[OPEN] Under-tree musings

Transferring was a weird experience for Midori. While introductions were thankfully short, as she simply had to write [Hello everyone, My name is Midori. I cannot talk, but I am not deaf.] on her whiteboard, she was unnecessarily cautious throughout most of the day. Nobody seemed surprised or overly interested in her condition, something she already expected, but subconsciously she feared ridicule. The closest she got instead was one of the girls in her class signing something along the lines of {-sign language?} at her while bearing a curious expression.

Maybe I should have learned it properly after all...

She found herself a tree with nice shade and sat under it, whipping out a notebook. The library would've been a better place for after-school writing, but she wanted to get a feel of the academy and try to guess what kind of people (personality-wise) made up most of Yamaku's student body.

[It's like a weird combination of hospital, school and aging home here.] She absentmindedly wrote on her board. It was habit that she'd unconsciously picked up to replace her old habit of musing aloud.

Chiharu isn't exactly the greatest when it comes to dealing with cold weather, so she was quite surprised to see someone sitting on the ground outside the school.  Having already met Midori in class, and being disappointing that her knowledge of sign language, however limited it may be, would continue to go unused, Chiharu walked over to stand next to and slightly behind Midori to be able to see her response.

"Where are you from?"
<Probably somewhere colder than this>

Still in her uniform along with the optional black leggings, Chiharu had her arms crossed and her legs close together as well, but despite her aversion to the current temperature, her general intrigue with the girl on the ground kept her in place.

Midori looked up at the voice, finding a tightly-wrapped girl looking over her shoulder.
She seemed to be feeling the cold a bit more than Midori was.

I wore one my thicker jackets today, but it shouldn't be that cold... Maybe she's used to warm places?

She hurriedly erased her previous message, replacing it. Hopefully this girl wouldn't think too much of that remark.

[Chiharu, yes? Another city. Kind of close, but commuting's a pain. Now staying in the dorm.]

Midori suddenly found herself worrying that Chiharu might think she had trouble with words. That was one problem with having to write everything you want to say; she tended to shorten her sentences to almost the bare minimum.

After letting out a short and audible breath, chiharu responds with a fairly flat toned question.
"Do you not mind the cold?"

Midori smiled at the question.

[Not overmuch. Hot places give headaches, warm places, laziness, cool places, sleepiness. I feel the cold, but keeps me awake.]

Something occurred to her and she wiped the board clean after making sure Chiharu had finished reading.

[Want to move elswhere?], she offered.

Looking away from Midori as she replies, Chiharu does so with a slight lilt.
"Well, I was on my way to my dorm to change. you can come along and we can figure somewhere to go from there."
After a short pause, she looks back down and continues with a hint of a nervous haste.
"That is, if you want to."

[Sure. I need to know the place better anyway. Plus I get to see you change :3]

Emoticons. An upside to writing. Midori started dusting herself off while preparing to stand up.

Looks like she's the type to not want to disturb others. Hope she realizes the joke. I don't want her to forever remember me as some weird pervert.

She lets out a genuine smile as she replies with, "Heh, alright.", before beginning to make her way towards the dorms, but making sure to stay within Midori's reach.

A nice smile.

Midori got up with just a little bit of difficulty. She'd have to get used to lugging the board around. It took a bit more effort and presence of mind than she'd thought at first. She tapped Chiharu's shoulder to get her attention, and held up a question.

[How's life here?]

Chiharu slowed down as she thought of a response, assuming a position alongside Midori.
"Hmm... well, it's comfortable, practical, and secluded, yet still full of life somehow.. The people here are interesting, however annoying they may be, I think without them this place would just be a bunch of brick walls, text books, and medical supplies."
After a short moment of silence, she cocks her head and raises her brow for a short moment as she says, "Not that there's anything wrong with brick walls and a bunch of books."
She then looks over to Midori as she asks, "Have you seen the library yet?"

Midori shook her head.

Hmmm, a book lover perhaps?

[Head there after the dorm, then?] she wrote.

She does little more than shrug as she gives her response of, "Sure".

While they begin closing on the dorms, Chiharu walks a bit faster to take the lead, allowing her to open the door and hold it for Midori as she walks into the building.

(sorry, been a busy past couple of days -_____-)

Midori suppressed a giggle. She didn't exactly expect chivalry from a girl. Looking around, the the dormitory looked like what she thought a school dorm should. There was the occasional fixture that reminded her of Yamaku Academy's main purpose, but, all in all, the place looked like somewhere you went to rest after a long day's work. A 'home away from home'. She unconsciously wrote this last thought on her whiteboard, slightly messily since she wasn't looking.

(so how does this work? do we move to a different sub-form, or just rp in this thread regardless of location?)

A new thread would be a good idea. Helps keep things ordered.

(Thanks! Chiharu, lets just wrap up the dorm part here. I'll make a new thread at the library (we were heading there, yes?) afterwards.)

(sorry for the wait, the end of the semester has been kicking my ass.)

As the two begin up the stairs, chiharu rekindled the conversation upon recognizing that it had dwindled, but more so to satisfy her own curiosity.
"So, where's your room?"

(It's no problem, the christmas season is giving me plenty to do, too. I haven't gotten on in a few days myself.)

The question caused Midori to stop and smile in a slightly embarrassed manner. She'd been so focused on how the transfer would go that she kept forgetting things. Things like where she would stay. Or how she would get food aside from the cafeteria, for that matter.

[Oh. Forgot to ask that. I'll pass by the administration later. Are there specified areas for the students? Like by year or something?]

Chiharu looked up in thought as she slowed to a halt and said, "I don't think there's any kind of organization to it other than what's convenient. Like people in wheelchairs would have priority on the first floor rooms."
She then motions with her hand to the room next to her own while digging for her key and continuing with, "But if you're wondering where you'll end up, I wouldn't be surprised if they give you the room next to mine, seeing as it's been empty since Mai left half a year ago."

Before too long, she had the door open and made her way into the room.

(-___________- so many things happening in just a few days. sorry, really busy...)

Midori glanced at the said room and smiled. She was glad to have already made a friend on her first day.

That would be nice.

[Maybe I should ask for that one to be sure ^__^]

<kinda strange that she would draw a face on her board even though I can see her actual face... Eh, maybe I'll ask later>
Chiharu looks at the last message for a bit longer than it would take to read it before shrugging and continuing to grab clothes from her dresser.
After placing her outfit on the bed she begins to unceremoniously remove her uniform.

Seeing Chiharu undress so nonchalantly was giving Midori mixed feelings. Should she feel embarassed? Honored that Chiharu felt at ease enough with her to do that? Was it okay simply because they were both girls? Her hand hovered over her board, her face showing a hint of her confusion. She tapped her board lightly to get Chiharu's attention.

[Should I leave?] A few crudely-drawn articles of clothing accompanied this question.

In a way, she felt it was a silly to ask, seeing as Chiharu had already begun.

With her skirt on the floor and half the buttons on her shirt already undone, Chiharu looks to Midori with a raised brow for a second before glancing around the room as she realizes the situation from her point of view, at which point she returns her gaze to her guest.
"I could change in the bathroom if you're uncomfortable." She says with a flat tone, but it's obvious on her face she is looking for an answer.

[Ah, no, I'm not really if you aren't. Please continue.]

That's... a pretty weird thing to say, looking at it. Great. I've somehow managed to sound like both a prude and a pervert.

Midori smiled, slightly apologetically. She decided to look around the room for the time being. The construction of the room itself seemed fairly standard. but what she was looking for were clues to the inhabitant's personality. She realized it was a creepy motive and tried to look merely curious.

The room seems quite utilitarian in decoration, as in there really isn't much. Her bed isn't made in the traditional sense, but rather she folds the blanket at the foot of the bed. Most of the furniture, however little of it there is, has been moved to one corner of the room leaving a large open space that doesn't seem to have an immediately apparent purpose. The desk in front of her window seems to be the main focus of the room as it holds on and around it a variety of books, notebooks, and random pieces of paper. But the main focus of the desk is a fairly nice Laptop, a well used laptop that is probably a year or two old, yet still performs at an above average level.

It's not long before chiharu is dressed in black pants, a deep purple T-shirt, a teal zip up sweatshirt, and her beige scarf of course.

"You said you wanted to see the library, right?"

The room made Midori wonder if Chiharu had just recently moved in herself. Everything but the desk seemed impersonal. Or if she bumped into objects a lot, given the lack of obstacles in the middle of the room. She also wondered what her own room would eventually look like, if anything in it would suggest that she couldn't speak. She watched Chiharu finish dressing.

[Thanks. Shall we?]

(I'll be starting the library thread after my next post in this one )