Late Night Coffee

[Nill]

((Sept 4th.  Nighttime, after classes.  Takes place in the common room.  Open to all staff...or, ya' know, students if they want to sneak into the teacher dorms for some reason - that works too))


It was late.  Far too late to be drinking caffeinated beverages.  Not that Nill cared.  Who needs sleep anyway?  At least there was a coffee machine to sate her cravings.  Everything else about her current situation was just annoying.  It wasn't even like she had an interesting subject to teach the little brats.  She wasn't even extended the kindness of being a teacher.  She was the butt-monkey of any machine or electronic devise that felt like acting up that day.  Sure, when she was "alive" she was playing second fiddle to Turbo, but at least she was second fiddle in the most popular game the arcade...even if no one really knew her name - or gender.  Even if she'd probably regret it in the morning, Nill was going to stay up that night, ruminating on her rage.  It wasn't like she had to think of lesson plans or anything special.

Nill sat upright in on a couch all to herself in the common room.  A big drab plush blanket was wrapped around almost every inch of her, save her face and hands, making the racer nearly look like a child in a ghost costume.  She held a white coffee cup in front of her.  The end of her pointer finger tapped the cup.  Yellow eyes glared out from under the shade of her helmet, narrowed and full of grump.  After taking a small taste of the hot beverage, she rested her chin on her palm.

"I wanna go home now," She spat, glaring out of the corner of her eye as if expecting that whoever brought her here was listening.

[Deleted]

"Midnight, 'nother night without sleeping
Watching, 'til the morning comes creeping
Green door, what's that secret you're keeping?"

It may not have been the presence Nill was expecting, but Rita was up and about. 'Twas the nature of a feline to be up at late hours. This didn't stop her from getting in some practice with her vocals, though. Little singer wanted to get all the practice she could. After all, if she was meant to be teaching kids about singing then she might as well make sure she sounded good herself. The song was an old one she had heard an age ago. Whether or not it bore any relevance was of little concern to the feline. All Rita ultimately cared about was getting something to drink from the common room. Maybe some milk or something and, if she was lucky, a bite to eat.

What she didn't expect to see was Nill all by herself. Rita didn't claim to know the grey-skinned racer, but she knew that it was a strange sight. Humans were social creatures like dogs. What was this one doing by herself? A flick of her ears was given as Rita padded forward, and soon the little cat was leaping up into the couch to make herself comfortable. All that remained was getting to find out what was bugging Nill.

"What's with you?"

[Dragon]

Dragon swayed to the sound of Rita singing. She enjoyed it. It was pretty. However she had no idea it was coming from a feline in very close proximity to her. When she discovered the cat as she moved into the very large room, she gave her a smile and a pure, letting her know she truly enjoyed the music she was putting forth. She sat in the common room. The ceilings were very high and Dragon appreciated that. She could at least sit with her fellow teachers.

The female blinked down at the odd male who was beeping and looking annoyed. She raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" She asked gently.

She nodded to Rita. "You sing good," she said. The girl wasn't used to speaking so her speech and grammar seemed a bit off with her sing song voice.

[Nill]

The little woman's sour expression faded ever so slightly.  Now, she just looked confused.  The blanket thrown over her head fell down as she picked her head up.  Her knew she heard someone singing.  It didn't seem so strange to her - maybe they were in the shower or something.  But who else would be up at this ungodly hour?  Nill's eyes dropped and she tasted a bit more of the glorified heated water.  Before she knew it, she could feel a weight appear on one side of the couch.  She lowered the mug and turned her head quickly.  Nill calmed down once her yellow eyes were greeted with a fairly normal-looking domestic feline.  The cat was grey like Nill was - only cats could be grey and still be cute, whereas such a color just made the racer look sickly and most unappealing.  Not that Nill was a huge fan of animals, but she supposed she was more of a cat person than a dog person.  So luckily for the otherwise innocent Rita, Nill wasn't crabby enough to be snarky right off the bat.

Her yellow eyes widened as she began to open her mouth, but then hesitated.  Alerted by heavy footsteps, her grip on the cup she was holding tightened.  Slowly, she looked up as the giant scaly beast entered.  There had been dragons around in the arcade, but Nill rarely left her own game so her experience with them was minimal.  Nill tried her best to hide her fear with hostility, unable to bring herself to move from her seat.  Her gaze flicked rapidly between Dragon and Rita as both the fellow females spoke briefly.

Nill forced herself to speak, "That was you?" She questioned, looking at the feline, "I wish I could do that."

The racer looked down for a moment, knowing she needed to answer as she had been asked twice now what she was upset about, "I was just wishing I could go home.  I'd love to get out of this crumby gig and go home...but I don't think I have a home to go back to.  My home was terminated thanks to someone I thought was supposed be my friend."

[Deleted]

Rita glanced up at Dragon, and rather than freaking out the feline decided to just take it in stride. Talking horses and humans being able to understand animals had since numbed her to the idea of mythical creatures existing. The dragon's remark about her singing pleased Rita, too. A purr was soon to follow as her tail curled closer to her body. Getting compliments about something she did pretty much every day was kind of nice. Maybe she'd have to let herself be heard outside of class more often than that.

"Thanks," she purred. When Nill finally answered the question, Rita turned her attention back to her and gave a nod. That feeling was one she knew all too well. Not that Rita had a home to call her own, mind you, but it was still a feeling she understood. The least she could do was try to sympathize with the human.

"Believe me, I know how that feels. But, hey, you ain't alone here. That's gotta count for something, right?"

[Deleted]

"Had we known what the school was like we probably would not have come at all." Sanji said, as the young chef entered the room to talk with the fellow teachers. He was smoking his cigarette, with a carefree look on his face. It was not everyday he could just relax rather than cook for the teachers and students. It was going to be an interesting time.

"I think if we had known this was going to be a game of survival then we would have stayed at home."

[Deleted]

"That's assuming that we all had homes to go back to," Rita said as she glanced Sanji's way. The human had, in her opinion, just made a fairly good sized assumption. Rita herself didn't have a home, and it sounded like Nill didn't have one either. Dragon? Truth be told, Rita wasn't at all sure of the reptile's home status. All she could do was guess that maybe Dragon had some place to call home. Not her and Nill, though. Rita knew that better than anyone. She and Runt had been questing for a home for far too long to even put a time on. Her tail lashed from side to side for a moment and her ears flattened a bit.

"I don't got anyplace to go back to after this. Even if I hadn't figured out what this place was like, I still wouldn't be able to go anywhere else. It's as good a home as I'm ever gonna get," she stated. Not that she was entirely happy with the arrangement. Kids being made to fight each other was something that was going to happen, she'd learned, and it displeased the stray more than she cared to let on. But the point still remained. Home wasn't a place that Rita had. She couldn't leave after everything was said and done. What did she have to go back to, anyway? More of Runt's blissful dopiness? That was about it, really. Rita couldn't think of much else that would warrant her wanting to go back to the streets anyway.

[Nill]

Nill slowly looked up from her cup.  Her expression was now more bitter than the beverage she was holding.  The little creature was indignant.  Who said she came here on purpose anyway?  Just because she was dead didn't give whoever was running this place the right to bring her here to work.  Nill was too high and mighty on her racing skills to accept that she'd just be downgraded to maintenance.  She was totally jelly of the staff that had better jobs.  Oh and the whole home thing; yeah...good job, Turbo.

Nill scoffed at the man, "Who are you to have a positive attitude?"

The woman was starting to fall back into her more snarky ways.  Nill wasn't going to be outright hostile yet.  As long as no one found out about or brought up her whole designation as the "number two" racer, she'd probably be fine.  After placing the coffee mug in her lap, she folded his arms tartly.

"There's nothing good about this place," Nill grumbled, "I think I'd rather try my chances anywhere but here."

She paused before murmuring, "But at least we don't need to go all Mortal Kombat on each other."

[Dust]

"Until they tire of watching the students fight."

Dour and raspy, the owner of the voice sat by himself in the furthest corner of the room, back propped against the wall and a thick tome open in his lap. None of his upper face could be seen, hidden by the wide brim of his satgat, but his mouth was set in a perpetually serious frown that told in itself that the man was not here to make jokes nor revel in the superiority that came with being a teacher. He had been listening to their conversation for quite some time, unable to sleep after a fitful dream involving yet another scene of being overcome by a white-hot wave of molten lava, and one of his ears had twitched at the familiar sound of their grievances. It would be lying to say that this did not bother him somewhat, but the fox did not know why. After all, he wasn't sure if he had a home to begin with. Did he even have family back in the land he'd awoken in? The very thought made his head ache and he momentarily massaged his temples with two digits and a thumb.

Then, he closed the book, and his silver eyes bore into Nill's yellow ones from beneath the visor of his headwear.

"I agree," Dust said, "But it's a bit too late to wallow in our regrets, and we can't abandon the students to keep ourselves safe."

Not that they would be able to, anyway. As far as Dust knew, once you were on school grounds, there was no leaving. A cruel trick, he deduced, but one that was cleverly devised in a way that would please whoever was behind this death trap of a school.

His eyes roamed and lay briefly upon the blonde man, the cat, and the dragon. He took in each of their visages and felt a sharp pang of condolence for them. They each had their own lives, torn away by coming to take up a position at the academy. Dust himself held no qualms; he wasn't aware of his own life... if he had one, anyway. He was practically a blank slate. That didn't matter now, and he wasn't sure if it ever would.

"It may take weeks, even months. But as long as we persevere, I'm sure there's a way out."

[Deleted]

Jul 21, 2014 21:54:22 GMT Nill said:

Nill slowly looked up from her cup.  Her expression was now more bitter than the beverage she was holding.  The little creature was indignant.  Who said she came here on purpose anyway?  Just because she was dead didn't give whoever was running this place the right to bring her here to work.  Nill was too high and mighty on her racing skills to accept that she'd just be downgraded to maintenance.  She was totally jelly of the staff that had better jobs.  Oh and the whole home thing; yeah...good job, Turbo.

Nill scoffed at the man, "Who are you to have a positive attitude?"

The woman was starting to fall back into her more snarky ways.  Nill wasn't going to be outright hostile yet.  As long as no one found out about or brought up her whole designation as the "number two" racer, she'd probably be fine.  After placing the coffee mug in her lap, she folded his arms tartly.

"There's nothing good about this place," Nill grumbled, "I think I'd rather try my chances anywhere but here."

She paused before murmuring, "But at least we don't need to go all Mortal Kombat on each other."

"I am just the chef." Sanji said with a tiny smirk to the video game character before glancing over to the other figure who had spoken. "You have a point, there is no need to wallow in our worries about the students. Or us for that matter. I doubt that the person in charge will be wiling to change his mind but there can be hope." If there wasn't hope then Sanji would just fight his way out. 

No one was going to get the best of him. "The students are probably in more worries than we are. They go to class, make friends and wait for the day their name is called and if they might end up fighting those very people who became their friends."