L'ecole d'Idiots

Justin huffed in annoyance as he tossed his duffel bag onto the second bed in this... dorm. The first was taken already and the room was practically overtaken by whoever he was bunking with. And whoever it was had 5 suitcases. 5.

Who the hell needs 5 suitcases?!

The room was dusty yet elegant, in a way. Like an aged grandparent, wise yet old. The window showed a nice view of the courtyard - of course, the taken bed was the one beside it - and a fountain bubbled in the centre of the bright green grass, willows surrounding it.

The room had tan, slightly cracked walls with a dark brown trim. The furniture was also dark brown, oak, two beds, two dressers, and two wardrobes, on opposite sides of the room. Which Justin was thankful for because he already didn't like his "roomie".

~ = ~

Turning the map of the school, labeled "Magiks Enseignants", in his hands, Okami frowned in confusion and he wandered the halls. Apparently, he was terrible with maps. And apparently, this school was practically designed to make you want to smash your head into a wall with its complexity. Seriously, it was a maze! He held the map at a different angle, hoping a strike of genius would hit him. Or a rock to put him out of his current misery. Whichever.

A vocie made him look up. Yes! Anotehr student!

"Hey!" He called, waving his right arm, holding the parchment with the other. Hopefully, they knew where they were as well.

A girl with short golden-brown hair jumped at the shouted greeting and sort of gaped for a moment, before recovering her wits. She had dropped her large backpack and rolling suitcase in her excitement.
"Do you have any idea where we are? I got kinda of lost after 7 wrong turns. Nobody I ask seems to have any idea where my room is. I got here 3 hours ago and I still can't find my room," the girl sighed, leaning over to snatch the rolling suitcase before it got away. The backpack had dropped on her left foot. From the loud thunk the backpack made, it sounded like it had hurt.
"I'm Leah," she added brightly, slinging the backpack over her shoulder. She discreetly shifted her weight to her right foot.

~~~

James groaned inwardly when he opened the door of his room. So his roommate was finally here. Wonderful. He had been hoping that something would happen to prevent further habitation of the room.
He flicked his eyes to the ground self consciously as he walked to his bed and sat down. No way in hell was he going to start a conversation with the guy. He didn’t even look at him to see what he looked like. James wasn’t interested in making friends. If the other dude was going to start a conversation, well that was fine. The blond teenager just wasn’t going to start anything.

Okami stopped abruptly. Damn. This chick was cheery. And, sadly, of no help to him. Still, it's better to be lost with someone else than alone.

You can trip the person when the zombies catch up.

"Hey, my name's Okami." He returned her bright smile and held out his hand to shake. "And sorry, but I was kinda hoping you could help me find my way to my room too." He grinned sheepishly and ducked his head, ashamed.

~ = ~

Justin sighed as he heard someone entre the room and swiveled around. It was his roommate. Blond, regular height, a slumped, defeated posture, dead eyes surrounded by dark bruising, and pale, sickly skin. Kinda like his own outward appearance. Except for, once again, the blond hair. And the slightly nerdy clothing. A button-up white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tucked into his blue jeans.

Justin frowned and crossed his arms as the boy avoided all eye contact and sat heavily on his respective bed, making no sign as to starting a conversation. Obviously he wasn't the only one abject to having a roommate. Scowling, and deciding he didn't want to screw himself over for the rest of the term, considering that he may later need help from this kid, Justin took up the obligation to speak first.

"Name's Justin." Was all he said, bluntly, moving to unzip his duffel bag. Not like he had much else to say, anyways.

"Yeah, someone stole my map before I was here an hour, so I doubt I'll be of much help in the way of directions," she admitted, shaking his hand. She was surprised with how warm and calloused his hand was.
"Let's see...Last person I saw was in the entrance hall place...That was a bit after I first got here...It was somewhere on the other side of the school. I think..."
She shrugged and began walking in the general direction of where she thought the hall was. She glanced over her shoulder to see if Okami was following.

~~~

"...I'm James," James finally allowed, wincing at how pathetic he sounded. His voice always had that stupid squeak when he hadn't talked in a while. And last time he had said something....was last night. When he was Lucid with Rowan. And technically, he hadn't even used his voice. It wasn't like he talked in his sleep.... He reached into his pocket for his iPod just for something to occupy his hands. He hated awkwardness with a burning passion.

Okami blinked when he noticed he was supposed to be following before he took a step forward, holding his map up. "I have this. Would it help?" He asked with a cock of his eyebrow.

"And what room are you in?"

~ = ~

Justin felt sorry for the kid all of a sudden. The way his voice cracked didn't seem healthy, he didn't look healthy, hell, he didn't he sit like he was healthy. He was hunched over, shoulders limp, in a way that suggested exhaustion that you had after fighting a disease before deciding to give up. A familiar ache came into Justin's chest and he identified it as empathy.

"James, huh? Hey, both our names start with a "J". Maybe that's why they put us in the same room." Justin tried (and failed) to lighten the mood as James pulled out is iPod, fiddling with it.

Leah nodded, reaching for the map when all of a sudden, a giant pink macaw dived down out of nowhere and snatched the map right out of Okami's hand.
"...."
Leah's shoulders slumped and she muttered, "I don't know what room number it is."

~~~

"Nah, it's probably alphabetical by last name or something", James muttered, pretending to be absorbed in a search for one of his songs. A search that wouldn't end until he found something better to do. Or until the dude left. Who he still hadn't look at. He jumped when his phone began blaring metal. He snatched it from stately bedside table next to him and answered it.
"H-Hey. Alexis. Why are you callin-"
He was silent for a moment as the voice on the other line interrupted him.
"Ah-Yeah. No, that's...that's fine. I guess I won't see you until tomorrow night then?"
More silence as he listened.
"No, it's fine. Good luck with the all-nighter. I really appreciate you calling. I love y-"
Dial tone.
James shut his stared at his phone for a moment then pressed the end button, not even noticing that his hands were now shaking. He shifted on the bed to face the window. No way was he going to let his new roomie see him break down on his first freaking day here. James hadn't even noticed that Alexis hadn't asked him how his first day was going. He was too busy being crushed by the misery of having to spend a night Lucid without her.

Okami just stared at the oddly coloured bird flew off with their map.

"Dude... what the fuck..."

He sighed and ran a hand through his midnight hair, accidentally exposing his bad eye. He didn't notice. "Room 157, perhaps?"

~ = ~

Justin wasn't sure what he could say. The way he sounded in the middle of the conversation was bad enough; broken and disappointed, like he had heard his grandmother just died. Being cut off at the end, saying something so devoted and serious, was even worse.

"Girl troubles?" He asked quietly, fidgeting slightly.

Leah shook her head, chewing her lip gently. "Not 157, but I think mine's close to that room. They probably don't room guys and girls together. And, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your eye?"
She hadn't even flinched at the bird. Leah was used to these strange occurrences. They had begun for her when she had turned 16. And gone through that whole Dream thing...But the man had said the hallucinations would wear off eventually and they were already starting to.
Anyway, she was much more interested in Okami. He seemed cool. And interesting. Kind of like the people and creatures she met while she Dreamed, but...less utterly and completely terrifying. She suddenly felt like an idiot for asking about his eye.
"If you don't want to talk about it, I get it. Must be a traumatizing thing to go through. It's bad enough when I get scratched by cats at the cat shelter I volunteer at. Which I guess I deserve, since terrified cats probably shouldn't be messed with..."
Leah rambled on as they walked to try to distract him from her previous question. She didn't want to lose the first person who had potential to become her first friend here.
Who knows. he might even make good boyfriend material.

~~~

James swallowed thickly, not trusting himself to talk. Finally, he had decent control over his vocal cords again.
"Yeah, I guess you could call it that."
He was proud of how firm his voice sounded. One of the few things that had gone right today....More like this week...Or mon-
Oh cut it out, stop the pity party and get on with it already. Screw it all. It's just one damn night.
The boy clenched his fists in a sudden burst of anger. His nails cut through skin. He didn't even feel it. The sudden urge to break something, maybe even kill was nearly unbearable. James had completely forgotten Justin was even in the room in those few seconds.

Okami continued to look at where the bird flew, seemingly not have heard the girl until he turned and saw her rambling. And then he remembered her previous question.

"Ah, no worries." He grinned again, though this time, it was much more forced. "Just my mom. She was a bit... overprotective, I guess you could say."

Shit, he couldn't believe he had messed up like that...

~ = ~

Justin watched in almost rapt fascination as blood dripped from the boy's hand. Obviously, he wasn't exactly human or else the blood wouldn't have effected him like this. Noticing the anger behind the gesture and his eyes, Justin grabbed one of the thick school maps and tossed it in the kid's lap.

"I destroy shit when I'm mad. Just tear that into shreds."

Leah nodded.
"Overprotective to the max, sounds like. Hey, what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"
Yeah, Leah was not the most subtle conversationalist. Especially when she tried to change the subject.
They passed under a stone arch and were soon in front of yet another large building.

~~~

"Like tearing up a piece of paper's gonna do anything," James nearly snarled. He forced his anger down and wiped his blood away with a tissue in one of his pockets. Allergies assured that he always had a large stock of tissues nearby. If he wasn't going to destroy something big, there was no point in it at all. Shredding a sheet of paper would only piss him off more.

Okami chuckled. "Nice subject change. And i like Neapolitan. Never could choose between strawberry and chocolate and it seemed wrong to just betray the vanilla like that. Turns out, the strawberry was my favorite part." He turned to her and started walking in the direction of the bigger buildings, which he hoped where some sort of administration structure. "You?"

~ = ~

Justin sighed and shrugged.

"Guess we're not gonna be the best of friends, huh."

"I like rocky road," she enthused, nearly skipping into the building...How was the able to skip while tugging a rolling suitcase and a backpack?
"Aaaaand...you're favorite animal?"
She was quickly running out of topics of conversation. Winging it was the only option.
"No scratch that. What's your favorite genre of music? ...No...Color!...I can guess that's red. Uh...how aboouuut...favoriiitttteeee.......type of....cheese?"
Every new question she asked came out weirder and weirder. She sincerely hoped he didn't notice.

~~~

James slumped, all of his anger melting away. Now he just felt terrible in general...
"Nah, I'm just a freak and I'm pretty impossible to deal with most of the time. You get used to it, I guess."
He picked up the map and tossed it back to Justin, feeling bad for making his new roommate feel bad. Yeah he just felt bad in general.

Okami smiled. Her topics made him feel better about... well, lots of things. Her previous question, mostly. The randomness of it all made him think about the question and NOT his bitch of a mom.

"I like... well, I don't like cheese, really." He grinned. "And actually, my favorite colour is green." Justin. "Favorite music is techno and rock. You, you, and you?"

~ = ~

"Hah, you think you're a freak?" Justin grimaced. "If that's the case then we've got a lot more in common than I originally though."

"I can never decide between lime green or light purple. And soemtimes I like magenta. Depends on my mood I guess. Uh...Cheddar cheese. Aaaaaand...music...I like pop. Sometimes...usually the lighter bouncier pop. The stuff that's all about sex and drugs gets really old."
She stopped walking and took in their new surroundings. A large library. With mahogany shelves that stretched right to the ceiling.
"Well this isn't exactly where we're supposed to be. Hopefully there's some helpful people in here at least," she commented, determined to remain optimistic throughout the tiring search.

~~~

"Well we're all probably here for a reason. The few people I've already seen around here look just about as disturbed or crazy. When I got a letter from this place, my first thought was that it was some kind of mental hospital. I still have my suspicions," James admitted, jumping at the opportunity for a change of subject. He leaned back against the wall, trying to relax a little.

Okami laughed. "Never thought of lime green.. Aaaand, here we go." He waved his arm as a boy passed them with... with blue hair. "Hey! Can we get some help over here?"

The boy looked up, startled, then frowned.

Okami grinned sheepishly and scratched at his cheek. "We're new and lost."

~ = ~

"Okay, word choice, I hate the word hospital. And I'm pretty sure it's not a mental one either." Justin looked out the window. "The teachers aren't wearing lab coats and there's little-to-no security force."

Leah chimed in, "I've been trying to find my room for a few hours now."
It was slightly creepy how happy she sounded when she said that.
"...What rooms are you in?"
"He's in room fivetwentysomething I think and I'm in a room somewhere near his. No wait..."
She glanced at Okami with a slightly defeated smile.
"Uh. What room are you in again?"
The boy with blue hair rolled his eyes and snapped, disappearing with a sharp crack of noise.
"Oops..."

~~~

"Uh, sorry bout that. I'll keep it in mind. And I dunno, seems kind of...strange that there would be a school for...magic."
He laughed nervously, eyes flitting. Did the other boy know it was supposedly a school for magic? .....In fact, now that he thought about it. Justin had to be here for a reason too. Was he rooming with a Lucid he had never met? Or something entirely different? The thought unnerved him a bit.

Okami sputtered, looking around wildly. "Fucking hell, I wish I could do that! Ugh..." He dragged a hand down his fave. "I think I'm room 157..."

~ = ~

Justin stopped short.

"... Woah, wait, Magic? What, when did this happen..."

He looked around the room with a new light.

"... Uh... Are you an elf? Or something?"

"Oh, oh yeah! Room 157! And you saw the guy disappear too? So I'm not hallucinating? YES THAT MEANS THE DUDE WAS RIGHT" Leah jumped and punched the air with her hand, before collapsing on the ground under the force of her heavy backpack tipping her over.
"...Well that was fun," she giggled, almost hysterically.

~~~

"...Elf? Really? You think...God no, I'd kill myself if I was something that stupid," James replied, lips cracking in a genuine smile. Wow, when was the last time he'd had a reason to smile?

"Who was right?"

~ = ~

Justin looked at him in surprise. God, he wished he could smile like that...

"So, you're not? Then why are you in a Magic school?"

Leah stared up at the boy from her spot on the ground, with a dumb expression plastered all over her face.
"...I am not sure..."

~~~

".....Okay.....You're obviously a NonLucid....It would be way too weird to try to explain....Uh....I'll show you tonight. I'll get one of the higher-ups to bend a rule and I'll see if I can show you."
That was the only way he'd be able to even begin explaining. He just hoped one of the higher-ups would be in a good mood tonight...Plus showing his new...dare he say...friend. Yeah...that felt good. Showing his new friend around would sure beat fighting Nightmares all alone.

Okami's face deadpanned. He blinked. The shrugged.

"Sure, whatever."

He looked up and then saw something that made him possibly hallucinate and see angels singing a heavenly chorus.

"Dude, a directory!"

He grabbed her gently by the wrist and pulled her up to the large, plastic map on the wall.

~ = ~

Justin was overall confused just at the part of having to explain something to him when something else clicked.

"Higher up... Lucid... Do you perchance know anyone by the name of Collette or something?"

She squeaked in excitement and bounced slightly as they regarded the map.
"So we're here," she murmured, pointing at the square that represented the library.
"And the dorms aaaaare...Not on the map...."

~~~

"Collette? No. I know a Rowan, Lilith, Koza, Lucy, Chase, and a Ren though, " he replied, listing all the girl Lucids he had come in contact with so far.
"Oh and a Diana, "he added in as an afterthought.

Okami sputtered again, flailing his arms wildly, not sure what else to do.

"What is this?! This! What is it?!"

~ = ~

"Huh... Okay, let's try again. Anyone crazily eccentric and brazen and has little-to-no respect for life in general? Cusses a lot, psychotic, has a twisted sense of humour and a warped sense of morals?"

Yeah, that was accruate...

"Let's skip around the school singing the wizard song and see if that works!"
Well. Dorothy had found what she was looking for by doing that. Maybe it would work for them.

Yes. She was dead serious too.

~~~

"....That narrows it down to the higher-ups. Ren is too mellow for that. Koza does not fit that in any way whatsoever. That leaves Chase and Lucy...I'm gonna say it's Lucy you're talking about," he decided, smirking lightly.

Yeah. Lucy was.....beyond description. But Justin had done a damn good job at it.

"What wizard song?"

He had never even hard of Dorothy.

~ = ~

"Yeah. I know her. She's Lady Collette to me."