The Strange New Girl at the Ball

What was she gonna do? No, rather than thinking about the pointless things... Why was she even here in the first place? She had just bought the newly released work "Twisted Bone" from an unknown writer, based around the maniacal killer Nebun... She had just made herself comfortable in her bed, hands practicly trembling in excitement. When suddenly her least favourite teacher Stein kicked in the door and threatened to dissect her if she didn't go to the ball.

"I don't have any formal wear..." She had answered, literally spelling out her own doom as another person named "Spirit Albarn" stormed the room in tears of joy, waving around a GothLoli outfit in front of her. Out of any reasonable counter arguments and the actuall fear of gettig dissected, she had conceded and here she was.

"Well at least they didn't forbid me to take the book along" She thought as she picked some dango to her plate, to have something easy to eat whilst she were to read on a empty chair in some corner. As I expected, the outfit really did attract some attention huh... Damned fetishes these days...

Aesop shrugged, "I'm not sure where you could get eel brain in Death City. But I got it at a restaurant in Chicago. They were all about strange foods."

Shizu had grabbed a plastic cup and filled it up with some fruit punch before heading off towards the balcony for a little alone time. She was honest with herself and admitted that she was a bit disappointed as she watched Martyn leave... another dance would've been nice. "Oh well." She muttered to herself with a small shrug.

The light of the moon and a few white candles was all there was to light the balcony that the meister had walked out onto for some fresh air. It wasn't all that bad being alone. In fact, she kind of preferred it at the moment. The plate of food that Lynne had prepared for her was set on the railing, next to her. "Wow..." was all Shizu could say as she gazed over the city, still lit by the moon and street lights.

Lynne noticed when Shizu had gone out for some fresh air, and she left the girl to herself; having all of that food in your mouth while trying to talk was difficult after all -- Lynne knew it. It was a shame the boy with the briefcase had to leave just as soon as he introduced himself.

Orion wandered around the dance hall. He wasn't into dancing unless someone would ask him, he was on his third cola. He walked by Lynne and walked over to a window "Why did I even come tonight?" he asked himself. "I'll never find a meister in a place like this."

"Chicago?" She asked, curious about the boy's travels, "You've come a long way then. Is that where you're from, or have you simply traveled a lot?"

Aesop looked up in thought, "Uh, technically I'm a Mexican citizen. But my parents love to travel and weren't about to let having kids stop them. We were in Canada before I enrolled in the DWMA. What about you, Miss Addy, were you born in Death City?"

"I uh..." She stammered, suddenly nervous. She didn't want to lie, but she wasn't really sure where she was born. She would assume in her mother's lab, but she wasn't sure where that even was either.

"Are you alright, Miss Addy?" Aesop asked with concern.

She inhaled, then exhaled deeply, "It's nothing... I, uh... I just don't really wanna talk about where... I'm from. Is... that okay?"

"Oh, of course, Miss Addy," Aesop nodded empathetically, "Some secrets are better kept secret, right?"

She couldn't help but to smile tenderly at her new friend's understanding, her muscles relaxing and her eyes softening, "Yeah, you're right. Thanks for understanding."

"You're very welcome," Aesop smiled, "Is there anything about yourself that you're comfortable speaking about?"

After a reasonable amount of time was spent out on the balcony, Shizu looked over the balconh and saw a bit of a... strange sight. She couldn't see it clearly, but there was a pale blue light emanating from somewhere in front of the academy doors. Being a meister, Shizu could detct that this was a weapon due to it's soul wavelength... but a distressed one at that. "I wonder what's going on down there." The meister said to herself before hearing a muffled scream. Almost instantly, Shizu ran past the people she had known and dashed out the doors that led to the ballroom.

Just as she was about to speak, the music stopped, and some faster music began playing, "Would you like to talk on the balcony?" She asked with a hopeful smile, a light in her eyes like a flickering candle in the wind that illuminated the rosiness in her cheeks.

Aesop felt his face heat up and his eyes widen. A boy and a girl alone on a balcony? Is that what was happening right now? Well, he was taller than her but she probably realized that he was a little younger. So he really shouldn't be concerned about anything like that.

Aesop's shoulders relaxed, "Whatever you say, Miss Addy." He linked his arm with hers and walked with her over to the empty balcony.

She smiled up at him shyly, her heels clicking on the marble floor as she walked. He did seem a bit younger than she, but she didn't mind. He was being kind to her, and that was all that she considered to matter. But, she did know that she'd have to tell him what she was eventually. But who said that needed to be now? "You're the first person from the Academy to greet me, you know."

"Oh? That's surprising, Miss Addy," Aesop said, "You would think with your appearance people would be flocking to you the moment they saw you." He let out a nervous laugh when he realized what he said. Wow, way to be creepy Marisol.

"That is to say, your looks aren't the only attractive thing about you. Uh, not that I'm saying your attractive. I mean... You are attractive, but...," he stumbled, "I didn't come to talk to you just because you were pretty."

Orion walked over to the entrance to the balcony. The weapon was tired of sitting around. Avoiding the two already there. He leaned against the rail and stayed absolutely silent.

Addy blushed a brilliant vermillion, "Oh! Uh... thank you..." she suddenly grew very flustered, but she smiled nonetheless, glancing up at him sheepishly.

Aesop lit up when he saw that Addy had taken his bizarre compliment well. Even if it was in an embarrassed manner. Either way it was a good sign. He felt his shoulders relax under his dress jacket, the material shifting slightly.

"No need to thank me for your own fortunes, Miss Addy," he regained his regal tone, "I was merely pointing out the obvious."

Orion shifted his position to get a little more comfortable. He stared up ant the night sky and listened to the conversations around him.

"Appearances are typically seen as opinion rather than fact." She fidgeted with her hands as she spoke, "But nonetheless, it's flattering. I've never been complimented like that before."

"You're not wrong there, Miss Addy," he nodded in agreement, "What one person finds beautiful another might find utterly plain. Take for instance the other girls in the ballroom." He motioned with his arm to the plethora of fancily dressed students.

"My meister, Miss Shizu is... Huh, she was there a minute ago," he shook his head in confusion but continued, "Miss Shizu is quite small and, uh, how do put this delicately? Somewhat... Undeveloped. While some might find these traits unappealing, others might find it cute and endearing. Those with model-esque bodies such as m-yourself are considered more conventionally attractive, but some might find them cliché or over the top."

"Er, sorry. I tend to ramble," Aesop rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Addy smiled warmly, as though something familiar in this moment made her both happy and painfully sad, "It's okay. I like it."