Welcome

[Otto Fisker]

Otto lay down on the floor directly in front of the fireplace. He, for some reason, had always preferred the floor to couches and chairs; he just couldn't spread himself out quite satisfyingly enough in any place suitable for normal human relaxation. It had been a fun beach day, but exhausting, as any beach day was bound to be, but even though he was showered and pajamafied, he didn't quite want the day to end. Not yet; it was still just a bit too sweet to let pass. The first beach day always was.

[Helen Alba]

Helen managed to shower out all the sand from her person and clean her dreads in just under fifteen minutes--an unprecedented record for someone who usually hogged the shower for at least an hour, all the while using up the hot water. She emerged from her dorm room in a plain tank and plaid boxer shorts, a towel draped over her drip-drying dreads like a duchess.

She spotted Otto sprawled out on the carpet, smiled, and padded over. When she got close, she set a foot down on his torso, pretending to step on him and creating her own sound-effects. "Squish." She then retreated her foot and stepped over him, plopping down on a couch. "Whoof, what a day!" Grinning toothily in greeting, Helen looked over at her fellow dryad. "Hey Otto!"

[Otto Fisker]

When Helen stepped on him Otto did what any reasonable, mature 18-year-old would do and yelled "Aaaauuuuuggggggghhhhhhhh you're crushing my insiiiiiides!" before laughing and flipping over onto his back so he could look at who he was talking to.

"Hey, Helen. And yes, quite a day. Quite a good day," he agreed with a grin. "A spider run you out of the shower or something?"

[Helen Alba]

Stretching, Helen let out a little sigh of laughter at Otto's remark. About fifteen seconds later, she got the joke and poke at her taking an unheard of about of time to wash. "Oh, hey, funny guy." She skewed up her mouth in an attempt to scowl, and sat up with her elbows on her knees, peering down at the just-older and much-taller boy. "I'ma come over there'n step on yo' face. See who's laughin' when I go New Yawk on yo' ass." For effect, she punched her left palm with her right fist, and made a rather silly-looking mock-angry-face.

[Otto Fisker]

Otto put his hands up defensively in front of his face. "No, I didn't mean it! Please spare a poor little Dane his life!" he mock-whimpered, but even as he cowered from his dreadlocked friend he couldn't keep a straight face and he eventually put his hands back down, chuckling.

"So have we made any new friends?" he asked after a companionable silence. Otto had a bit of a reputation as That Guy Who Somehow Knows Everybody due to his uncanny talent for making friends, but as much as people joked about him being a foreign spy it was really just genuine curiosity and cordiality which led to his being so unintentionally well-connected.

[Helen Alba]

Helen giggled along with Otto for a good while, then just sat in a happy little quiet with him. She stared absent-mindedly at the fire, but was soon snapped out of reverie by Otto's question. "Oh, er...new friendddds...." Helen picked at her brain, processing the query with her sunburnt little mind. "Oh, yeah. Well, not really, but I re-acquainted myself with some people I met during the, er, 'Battle'." She fondly reminisced about the food fight which no one had really verbally acknowledged since that day. "You know who I mean, right? The goat-dude--not so sure if he was a faun or a satyr--and that other girl. Erika? Yeah, that's right, Erika? Did you know her? You two were having quite the little chat, you ladies-man you~" Helen winked at her friend, and smiled.

[Otto Fisker]

"Right, right, Erika and goat-boy," Otto said, nodding. Then he laughed at Helen's comment about his conversation with Erika. "Oh yeah, ladies' man, right," he said dryly, laughing a little. "No, my dad's paying her tuition, that's how I knew her. Did I ever tell you about that, how Dad had a nereid stowing away on his ship and charitably offered to send her off here?" he asked, looking up inquisitively. "Anyway, so I just figured I should introduce myself to her. Sweet girl. Cute. The boys here won't be able to leave her alone. As for the goat boy..."

He sat up, grinning knowingly at his blonde friend. "Goat boy have a name? You two seemed to be having quite a little chat of your own!" He waggled his eyebrows with this statement.

[Helen Alba]

Helen cocked her head as she listened to Otto's story. "Hmm...I think you might have mentioned something like that...just, in passing. That's really great of him thought!" Helen gave Otto an approving smile, to be transferred to his father. "She seems nice...ooh, you should introduce me and Clio to her! I mean, well, I've met her...but, well we're all nymphs of some sort. And we're just about the only nymphs who don't treat our species like a sorority." Helen's mouth skewed with distaste at the thought of her more, er, outgoing cousins.

A pink tinge immediately infected Helen's cheeks as Otto started on about the faun. "Oh, don't tease," she insisted, flapping a wrist at Otto. She huffed, and twisted about so she was sitting quite up-side down on the couch, with her back against the seat and her legs draped over the back. After the adjustment, she tilted her head back to look at the upside-down Otto. "His name is 'Galahad,' isn't that just so cool? It's so...fancy, y'know?" She looked brightly back at Otto.

[Otto Fisker]

Otto nodded. "Yeah, good idea, us cool nymphs gotta stick together," he said with a goofy grin. He chuckled when she told him not to tease her about the faun, because of course he was going to tease her about the faun - teasing each other was part of what made their whole relationship work.

"Oooo, Galahad? That is fancy, I will give you that," he said, rolling over onto his stomach like a girl at a sleepover. "And is Galahad as gallant as his namesake?" he teased further, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

[Helen Alba]

With a little playful scowl playing on her lips, Helen rolled over and looked at Otto with half-lidded eyes and raised eyebrows. After a little while of silence, she sighed, and finally cracked just the slightest smile. "You're just awful. You know that, right?" She pushed up off the couch and started back toward the ladies dorms, mock-stepping on Otto again along the way.

She chatted a bit with some of the other girls for a good hour, before finally curling up on her side on top of the blankets. For the last time that day, her mouth curved into a smile as she drifted off to sleep.

[Otto Fisker]

Otto didn't reply, just laughed and nodded, giving one of his melodramatic "Aaauuuggghhhh!"s when he was once more stepped on by his housemate. He chuckled to himself for a few seconds longer before following her example and standing, rubbing his already-messy hair and yawning on his way to the boys' dorms. He gave everyone there a grin and a greeting, but didn't start any conversations; he was an 18-year-old boy and he needed his sleep. He collapsed unceremoniously into his bunk and was out like a light in seconds.