Basking In The Sun (OPEN)

[door]

Door had sort of been going a little crazy lately. She had felt completely unable to do anything, very often retreating from the world around her to focus internally. Egeria had called thus hiding, had said that Door was simply avoiding reality, but that wasn't the case. At least, that's not what Door thought. She was just trying to organize her thoughts, just trying to make sure she understood what she was seeing. It might not have been the most proactive thing she could do but it was important for Door to feel she had a hand

She had been trying to focus on her strengthening her magic with a fair amount of intensity. She spent hours a day focusing on what people were projecting around them. She felt better about what she could do, gaining strength in that area like it was a well worked muscle. She had also spent some time on spell creation, but that was still in it's earliest stages.

However, she felt strong enough now in this aspect of her life to brave the outside world. Not in a major way though. No, she would just take her book and read outside, offering her just the right amount of social interaction. So she opted to sit on one of the benches in the courtyard and read.

[talbot]

Tintagel?

Lawrence stopped in his tracks, his boots kicking up a small cloud of dust that spiraled in a wisp of a breeze before dissipating into thin air. A warm wind washed over him and he let his head back a little, lids drooping. The wind was alive, carrying on it the scent of supple flesh, warm blood pulsing beneath a thin layer of succulent dreams. A low rumble echoed from his throat and his smile was full of fang.

Tintagel.

A place of fairy tales. His teeth slowly lost some of their edge as he began to walk again, a solitary bag slung over one shoulder that contained his few worldly possessions and a soft tune found its way to his pursed lips.

Soon enough he found himself in the courtyard of the academy. Sensitive ears picked out a steady and strong rhythm and Lawrence cocked his head to one side.

Thumpump Thumpump Thumpump

Little pig little pig let me come in.

The sound of a heart drew him like a siren song until he was stepping into an open area. A tasty young morsel was sitting out there reading a book and Lawrence felt a touch of the munchies.

But this wasn’t the end of the trail he’d been following for so long now…

“Nice day for a read,” he drawled, not bothering to smile. He looked past her toward the building looming large. “Mind some…company?”

[door]

Door looked at the man standing in front of her. She tried to read him the best that she could. There was something about him that she couldn't quite make out. Something that was below the surface that she couldn't quite make out. It was heavy, it was strong...but it was a part of him in a way. It was an easy falsehood.

The only thing that she was sure of was, whatever this guy was projecting, it was a lie.

"...company's fine." The way that he posed the question made her feel that something else was being requested of her but she wasn't sure what that could have been. So she decided to just go with it...for the time being. She eyed him up and down, hiding her suspicions for the most part.

"Just arrived?" she asked. "Or do you simply carry all your belongings with you?"

[talbot]

Something flashed just beneath the surface of her eyes. It wasn’t enough to set his hackles on edge exactly, but it tickled at a part of his being that ran entirely off of instinct. Though this part of his being wasn’t given to verbalizing, he did feel a very strong sense coming off of her in waves.

Caution.

And then it was gone, and her demeanor changed as if nothing had been there in the first place. And why not caution? She was a pretty young thing, and he was clearly not the kind of boy she should bring home to show her da. Pretty young girls were right to be cautious. It certainly never hurt.

But still, he decided if he was going to exist in this school he was best off adopting a different façade. So for now he pushed the wolf down and donned his sheep’s clothing. He would still be the bad boy, that would be too difficult to cover entirely, and would likely be seen as transparent anyway. Besides, there wasn’t a girl alive who didn’t like ‘em a little bad. At least not the honest ones.
He swung the bag off his shoulder and let it drop to the grass with a sly grin. “New transfer,” he said simply. He looked back up at the school, shading his eyes with one hand. “Heard a lot of good things about this school.”

He was quiet for a moment, staring statuesque at the building. Then he lowered his hand and gaze to her again. “My name is Lawrence. Talbot.”

[door]

Door watched him carefully. There was something very odd about this boy. This was hardly new ground for Tintagel, everyone was a little bizarre here, but she was sure that she had seen that look in in his eye before. It seemed familiar, like something she might have seen in the London Below but not the same. It was hard to pinpoint.

So, she let it rest in the back of her mind like it wasn't really there. If something aggravated that worry though, it would speak up.

"I don't think anyone around here can say a bad thing about Tintagel." She offered a small smile. Okay, that probably wasn't true. People said bad things about Tintagel all the time. But usually that had to do with the magic that was floating around interacting with other stuff and causing issues. The actually school aspect of the school was nice.

"I'm Door."

[talbot]

At the notion that nobody could say anything ill about Tintagel, Lawrence just lifted his brows, his smile growing toothier by the second. Students always had something bad to say. About the teachers, the curriculum, the tests, the grades, the food…hell, even about each other. Somehow he thought that her smile said she knew she was stretching the truth.

But he didn’t call her out on it, and she didn’t make any amendments, so it slid.

“Door,” he said and wondered if she was open or closed. For the time it seemed-open. He had another quick flash of a memory. Little pig little pig, let me come in! Managing to keep it off his face, he nodded.

“There are a lot of different kinds of doors,” he mused as he took a few sauntering steps forward. “And doors go a whole lot of different places.” Stopping in front of her he leaned down a little. The perfume of her hit his nostrils in the most intoxicating kind of way. He’d learned control when he needed it, so there was no devilish flash in his eyes, though a deep hunger rumbled away in his spirit.

“Just how did you come by such an interesting name?”

[door]

There was something alluring about the man, though she couldn't quite put a finger on why. Common convention would say it was that warning that was in the back of her mind, but Door felt this was inaccurate. Every time that warning did it's job and throbbed a little bit at suspicious behavior, the alluring nature of the man subsided. She didn't focus too much of the physical mojo of Mr. Lawrence Talbot, though.

Unless he did something like hover over her. Then it was a bit hard to miss.

The waxing philosophical about her name was a little...well, it wasn't her first time at the rodeo. It was fine as all of those verses went but she was just so used to hearing it. But his voice had a charm and to it and that was enough for her to continue the interaction.

"I would presume I got the name Door the same way you got the name Lawrence Talbot." Door shrugged a bit, feeling the need to clarify. She had been asked this one in the past too. "It' a family name. It's not a handle or nickname, it's what my parents called me."

[talbot]

Before she answered her heart did a two-step, and started to gallop just a little faster than before. The girl did a pretty fine job of not showing it, but she was rattled by his closeness. She couldn’t hide that from him even if she wanted to.

She also couldn’t hide the minor irritation over his question about her name. “Fair enough,” he said with just the right amount of deference. “I suppose you must have heard that one a number of times.”

Without an invitation he took a seat next to her, ignoring any common sense of personal space. He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees, turning his attention away from her and to the scenic surroundings. “Still…I believe there is something to be said about a name. Long ago names used to mean everything.”

Something was bothering him. There was something in the air…like the charge after an lightning storm, but not exactly. He knew what it was in an instant.

Magic.

It was everywhere in the air, something about this place seemed positively brimming with it. And Lawrence had never liked magic. It made him queasy, and it was almost as if putting a name to what he was experiencing made it all that much worse. He put his head in his hands for a moment to try to right his senses.

[door]

"No, I agree. And, very often, names mean more than people say. Especially around here." And she wasn't just speaking about herself in that situation. Most people here? There name was a serious part of an identity. They all went together.

Door never had a problem with physical proximity, but this guy was awfully close. She was bothered enough to move (she thought that would come off rude) but she was bothered enough to become very aware of it. Her heart beat a little faster at the contact.

Whatever he was projecting it disappeared for a moment. What spawned this particular happening she didn't know but she could see through whatever he was working so hard to accomplish but, unfortunately, what she saw didn't make much sense. There was something else inside him, a different being that was still his own. He was hiding the most wild part of him. But most everyone did that. What made his so different?

"Are you alright?" she asked finally, unsure of what else to say.

[talbot]

Lawrence closed his eyes.

Trees flashed by, a verdant blur. He was moving very quickly through the undergrowth, but not fast enough. A spark of red in the distance seemed to get farther away and he seemed powerless to catch up. But Lawrence knew the woods. The cunning of the wolf was difficult to beat. Nobody had. Nobody would…

At her voice Lawrence opened his eyes. The sense of magic was still there, all around him, and that disoriented feeling was worse after the vision. “I’m…okay,” he said, not particularly caring for the way his voice had faltered on him. Weakness was not a quality the Wolf wore well.

He glanced over at Door, gauging her reaction. “Probably something I ate.”

Or something I didn’t…

He realized just then that he was hungry.

Soon he would have to eat, but for now he wanted to clear his head. The disorientation had started when his knee had touched her. There was something about her then…something magical perhaps?

“How old are you,” he asked suddenly.

[door]

Door felt confusion coming off Lawrence more than anything else. Gone was that debonair attitude, that darkness around the edges. There was a certain level of disgust, of fear that was rising off of him like some sort of perfume. She could channel it well, letting it move through her now rather than stay in her head. When she opened her body to the experience, she felt more of what the other did. It became less cerebral and more emotional.

There was pride. There was ruthlessness. There was more too...panic. It was a complicated moment for him.

He claimed that his discomfort was do to a churning of the stomach from something eaten. She was hardly going to be the one to call him out on that. But she kept her eyes trained on his.

"I'm seventeen, actually. Going to go out on a limb and say you're older?" The boy next to her looked like he had a few years on her.

[talbot]

And that actually brought a smile to his lips.

To be honest, Lawrence wasn’t exactly sure how old he was. His past was something of a blur to him. There was a faint vision of a woman, he could only imagine was his mother. Though the thought of having a mother seemed so completely alien to him. The thought of having any familial connections seemed borderline impossible.

“A little bit maybe,” he said teasingly, the way an older brother might rib a sibling. He then glanced over her shoulder once again at the tall towers looming over them. His eyes traveled to the top where they seemed to be trying to blot out the pale blue sky.

Though he wasn’t much of one for talk, it did seem to be helping him keep his mind off of the magic.

“Not really sure how the grades work here, but I’m 19, so…I guess we won’t get to share home room together.” He looked back down at her again, that playful smirk teasing at the corner of his lips.

Leaning in a little, he spoke in soft confidential tones. “But I’m sure we’ll see each other around.” He stood up and grabbed his bag.

“On second thought I’m a little hungry,” he said after shouldering his bag again. “Do you mind pointing me in the direction of the food?”

[door]

Whatever this guy was lying about (multiple things, maybe), she felt like she was just a moment away from uncovering it. It was on the tip of her tongue, between what he was projecting and what he didn't know she was seeing, but it was there. It was sort of infuriating to be so close and not have anything come of it. And then he backed off entirely. Damn.

Between the smile and the way the boy leaned in closer, Door couldn't stop her eyebrow from arching just the smallest bit. Interesting. But he seemed to have had enough of the tete a tete and was heading off. Odd way to end but the entire thing had been odd so, whatever.

Hmm, but it didn't appear to being ending at the moment. Door stood up, tucking her book into her leather duster. "Sure, I'll take you over to the mess." It was the right thing to do, being welcoming and what not. Besides, there was something about this boy that she wanted to get to know a bit better. There was more about him than she was she seeing and Door was not really one to leave a mystery alone. She started walking, checking over her shoulder to make sure the boy was following.

[talbot]

Though Lawrence hadn’t really been expecting a guide, he accepted the invitation without much ado. Sure he could wander around, literally following his nose to track down the dining area. But somehow this would probably work out far better for him anyway. Having a familiar guide might take the suspicion out of people at the stranger walking around the campus checking things out.

So without a word he stepped after her, catching up to her in a few long strides and then slowing down just a little as they made their way out of the garden. For a few moments he walked next to her in silence, the wooden heels of his boots on cobblestone the only real sound between them.

His eye went down to the book in her hand. “Good book?” He kept his eyes trained forward. To be honest he didn’t care one whit about the book. But anything he could learn about this place and its residents was something he could use. “What’s it about?” You could find a lot out about someone by the way they spent their free time.

[door]

Door and Lawrence walked in silence for a bit, his shoes clacking as they walked. She tried to focus on how the man felt versus how she saw him. She kept her eyes off of him, sensing what she could off of him. He seemed to be sensually focused - she noticed that he was smelling a lot. That was...unusual.

When he asked about her book, she tried to focus on her manners. "The original title is Grausige Volkskunde, which translates to 'Gruesome Folklore'. It's a collection of different local folklore from different parts of the world. You know, fairies who eat baby's entrails, ogres who are offered up virgin maidens to save a town." Door looked down to her book, smiling a bit. It had been an interesting book actually. "I like knowing other people's cultures." She shrugged.