House of Caesar || Official RP Thread

[Cam]

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With: Corbin Moreau
Location: Lounge, Chicago O’hare International Airport

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As small as it seemed, the fact that he had managed to keep the conversation going felt like a feat for Yasu Kudō. Good. People always kept bringing up how connections were important. Even his kindest teachers had been telling him that he had to try harder at this whole socialisation thing if he wanted to succeed. He paid close attention to what Moreau was saying, he had a point. He definitely had a point. And it wouldn’t be the first time in Yasu’s life when Kalopsia academy and House of caesar in particular were associated with secrecy and… he couldn’t mention that to Moreau, not yet at least. Even if Moreau seemed to want to know more about what was going on, he probably didn’t want to hear Yasu’s life history. And even if that were the case, how could Yasu know he could trust him for sure?

“Do you find it… odd… that no one had heard of this?”
No. Not really. It had happened before, there was a pattern.
“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.”
But Moreau seemed worried enough already, Yasu noticed him trying to bite at his gloves. Maybe he could leave his observations about this pattern for another day.
“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.”
Yasu nodded as Moreau finished talking. It was understandable for him to not know about this. He was new to Caesar, after all. Though, not paying attention to what was happening in his new house just as he was preparing to transfer seemed illogical. Whatever, people were illogical most of the time, anyway, right?

Yasu wet his lips before speaking up. “While it is upsetting not having known about this until now, it does not surprise me. Both alleviating fears and avoiding callous rumours has been possible here so far because of everyone hiding the news completely, after all, so it seems intentional from them to manage the situation like this.” He wasn’t sure how convinced he was of what he had just said, but it made sense, given the examples Moreau had put on the table. Nevertheless, it was hard to believe that they had not told anyone about this. Did Maxen have a personal life? A family? Maybe even a sibling. Would they know nothing about the topic?
He managed to catch himself before going too deep into his thoughts, he still had a conversation ongoing, and one that had caught his interest too. Recalling the last thing Moreau said, Yasu tried to offer him a small smile. “That is understandable, though I certainly hope things can be less hectic for you now-” he’d need it if he wanted to pay attention to what was going on. “And… Welcome to House Caesar. Things aren’t always so-” Yasu trailed off, how could he possibly describe what was going on? “Like this,” he finished awkwardly.

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[Cam]

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With: Kelian Avet
Location: Lounge, Chicago O’hare International Airport

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Xinyi Liu couldn’t yet shake the weird feeling of having Not-Noé acting so nice to him, but they were not going to let that ruin giving this guy a nice welcome. It wasn’t fair to him. So they put on his best smile once Kelian introduced himself.
“It’s good to have you around, Kelian, if you need anything here just let me know. I’m looking forward to going back to the yearbook committee and the swimming team this year, how about you? Any club caught your eye yet? Those are a great way to get to know your classmates!”
That should help him join the community. Despite the whole… lookalikes situation. Still, it wasn’t bad to give him some extra reassurance.
“I promise we’re usually nicer, to newbies and to all members.” Xinyi put a hand on Kelian’s shoulder, hoping he accepted the gesture. He wasn’t lying, not necessarily. Despite the tensions around Caesar, they really focused on inter-house relationships and bonds. “Caesar thrives in its community, if you’re one of us, we’ll have your back. It’s just that-” How was Xinyi supposed to break it to him now? He quickly scanned the room until he found Noé. What was he supposed to say? ‘You have a doppelgänger who isn’t nearly as friendly as you and and people are mistaking you for him?’ Yeah no, that sounded ridiculous. “You may be reminding people of… someone else…” Xinyi trailed off with a slight grimace. Poor kid was probably not going to have the nicest beginning for the school year.

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[Ouijaloveletters]

Nestor had taken another bite of food when he saw someone sit down next to him. He lowered his book, placing a bookmark in it and setting it on the table. Turning towards the girl, he observed her. He had to admit, she was was very pretty, not that it exactly mattered to him. “Hello. You have a nice voice.” He said politely, having heard her hum earlier. “My name is Nestor. What’s yours?” He asked with a strong British accent.
@Kristi - Regina

[Kristi]

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Regina paused. The boy, Nestor was speaking to her and Regina didn’t know what to do. It’s not like she has never spoken to people, after all she had her family and her best friend. Also this wasn’t the first time she was in this school. She was a returning student and she knew the nestor student was as well because she has seen him before in the garden just never spoke to him, ignoring him like she did with everyone else. Talking to people here was never really in her bingo, ‘what to do’ card for obvious reasons. She was a very busy person. Regina continued staring at the boy who interrupted her silence before she blinked and offered a small smile. “Thank you.” she responded to his compliment, hands on her lap and with a small bow from the head- just like she was taught to. Grandma would be proud, Regina said in her mind with obvious sarcasm.

Nestor had asked another question. The question being her name. Regina eyes widened at the question and before Nestor could see that she responded with “Gina. My name is Gina.” Now why did nina do that? There wasn’t a problem with her name and he’ll probably learn it sooner but nina was nina and it wasn’t like she lied. Gina was one of her nicknames, a nickname given to her by one of her siblings. “My name is Regina”

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@Ouijaloveletters

[Ouijaloveletters]

The girl stared at Nestor, and he awkwardly stared right back. He didn’t know much about talking to people, but this definitely wasn’t supposed to happen. Usually, when someone talks you you, you respond instead of having a staring contest. “Are you-“ He was going to ask if she was ok, but she finally responded. She thanked him, smiling. He relaxed, smiling back. “Of course.” She introduced herself as Gina, well, Regina. “Which do you prefer?” He asked, extending his hand for a handshake.
@Kristi - Regina

[Kristi]

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Regina decided that Nestor asked a lot of questions. Way too many questions, was this how conversations with non-siblings and non- Taliyah’s (her best friend) tended to be? Regina let out a laugh, her grandparents really ruined her social skills. Funny but not funny, weird. It was something she would have to work on after, Regina reminded herself she was way to busy for that. Regina smiled, soon… “I umm prefer Regina.” Regina. a female given name: from a Latin word meaning “ queen .”her mom had given her that name, there was a story to it that Regina couldn’t really recall rn. She had written it down in her diary tho. “Do you have a nickname? Or do you just want to be called Nestor? How old are you? what grade are you in? what would you say your iq is? What is x^3+y^3 +2^3=k?” Regina smiled, she was doing it right. She was asking a lot of questions, things apparently needed for a proper conversation.

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@Ouijaloveletters

[Ouijaloveletters]

Regina laughed, and Nestor tilted his head. What was she laughing about? Probably something he wouldn’t get. Oh well, just let it go. The girl told him to call her Regina, and he nodded. “Ok, Regina it is.” He said with a smile. Regina asked if he has a nickname, and he shook his head. “I’m 17 and a Junior. You?” He asked, then stared at her when she asked what has IQ was, then asking him about a complicated math problem. Nestor’s brain imploded. “Um…I think my IQ is about 120 or something. The answer to the math question is…” Nestor wracked his brain, pulling out his phone to use the calculator. He was average at math, preferring literature. “Um…K=42? I think. I’m probably wrong.” Nestor said, massaging his temples. His head hurt.
@Kristi - Regina
That’s probably wrong.

[firefly]

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Anya stared blankly at her card, before she was interrupted with Ms Sousa’s speech. Labelle’s death was no surprise to her, yet her lip still quivered at the mention of his death. She caught Lewis Mason’s eye, and after a few moments, she lowered her sight to her squeezed hands. Anya always loved school, especially at Kalopsia Academy, she had never been so nervous before. This year something was off.

With the presentation finished, Anya sat down at a bench. A lounge attendant offered her a glass of water and without hesitation, she took it. She took a sip and the cool liquid running down her throat immediately calmed her down. The ice made it just the right temperature. She held the glass tight in her arms, the cold having a soothing effect.

Anya looked around the lounge, and soon enough, she stumbled upon a familiar face. She stood up, straightened her jumper and made her way to Enzo. She called out his name, and as soon as he looked up at her, her lips curved upwards. She smiled excitedly. She hadn’t seen Enzo in a while, and she was excited to talk to him again. They talked quite a lot last year, but with the gas leak, them getting to know each other got interrupted. Anya wasn’t sure whether she considered Enzo a friend, but she was sure he was about to become one. She was fascinated by him and she had thought about texting him multiple times while at home.

“Long time no see, huh?” she pointed out the obvious. “How have you been? Anything interesting going on?”

Anya thought about what she could tell him, anything that would interest him and make her look good. “You’ll never guess what happened!” she announced excitedly. “I posted some of my designs on my story and a girl asked me to sew her a few skirts and a top. Like, for money. I gained 80 euros for just a few hours of work!” Anya stopped for a moment and thought to herseld, looking upwards. “Well, maybe more than a few hours. But still, it was quite exciting.” Anya laughed at herself briefly, then realised how out of place that was and coughed.

She quickly blurted out the first thing that came to her mind to distract from her awkwardness. " Any exciting discoveries in the astronomy world?" she inquired, looking him in the eyes to show interest.

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@Cadborosa - Enzo ahh this is pretty bad i’m sorry, i’m pretty rusty

[bpalmer]

Shay had handed off the stain remover but felt bad seeing the way Seung seemed to be ready to protest his offer. She seemed kind of uncomfortable around the crowd of people even though she didnt seem new and despite being introverted Shay found that extremely strange to him. Shay was used to change constant change was rather normal for him. Sure he had moved around in France many times with his father’s team but there were still always familiar faces at least to see degree and when there weren’t someone was always there for Shay to play sports with. Maybe she didnt have that. he thought to himself. Shay smiled and nodded when he heard her say thanks. Shay was a little worried that he would be too forward to ask if maybe they could be friends so he just kept that thought to himself.

“Thats cool that I maybe will see a similar face in some of my classes.” He responded with a big smile genuinely excited about the chance that he would at least know the name of someone else in his class potentially. “No go ahead and laugh its ok. I was primarily raised in France around the men’s French national Lacrosse team so despite French not being the only language I speak it was my default for a while. I mean I think in French most of the time.” He said with a small shrug and laugh. “My dad does that with Gaelic and English. He thinks its funny when my other dad and I dont understand what he is talking about.” He smiled it was nice she seemed to be opening up a bit

He smiled even wider when he saw her excitement on his aunt being on the olympic team. “That one I think its called setter is my aunt.” He said pointing to a woman on the screen that was standing on the middle line of the court arms extended far above her head. Seung seemed awe struck after he pointed his aunt out. “I mean not biologically but she is married to my dad’s best friend off the national lacrosse team so they are found family.” Shay said shrugging he had grown up with numerous large name athletes around constantly and often just saw them as people and not actually for how famous they were. “She is good at what she does but laughed at me and called me a failure and joke to the sport when she tried to teach me last summer.” He said with a small giggle.
@OhSumana

[Littlefeets]

An entire day, that’s how long she had been in Chicago. The school got her a ticket on the wrong flight, something which was far from what should be expected from Kalposia academy. That being said, despite the inconvenience, Naia had an entire floor of a hotel to herself for the night, and had escorts and chauffeurs taking her around Chicago. It was certainly an experience to remember, particularly because of all of the problems in getting to this point. Now Naia found herself in the lounge, waiting for yet another flight, but this time she would be with the rest of house Caesar.

Naia looked around her, noticing someone nearby who had just sat down. Taking a few steps towards them, she spoke up, noticing that they appeared uncomfortable. What was going on, she had no idea. Perhaps it was anxiety, their health, or something relating to the events of the previous school year, but there was only one way to find out. “Are you alright? Cause it doesn’t look like it.”

@Ouijaloveletters - Nina

[Ouijaloveletters]

Tw: Improper binding practices
Startled by a voice, Nina’s breath hitched. That was a bad move. Why hadn’t they just bought a binder or trans tape like the internet recommended? Cowardice, that’s why. Despite the website promising discrete packaging, Nina’s paranoia of their parents finding it and asking about it prevented them from buying one. They knew what would happen if they were found out. Now, back to the matter at hand. Lying was no use, as literally anyone could see that Nina wasn’t ok. “Honestly, no. I’m not ok.” Discretely tugging at the bandages, they managed to loosen them. “I had a panic attack on the plane. I’ve never been on one before.” Ok, that part was the truth. They just didn’t mention the whole…chest issue. They weren’t sure how others would react. As soon as possible, they would get a proper binder or trans tape, because this really hurt. “Thank you for the concern, I guess.” Nina said, taking another bite of the food they were eating. After swallowing, they asked a question that had been nagging at them as soon as the girl spoke. “If I may ask, where are you from? I can’t place your accent…oh, and…I’m Nina.”
@Littlefeets - Naia

[OhSumana]

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Kelian beamed with a smile at his potential newfound friend. ‘With a friendly and outgoing personality like that Xinyi must have many other friends. Good, this way I’ll be able to deal with people drilling a hole on my back with their stares.’, thought Kelian, still uneasy about this strange predicament, he found himself in, upon arrival.

“Oh! You’re a swimmer? That’s awesome!”, exclaimed Kelian. A swimmer’s stamina was both amazing and admirable. “I’ve applied for the Maths Club and the KA volleyball team.”. Saying that a sports scholarship in Volleyball got him the admission into Kalopsia revealed a bit of his low financial status, which was most likely meant to bring pity or some snob looking down upon him, so it was smoothly avoided.

Though, he could not but admit that Xinyi’s reassurance and hand on his shoulder caught him off guard, since people usually were not so nice. “I’ve heard the inter-house tension is intense, even saw some students of other houses scoffing at Caeserians. I hope there aren’t frequent fights. . . . in school.”, he added the last couple of words in a mumble as their attention appeared to drift away somewhere else within the lounge, until it came back on him again and Xinyi seemed to contemplate about something.

“You may be reminding people of… someone else…”, was what they said.

“Oh…”,Kelian simply did not know how to react. “Is that why I’m being avoided?”, he assumed, “Wait, since you know what’s the matter, I bet you know the person too. What is he? Some outcast? Or someone who causes trouble?”. He hoped not. Otherwise if that was the case, Kelian might have to kiss the idea of getting along with everyone, goodbye.

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@cam - Xinyi

[Bexs]

Claire Lovington

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Claire chuckled nervously as Levi tried to tell her that what she was saying was okay and made sense. She wasn’t the best at French, but she didn’t know much, but luckily knew enough to draw some sort of comparison between the two languages.

“Um…not too much. I took it for a few years at school.” Claire said honestly. There was no point in lying or hiding it. “I can’t hold a conversation in French but I know some conversational words, and the basics.” She explained as she took the papers and folded them up back along the premade creases in the paper and put it back it the pocket it belonged in. “If I had to pick a class I’m the best at…it is tied I guess between gym and French, gym obviously being the better class for me grade wise.” Claire motioned to her notes and referring to what she said early about how she wasn’t the best at French even though academically it was she felt the most comfortable in and struggled the least with. In all honesty, the only reason why Claire got into Kalopsia Academy was because of her athletic skills. She knew that this year was going to be a struggle for her academic wise, way harder than the previous years, just because of how prestige the school is.

@Ouijaloveletters
Orp: I am so sorry I took so long to respond!

[Ouijaloveletters]

Claire let out a nervous giggle, and Levi couldn’t help but grin. That was kinda cute. “Oh, I see. Well, you know a little, so that’s a start. I actually still need to work on my English. I still mess up sometimes.” He chuckled, tugging at the bag that held his bow and quiver. He really hoped Kalopsia had an archery range. His draw fingers twitched, and he sighed, pulling out his bow just to have something to occupy his hands. “I’m not…super athletic, but I don’t mind gym.” He said, knowing she’d ask why the heck he had a bow, and he was absolutely ready for her questions, excited, even. It wasn’t all day he got to talk about his passion.
@Bexs - Claire

[Kristi]

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“I’m 17 as well and i’m a senior” Regina responded, tucking behind a strange of her curly brown hair. She licked her lips, a habit of her’s when she was zoned out. This was good, she was having a conversation with someone else her age that wasn’t her only friend or a business matter. When the boy, Nestor had said he’s iq was 120. Regina had to stop herself from gasping or scrunching her nose. That was low, well for her. Then again it was a pretty good iq for the average person. She gave Nestor a short nod. “No, the answer was k=46, but close enough” Nina giggled before pausing. Uhh should she ask another question or? What was that game that Taliyah told her about, 5 questions? 10 questions? right, 20 questions. “do you know how to play 15- i mean 20 questions?”

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@Ouijaloveletters

[Ouijaloveletters]

“Ah, we’re the same age. That’s always nice.” Nestor said, smiling. He watched Regina lick her lips, figuring it was a nervous habit. He understood that completely. Nestor’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when she said he was only three numbers off. “Woah, I wasn’t expecting to be that close. I mean, I was still wrong, though.” He said, adjusting his glasses. “20 questions? Sure. Hmmm…what’s your favorite color? I like brown.” Nestor placed his book back in his bag to give Regina his full attention.
@Kristi - Regina
I’ve never played 20 questions before, so I probably did that wrong.

[Skyler2]

Yasu Kudo - Lounge, Chicago O’Hare Airport

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I knew he could sense how nervous I was. I imagine it was pretty apparent with my crossed legs and folded arms, all while I began chewing on my gloves. Or, I started too, at least. I’d have to get more comfortable with them at some point because right then, I couldn’t imagine how crazy I looked. Yasu, grace a Dieu, had the politeness to not say anything.

“While it is upsetting not having known about this until now, it does not surprise me. Both alleviating fears and avoiding callous rumours has been possible here so far because of everyone hiding the news completely, after all, so it seems intentional from them to manage the situation like this.”

I fell silent as Yasu began speaking. He was right, of course. There was a reason he was in Caesar, and I was originally in Quetzalcoatl. I nodded my head in agreeance with him. I didn’t need to make myself seem more of a fool than I already had by opening my mouth. Most of what he said made sense. It was more so difficult for me to understand than incomprehensible. He’s probably been trained in politics and public speaking - or whatever it is they do in House Caesar.

“That is understandable, though I certainly hope things can be less hectic for you now-”

I quickly looked over to Crow. The menace was sitting quietly in its cage, oddly enough. I was surprised it didn’t make more of a fuss. It had been in its cage for a while. All the same, all I could help but think was that I highly doubted this year would be any less hectic.

“And… Welcome to House Caesar. Things aren’t always so-” Yasu trailed off, “Like this."

“I… think I get what you mean.” Normally there were fewer secretly dead staff members, no one silently looking at their glass-like Anya. I wondered if she was alright. I don’t think she would have been too close to Maxon. At least she had Enzo to talk to. I brought myself back to the topic at hand, though. “Sorry if this is silly, but I’m assuming I shouldn’t tell anyone outside of Caesar about the tragedy, right?”

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@Cam - yasu
@firefly - ( anya mentioned)

[Bexs]

Claire Lovington

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“You’re English actually is really go-“ Claire got caught off guard by Levi pulling out a bow. “Why do you have a bow? Better question, how did you get a bow past security?!” Levi seemed eager, as if anticipating that Claire was going to ask that. Archery wasn’t foreign to her, Claire actually really enjoyed doing it as a hobby on the side, but it felt really odd seeing a bow inside an airport. How did he even fit that in a bag?! “You do know Kalopsia Academy has its own archery range, right? It’s mentioned in the brochure. I’m sure they would have their own bows, even if school items tend to not last very long because of constant and continued use.”

@Ouijaloveletters

[Ouijaloveletters]

Levi nearly snorted when Claire cut herself off. “First, thank you. I’m working on my English. Second I’m an archer, so that’s why. I put it in my checked luggage and retrieved it at baggage claim.” Levi explained, setting the bow down. Levi smiled when Claire said that Kalopsia had an archery range. “I must have missed that. Honestly, I prefer using my own bows, as others feel wrong in my hand. Like, it just…doesn’t feel right. I’ve tried using the bows at the ranges, but I guess I’m so used to using my own, that no other bow feels right.” Levi explained. He nodded when Claire said she doubted the bows would last very long. “Yeah, you’re right. Worn down bows don’t fire correctly anyway. I’ve had bowstrings snap on me from being worn down because I forgot to replace them. That wasn’t fun.”
@Bexs - Claire

[OhSumana]

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Location : Lounge, Chicago O’hare International Airport

With : Shay Knox

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“Thats cool that I maybe will see a similar face in some of my classes.”
-was what Shay beamed about upon learning that he and Seung were in the same year. Perhaps it was his way of saying that he looked forward to seeing her in his classes but Seung did not want to assume that among a lounge filled with Kalopsia students, she would be the only face Shay would grow familiar with. One, that was kind of rude to think of someone like that and two, he was not an unapproachable ice queen like Seung, so that was an unlikely situation.

Seung cracked a little smile as he spoke of so many languages he could speak. “Are you a multi-lingual? How many languages do you speak?”. The topic of language seemed interesting to her since she herself had some difficulties, more than half of years having spent in an atmosphere of English household and the rest, that of Korean. Especially in childhood she herself struggled in English. Perhaps if she were not so focused on her sports, she would consider learning other languages too. “My parents are from different cultures too.” . She found herself blurting out, the sudden occurrence of opening up to someone that new, surprising her. Who knew junior year would be the year of interaction?

Back to the topic of one of Seung’s rolemodels being family with Shay, or ‘found-family’ as he put it, Seung was rather discouraged by the words spoken to Shay by the famous setter. Was this why people say learning about your rolemodel personally could be disappointing? Then again Seung had experiences with a number of harsh and rude coaches who’d even call the previously “Ruler of court”, ‘worthless’ and ‘not fit for volleyball’ over one tiny mistake in decision-making. But they were actually caring about the players from her hearts and wanted them to get better, even through the harsh treatment. “I’m sure she did not mean in a bad way. Passionate players tend to be rude towards beginners like that because basic movements which takes time to learn for beginners, is just as natural as breathing for them.”

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@bpalmer - Shay