Sweat Like You Mean It

[ωΘĿƒ]

The thing was to get behind them. They never expected that. Never. No one looked behind them, stupid as it may seem. All that empty space just behind their backs, and they never thought to protect it, and all the while, all those nice, neat, soft organs lying just under the skin and behind the rib cage.

Hey, if you got past the spinal cord, there was a whole world of opportunity there. And the best part - no eyes. He did hate the eyes. There was just something about a living thing's gaze. It was so... searching, like this creature could somehow sense the danger in its presence. Like it could somehow fathom the intention lying in wait below the smiling face, the perfect teeth, the neat appearance. There was no mistaking it - that subtle suspection. There was always that chance that they would know who they were dealing with, and then there was the running and the screaming and the begging for life and all that boring crap.

No. That was all too distracting. He needed to be quiet - unpredictable. That is the only way to win, and he did so love to win.

Feint left for the rest of the pack, and slide past the defenses, smooth as silk.

"Goal!"

The soccer ball punched the net with a whoosh of air, leaving the dazed and confused dribbler standing about half way down the court. Yes, that was right. He won. Le Cyll won. He would always win, because he knew how to do it. You did not charge the opponent, because the opponent could be ready for you. You needed to be crafty, sly, unpredictable... and just a bit dirty.

Ah well, if he had morals, he might be sorry for the "cheap trick" but he did not bother with such trivial things, so he had nothing to worry about, did he? And he had won. Don't forget that. He had scored his team the final goal, and now he had shown himself to be the excellent athlete that he knew he was.

"Nice work."

Someone passing him by. He smiled lightly, showing his appreciation for the encouragement, but he did not care about the face. It was just another in the endless tide, and it would not be useful to him in the future. The only thing that mattered now was the victor - him - and the loser - a dragon of some sort.

Now, far be it from him to *ahem* "**** off the big kids" but he did have to prove his worth somehow, and a harmless game of soccer was just what he needed. Giving the loser a final victorious glare, he trotted over to the water cooler and his towel. Sweat was disgusting, almost as much as blood, but he must endure it. How else was he to win if not by getting a little messy?

The Kludde took a drink and sat down, watching the teams dismember before him. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, but now people had class, and he had a free period. He jotted a few notes down for some of his homework in a spare notebook before, then proceeded to sit in the still-crowded gym.

Funny. Even though the game was over, there were always people here. It must be a high-traffic area. He sat back, dabbing the sweat from his neck disgustedly and trying to get his breathing under control. He did not pay attention to any of the other people in the gym today.
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[Oren]

Kendryek sat in the bleacher of the gym and watched the soccer gamed proceedings. He watched one figure in particular: a handsom 'young man' that he had met only a few days ago. A wolf, to be exact. A very... interesting wolf. Well, 'troubled' was more the word to describe him. Even 'troubled' didn't quite pin down what this wolf was like. No one word could quite describe a character like this wolf. Words like 'confused', 'misguided', 'uninformed', 'decieved', and 'obsessed' worked quite well, though. At least in Kendryek's mind they did.

It was down to the last few seconds of the game. He could tell that Le Cyll was determined, since 'tense' didn't quite describe how he was acting. He was focused and perfectly ready to win the game. Le Cyll new he could do it. There was no doubt in the dragons mind that his aquaintence could do anything he put his mind to.

As it turned out, Kendryek was right. He watched Le Cyll calculating and knew that he would be sucsessful before he even reached the other player. The kludde scored the game point and a cheer went out from many of the creatures in the bleachers. It didn't take long for Le Cyll to take a seat in the bleachers. He obviously wasn't paying attention to who was around or else he would have seen Kendryek only a few feet away, and he most likely wouldn't purposely sit so close to the large dragon.

Kendryek got an idea and stood up. Stepping down, he stood on the seat right behind Le Cyll, arms crossed and wishing he had something to lean against. It would provide a more acurate position for the mood he wished to convey, but it couldn't be helped.

"That was a good last shot... friend." Kendyrek looked at the soccer nets and let his eyes unfocus. "You played well."

Kendryek meant what he said and his voice clearly showed that. "Too bad I play basketball, not soccer." He smiled in a half laugh and looked back at the wolf.

[Ari Phoenix]

A young Japanese 'girl seemed to be watching from the stands nearby, she was new to the area, and didn't know of anything that was going on here. She did watch the sport carefully, studying the players, and they way they played. She thought back to home, and how only a day or so, she was there, instead of here, hundreds of miles away from Kyoto. Her eyes, an unnatural shade of blue, seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, same with her hair, though she was only wearing a simple outfit. She didn't even show signs of her true self. She just knew that this new place was strange to her. She was enrolled as a 9th grader, she knew this much, but only because she needed to learn from the beginning of high school forward.

She sighed, as she watched the game end. She really didn't feel like she could handle such a sport, she wasn't all that strong, and though graceful, and quick, she knew she couldn't handle the other players. She sat there, lonely, and wishing she was home. She was home sick already. She couldn't believe it, but knew it to be true. She hadn't been outside of japan before, and was only able to stand being here, because English was a standard class in Japanese schools.

She watched as another person went up to the player who had won the game, and wondered just what they were speaking of. She didn't want to be rude though. She watched them, from only a small distance away, staring and learning. She felt like she was being strange, and looked down. She wished she wasn't in her human form at the moment, it made things harder for her. Though she was glad that her human form was always dressed in a way to make her the most normal that she could hope to be.

She also remembered what the paper said about dorm rooms, she would be placed in the male dorms. She was worried about how the males would take it. This was definitely something that wouldn't have happened at home, and knew that her life, though long it may be, was going to be feel even longer from here on out. She waited, watching as the place cleared and filled. Wondering, just what she was doing, besides moping, and spacing out over time. She had missed part of the game, because of Day dreaming, she realized, only seeing the second half of it. She wondered just what she had missed.

She didn't feel like she could speak here, and wished it was proper to sing, if only because it would make her feel more comfortable.

[Anzeh]

((Moss likes to sing. >.> Shut up))

She doesn't want to be respected
Reality's her best friend
She needs the extra money, extra money
In the city, the town, and the household
So many things go unreported
So many things her eyes have seen, eyes have seen, eyes have seen

[/b][/center]

The Barguest hummed the song with one leg slung over the other, his foot twitching and his hand tapping out a rhythmic beat. Some people said that he was being loud and annoying, to which he just had to say that he didn’t give a ****. ‘At least,’ He added mentally, ‘Not without a little front payment.’

He wasn’t talking about money, no. Moss didn’t sell his body—he found that disgusting and wrong. His front payment was a quick little game. If they were good enough to beat him (he had yet to find someone that could) then he was theirs. As a consolation prize, though, the loser was his. In a way you could say he was gambling his body, but was it really gambling when it was complete win-win? Well, for him it was, he wasn’t so sure if it was win-win on the other side of the fence.

The game was ending when he next opened his intense grey eyes to the world. He adjusted his clothes—a button up left open with a black shirt underneath and his favorite black pants and sneakers—and went down the bleachers. His fingers combed through mossy unruliness and he walked towards two talking people. He wasn’t going to lie—he was a bit of a stalker.

Knoei “Moss” Titan went up to the highest bleacher and pulled out a notebook as though to study, but in reality he watched people, and the talking ones beneath him. The place was so full of scents and bodies, however, that he couldn’t pick out theirs. Ah well.
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[ωΘĿƒ]

Recognizing the voice near-immediately, Le Cyll made sure to muffle a surprised warning growl. He usually did not like being surprised. Surprises were most often bad for him, so he liked it when he was the only one with any surprises to be shared. Kendryek always provided a happy, healthy surprise though. The misleadingly frail form of the little Japanese boy was more than enough surprise to Le Cyll every time he saw it, and he had only seen it twice. Once now, and once before, in the woods. Slinging the towel over his shoulder and checking his pulse of healthy breathing rate, he eventually turned to face the boy behind him.

"Basketball? You don't seem the type. Though, who am I to judge by human appearances?"

Le Cyll had taken a plastic cup from the cooler, and was now sipping fitfully at the lime flavored drink, wishing he had something better for his health. He did not need liquid garbage polluting his system, but he did not want to become dehydrated either. The lime-aid would have to do for now. He would find a nice clear brook later, and quench his thirst after taking a nice splash in the water.

Scanning the crowd behind Kendryek instinctively, he picked up two more people that further gave him attention. A male and a female, one bold, the other shy. How nice. It looked like it was going to be another social gathering. He did detest interaction, but he would make any excuse to make sure he wasn't alone with Kendryek.

In previous encounters he had found the dragon to be.... wanting something from him. Kendryek himself seemed to hide under the guise of companionship, but there were always ulterior motives to consider. No one just "Wanted to hang out." They wanted not to be lonely, or they wanted someone to spill their useless talk to. There were always more motives than let on, and Le Cyll pegged Kenryek as the kind to have potentially.... dangerous motives. As wonderful as this meal time with many different flavors was, he did not want to end up as food for someone else, and Le Cyll had to admit - Kenryek was big enough for it.

The Kludde took another sip of his drink before adding a little more to the conversation.

"Don't look now, but our chat isn't private. We have eavesdroppers, and I do think they want to join us..."
[/size]

[Oren]

Kendryek laughed at Le Cyll's comment. "Oh, I never said I was very good." It wasn't a lie, but it was misleading. In all truth and reality, Kendryek was very good at basketball. He didn't show off his skill very often but it was still there. Many underestimated him because of his 'fragile' body. He found it amusing and therefore never proved those who thought so too terribly wrong. He got more reactions that way, and reactions were indeed fun.

Ly Cyll flinched ever so slightly at the lime-aid. He obviously didn't like human's superficial drinks. Kendryek couldn't blame him. Most 'drinks' these days were pumped either with caffeen and 'bubbles', powder, or some kind of alcohol.

Then the wolf mentioned the silent watchers. Kendryek looked behind him and saw the two immediately. He sighed and looked back at Le Cyll. "Maybe we should invite them over..." [/size]

[Ari Phoenix]

She sat there, looking at the ground, wondering if she should try to get closer and listen in. She had noticed a boy moving in, she wondered if he was trying to get a closer look. She also realized that one of the boys talking was like her, of Japanese decent. Did that mean there was more people from home here? She didn't know, but she was curious. She also wanted to stretch her wings, but didn't, knowing that might be dangerous. She would just have to wait till the right moment, which to her parents, had been at night, in a place out of sight of those that were not like her. She wouldn't waste any time, if she knew it was safe. She looked down slightly, and wondered, if this was the way she should be. She was shy, that was well known to herself, she was quiet, both of which made meeting people hard for her.

She then noticed that they seemed to be exchanging drinks, could the Japanese male be a sports player as well as the soccer boy? She was even more curious now. This day was only her first day here, and she was afraid of first impressions, only because she had not been outside her own comfort zone before. She felt rather fragile, like glass, but knew she had to keep her composure, so focused on breathing. She didn't know how else to handle it, but to focus on her breathing so as to keep her Human skin up. She didn't want to show her true form yet, it might get her stared at, or worse. She sighed. She would have to eventually head to the dorms, and eventually figure out what else she could possibly do, to get used to this place. Would she ever manage it? She hoped so.

She then started, to quietly, and wordlessly, sing. She needed to keep herself calm, and so she started to revert to her natural talent and instinct. She would sing, but only loud enough that herself, and those with good ears, could hear. She wasn't that confident in her abilities though, and knew it wasn't that good for her to sing too loudly. She wanted to feel strengthened, but only could do that, after a song or two.

She had the silent image of a Song bird singing, while she sang, it was a little joke her mother would use on her, when she would sing to prepare for something. Her mother would say she was like a Song bird singing to the sun. That memory made her tear up, as she didn't know if she would see her mother again, for a long time. She didn't really want to leave them, but as her father had said, maybe it was time, for this young chick to leave the nest, and learn to fly on her own.

[Anzeh]

"Alright, gotta get this done. No more bull****ting. Work time." He murmured to himself as he read through the notes he'd taken earlier that day. But the Barguest couldn't help but be a little nosy and eavesdrop as best he could with the hum of irrelevant conversation as background noise. He wished they would go away. And if he could get them to leave ASAP, then he could safely say that he had met his goal for the day.

After a few moments, he was staring at his math notes like he hated them, unable to make heads or tails of them anymore. His handwriting was questionable and his word choice was also questionable, and now he wasn't sure what he had been trying to make notes for. Some kind of postulate? His fingers twirled a mechanical pencil to the point that it was little more than a blurr.

Therefore he had tons of speed behind it when it flipped crazily in the air and smaked hard on the ground near where the people where talking. Did the pencil know that he wanted to talk to them or was it just a fluke? Thank goodness for flukes then, if he got flukes like that. He sighed and said an apology while he walked down the step, picking up the pencil and giving both males the one-over.

Satisfied he stood to his full height and bowed slightly before walking back up the topmost bleacher. He was about to go back to work on deciphering his unruly notes, but then decided, what the hell, since contact was immenant, why not make the first move? He was always the one to make the first move. He liked the control.

He began to pack up his things for a--quite possibly very risky--migration.

[ωΘĿƒ]

After a few moments of waiting and watching the two as they scrabled about pretending that they were not paying attention to Kendryek and himself when in fact they were, Le Cyll's patience slowly dwindled to the end of its rope.

Why was this interaction so difficult? If they wanted attention, why not be forthright about it?

The Kludde pulled the towel off his neck, setting it on the bleachers and folding it up neatly as the one male came up for a closer look. Obviously now they wanted to speak, but for what reason? What possible resaon could they have for this? Was this one of Kendryek's little plans. The dragon was polite enough now, but Le Cyll could sense that before he had mellowed out, he had been much the devious mastermind. He liked to see people squirm, and what was so wrong with that? People were useless, fruitless, stupid, selfish little things. It put them to some good use to make them entertaining like that.

He had another feeling though, that Kendryek was no longer that deviant. He was beyond that, and held the delusion that he had moved to better, more enlightened trains of thought. There was nothing more enlightened about finding false happiness. For some reason, the very first thing that came into that dragon's mind was the torture of the weaker and more innocent than him. If that be his first notion, then why was it the wrong one?

Kenryek was no better than Le Cyll, just a little more sad. It was tragic itself, but there was nothing that could compel Le Cyll to do anything about it. He simply was not that nice.

"We had better do something." He shrugged "Else I'm afraid they will be forced to start the conversation."

With that little note of irony, the Kludde set the disgusting cup of lime-aid down and waved to the two onlookers pleasantly. He was not ready for any social interaction so soon after a wonderful game, but he would rely on Kendryek's delusion to get him past the formalities.
[/size]

[Oren]

A pencil hit the floor a little bit behind Kendryek. He almost sighed. That silly teen was attempting to find an excuse for coming over to them. It was a legit reason, but it was still very obvious. If he could remember correctly, this kid was the infamous Moss. It wasn't like he purposely listened to the gossip, he unconsciously took it in even when he was completely paying attention to something else. It was a bad habit, an information-gathering 'skill', he had developed for when he would need it. The other, the girl, wasn't well known around here, or at least there wasn't anything she had done to draw attention to herself. He didn't know her name, or where she had come from except for her obvious Japanese lineage. "Since you don't seem inclined, I guess I'll speak first," he mumbled to Le Cyll. That silly wolf was too busy staying anti-social that he almost didn't have a sense of politeness. Almost. He typically could fool most anyone into believing that he was an angel from heaven.

Moss walked back up the stairs just as Kendryek looked toward him. Plucking a pencil from one of his 'invisible' bags, he let his mind drift momentarily. They had been a gift from an old friend, a human sorcerer. The bags, not the pencil. The pencil was a cheap piece of wood from the school store. Alas, the sorcerer had died many years before. Even though the good old man was gone, the 'magic' stayed in place.

No one but Kendryek could see them.

Pulling himself out of his brief reflection, he looked toward the Japanese girl. "Imouto-san, koko ni kite kudasai. ((young girl, come here, please.)) You too, Moss. Come here."

Kendryek looked back at Le Cyll. It was obvious that he wasn't too happy to be talking to other people. He never really put down his facade, though, and that caused him to have to be polite to others. It was similar to the Japanese way of false politeness, but with Le Cyll it wasn't a long-lasted tradition. It was just a mask. It was how he lived.

Something troubled Kendryek. If Moss’s reputation was correct, he wasn’t what one would consider ‘good news’. If the look of this girl said anything, she wasn’t ‘bad news’. They looked to be two totally different personalities about to join in conversation with two people who didn’t really care, one that didn’t care at all and the other that was only very slightly interested. This was going to get really interested, especially if either Le Cyll or Kendryek got annoyed.

[Ari Phoenix]

The girl was startled when she heard in Japanese that she was being called to the group of two, well, three since another guy had been called. She wasn't sure if she should, but called back, "Hai, Choto mate"'Yes,just a moment' she didn't mean to offend, but she was so caught off guard, that she almost forgot manners. She then gathered her things, looking a little confused that she had been called, and surprised, but moved swiftly towards them, though she was a little guarded. She was afraid she would offend, but at the same time, was happy to have been called.

She looked at the Soccer player, and bowed "Sugoi ge-mu, Omodeto"'Amazing game, congratulations' She spoke to him, unsure if he would understand, but unsure if she should try her english. Though she did know the language, she wasn't the best at it.

She then looked at the one who had called her in Japanese. She bowed to him. "Watashi no namae Houou, Aori, Dozoyurishiku" 'My name is Aori Houou, pleasure to meet you.' She stopped for a second, before continuing on. "Sumimasen, Oji-san, Nansei desuka?"'Pardon me, sir, what is your name?' She asked, hoping the guy wouldn't take offense, though she blushed a little, she had been surrounded by people she had known for so long, that she didn't really know much about speaking to strangers. She had always had friends to rely on, and family to guide her. She only hoped she wasn't messing up.

She then looked down, feeling like she was a bit scared still, and shyer yet, not even realizing she had accidentally dropped the dorm room paper on the ground behind her.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Le Cyll blinked at the conversation going on between the two Japanese-born individuals. Not that he didn't understand what they were saying, but he had never particularly liked the Japanese language. French and Itallian, now those were true cultural oases. He was slightly knowledgeable in Russian as well, and could speak a few words of German if given enough time to remember them. As for Japanese, however, he was... rusty. All he understood was that this was not his conversation, and he did not want to be a part of it.

Still, it was nice to know what people were saying. Just in case. He knew there was nothing interesting being said now though. Nothing to worry about.

Quietly, he lapsed into a state of thought. It was about time that he was able to tune someone out effectively. It helped his process when he thought, helped him remember that he could be calm and tolerate life just a little better than he usually did. It was working now, for the most part. He almost didn't see the piece of paper fall from the girl's possession.

"Hmmm." He hummed, methodically. He wondered if he should tell her. His first impressions said no, simply because it was not his business and he did not care if she lost her schedule or not. Worse things have happened to better people. Sometimes, people die and there really is no reason at all. Worse things could happen then losing a single sheet of printed paper. Worse case scenario, she asks the office for another one. It isn't like she would be in imminent peril if she forgot it...

He was depressing himself again. Sighing, he silently cursed his lack of self control.

Why didn't his mind wander to happy things, he wondered..?

"You dropped this."

The Kludde had snatched up the sheet, glancing at it briefly before offering it to her. He had seen the front side, and if he focused, he could still see all the words clearly and correctly. Photographic memory could be bothersome like that. Now he would see those times in his head all day.
[/size]

[Oren]

Kendryek watched as the girl grabbed her things and quickly walked over. She was definitely flustered. She was probably new. It was understandable. She seemed the quite type that wasn't used to attention, especially being called out of seemingly no where and for no reason. But there was a reason, she had been interested in their conversation and Le Cyll had 'insisted' on making the first move.

He smiled at the girl when she introduced herself and only dropped it a little when Le Cyll ignored her congratulations. She turned back to him and asked his name. "Kenduriku to Kendryek. Demo, Eigo o hanashimasuka? Eigo ga suki." Kendryek. But, can you speak English? I like English.

Even though Japanese was a pretty language to him and Aori was obviously used to it, Le Cyll seemed uninterested and slightly on the disgusted side. English would definitely be the best road here. Maybe Japanese some other time.

Glancing at Le Cyll, he noted that the wolf still wasn't paying attention to the conversation. Just how much more rude could this creature get?

"Oi, baka ookami, silly wolf! You're the one that instigated this conversation! Take part! If you don't know Japanese, say so! If you rather English, say so!" His voice was more commanding than anything else and he vaguely wondered if Le Cyll's response would be bad or okay. He couldn't really imagine having a 'good' reaction from him, not yet anyway.

There would come a time when Le Cyll wouldn't be so... he wasn't going to try to describe him. Too much trouble. Some people were just too complex to describe in a few words. There were some that took a few pages. Then there were the people like Le Cyll. There could be fifty English professors trying to find a suitable description of him, no matter how long, and they would never succeed. These people were interesting. That was the only word that came even close, though it still didn't scratch the surface of his character.

[Ari Phoenix]

She looked at the one named Kendryk, and nodded. "My english is not all that good, but I can speak it." She spoke, her words uncertain. She then looked at the one that was reffered to as a wolf, and smiled, bowing slightly, as she blushed a little, taking the paper back. She partially hoped that he didn't read it, but could only hope that, "Thankyou...for help?" she spoke, proving just how much trouble she was having, though her face showed confusion, it also showed gratitude.

She looked between them, and spoke again. "I was just transferred in, I still don't know much about this place, or the language... I am enrolled for education." she spoke, her words spoken uncertain, but she knew that she would need all the practice she could get, so would give it her all. She then looked at them, and wondered how to say what she wanted to say, feeling confused, she wondered just how she could ask a question, with out being outright and possibly causing trouble if they were 'Normal'.

She then came up with a way, that she hoped Kendryk would understand, "Do you know the legends of the local Youkai?" she asked, hoping that Kendrek would understand the word, and either speak of a legend of the area, or possibly reveal himself to be not a Normal human. She felt worried though after she had said it, for it meant that if she did it wrong, she might have caused herself troubles, and she was here to learn how to control herself, and her own innate powers. Anyone paying attention would notice a slight bit of tearing in the sides of her arms that shined lightly a sapphire blue. She was worried and stressed, but she didn't realize how much so.

[ωΘĿƒ]

The Kludde turned to the enraged Kendryek in a sort of fascinated awe. For all the intelligible thoughts that coursed through his mind, and all the complicated ideals and algorithms he used to measure the capacity of one's state of mind and metal health when addressing him, he could only think of one thing:

What was his problem?

For the life of him, he could not see why Kendryek should have such a small but significant "tizy fit" over this. He did not start this social interaction, the two eavesdroppers had. And it was not his fault he favored the Romantic languages over the Eastern cultures'. Why was his participation an issue then.

Now, normally, a functioning person would have figured out they were being rude. Le Cyll did not grasp this concept, nor did he have any want to grasp it. He was not rude, Kendryek was unreasonable. This is how he understood the situation, and this is how he proceeded.

His first official act as being part of the conversation was to growl softly.

Now, to a human this might seem menacing and to a dragon he could only fathom the comprehension, but to Le Cyll this was a simple show of annoyance - the like of a grunt or "whatever" in human terms. The Kludde quickly cut off his annoyance in a soft, high pitched whine.

"You are a rather grouchy old man, aren't you, Kendryek?" There was an undercurrent of biting sarcasm to the more human response, but it too was veiled quickly by the quiet, polite tones of Le Cyll's more conversational mannerisms. He turned towards the girl and responded with the appropriate care.

"Don't waste your time with putting us to the test, Aori. You will find that neither of us is human." The Kludde took a small sniff, just to be safe. "But then again, neither of us is your race either. Some kind of bird, aren't you?"
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