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Blaine's Entrance ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcoming Day found Blaine up with the dawn, as usual. Most of the other children thought of orientation week as a time to relax and prepare for the rigors of the /real/ school year, but their teasing wasn't enough to change what his teacher called his 'internal clock.' Farmers were supposed to be up /before/ sunrise, so in fact, he had become rather lazy. The washroom was empty when he shuffled in on slippered feet, sunlight just beginning to peek in through the tiny stained glass windows near the ceiling. He was finished washing and almost dressed before he saw another soul. Theaden, who offered a small, sleepy-eyed smile as he passed Blaine on his way to the washroom, was also a farmer's son, but he was always up late. He thought farmers in Crell Monferaigne must be awfully lazy. When he reached his room, it was still dark, and his roommate didn't even stir when he kicked the door shut loudly. He could hear others starting to shuffle into the halls, and he /knew/ breakfast was soon. If he didn't wake up... "Hey, Jareth." No answer. "/Jareth/," he tried again, a little louder. Still no answer. Maybe he should just leave him there. Let him miss breakfast, and... and listen to him complain /all day/? No, maybe that was a bad idea. Blaine chewed on his lip for a minute, thinking on that, and then shrugged and dug into his trunk for a clean robe and socks. Whatever. He'd wait until after he got dressed, and then /really/ let him have it. The robe was plain gray with white trimming - the same one he'd worn the previous term. Jareth'd had to get new ones, because he'd gotten taller over the last year, but Blaine was still short, and it didn't look like that was going to change. It all felt terribly unfair. Even /Letheia/ was taller than he was, now! And she took advantage of it, too. Why were girls so bossy? It wasn't just her, either. Blaine stomped around to settle in his boots and then glanced at his roommate. Was he even really asleep, or just being lazy? He couldn't tell. Rolling his eyes, he marched up to the window and pushed the shutters open to let the crisp morning breeze in. The light was almost blinding. "/Geez/, Blaine, what're you /doing/? Aaarrrrhhh." Jareth rolled over and pulled the pillow over his head. "Lemme sleep!" "You gonna sleep through breakfast, then? C'mon, you know they want us all to be there." Blaine kicked at the bunk. "Sleep at the table, if you have to." Jareth muttered something unintelligable. "Can't hear~ you~!" He lifted the pillow. "Bugger off! I'll get up in a minute!" Blaine grinned and pulled himself up onto his own bunk, flopping onto his back. "I won't wait for you if you're late." "Mmmf." As it turned out, it was Blaine who was left behind. He woke with a start and sat up, staring blankly at the wall for a moment. When had he fallen asleep? "Jareth?" he called. No answer. By the angle of the light spilling in through the window-- "Ahhh! I'm late!" Blaine leapt from his bunk, narrowly avoided slamming into the wall, and yanked the door open, taking only a few seconds to register the fact that, yes, the dormitory /was/ completely deserted, before he sprinted down the corridor toward the stairs. His steps echoed loudly, and he couldn't bother to hide it - he'd get in trouble if they thought he'd skipped announcements, so speed was of the essence. He paused to catch his breath at the opening of the corridor leading to the dining hall. The noise of children talking and teachers shouting for order drifted down the hall, and the doors stood open at the very end, waiting to welcome him. He shuffled toward them more slowly, keeping to the side, hoping he wouldn't be noticed. But silence fell before he reached the doorway, and he heard the Headmistress speak. "Welcome, all of you, to a new year at the Academy. I would like to make a few announcements before breakfast is served, so please listen carefully..." //Please don't let me get caught, please don't let me get caught! Pleasepleaseplease--// Hardly paying attention to what the Headmistress was saying, Blaine crept up to the door and, standing off to the side, leaned over to peek into the room. "...Intermediate and above are allowed to go into the city with proper supervision. Curfew this semester is six o'clock, and there will be no exceptions. Students are not allowed out of their dormitories after nine-thirty without special permission, and of course, faculty buildings are still off-limits to all but graduates and researchers..." The students were all mixed up! He had to stare at the crowd a good long while before he spotted Letheia. It looked like she was sitting next to a few older students, and one of them was tall enough to block her completely from his view until he moved. Blaine sighed. He really didn't like to hang around the older kids. They always made him nervous with their know-it-all attitudes - like Primary kids couldn't figure things out too, if they were given a chance. "...Please remember that magic is not to be used outside of the Academy, and any experiments you wish to conduct must be carried out with authorization in the correct laboratories. Failure to abide by these rules will result in punishment." Well, that cinched it. If Letheia had anything to say about it, they'd probably both get in trouble. "...And finally, students majoring in Theology should check the course manual for changes to the curriculum. As of this semester, practical application of Dimensional Theory is prohibited." The Headmistress smiled, a very motherly sort of expression, and clasped her hands. "Thank you for your attention." Blaine waited until the Headmistress sat down and talking sprang up again before he made his way cautiously into the room. Lethe, where was Lethe again? She was going to kill him, if Jareth didn't do it first! ------------------------------------ [OOC: I tried to throw a few hooks into Lorenta's speech so we can all break the rules and have Amazing Adventures in Delinquency (tm). Professor XD was going to be female, but male works, too - I have a special idea for him, now! Beware! ^-^ Er. I like Labyrinth. And there's a hint about my next Lorenta post in here, but not much of one.] |