The Meteor Shower: Slumber Party on the Rooftop! [OPEN, sitewide topic]

The night sky was as clear as it'd ever been, the stars adorning the sky in a beauty most places could not surpass, the twinkling dots peppering the sky like Apollo's own artillery fire, caught in the fabric of space. In some places, this scene would have been enough to stargaze, to set out a tent and a blanket and look up for hours. But at Beata Academy, there was more to see than just still stars. No, the real stars were the ones that moved, the ones that were poised to shoot across the sky a few minutes past midnight. It was at 10:00pm when the roof was set, the time that was on the fliers marking the event. Some tents had already been set up, mostly the tents of the preparatory crew, those and some extra tents in case people didn't bring their own. Space heaters dappled the flat space, long poles topped by red, humming modules like streetlamps, wafting through the cold night to rid the roof of its chill.

Charlotte sat on the wall overlooking the campus, sideways so the 'STAFF' on the back of her shirt was clear and distinguishable. She didn't watch the kids filtering to the roof in noisy crowds below, but rather the stars, almost anticipating what it would look like, waiting for one of the orbs to suddenly dart across the sky, like a racer getting his gunshot, his cue to start. In truth, she was beyond excited. After arriving at the school, she hadn't had much to look forward to. She couldn't say any of the other guardians' names, except Dublin of course, and the only student she knew was Evelyn. Maybe it was good to attend a social event like the slumber party, even if she was contractually obligated to attend.

ooc;; everyone is free to post. You can post in your own little cliques and set up tents/sleeping bags. Feel free to play games, have fun, you know, usual campy stuff. If you control a Guardian, they are technically mandated to come to the event for the sake of protecting students. Nevertheless, if you don't want to RP them and just want to pretend they are in the background watching, that's fine too.

Making her way to the roof, a fuzzy fleece blanket was wrapped around the girl, on top of her grey sweatpants and a purple sweater. In her mind, she might as well dress warm and bring an extra blanket, just in case it got a bit chilly. Besides, they were advised to bring something to sit on and get cozy with, so she intended to do just that. Along with her cozy items, a grocery bag was in one of her hands, filled with some chocolate bars, mini donuts, pretzels, and other yummy snacks that she'd picked up at the Roserburry convenient store. Nothing special, but they would do.

Looking around the rooftop, only a few students started arrived and for the most part, it looked like she would be able to sit where ever she wanted. Glancing around, Hannah decided to take a seat somewhat near the edge of the slowly gathering group of people, hoping their murmurs and chatter wouldn't ruin the soon to be spectacular night. It wasn't that she didn't like to be social, per say, but for occasions like this, she enjoyed the simple company of nature and silence, to some extent. Plus the fact that her gift had been acting weird lately and she didn't need to embarrass herself anymore than she already had.

Crouching down, the Summer leaned back and sat down, setting down her bag of goodies next to her and still wrapped in the blanket like a burrito. A wonderful, delicious, Ukrainian burrito. If only her home country had the oh-so magical food of the Hispanics.

Fiddling with her ponytail, Hannah looked to the sky and let out a content sigh. Tonight would be a good night, she was sure of it.

OOC: will add Pepper and Renji later.

Ooh, this would be an exciting night! Amelia came up to the roof as fast as her legs would carry her with nothing but a sleeping bag, a pillow, and a gallon-sized carton of fish-shaped crackers. It was all she'd need for a night of looking at the stars. Of course, she had no intention of sharing those crackers.

Once she opened the door, the blonde was a bit surprised to see that she was only the second to arrive. Still, that meant she could get a good spot! The spot nearest the chainlink fence looked to be the best. Setting down her hoard of salty cheese crackers, she unzipped her sleeping bag all the way, until it looked more like a blanket than a sleep pouch. Satisfied with her setup, she wrapped the pseudo-blanket around herself and waited for more students to arrive.

---

Another student was equally the event to occur on the roof of the school. Having been sorted into the Summer house, Emil was particularly happy to meet the other people in his house. He hadn't really interacted with his roommates yet, but in time, he was sure they would. The blue-eyed boy clutched a thick, woolen blanket with many a Celtic design woven in with dark brown or black wool against the white background. He was told it was rather old and that he should take good care of it, but it seemed that his father hadn't taken his own advice; there were odd, paling, rust-colored stains in some parts.

Never mind that, though. He was quick to make himself into a tight wrap once he stepped outside. It was chilly, although he knew that it would be far worse back at home, in Sweden. 'I wonder how Dad's doing.' Emil looked around the rooftop, looking for a place to sit. There was a place, just beside the air conditioning unit, where the breeze wouldn't touch him. He was quick to sit down and pull out the notebook he'd been keeping pinned between his chest and the blanket. It was best to keep one around, since he couldn't exactly read lips very well. And it wasn't like everyone knew sign language. Or, you know, he could just make bad doodles to pass the time before the show began.

She hadn't been expecting the meteor shower and it'd take some extreme last minute shopping to be able to secure an appropriate sleeping bag for the occasion. She'd grabbed her warmest pair of pajamas, made sure her new bunny had plenty of lettuce and pellets to get by, and tidied up her room before she finally set out for the roof-tops. She counted herself lucky that she was one of the first to show up. With a small smile, Ishiko made sure she got one of the best spots on the rooftop, just underneath one of the space heaters with a vast view of the sky; enough so that the wire fence wasn't far in her way.

"Okay." She spread her bag out and got comfortable a top the sleek fabric, gazing around eagerly. Lots of people had to show up, right?

---

Normally, Preston wasn't one for these cheesy sort of get-togethers, but damn - how many times in your life would you be able to experience a full blown meteor shower. If he was gonna watch it, the rooftops were the best place for it; and like hell he'd pass up on a shit-fuck-ton of warm heaters in the middle of god damned winter. He could enjoy the view without his ass being frozen off in the snow. He'd put on a lame attire, plain t-shirt and sweats, nothing too outstanding. He didn't feel like he had quite so many to impress that night. With a yawn, he tossed his own sleeping bag where-fucking-ever, unhooking it with his feet and kicking it out flat.

OOC: Other characters coming soon.

She still wasn't use to this many stars, let alone... something like this. Heaters, lanterns, sleeping bags, rows of people and tents and sheets sprawled out across the rooftop. Sparks crackled in her hair, and down her neck and shoulders, lighting her face up in flashes like firecrackers before fizzling out. Some people just went all out... All she had was a ratty blanket tucked under her arm that she'd jacked from the pillow fort floor, haphazardly bunched up into a portable ball.

Was it even worth it bunking up here with all these people? She could probably get a place just as good somewhere else...

Kayla chewed on the inside of her cheek, staring up at the stars swathed across the night sky, the streaks of light rocketing down from above.

Well. It couldn't be too bad.

What the hell, right?

She unfurled the blanket and tucked it around her shoulders like a cape, settling down beside her roommate. "Make a wish," she murmured, a grin cracking across her face. "Take a picture. Something. Just don't look all bored."

Aina gripped her blanket like it was the last thing in this world as she climbed the stairs towards the rooftop. She could tell the temperature going lower and lower as she went up, and when she opened the door, she shivered, but kept her cool well enough. Now... where does a scared lonely Initiate stay so she can see the god-damn meteor shower...? she thought as she stepped awkwardly through people. She almost kicked over a guy sprawled in the middle of the way, and she laughed sligthly at him. Dropping the blanket, she fell to her knee and peeked at him curiously. "So, you big dam, can I sit here?" she smiled.

News had it that the faculty permitted a slumber party on the rooftop, providing heaters for kindred warmth out in the chilling winter skies and guardians for protection and security’s sake. That was natural, all things considered. Day in and day out, students seemed to be ambushed on missions by the People in Black, terrorists who - despite having no formal name - were more than organized and capable than they were, and then some of her peers had been kidnapped and tortured to the points of insanity while others were given the sweet mercy of death. And absolutely no in their right mind could wipe away the main event that took place on the campus itself; a few months had passed since then, sure, and while Nicola regarded herself as lucky to have gotten away practically unscathed and without a place amidst the carnage, she wasn’t so sure what to say about the others who weren’t as fortunate.

Even so, perchance, the greatest meteor shower in decades would be overhead that night, and they had the most optimal view of stargazing. Convenient, really - a mock camping trip where they could enjoy the wonders of nature while still having access to social media and the internet. Would’ve been stupid if they were told to slumber in the snow, sleeping bag or not, though a good number of people would use it as an excuse to cuddle around with others for body warmth for other purposes…

… On second thought, hypothermia didn’t sound too bad either. Her fingers craned towards one of the chocolate-covered biscuits, plucking it from its comfortable spot within the red box. The end met her lips before snapping in two. Whatever savory and blissful taste it had in the past only came off as dry as sandpaper or tofu outside a broth without any flavor to absorb. Nicola couldn’t tell when it started, but she knew who to blame for it. After Flashlight practically Flowers for Algernon’d their friendship and trust in one another the first time he murdered Madison in cold blood, he had the audacity to show face in the infirmary again, never mind nearly driving Madison to commit suicide. I hate him. People who acted so kind and gentle and friendly, as though they would never hurt a fly, and then blasting through with bloody fucking murder like it was no big deal once everyone had lowered their guard. Having to see the criminal on a daily basis in the morning before they head to their respective classes or around dinner when she’s rummaging through the cabinets for a snack to content her lack of appetite was less than tolerable. She had started forcing herself to get up earlier to leave for first period before him just so she didn’t have to see his face, the very face that she thought was warm and bright like the sun.

Pretty dumb of her, really. The sun is a star, and once they have too much matter and run out of their nuclear fuel, becoming so heavy that the core can’t withstand its own gravitational force, they explode. Owen probably get fed up with dealing with them and decided to take matters into his own hands. Doesn’t make him any less of a bastard.

Groaning, she plopped onto the cement, snuggling into her sleeping bag with her face turned towards the sky. Nicola had moved her arm in hopes of flicking away a long strand of hair, but the habit couldn’t be used any longer, with how she left her nape exposed for Jack Frost to bite. The back of her hand blanketed over her eyes. Just one night, one night without allowing a single thought of jaundicing his -- Never mind.

Her fingers partially crushed the Pocky box, leaving wrinkles on its exterior and breaking some of the delicate objects within.

It was her first time outside of the infirmary since she'd woken up.

Madison shook like a leaf, the heater close but not close enough. She clutched Nicola's arm like a scared child, wordless, peering around the complex as more and more people filed onto the rooftop. Even though they had separate sleeping bags, she still gingerly held onto Nicola. A lantern lay at her feet, a frosty glow whose light fell together with the lamps and lanterns and heaters and star lights all around. There were no creatures weaving between lines of darkness yet, but when everyone went to bed. That would be different.

"He, um, he-he didn't follow us, corr-er, right...?" The girl slumped deep into her sleeping bag, finally letting go of her friend to chase a snack she had brought, some gummy candy that a classmate had brought to her when she was first admitted to the infirmary. A few months later, the pieces were stale and hard, lifeless but still sugary. She didn't mind. She quite liked them that way, in fact.

"If he followed us, if he's here, I'll g-k-k--...I'll, I'll kill him, in front of these people." A precarious threat, especially due to the flickering of her gaze. Her breath was shallow and hard, and the girl sunk further into her bag, murmuring to herself, I don't like this, I don't like this, I don't like this.

_________________

Lucy's steps were light as she walked through the already-forming rows of sleeping backs and tents, a rolled-up sleeping bag under one arm, and a rather large duffel bag over the other. She crossed Ishiko, sitting on the opposite side of the space heater from her. Placing her duffel bag down with a grunt, its landing a cocktail of crunches, crackles, and 'pomfs,' she was careful to enthusiastically unfurl her sleeping bag. Bam! Her smile showed her glee. A Starcraft 3 deluxe sleeping set sprung to life, a puffy logo agrandizing itself on the fabric with the backdrop of a gray-biege planet. It had come just in time, all the way from a Korean store, just for the occassion. Lucy smoothed it out with her foot, being careful to gliiide, not stomp, gliiiiiiiide, not STOMP.

After a minute of this, she placed herself inside, not bothering to lay down but rather sit cross-legged. From her duffel bag, she withdrew a rather fancy laptop, a logo engraining itself in ruby-red LCD across the sleek finish of the device. Connected to it was a large powerbank, bigger than the girl's fist.

She opened the device and began tapping away, absent-mindedly fishing for some Korean snack crackers that she had put in her bag's smallest compartment. Camping was great!

_________________

In truth, he didn't bring a sleeping bag. He wasn't planning on staying, and he hadn't been around long enough to prepare for...whatever this was. The boy watched the crowd grow in size, its increasing numbers adding to the thumping of his heartbeat. In his hands was the only object he'd decided to take with him, a dusty old baseball, which he twirled in his palms, under an iron frown of pssht, it's no big deal. It'd worked for him at his San Diego middle school. Frown, minimal eye contact; it was hard to make friends that way, but damn, you sure left an impression. His pa was a Texan, as was he for most of his life--they were cowboy folk, tough, gunslinging, dusty-eyed men. He furled his lip to keep it from quivering. It s-sure was cold in North Dakota...

Watching as more students started to make their way onto the roof, she noticed that most of them were wrapped in warm blankets and she couldn't blame them, tonight was definitely chilly and was only going to get worse. Looking around at nothing in particular, Hannah's gaze turned to a boy who made his way over near her and sat down. Although part of her wanted to stay where she was and relax on her own, she was drawn to the boy and her curiosity couldn't contain itself. Standing up from where she was sitting and still wrapped in the blanket, the brunette made her way over to the other student. "Hey, mind if I sit with you?" she asked, a smile on her cheeks.

~~~~~~

Making his way onto the roof, Renji carried his saxophone case in one hand and held onto the stairwell railing for stability with the other. He'd heard that tonight was supposed some sort of magical night for couples and being a charmer with musical talent, he decided to take this opportunity to serenade his fellow classmates.

With his hair down like it usually was blew in the soft breeze and he was glad that he'd worn his school track jacket with a fleece under it or else he would've been chilly like everyone else. Setting the case, the tall orange haired student stood near the edge of the growing crowd and waited a little while, not wanting to start when no one was around.

Soon enough, students began to mingle and float into their usual cliques, all looked cold and looking for warmth from their partners. He reckoned this was a big enough crowd to start. Squatting down, Renji popped open the case and grabbed the alto sax, and stuck the reed into his mouth to wet it down. Putting the neck onto the shiny, golden, body, he slipped the wooden reed into the mouthpiece. Time to give these kids a taste of music.

Blowing warm air throw the instrument and gracefully running his fingers over the keys, the Winter took a few moments to warm up and taking a deep breathe, started. His form and technique was perfect, not a breath wasted. He'd memorized all of his songs and needed no music, which was nice, seeing that there was a slight evening breeze. The saxophone created a low, rich sound as he held a played a C# for a few measures. He decided not to jump right into the good stuff yet and played a soft, peaceful melody to set the romantic mood as students continued to mingle and get settled in.

Shaun couldn't help it. If wveryone was going, why wouldn't he? So, with a sleeping bag, a hoodie and gloves, he made his way up with other people, for most of the part quiet. When he arrived on the rooftop, his first thought was that he couldn't see Charise, and he couldn't tell why that left him so dissappointed. Another thing was that sax playing somewhere from here, and he half smirked half frowned. Shaun wasn't a big fan of music, the only three things that mattered to him were his sis, his coffee and his hair. Ohhhh yes... he thought.

The brown-haired Initiate sat down soon enough, quite close to the edge, and with a free-spirited smirk of joy. He couldn't quite guess why others were struggling to find someone to sit with, while he was just enjoying his solitude. He couldn't tell whether he would tell someone off for asking whether they could sit besides him, probably not. I'm surly sometimes, but I am not a jerk.

Preston fought back a shiver, rubbing away at his atm and waiting for the space heaters to start working their magic, a few loose sparks bouncing after his hand. Since he had so much time to spare, he figured then he should have brought snacks for the show, or something. Sitting out on a roof practically by yourself made things dull rather fast. It came to some sort of relief when he spotted his roommate out of the corner of his eye, wrapped in a blanket and plopping down beside him.

"A wish?" He repeated under his breath. Pres shrugged, a smirk growing. "I haven't thought of one yet, but..." He reached into his back pocket, slick as a whistle, switching on the camera, "Say ch- - ah, the fuck?"

Some hapless girl had somehow managed to trip over him, it seemed. She didn't waste much time kneeling close right before him, dropping her blanket and giving a rather spirited view - ah, fuck, greeting . Yeah. He wasn't exactly the tallest guy around, or shit, but hell - he'd take it.

"Yeah, sure." Preston answered with a simple smile. "If it keeps you from falling on anyone else." Finally, he had the mind to shoot a glance aside at Kayla, forgetting about the phone I'm his hand, still poised for that picture.

---

She'd been expected to see some interesting people or faces during her time on the rooftop, but somehow she'd still managed to be surprised. Another girl, one around her age, dragged in a large, shiny new sleeping bag - rolling it out ih-so carefully revealing large pictures and logos bit by bit, as if she were afraid she'd scratch the camping bag or dirty it up of all things, and showing off an expensive looking PC at the end, of all things. What is the point?

Unable to contain her curiosity, Ishiko scooted on over, peaking up over the girl's shoulder and peering at the screen; catching a glimpse of whatever game she was starting up. "You know," She called. "You're going to miss the stars this way." Sure, she'd brought a few things to keep herself entertained in the mean time but not... not like that.

Maybe waking up from a coma didn't do much to help improve Madison's immune system or perhaps she was really, honest-to-good frail from the start or it was some combination of both to different extents. Either way, it hadn't stopped her from trembling from head to toe as though she were a flag, furiously flapping in a storm and unable to control herself. Well, actually, she probably couldn't stop herself from shaking at all, that's something the body did to make sure they stayed warm and cozy and to keep up with homeostasis and- What am I doing? Was this really what she was doing to keep her mind off from the possible ideas of slicing a few limbs off a Flashlight? Severing one hand off wouldn't be too bad - he has an extra, just in case. It's not like he needed both hands to participate in everyday, normal activities well; even if he did, he was totally reliable enough to improvise and figure out how to make everything work for himself. He was able to figure out deception and play the part of an innocent man all to easily, after all. Adjusting to life with a missing appendage or two wouldn't be too difficult for him.

A frosty waft drifted from her lips as she removed the Pocky stick, like it were a cigarette with as much toxicity as it would bring to her lungs as vehemence boiled in her chest without much control. Day in and day out, Nicola really couldn't get rid of him from her thoughts. A stupid virus that only continued to multiple, but even then, it wasn't as bad as a few other things, namely regarding another one of her roommates. Agh... was it really worth it to be here right now?

The fresh air would do some good, her brother had said. Staying inside for most of the day was getting to her head, and she had to admit, "The stars don't look half-bad tonight." That was probably the understatement of the century, but saying something cheesy or cliche really wasn't her style. Offering the open end of the box to Madison, Nicola steadily kept her own biscuit clenched between her teeth as she spoke, partially muffled. "Want one?"

The stars looked all right. Madison always had a fascination towards the night sky, much in the way a peanut-allergic person held a wonder for a PB and J. Now, though, despite its beauty, it felt hollowed by the memories that bore into her head. It was still dark, alight but in vain, the void still taking them despite the stars' attempts to brighten it. It was hopeless, everything was simply hopeless, why even try, why even live, she had to live, she knew what happened when she didn't, she couldn't die, she wasn't ready to ever die...

The simple statement had started a deeper tremor in the girl. Nevertheless, Nicola's alert caught Madison's attention, and calmed it for a brief moment, a break in the cool winter breeze. The bag of her snack crinkled as she turned her head, the only sound between them following the question for a few moments. She looked at her for a long time the pocky stick that came from her mouth. She wanted to grab it, clamp down on it with her teeth, like she did when she was drunk. "Yes," she answered, but didn't take anything from the box, doing nothing but looking at Nicola for a few moments, in the wide-eyed expression that acted as her default. And then she turned her head, not accepting the snack, going back to her own, taking careful bites at the air in between bites of her candy, snipping her teeth silently into the wind.

______________________________

Was someone talking to her? Lucy continued to type Discord messages to her various friends, the people of her Starcraft fangroup, an array of braggartly comments about her new sleeping bag. It was limited edition, only sold in her hometown of Seoul. It was the fault of third-party manufacturing, copyright laws not extending into Korea. She finished her sentence, making sure to add the appropriate amount of lavish text emoticons, before looking up.

Yep, someone approached her. Perhaps she was a bit too noticeable, just a bit.

"Has the meteor shower started yet?" She looked up to make sure she wasn't missing the rain of comets, about to curse to herself about arriving late, but the sky seemed normal enough. She smirked over her shoulder. "People are still filing in, it's no prob. I've got real big things to take care of." She threw another cracker into her mouth, one shaped like a panda.

Of course, she couldn't do anything with someone over her shoulder. So much for messaging her boyfriend. She began to stiffly type after that, a bit conscious of the person nearby, and with the comfort not returning, decided to abandon the laptop. At least for then...

"I'm Lucy, by the way," she said, turning herself around to extend a hand. "Do you like Starcraft?"

It was a bold question, but she always felt calmer around Asians.