Addermire Institute (Semi-Advanced) discussion

--- a beautiful place to explore, during the day.
it's advised you dont get lost in the dark.

Many people said that the last place you wanted to be at night was Fallenhearth Forest. They told stories of what happened to children that got lost in the endless expanse of trees. Mothers used the forest to scare their kids into going to bed. Charlotte mostly used it to walk her dog. She technically wasnt allowed to have Marshmallow, so she always had to walk him at night far away from the school. Not to mention some of the student body might be intimidated by the giant chow chow. He was bigger most, not from genetics, but from some alchemy gone wrong. Oops. But now she had a giant servise dog, so it was all chill. She was currently on her phone, not watching her surroundings. It sounds like the beginning of a bad horror movie, but it was what she was doin.

The sun didn't burn vampires to a crisp but it was irritating. Even when she'd been human, Lacy hadn't particularly likedthe sun. And Addermire offered night classes to those more... darkly inclined. So that was always nice. She'd just gotten out of physics when she'd made the quick decision to beeline it towards the forest. Usually she'd go and see one of the on campus psychologists but honestly, laying across a couch and griping about her feelings for an hour wasn't appealing right now. Sure, sitting atop a tree branch and listening to the sounds of an enchanted forest wasn't exactly appealing either but it was better than the former. Her eyes flickered towards an approaching figure and she squinted. "What the hell are you doin out here?" she called out, chewing away at a piece of mint gum.

Charlotte jumped so high in the air she nearly dropped her phone. She let out a very undignified yelp, causing her dog to start barking. Marshmallow's hackles were raised, even if he didn't quite know what he was yelling at yet. Stupid dog. Charlotte loved him. "Mar!" she yelled, grabbing onto his collar to try and keep him from pulling against the leash. "Calm down, it's just..." She actually didnt know who it was. Looking up in the general the direction of the voice, she saw- oh. She nearly lost her grip on her dog's collar, but snapped back when he almost dislocated her shoulder. "Uh, hi? What the hell are you doin up in that tree?"

There was silence for a moment and Lacy wondered if she should have even spoken up at all. But she was genuinely kind of concerned. What the hell was this chick doing out here in the forest this late at night? Her eyes flickered down to the massive dog she was walking and she gaped for a moment, "That's a big ass dog." she commented, "Like... a big ass dog" she repeated.

"Yeah, uh..." She took a moment to reign in her thoughts. Fuck, Charlotte was gay. Women were so so so pretty. "Yeah! He's a big ass dog. He's pretty friendly though, he's just protective." As the dog barked again, she sat down in the dirt to try and calm him down. "It's in their breed. People say they're mean, but they just love reeeaaalllllly intensely." Jesus, what was she talking about? Just one pretty girl in a tree and she was talking out of her ass. Oliver would be disappointed. "Im Charlotte, by the way."

Again there was silence as Lacy thought about her next words, seeming a little apprehensive. Though Charlotte seemed nice. She furrowed her brows skeptically, gripping the edge of the branch, "... Lacy." she spoke up. "You didn't answer my question, it's hella scary out here, why are you just... walkin your dog in the middle of the night?" she persisted.

"What are you doing in a tree in the middle of the night? Im an adult, I do what I want." Despite her words, she didnt sound defensive. She was more matter of fact that anything. Marshmallow was finally calming down, and he sat down next to her with a big huff. He wasn't startled anymore, but definitely suspicious. "Do you go to Addermire?" For a brief moment, Charlotte was taken over by paranoia. This girl could have been part of that fucking cult. Charlotte's hand stopped for a second but then resumed. She could defend herself easily.

"... yeah. I'm in Elderlock.. You know I could have been a rapist or a serial killer." she persisted, shaking her in disapproval before suddenly jumping down from the branch, not even flinching when she hit the ground. "What house are you in?" she asked, eyeing her up and down. She was cute.

"No rapist would touch me. I got a 'big ass dog', remember?" She may not be able to see very well in the dark, but she definitely knew when someone was checking her out. This girl -Lucy, she chided herself, she had a name and it was almost ironically feminine- wasnt nearly subtle enough, especially when Charlotte was intent on gathering every detail about her as quickly as possible. "Void. Yeah, I'm one of those mystery freaks, although I like to say that I'm the cutest one there." She winked.

"Wouldn't doubt it" she nodded in agreement, though as flirtatious as the remark was - her tone hadn't at all changed. "And yeah it's a pretty big dog. Seriously though what the hell are you feeding that thing? It's... fuckin crazy" she stepped forward a bit to get a better look at him, tilting her head. Lacy had always been more of a cat person herself.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh." She couldn't tell her that her faithful puppy was the result of an experiment gone wrong. She may call animal services, or even worse, she might think she was weird! Ah, the priorities of Charlotte Green. "Yeah, he's sorta an anomaly. Love the shit outta him, though." Marshmallow growled at Lacy, and Charlotte had to flick his ear. "Be nice. Sorry, he doesn't really like the undead very much. A bad past, ya know?"

Lacy blinked, "Oh shit is it that noticeable?" she murmured, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious. She tried to hide what she was from most. It wasn't too physically apparent, though she wasn't aware of void abilities, most people weren't.

Shit. That probably wasnt too obvious to most people. Some of her abilities came so naturally she didnt realize that she was running her fat mouth. Oops. "Lucky guess?" This was a fucking train wreck. She should just dip while she still could. Just say she had to get back and leave. It'd be so easy. But this vampire was hot and she may or may not have a blood kink. It was perfect. "Yeah, no, I, uh, grew up around a lot of sparked. It's pretty easy for me to tell. Not to mention you were waiting in the dark in a tree. That's prime vamp behavior, my man."

Lacy half smiled and nodded, though she fully realized Charlotte was probably just trying to spare her feelings. She glanced around, shrugging, "nah I guess it's pretty obvious. What with the pale skin and all. Makes finding foundation a real bitch. Hey uh... Is your hair naturally that color or did you like.. dye it?" she asked suddenly, changing the subject abruptly. She didn't like talking about what she was, she didn't like facing the reality of it all. It was still an uncomfortable subject.

"Jesus, I wish my hair was naturally this color. Do you know how much I spend on bleach every month? Not to mention my hair is absolutely fried. It's a miracle Im able to make it look this good." She ran her fingers through her long locks with a small frown. "Honestly, I should probably just cut it off. Have a Britney Spears esque meltdown. Get everyone's mind off all the bad shit and on the crazy void bitch. Sounds like a party, doesn't it?" She hoped that odd bit got Lacy to at least smile. She knew she was uncomfortable and was changing the subject for that very reason. Charlotte had been there before. She would feel bad if she didnt at least make her laugh before going.

Lacy blinked, "Whenever I have a bad day, I finish an entire box of hot pockets and cry in the shower. I think cutting off all your hair might be a bit much." she deadpanned before breaking into a small grin, "Hey uh.. how exactly did you get into void? You don't really seem very abnormal" she asked, looking her up and down again. Ugh she was so cute.

Aha! There was that smile she wanted! Charlotte couldnt help but smile herself as she raised an eyebrow. "Is wanting to cut off all your hair to get a little cheer in this sad sack not weird enough for you? My big ass dog doesn't seal the deal? Kids these days really changed the meaning of weird, didnt they." She sighed dramatically. "Oh, woe is me. The teens dont think I'm weird anymore. Guess I'll have to walk around in the forest and curse people until the locals start rumors about me and some kids decide to make a documentary about the witch in the fallenhearth woods. They'll call it, oh, I dunno, the Fallenhearth Witch Project? They disappear mysteriously in the end, of course." She giggled. That whole rant was fucking stupid, sure, but stupid rants that go on for way longer than necessary were, like, her thing.

Lacy gazed at Charlotte and folded her arms, tilting her head, "I... That didn't answer my-" she covered her face with her palm, breaking out into a small fit of giggles, "You just- That's.. oh my lord that analogy went on for way longer than it needed to" she teased. Though she was still curious. She'd heard a lot about the Void house. She'd even met the house master, when she'd done her aptitude testing. He was creepy as shit and yet... oddly comforting? He had a voice like a seasoned ASMRtist, but he had her grandpa's sense of style so that was unforgivable. And she hadn't really seen a lot of Void kids on campus - when she did, she noticed they usually traveled in packs.

When Lacy laughed, Charlotte couldn't help but blush. Her smile had turned softer, more subtle. It was no longer the large grin she put on to make people comfortable around her. It was shockingly real. Leaning back onto her hands, she waited until Lacy was done laughing and could finish her sentence. She was almost tempted to be completely honest, but instead opted for the half truth. There wasnt really anyone around to fact check with, so what were some white lies? "I dunno. Guess what I could do was way more connected to the essence of magic itself for me to be placed in any other house. Of course, it fizzled out and died, but whatever. As is the curse of the void house, something is wrong with every one of us." Had she said too much? Probably, but she couldn't help but keep on talking. Something about this girl made her want to tell her everything; she wanted to spill every secret she had and let her judge her for who she really was. Good thing this girl wasn't an informant or anything.

Lacy raised her brows, "yeah I'm pretty sure there's somethin wrong with everyone" she shrugged and looked away for a moment, thinking on her own words and turning back to Charlotte, "I've seen you around though, and I think I've heard of you actually. Don't you sell drugs?" she asked, perhaps a little too casually. But she'd always been pretty open to recreational drug use. And she didn't have very strong morals so it wasn't a big deal to her. She was more so just interested in Charlotte in general. The whole Void house was like a little puzzle - hell Charlotte was like a little puzzle.

"Yeah, I do. It's how I get into parties for free, to be honest." She shrugged. "It's pretty chill though, except for the people who decide that I'm way less important than the high. You'd be surprised how many asshole fairies I've had to kick out of my dorm at an ungodly hour. Marshmallow usually deals with them, though." She scratched behind his ears, getting a happy expression from the dog. "Dont you, darling?"

Lacy nodded as she listened and glanced around for a moment, warily tracing the forest around them. Technically Addermire students weren't even supposed to be going off campus. She knew rationally there probably wasn't anything to be afraid of, but the dark had always unnerved her, even if she preferred it to the light. "Your house master is okay with that? Or does he not know?" she asked.

Charlotte nearly laughed. Oliver knew pretty much everything about everyone. Even if she tried to hide it, he'd know. He seemed even more in tune with what was happening than most of the Void kids, and that was saying something. "Oh, yeah, absolutely. Not like he can really stop me, though. What's he gonna do, snitch? He's a lot of things, but Oliver isn't a narc. Well, mostly. He isn't a narc about the things that dont really matter in the long run. If I was giving kids the serum of immortality, he'd probably have a problem with that. Again, I'm an adult, and if I keep his secrets safe he keeps mine safe."

"Oh." She tilted her head, raising her eyebrows in surprise, "If my house master knew I sold drugs, she'd kick my ass and then she'd tell the headmistress. And then the headmistress would kick my ass. The other one probably wouldn't. He seems really chill" she rambled a bit, stopping herself and sighing, "We're not supposed to be off campus you know, cause of the political stuff? But I dunno it.. doesn't fell like it's just political"

"I mean, from my understanding it isn't just political in the same way terrorism isnt just political. Sure, a lot of it is politics, but the way they go about it fucks with the people so much it becomes a nation wide personal problem." She crossed her legs. "But if you're really so worried of being off campus at night, you can go. I just wanna give you my number before you do." Charlotte said it casually, as if she'd just offered to give her a ride back or something. A number didn't really mean anything, did it? Besides, she'd definitely be disappointed if she had let this one walk away only to have them never see each other again. "If that's alright with you."

"No that's not-" she was cut short when she processed what Charlotte had said, eyes widening faintly. That was bold. She kind of liked it? Alot? She fumbled with her phone, nearly dropping it at least several times as she struggled to find her contacts before holding it out to the girl before her. "Yeah it's- mhm" she said rather nervously.

Charlotte fought hard to hide a smirk. Hook, line, and sinker baby! She took her phone, putting in her number as "charlotte 💞" before passing it back. The number she gave was her personal one, making it that much more important. She had a whole tub of phones, and most people got the number from one of those. Lacy got her cell that she kept on her at all times. "You're supposed to be in a class right now, right? The vamps usually take night classes from what I've heard. Not that I dont like skipping, of course. I think they expect so much out of us, missing a few classes shouldn't hurt."

Lacy raised her brows and nodded quickly, "Uh- sure" she replied, figuring that telling Charlotte she'd actually had an appointment with the campus psychologist wasn't exactly going to help her woo the girl. She didn't want to have to spend the rest of their time here in the forest convincing Charlotte that she was most certainly not a nut job. "but that.. wasn't what I meant before - about the political thing. Cause there's been civil wars before and they've never felt like this. Like.. I dunno, heavy shit. It just feels really heavy lately" she explained as best as she could - though she wasn't the best at explaining things.

"Oh, yeah, I know what you mean. The paranoia has been really bad, especially with the wolf pack. Antoni swears someone is out to get him." She chuckled, leaning back onto her hands. "Poor kid's goin crazy. It's probably just the Def-" Charlotte stopped herself. Shit. She wasnt supposed to know about the Defacto at all, technically. It was hard for her to not know about them, especially when their existence grated on hers like it did. "There's just a lot of mistrust going on right now."

Lacy was too busy worrying herself to notice the little slip, nodding, "Yeah... I guess. I don't really like dogs much, especially not big hyper masculine ones but, Derek's pack seems alright. I have math with Abner and he's a pretty nice guy. Elio's a show off in gym though" she chuckled awkwardly, turning and gesturing to Charlotte, "Well I'm not leaving you out here so I guess you'll have to walk back to campus with me" she smirked.

"Well, I mean, if you absolutely insist..." She stood up and brushed off her pants. Marshmallow had been laying on the ground taking a nap for the past five minutes, but now that his very best friend was standing and ready to go he was exited. He wagged his tail and walked up to Lacy as if to tell her to hurry up already. "See, I told you he isnt mean. He's already warmed up to you."

The dog was kind of cute when it was growling at Lacy and slobbering all over the place. She smiled faintly, beginning to walk towards the entrance of the forest, "I'm still watching my ass around that thing. I'm not gonna call it a dog either - dogs aren't usually that massive" she pointed out.

Charlotte pouted and thought about covering Marshmallow's ears so he wouldn't be forced to experience this absolute slander. "Come on!" She protested, lightly nudging her. "You wouldn't call a giant an it just cause they're big, would you? I will not stand for you disrespecting my beautiful baby boy." There was a hint of seriousness in her joking tone, of course. She loved that dog more than she loved herself. It was trained to make sure she wouldnt accidentally hurt herself during panic or dissociation attacks. "You're taller than me, am I allowed to call you an it now?"

"I mean yeah I guess" she chuckled, shrugging, "I technically couldn't do anything about it, if you did - it's not like it'd bother me anyways" she pointed out, almost in a challenging tone, leading her out of the forest and sighing quietly, "It was nice to meet you... Charlotte" she enunciated a little bit too much, making it a point to remember that name. "Call me" she added.

To say he'd been apprehensive would be an understatement. There were very few people that could get under Oliver's skin but Tobias was on that incredibly tiny list. The worst of it was that rationally, he knew he would be better off never seeing chaotic evil again, never thinking of him, never even saying his name. But it was the vestiges of his humanity that kept him coming for more. Echoes of what he used to be, and what Tobias had helped him become. That was something he wasn't sure he could ever let go of, even if he tried. "I know why you're here"

Oliver's voice was cold, hollow. He stood a good ten feet behind Tobias on the same trail, staring at him flatly.

There was no flicker of change that graced his shadowed features, eyes scanning over Tobias in his entirety. For a moment, he thought back to those days from before, those days of the old, when he and Tobias roamed grains of pastoral mint hues and shared wine along the vast seaside. He felt comfortable those days, even when he was struggling to come to terms with what he was. He rarely felt comfortable these days. "... Pleasantries will only waste your time. At this rate, Cara might very well notice your presence." he spoke evenly, his voice leveled, though it still had that tinge of youth to it.

Oliver stared at Tobias still and tilted his head with a small sigh, eyes flickering away. He didn't want to think about any of that. Back then he'd been a boy. A frightened, inexperienced and vulnerable child. His features while mostly the same had darkened, edged and angled, he was handsome but unnervingly so, like a phantom. "... You had choices to make and it wasn't my right to interfere with the course time decided to take. In the end, your choices made you, Tobias." he said calmly.

"You did not choose the consequences of your actions - but you chose your course of action. You have the right to speak your opinion, but you recklessly believed your actions would not have repercussions. What Cara did was irreconcilable, but you cannot blame her completely for acting upon her own nature" he explained calmly, eyes studying Tobias, "... Your passion has diminished" he observed.

He didn't look at all convinced, eyeing Tobias over and shaking his head, "... You wish to make a proposal. You'd never willingly do something that doesn't have a clear benefit to you at some point in the foreseeable future. Because you've never truly cared about anyone besides yourself. Only when you have lost absolutely everything will you come to value that with which you had." he explained casually, glancing towards the other end of the trail.

Oliver stared at Tobias, slowly tilting his head, perplexed. "I am not a primordial within your ranks, Tobias. I have domain, I am concept, process, the very means with which life flows" his expression was contemplative, thoughtful. "Cara couldn't lock us away if she were to gather each and every alignment together and attempt to. Even if she wanted to" he explained. Though he didn't elaborate further on just who "us" was referring to. "I don't need to become more than who I am. There is no me."

Oliver leaned against the tree, listening to Tobias and his honeyed words of silk and feathers, unconvinced still. "You aren't listening to me." he said simply, though had tensed at mention of Angus. He wasn't the same man he had been in those days. Back then with Tobias he had been Oliver - a boy sacrificed at a ritual gathering to a grand primordial. But now he was Aion. He had successfully fused. "Cara doesn't manipulate that with which she does not already own. She manipulates within her domain - alignments do not apply to natural processes, Tobias." he retorted, narrowing his eyes. "You have your people, don't you? What would my influence do to better a man like you?

He was tempted, genuinely. He clasped his hands together in front of him, opening his mouth to speak but stopping, staring down at the rings on his fingers- one in particular. Jason wouldn't approve. Jason would go on some nonsensical rant about his own ideological preferences, but in the end, he knew it was something Jason would frown upon. "I am not a service, I do not align, and I am the hand which holds the coin. You're but a side" he said simply, his expression blank, a hint of challenge in his eyes.

Oliver's eyes widened faintly and he swallowed, averting his gaze as he folded his arms over his chest, "... Yes" he answered honestly. "It was recently, but I cannot deny that he's swayed my bias." he explained quietly. He felt it was a mistake in telling Tobias who Jason was, but the very human part of him still saw Tobias as a father he never had.

"... he is an angel" he began, staring at the ground, filled with dread, "Not powerful nor weak but perfectly average, contemplative but simple, wise but dull" he explained carefully, "he's ... moderate" he nearly chuckled, unsure of how to describe someone he cared about this much.

Oliver stared at Tobias, eyeing him up and down for a moment, "And what of Sin?" he spoke up, glancing towards the treeline. He knew they were being watched. "Your ambitious lover. The child. Have you accepted him yet?" he asked, not wanting to give too much information out on Jason, even though he could honestly go on about him all day.

He furrowed his brows and opened his mouth to speak, lips parted as he watched the older man - or.. younger? It was an odd thing to think about. His vessel was far younger than Tobias, he was but who was he? He stopped that train of thought before the wheels could move, "... Consider your relationship with yourself, Tobias, before considering a relationship with anyone else.... And I'll be watching... Very closely. Just because I do not align myself with you, doesn't mean I align myself with her. So do not make the mistake of considering me an opponent." he spoke, remaining where he stood.

<< sin and tobias are prolly gonna release lawful evil here soon! I'll contact amber about it! >>

<< sure yeah! if you'd like! it'll probably be a brief meeting >>

<< nah we can have em meet it's chill, they prolly need to have a mini intermission anyways after the state we left em in