Loamhedge Orphanage

[There are four dormitories. For ease of RP we will be using two.]
A slightly chilly dormitory with stone walls and wooden floors, with a stone platform to one side, where a fireplace and its chimney rest. The beds are arranged in bunks, usually with younger children on the bottom bunks, though there are some exceptions. Each bunk has a small box, crate or chest at either end to hold a small amount of each orphan's personal possessions.

This dormitory is the boy's dormitory. At night a single staff member is given the duty of monitoring both girls' dorms, another staff member monitoring both boys' dorms. They switch off now and then.

Kiro ambled into the dormitory, his mind already fixed on studying even before he had started to do it. Mentally organising his plans for just what to study as well as trying to recall recent lessons, he walked over to his bed and started rummaging through his belongings. Pulling out a pile of paper that he had taken a few notes on, he made sure he had everything he needed, then closed the box within which his belongings were stored.

((EDIT; maybe I should have just skipped Kiro's visit to the dormitory altogether x3... ah well.))

Undisturbed in his search, Kiro left the dormitory after he had gotten his study materials. It was then that he realised he was forgetting something. Writing implements. Being that Kiro tended to be quite polite when he was in a good mood (and quiet the opposite when not), he decided it would be best to ask permission to get what he needed rather than just taking it from the orphanage's supplies. That meant having to find a member of staff. Seeing as he was heading to the common room anyway, he decided he might as well start there.

Having escaped the terror of the furred beast known as Marle, Ethelian crawled into the boy's dormitory, scrambling up upon his bunk before a slender foot caught on a strand of hair, tripping him down to the floor with a solid smack with a cry of pain, rubbing his back before giving an irritated huff, standing up he decided to take his emotions out.

Gathering the magical energy in his blood he thoughtlessly shot his slender hand out and released a conjured orb, having no consideration nor care to what came out of said orb-nor where it hit. A loud sparking noise was evoked and the drow jumped, peering over to see his handiwork.

Whoops..

Upon the bedpost opposite him was a strange, runic charred mark in the wood with little lightning esque veins stretching out. The drow's ears lowered as he ran over to try and fix it, hoping the loud noise hadn't attracted anyone as he dragged a bit of the bed's blanket over the mark, before rushing over to his bunk, making sure to avoid stepping on his hair this time as he climbed up, scuttling under the covers as yellow eyes darted to the door in nervous watch.

Arms more full of study materials than when he left the dorm earlier, Kiro returned to the room; not in response to the noise, but rather because being alone in the dining hall was a discomforting experience. As he entered the room, he took a vague glance around to see if he could identify any possibility of finding the cause of the noise he thought he had heard coming from here.

Just when Kiro was about to think that maybe he was hearing things, he noticed a lump under one of the bed covers. Apparently, someone else was in here... going over to his own storage box, Kiro placed his study materials down on top of it and headed over to the occupied bunk. He stopped nearby casually.

"I guess I wasn't hearing things..." he said, apparently to nobody in particular, though he was purposely speaking so he could be heard by Ethelian. He then glanced at the bunk. Kiro wasn't very good at talking to others but... he also felt obligated to help others when possible. "You uh... are you alright...?" He asked.

Pointed ears raised when someone entered, and Ethelian gave a furtive slit of yellow eyes as he watched, recognising the boy to be Kiro from earlier, the boy he had taunted about languages and knowing things about spelling, watching him place some things in his bunk with careful eyes.

"Um..Yeah, I just- I just don't like the furred beast lady." Ethelian murmured- though loud enough for the other as he made no attempt to make mention of the burnt mark he had left on the blanket covered bedpost.

"If you want I can help you spell things.. heh?" He offered, deliberately making no mention of the very obvious loud noise before.

Kiro gave a soft sigh, figuring it was a drow thing. Different cultures had their unique stories and warnings about different beasts - Kiro felt himself fortunate that he had never been taught any preconceptions about certain races, though as he had grown up he had overheard others speaking of such things.

"Miss Marlemier is... alright..." Kiro said cautiously, trying not to agitate any feelings further. "Once you get used to her. I can understand how she might be a bit scary though..."

Kiro shrugged and went back over to his pile of parchment and slate. He held it all securely under his shoulder with the chalk tightly in his hand and approached Ethelian's bed again. "I have all the answers written down for checking after but... sometimes hearing the answers helps too... alright. I help enough of the kids here from time to time... I'm not too proud to accept someone else's help."

With that, Kiro sat himself on the edge of Ethelian's bunk. Crossing one leg over his lap, Kiro handed the pile of parchment over to his foot and held onto it at an angle from which he could read from it, before placing the slate down on his lap and readying his chalk for writing. "I've already done some words..." he said, tilting the slate with his right hand. "But I don't think all of them are right."

Ethelian looked threatened by the notion, grey ears plastering against his head in an averse expression, sticking a dark tongue out in disgust which revealed sharp teeth- though despite the sharp 'fangs', the little drow was hardly a threatening specimen.

"She's one of those; furred beasts, filled with evil intentions and mindlessly chaotic plots! No sense or calculation just mere thirst for the kill!" He hissed in a low tone, glancing from side to side as if expecting the Beast to suddenly enter in offence and cleave him in half. Once the nonsensical fear proved false he eased slightly, silently remembering his brother's words pertaining to the furry things in the world (with the exception of spiders).

As the other sat on his bed, the trouble of the charred wood floated to the back of his mind as curiousity and the urge to finally have an oppurtunity to flaunt his intelligence came as he crawled over, his thick duvet still atop him as he peered through, the small hole he had made himself looking at the other's practice words.

"Common tongue is fairly straightforward, they say there are rules but they are generally unreliable and applicable to only a few words." Ethelian informed, thinking the other's..feet hand things were a bit weird but saying nothing.

"Show me!" He asked, giving a small giggle, apparently excited by the notion of playing teacher.

The part-simian's tail drooped as he listened to the drow's words. Those preconceptions... simply did not match what Kiro had experienced from Marlemier. Sure, she was physically imposing and her experienced air made the idea of potentially doing something to make her mad rather terrifying... but he had never seen her do anything evil or chaotic. He thought about pointing this out, but he decided he didn't want to make the drow any more agitated.

Kiro sighed and lifted the slate up at a higher angle so its contents could be seen more clearly. He wasn't particularly intimidated by Ethelian's outburst or fangs, but it did discomfort him a little. He liked things - and people - to be orderly and logical. Unpredictability often made him uncomfortable. The content of the slate was simply a list of words - some correct, some not. The list currently consisted of:



Meanwhile, the visible page on the pile of parchment held by Kiro's foot listed all of these words and more in their phonetic form. 'Gram-er' at the top; followed by 'no-lej' and 'rai-ting', etc. Though Kiro was aware that some of the orphans found his anatomy a little odd, he was determined to take advantage of it, rather than hide it. If he needed an extra hand or two or had the opportunity to pick up an object without having to bend down, he had no hesitation toward using his monkey-like feet for that purpose. He was also often just as ready to use his tail where possible. In this case, he maintained his grip on the parchment.

Halfway enters the room, leaning a shoulder against the door frame and listening in on the conversation a moment. Waiting for a break in the conversation before speaking, "Sorry to bother the two of you but did either of you hear a loud sparking sound or do anything to cause it?" Brushing some hair from his face while entering the room and sitting on his bed. "I would leave it but it scared some people out in the common room." Chuckling some.

Ethelian shifted closer with his blanket covering him as to look over the other's work, giving himself an inner pride as he easily saw the mistakes, for once thankful he had so much time to look over language, english and writing.

"Grammar, writing, though and synonym are incorrect, the other's are fine though." He explained, making a small gesture with slender grey fingers as he tilted his head, not waiting to ask permission and prying a piece of chalk and scribbling the correct answers in small writing beside it. His writing was not necessarily scruffy, but rather stylised, definitely influenced by Ethelian's runic writing.

"Practice and you'll get there Kir--" Ethelian went silent as he heard another enter, his ears flattening against his head guiltily as stayed still in his hooded duvet, giving a small frown. He remembered then- what his brother had said on lying. Do it well, or not at all..

Forcing his ears up and giving a naive look, he shifted in his blanket to face Ruth.

"Ehm? Haven't heard anything, I did fall on my ass a few minutes ago, that was probably it." Ethelian answered in full confidence with a small giggle, completing it with an innocent shrug.

"Might be something outside? Or Miss Marlemier.." He contemplated, shuffling deeper into his blankets at the notion, unafraid to pin any blame on that..beastly furred thing.

Kiro paid close attention to Ethelian's corrections, a little disappointed that what the drow did was little better than Kiro just turning over the top page of his parchment collection and seeing the answers. Still, Ethelian seemed to be enjoying it, so Kiro decided not to complain.

Kiro watched with interest as the room gained another occupant. He gave a four-limb shrug at Ethelian's response, only the leg holding the parchment remaining still. As he relaxed back into a casual posture, his tail flopped limply on the bed, dangling over the edge with his free leg lazily.

"I just got here..." Kiro said. "I can't comment."

Chuckles and nods, "alright sounds fine to me then." Standing and brushing out his clothes, realizing he's still in sleep ware. Sighing and making way to his trunk to grab a shirt and pants. He'd quickly step else ware to be hidden from view and get dressed before tossing the sleep ware into the trunk. "Just wanted to make sure everyone was fine. See ya later lads." Waving while departing back to the common room.

Kiro watched the door as the older boy left, before turning to glance at Ethelian thoughtfully. Though Kiro's senses weren't anything special, Ethelian's behaviour when Kiro had entered was enough of an indicator that the noise had indeed come from the dorm. However, it wasn't Kiro's place to correct the lie, nor did he think it was anything important enough to report - nothing seemed damaged, after all. Instead, he merely tilted his head a little at the drow.

"Something to hide?" He asked. "I won't pry." he eyed the corrections on the slate. "Any... tips for remembering these words you corrected...?"

(oops.... hit reply instead of edit... can't seem to find a way to delete this post now )

Ethelian gave an innocent wave to Ruth, maintaining his expression until he was sure the other had left the room before darting his attention to Kiro, still forcing his ears to keep up as the other asked him, he moved to answer- but decided against it. Never put your lies in another's hand.

"Besides bruises- naaah." The drow answered confidently, tugging the duvet over his features as he heart people shuffling down in one of the building's halls, evidently an adult or something..

"Remembering.. Ehm..Well Grammar- just think of 'grandma' which ends in an A... Trough, though. They're pronounced differently but spelt with the same 'o, u' Synonym has two y's and...uh any else? Just practice em ok!" Ethelian assured as he informed the other boy, happy about the change of the subject as he silently still dreaded someone lifting the blanket over the bunk and seeing those dark runes..

Kiro seemed to push the noise situation from his mind. He had learned from his time on the streets that everyone had their secrets. So long as nobody was hurt by them, it didn't really matter what those secrets were. A loud noise that caused no damage was not worth pursuing.

Kiro gave a small thoughtful nod to Ethelian's advice. Lowering his crossed leg back down, he gazed at the slate, trying to memorise the corrections. "I wish words were as logical as numbers..." he muttered. He then took another glance at Ethelian. "You cold?"

The sudden sound of loud clanging from the kitchen immediately grabbed Kiro's attention. The undersized 12-year-old sighed. First the upstairs noises, then the weird visit and now this...

"Ok, now that sounded violent..." Kiro said. "I... might be back later. I need to check this out... if there's been a fight or something and someone needs help..."

Kiro knew that it was the staff's responsibility to sort things like this out, but he also knew that sometimes kids didn't want adults poking their noses into their disputes. Kiro would neither discipline nor interrogate them. Of course it was likely there was nothing he could do - Kiro wasn't known for his social skills or medical ability... but if someone was in trouble, he was determined do as much as he could to fix things.

Passing his notes to his hands flexibly, Kiro made sure he had all of his study materials before hopping off Ethelian's bed. "Thanks for the help," he said, going over to his own trunk and putting his things away. He didn't worry about locking it - all of his more valuable belongings were hidden elsewhere. This box mostly contained clothes, study items, clean footwear and a few old toys.

With his tail stuck upright alertly behind him, Kiro made his way out of the room and back toward the dining hall. Hopefully it would be less creepy now that stuff was going on there.