’m Kelian Avet, from Belgiam.”,he extended his hand. “Which clubs are you in?”
Claire began to mentally panic as Levi began to speak german to her, wondering if she was expected to translate a language she just never studied. Claire chuckled nervously at his translation and moved on with the conversation. “I guess I’ll be seeing more of you then. I’m new too, and entering my Junior year as well.” Claire felt awkward as Levi grabbed the remaining of the second pretzel and began to eat it. Taking what felt like a clue, she had a little bit more of the tiny pretzel piece she took from the preztel he offered her.
Claire let out a nervous chuckle when Levi translated. “Oh, sorry. I’ll try to speak in English from now on. Maybe I can teach you German?” Levi smiled slightly. “I’d like to see you more. You seem nice.” When Claire took more of the pretzel bit she took, Levi panicked. Would she have wanted more of the pretzel? Well, unfortunately it was too late for that. He felt kind of bad for that. “Are you excited to get to Kalopsia? I am. Excited and nervous.” @Bexs - Claire
“I mean…you can try.” Claire smiled softly at his offer. “I don’t want to accidentally say the wrong thing and languages are a sore spot for me.” She explained. “And…I guess I wouldn’t mind it if I see you again as well.” Claire knew she pretty much just repeated what he said, and while she did feel weird about that, she was just grateful to have someone to hang around with as theyprepared for school to start. “Honestly, I think I am more nervous than excited, if you get what I mean. It’s a new school and a new vibe, and I just don’t want to make an enemy or something on the first day. Ya know?”
“German isn’t a terribly hard language. It’s just very guttural. You have to have good control of your tongue, as…wrong as that sounds. You might spit a little too. I know I do when I’m angry. It’s a little embarrassing.” Levi explained, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Then there’s the issue of die, der and das…we basically have gendered words for different things. I don’t know why. There’s a lot that’s different from English, but it’s still similar. Of course, it it’s too much for you, that’s fine.” He finally took a breath, feeling more relaxed. Talking about what he knew helped tremendously with anxiety. “Yeah, no. I get it. I mean, it’s a new place, but also a whole new adventure.” Levi explained. He then flushed, realizing how much he’d actually spoke. “Sorry…spoke too much.” @Bexs - Claire
Sorry, that was a lot. I’ll answer questions.
“No not its totally my fault.” Shay said very apoplectic as he handed her a napkin to dab the liquid up. “I should have been paying better attention im very sorry.” Shay had felt so bad that he had already messed up and only been here a few hours if even. “This is a horrible first impression and I apologize.” He mumbled as he picked up her phone and handed it to her. “Oh the Olympic game!” He said smiling a bit when he saw what she had been watching. “Im Say by the way and again so so sorry. It is absolutely my fault. If your shirt is ruined or needs dry cleaned or whatever I can cover it Im just so sorry.” He replied again a little less panicked and embarrassed than he had been.
Shay felt so out of his element now but hoped this girl wouldnt be mad. “Do you guys always have like a meeting in the airport or is it like just a this year thing?” He asked more to himself than to Seung but he was honestly curious and had no idea since this was his first year. “I dont think I caught your name if you mind me asking?” He asked softly as he put his hands in his pockets awkwardly. “Im sorry Im new here and just trying my best. This is awkward ill just go its probably better for us both.” He says as he goes to turn and leave. @OhSumana
“That…actually makes sense.” Claire said a bit suprised that she understood what he said. “And don’t worry about it. Literally anything to pass the time is fine with me.” She tried her best to console him for just being himself. “I literally never knew that about German. A lot of this is new to me, and it seems way more interesting than just sitting in silence. So please, keep going if you want.” Listening to Levi talk did honestly seem interesting to Claire. “It sounds a lot like the french language…from the few years of french that I took…or even like spanish. I-” Claire stopped for a second before continuing. “My point is, I understand what you are saying.”
Levi relaxed at Claire’s words. Well, at least he wasn’t annoying her. Or maybe he was, but she was too polite to mention it. Levi shook his head, deciding not to worry about it. Levi nodded when Claire said it all made sense. “I’m glad you get it. So Der is for male, Die is for female, and Das is without a gender.” Claire compared German to French, and he shook his head. “I mean…French is a Love language, and German sounds like you’re hawking a loogie. I’m interested to know why you think it’s similar, though.” @Bexs - Claire
“I-…Well…Because…” Claire began to feel a bit flustured as Levi questioned her comparison. “Because there are different…what’s the word… subjects? Prefixes? No…anyway, there are different titles and each word has it’s own table. Oh, ‘articles’ is the correct term.” Claire grabbed a few pieces of paper from her bag that had charts on them helping her show Levi what she meant. “For words that are ‘feminine’, they have the article ‘la’ and ‘masculine’ words have the article ‘le’. So…take a table for instance. ‘The table’ in french is ‘la table’. Words that are ‘feminine’ have…” Claire stopped. “I’m not making any sense. I am so sorry.” She apologized, knowing that if she heard this explanation in class she would be very confused, so it probably would be way worse for Levi. “It’s just…each word is gendered…”
Location : Lounge, Chicago O’hare International Airport
With : Shay Knox
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The reason for her to take the blame was to avoid the continuation of it, not only the conversation but also awkwardness, besides acknowledging the fact that she walked eyes glued to her phone, practically asking to bump into something, if not someone. It would be for the sake of both of them. Seung might not be much expressive but she knew an awkward introvert when she saw one. However she accepted the napkin and dabbed it on the wet patch on her hoodie, drying it, as the light brunette panicked about his first impression. They reminded her of herself when she joined Kalopsia, except she had chosen a quiet corner to stay invisible to the classmates and when someone actually approached her, she might have babbled something embarrassing. It was both good and bad that she could never recall whatever she said.
“It’s alright. At least I don’t care about formalities. We might not even be in same year.”. So they were a new student, from what she getting from his words. Worse situation would be not recalling someone who went to KA, since she hardly bonded with her own classmates. “Ahn Seu—My name’s Seung Ahn.”. Couple of years into a foreign academy and still she was mixing up the Korean and Western name orders. ‘Effing great!’“Yeah… The semi finals volleyball match.”, she replied to his excitement on the game still running on her screen. Was he interested in Volleyball? If so, she could try to manage a conversation going. “I insist, it’s all right.”. She added, pausing the game.
Levi realized that his question had startled Claire, so he quickly raised a hand to stop her. “Hey, it’s ok, you don’t have to explain if you don’t know how. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Levi explained, practically sweating. He took the papers that she’d taken out, scanning them. “Oh, I get it. The similarities are the different gendered words.” Levi shook his head when Claire said she wasn’t making sense. “No, you are. I get it completely. It makes perfect sense. Thank you for the explanation.” He said, handing her the papers back. “So you know French? That’s pretty cool.” @Bexs - Claire
Shay could tell she knew how awkward this whole situation was and that was at least part of the reason she was so willing to take the blame for the mess he had made. If he wouldnt have been so distracted by the ring that he had found maybe he could have avoided this very awkward interaction. Shay could tell this girl was in a similar boat as him and was rather introverted and probably was going to make this just as awkward as he had which did calm him a bit. “I have stain remover stick in my bag if you think that would help.” He told her and took his back pack off and unzipped the front small pocket to pull out a stain remover pen. Shay hoped that his awkward attempt at making up for the spilled drink was not going to be super memorable to this girl but was sure it would be unfortunately. He was hoping she wasnt the kind of person that would hold all of this against him though, she didnt seem like it but that didnt always mean anything.
He heard what she said and nodded taking the info in. “Well Im a junior what about you. And honestly its probably good you dont care about formalities im pretty bad at them after all.” He replied with a small laugh. He heard her name and nodded as he made a mental note of it. “Well its nice to meet you Seung.” He told her as he bit his lips still a little nervous. He had noticed she had seemed mad that she had mixed up the name order and he decided maybe he could make her feel a little better and break the ice some. “Dont feel bad. I spoke in French in Ireland and didnt even realize it until people gave me weird looks because they couldn’t understand me.” He gave a small chuckle hoping to lighten the mood some. He smiled wide as he realized how excited she was about volleyball. “Ive seen that game before. I dont know volleyball well but it was a good game. I watched it with my dads and uncle. My Aunt was on the French team.” He replied as he pulled out his phone to show her a picture of him and his aunt as she attempted to teach him how to play one summer. @OhSumana
Location : Lounge, Chicago O’hare International Airport
With : Shay Knox
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Shay had already reached for his bag for the stain remover before Seung could hardly open her mouth to protest. From what he mentioned earlier, a new student such as him trying to make friends or at least acquaintances in an unfamiliar setting was natural. Leaving her previous team, the mates she had bonded so well with over the years, behind due to consequences, loneliness was more intense than she had anticipated upon her first arrival. Seung looked at the stick on his palm hesitantly. “Thanks.”. You didn’t have to. There were a lot of things she was grateful for to the couple of friends she had gained at KA. So from that perspective, Shay wanting to make friends was only natural, and Seung happened to be the one to share an interaction even if it was accidentally. She took the pen.
At least the guy seemed good.
“I’m in junior year too.”, she replied to the question adding a mental note that they might be seeing each other in classes if they overlapped. Seung could not but break her stoic expression into an amused grin before apologising shortly after, without faltering the smile, “I’m sorry. You must have had a hard time. But it’s actually funny.”. Her gaze as a memory of her father brightened her smile, “My father used to exclaim in English expressions all the time to the Koreans who were weak in that language. It used to confuse everyone.”, she shared.
The attention, however, was brought back to the match she was watching. Her head jerked up to meet Shay’s eyes, shocked at the coincidence that the game on the screen was the matche between the teams of USA and France. “What position does she play in?”, she enquired, visibly excited, zooming on each player on the screen until Shay identified his aunt, only to have Seung’s eyes are star-struck and widened in their sockets. “French setter Joëlle Guillaume is your aunt?!”, her voice taking a notch up, at the mention of one of her rolemodels. Who would not be amazed by Joëlle’s tactics?! Formidable to the opponents and dependable for the teammates, Joëlle Guillaume was some Seung aspired to be.
