[Continued from "Unlikely Couples".] * Maris leads you back to where you think her room is. [As Maris gets to the door, Katherine can hear a slight welcoming whinny from inside.] (Is it loud enough that a normal person can hear it?) (No.) (Damn.) (Well.. It's possible....) (The normal person would have to make an awareness roll, basically.) (So quiet, but not inaudible.) * Katherine blinks at the sound. "They let you keep pets here?" * Maris gives a weak smile. "Well, familiars and other sort of magical ones." * Katherine nods. "Makes sense." Brief pause, then another embarrassed and almost distracted smile. "Actually, could you direct me to the girl's washroom?" * Maris points the way. "I'll leave the door open." * Katherine nods. "Thank you." She heads that way! [Katherine gets to the bathroom. It's slightly nicer than the guys'. And no one is urinating at stalls!] * Katherine doesn't actually need to go to the bathroom, so she washes up and checks her hair and make-up instead. [She notices some hairs out of place.] * Katherine fixes that! * Katherine heads back out afterwards. She lets out a sigh, then walks to Maris' room. [Maris is sitting on her upper bunk bed. She's got one hand sitting in her lap and the other under the covers to the right of her. There's a bit of a bulge there by her hand. Katherine can hear a slightly contented neighing coming from that area.] * Katherine smiles at that. She waves up at Maris, then looks around for a seat, eventually picking one of the desk chairs. * Katherine also had the sense to close the door after her. * Katherine looks up at Maris. "Would you mind telling me about life here? I've only talked to a male student so far, and I'd like to hear a girl's perspective." Well, I love it here. There's a lot to do. The guys tend to be more interesting than back at my old school and respectful too. On magic, we're all on equal terms. * Katherine nods. "Really?" Penny doesn't know magic yet. I'm a little worried that she'll feel behind. * Maris sighs a little. "Well, she won't become an incredible mage unless she works at it a *very* long time." She then lightens up. "But she'll be able to do magic as well as, maybe better than a lot of the natural users. And there's a lot she can do even with weak talent!" Maris sounds like she's trying to convince herself some. * Katherine nods, then says with a bit of worry, "And the magic stays, right? I hear wands make things a little easier. Haven't been able to see one myself." * Maris nods and takes her wand out. She keeps it in a sleeve. There's a discontented grunt from under the covers and she puts a hand back. "It takes a while to stick, but it does, so Penny should be fine unless she really needs to be a full sorceress or the like." * Katherine nods, a little disappointed. "So, she'll never be as powerful as someone who's already displayed a talent. That's too bad." * Maris nods sadly. "Well, maybe when she's old." She does brighten slightly. "But there's a lot you can do even with weak stuff." ::Maris closes her eyes and puts aside her wand for a moment. There's another disgruntled grunt from the bulge beside her. * Katherine tilts her head and watches. [There's a flickering of light a bit in front of Maris's face, quite pretty, a little fascinating but nothing amazing.] * Katherine smiles. "Oh, that's lovely." [Although it does mean that when Katherine hears Ben call out "Kitty" from just outside the door with a light knock, she's likely at least a bit surprised.] * Katherine blinks and looks over at the door. "Benji?" she calls. * Maris grins. "Not just stage magic." * Katherine looks at Maris, then the door. She gets to her feet, opens it, and peeks out. * Maris looks slightly sheepish. "That was me." She yawns but smiles slightly. "Sorry, wanted to show off a little." * Katherine closes the door. "Oh, I see." She looks to Maris, concerned. "Did that take much out of you?" * Maris smiles, slightly sleepily. "A bit, might go to bed a little earlier. But if I had to do more, I could always get some coffee." * Katherine smiles. "Reminds me of college." She goes back to her seat. "So, what do you kids do for fun around here?" Well, I tend to think the magic stuff is fun all by itself. But there's nice places to walk. There is a television, but I find the paintings often more interesting. And there's a great library! I mean it's not like we have interlibrary loan with the parliament one or S.A.B. or anything, but we've got a lot. * Katherine perks at that. "Really? Penny likes books." She chuckles. "When she's not watching television or talking on the phone, anyway." * Maris smiles. "Most of the girls aren't as into them as me, even in Unicorn house, so don't worry. They can watch television, or go into town for a movie, or talk on the phone, or surf the web. ::She then smiles and tries to sound airily dismissive.:: And some of the boys are fun too, I'm told. ::She fails at dismissive.:: * Katherine chuckles. "Well, that's good. It'd be a shame if half the student population weren't." Anyone Penny should look out for, you think? I don't want her falling into the wrong crowd. Some more interesting than others of course. And, well. What house do you think she'll be in? This is the only one I've seen so far. Benji's got some interest in possibly sending her to the Drake house, but really it's up to her. I wouldn't mind her ending up here. Well, in Unicorn she's got nothing to worry about. If she's in Lion, well, I like Jarrett and Mallory a lot, but if she tends to get swept up in things you might want to keep her away from them. People get storybooks in their eyes... * Katherine nods. "They try to cause trouble? I remember Benji mentioning that, but I thought he was joking..." * Maris shrugs and smiles a little. "I manage to keep them out of trouble mostly." She then goes back to petting the plushie beneath the covers. "But no, they wouldn't do anything that'd hurt other students or be more than rambunctious even without me." She doesn't sound so sure of that. * Katherine nods. "You keep them out of trouble, then? Good thing they've got a sensible woman to keep them in line." * Maris grins slightly and looks proud. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." * Katherine grins. "Try me." * Maris looks like she suddenly realized she said a bit more than she should have but is sort of stuck. "Well, they can get a bit caught up in the stories and roles, thinking they may have to save the world before their eighteenth birthday or something. Also, thinking everything is black and white. There's a lot of gray out there. I mean, some of it is dark gray, but the difference matters." * Katherine blinks. "Save the world? The world needs saving now?" * Maris looks thoughtful at that. "Well, sometimes people need saving, and not all the monsters out there are imaginary. And, well, we may all be underwater when the rest of the icecaps melt, but that may still be a bit off." * Maris then shrugs. "But I'm not really sure. But if it does, we have to try, right?" * Katherine nods, then smiles in a 'how cute' way. "Of course. The three of you train to save the world, then?" All Lions train to save the world; it's what they do. ::She grins.:: Hopefully they'll have enough sense by the time they graduate that the world won't need saving from them." * Katherine laughs. "We can hope. How about the Drakes?" Well, quite the opposite really, but sometimes they can be just as self- absorbed, although they tend to have more of a sense of humor about it. Although one or two are kinda creepy sometimes." Creepy? Rich and Terence get a little too caught up in the dark stuff, I think. They don't seem dangerous; I just wouldn't really want to hang with them. And some of the Drakes are just greedy as anything, but probably will serve them well later, I guess. * Katherine looks worried. "'Dark stuff'?" Oh, channeling energy from other planes that probably shouldn't be touched, that sort of thing. The teachers keep them in line, mostly. I think it's just a phase. ::She sounds like she mostly believes it, although she may be giving them the benefit of the doubt.:: * Katherine nods. "I guess that sort of thing happens at a magic school." She looks thoughtful a moment, then brightens. "How about Dustin? Benji mentioned that he's a good kid." * Maris gets caught slightly off guard by the way Katherine asked the question and gets a slightly lopsided grin for just a moment, but then gets a hold of herself. "He is. He sometimes gets a little too into being slightly antagonistic to the Lions, but he's not really doing them much harm." She then rolls her eyes. "Besides, I don't think they'd necessarily be happy without a foil. And he's a fairly good student, or so I've heard." * Katherine gets that 'how cute' look again. "So you've heard. Of course. Why would he be antagonistic with the Lions?" * Maris shrugs and actually credibly says, "Yeah, I've heard." Or maybe you're just off. She then continues, "Tradition, I think. Also, he's from a well-to- do family and has magic. That's not always going to make a lot of friends. Toadies sure, but not real friends." No real friends? That's too bad. * Maris shakes her head. "I didn't say that, just that he has to earn them and pay close attention to people. Mallory has the same problem, sort of, although they tend to be better intentioned." Oh, Mallory. That's one of the Lions who wants to save the world? * Maris nods. He's had a rough life and is a real powerful mage. People mostly want the best for him, but some might just want to be close, be part of what he gets into. It sounds like Unicorn might be the best house for her, then. Especially if you're in it. * Katherine smiles. * Maris smiles. "Thank you." Anything else you think I should let Penny know? I hear the woods are nice. They are, but really exploring for herself is part of the fun. But, well... Talk to Crystal if she wants any of the good wizard toys and... Well, ::She grins slightly.:: once she's old enough, make sure the unicorn's distracted if she wants to kiss a guy or anything. Crystal, got it. And... the unicorn? You don't mean the house, do you? * Maris shakes her head. "One in the woods, quite friendly, but big on innocence." * Katherine blinks. "I guess that'd make sense for a unicorn." She gets to her feet and holds her hand up to Maris with a smile. "Thanks for the chat, Maris. Penny's probably going to be here next year." * Maris shakes her hand. "Glad to help." * Katherine smiles as she shakes the girl's hand, then heads out to find Ben. The real one, not just his voice. * Maris then yawns again, but you can hear some happy neighing from the room behind you. [Back to "Unlikely Couples".]