(A)cademia / closed

[rose petals.]

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Ｐａｉｇｅ Ｙｏｕｎｇ．
➳ｔｈｅ ｄａｎｃｅｒ．

■ mentions: lilly ■
■ tags: lilly ■

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Nerves were twisting Paige's belly into knots as her cab driver pulled up closer to the Dartmouth Institute. She remembered their conversation earlier when she first called the car. "Where to miss?" "Uh, the Dartmouth Institute please." "Really? You have a friend there or something?" "Uhh, no. I'm a student." It had been a silent car ride ever since, even when they hit traffic and had to add an hour onto the drive, but Paige didn't care, even the nerves couldn't drown out her excitement. She had made it in.

The Dartmouth Institute's looming walls and iron gates didn't help calm her, and Paige couldn't help but marvel at the stunning architecture. "Woah..." She breathed. Taking a moment to bring it all in, the girl barely noticed when the cab driver had stopped. Thanking him and paying the fare, which made her wince, Paige unloaded her bags and breathed a sigh of relief. She could start over here, perfect her craft, and then she could accomplish anything.

The woman at the front desk seemed nice enough, although her bubbly attitude and constant chatter made Paige a bit uncomfortable. I hope not everyone here is like this... She thought while filling out some brief paperwork. "Um, thank you ma'am." Paige said, before lugging her bags in the direction the receptionist said the dorms were.

When she arrived Paige found another girl sitting on a couch in what she assumed was a student lounge. Offering the girl a shy smile, she decided to talk to her. "Uh, hi. Are the dorms near here? Sorry I don't really know where I'm going..."

[Aniki]

𝕆𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕄𝕒𝕔𝔽𝕙𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟
[location: dartford institute] [mentions: n/a] [tags: lillian & paige]

Oliver grew up with stories about the infamous Dartford Institute, but the descriptions that he was given was nothing compared to the real thing. The car ride with his mother was filled with laughter and singing along with whatever was on the radio. Now it was silent. His mother put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed softly.

“Ye ken yer faither woods be prood ay ye, reit?.” She gave him a small smile. They both got out of the car and Oliver moved to the trunk of the car to pull out this three suitcases. Technically he only had two the other was filled with books and his father’s journals. He knew what he was walking into once he walked through those double doors, but at the same time it felt like he knew nothing at all. His mother was leaning against the car with a sad smile. She wasn’t ready to let her little boy go, but she knew it was time. He was his father’s son after all. At least with the teaching at the Institute he would learn the proper ways to handle what was really out there. Books can only teach you so much.

He gave him mother a kiss on her cheek before making his way in. The lobby was like nothing he had ever seen He couldn’t help but gawk at the luxury of it all. He knew his mouth was hanging open but he couldn’t make it shut. He heard a female laugh. “You must be one of the new students.” There was a woman who was standing behind a desk with an amused look on her face. Oliver nodded dumbly. “My name is Lisa McGutherie. Let’s get you settled in shall we.” He walked over to her desk and accepted the school map as well as several other pieces of paper that went over the rules of the school, freshman tips, and other sort of first day at school papers. She handed him a room key and pointed down the hallway.

“Your door is the just down the hall.”
“Thenk ye miss." Oliver gave her a small smile and headed down the direction she pointed. He entered a large sitting area and saw two girls. One was sitting on one of the many couches while the other was standing there looking as confused as he was. He cleared his throat to get their attention.
“Sorry tae bortha ye but can ye point me in th' direction ay th' dorms?“

[_seo_]

XXX

X█║ ʙᴇɴᴊᴀᴍɪɴ ᴅʀᴀᴋᴇ ║█X
male || nineteen || the historian || tags(mentions); lily,paige, & oliver

indentBenjamin rested his head on the window of the Range Rover watching the scenery as his mother and Evangaline chattered excitedly about him attending such a prestigious university. Though he had applied for Dartford, he had wanted to go to Cambridge just like his father and Ronan had. Ben truly hadn't expected to even get into Dartford, but he somehow had managed it and though it wasn't his top choice he knew he was better off at Dartford. A small smile bloomed on his face as the idea of being able to study not just ancient weaponry but weaponry of magic origin. His mother's hand on his knee stole his attention from the view, he turned to look into her light green eyes and mirroring her smile, "Benny, aren't you ecstatic? No one in the family has ever attended Dartford!" Ben tilted his head to the side, it always made him ache a little whenever his mother or father praised him, it made him wonder how his birth parents may have reacted, would they have that same proud smile? His smile softened as he put his hand on top of his mother's as wrapped an arm around his little sister, "Of course, mama. But I'll miss you both as well as Dad and Ronan." He barely noticed that the car was pulling into the school until their driver cleared his throat.

indentBenji couldn't but look around in awe at the beauty of the campus, Evangeline squealed at his side as they slid out of the car. As the driver closed the door behind them, his little sister's arms went around his waist, "Benji, it isn't too late to change your mind! It's pretty but too far away! Come back with us." He grinned down at her, ruffling her chestnut curls before he gently peeled her arms off of him. The driver was pulling some of his things from the back, he moved forward to assist the man as his swords were being pulled out but froze instantly at the look in the driver's eyes, the look screamed 'Stop right there, I know what I'm doing', he paused before he quickly reached out and took one of the daggers with an uneasy look, he then held up his hands and hesitantly moved away. He held his sister's hand as they entered the lobby, he stood silently as his mother spoke with the woman behind the desk. His eyes darted from corner to corner, taking in the sights before his mother calling his name brought him of the haze. Benjamin slowly walked over to the desk, a bright smile blooming on his face, he listened carefully as the woman, now known to him as Lisa McGutherie, helped him with procedures needing to be done.

indentThe moving process went by quickly as the family's driver did most of the heavy lifting, apart from his swords that he preferred to carry them himself. Before taking the swords from the driver, he hugged both his mother and sister goodbye; Envageline clung to him as he tried to pull away and only got her to let go when he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Benjamin carefully took the swords from the driver, he stood there smiling as he watched the Range Rover pull away and eventually vanish from sight. He made his way back into the lobby and decided to take a small detour at the student lounge just to see what it was like, he found three other students in there. It was like his instincts took over and he suddenly made his way over to them with a charming smile on his face, "Hello everyone, I'm Benjamin Drake, but you all can call me Benji."

[Aniki]

𝕆𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕄𝕒𝕔𝔽𝕙𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟
[the bookworm][location: the student lounge >> his room] [mentions: n/a] [tags: lillian]

When Lilly snapped that she wasn’t the school guide, Oliver couldn’t help the wave of guilt that rolled over him. He wasn’t one who liked having attention shoved onto him so the fact that he did it to someone he didn’t know made him upset with himself. He rubbed the back of his head as he listened to what she was saying. He was a bit surprised that he would have his own room. His mother told him about her college days and how she had a roommate that she had to share a room with. He was relieved that he had his own space that he could hide away in. He looked over to the lift and down to his three suitcases. He had already carried them this far by himself so what would be a bit longer.

“Sorry Lilly, Ahe be able tae fin' mah ain way frae haur”Oliver mumbled as he passed her. He headed in the direction she pointed not looking to see it the other two were following him. At this point he wanted nothing more than to go find his room and lock himself away until he was forced to come out. Once he reached where the dorms were located he didn’t take any time to admire the shared commons. He glanced down at this room key seeing that he was in room five. He swept the room looking for his door and when he found it he made a bee line straight to his door. Quickly he unlocked his room, stepped insides, and shut the door behind him.

The room wasn’t anything special but it was more than enough for Oliver. There was a decent size desk made out of dark wood with a matching seat. The next wall over was where the bed was positioned. It was a large four-posted bed with a gray comforter and while pillows (and what he assumed would be white sheets). Next to the bed was a small bedside table with a single drawer and lamp. Just looking at it he knew that he would be keeping his father’s journals inside there. He wanted them as close by as possible. The wall directly across from his bed held what he was most excited for. There were two large floor-to-ceiling bookcases. From his quick mental calculations he knew that all of his books would fit and there would be more than enough room for more! He heaved his suitcases onto his bed and started to unpack. Once everything was in its place he flopped down on his bed – it was a very comfy bed – and ended up falling asleep.

[rose petals.]

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Ｐａｉｇｅ Ｙｏｕｎｇ．
➳ｔｈｅ ｄａｎｃｅｒ．

■ mentions: lilly, benji, oliver ■
■ tags: lilly, benji, oliver ■

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Paige heard a voice from behind her, wheeling around, she found a taller boy with shaggy blonde hair and a Scottish accent. Offering him a small wave, Paige's question still wasn't answered and was overshadowed by the arrival of another person. He seemed very outgoing and made it all less awkward, which made Paige relax a bit.

"I'm Paige." She said, offering the group a shy smile. The dancer was taken aback by Lilly's comment, but convinced herself that the girl probably didn't mean anything by it. She wasn't worried about taking her bags upstairs, she was stronger than she looked. A few ornamental paintings that lined the wall made Paige shiver, they didn't seem natural, or seemed to have a place here.

Fumbling around for her key, Paige found the number 4 inscribed on it. "Uh.. four." She wasn't sure if that was good or not, or if it even mattered, but Paige started to bring her bags up the stairs, not bothering to take them in separate trips or anything. Seeing that the Scottish boy who hadn't introduced himself was in the room next to her. "Looks like we're neighbors." She said with a shy giggle, he seemed friendly enough.

Once Paige stepped into the oasis that was her own private room, she quickly began to unpack. All of her multicolored sweaters and different pairs of jeans were stacked delicately into her dresser, along with some simple black dance leotards. Her dance shoes, each for a different kind of discipline, lived on top of the dresser, remaining in their own separate boxes and stuffed with tissue paper to maintain their rightful shapes.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Paige plugged her earbuds into her phone and worked on unpacking all of her belongings.

[skydust]

✧ K ʟ ᴀ ᴜ s xH ᴀ ᴡ ᴛ ʜ ᴏ ʀ ɴ ᴇ
─────────────────────────────────────────
✧ cis male ✧ 20 ✧ the scientist ✧ tags: everyone in the hall

Klaus clutched the steering wheel as his dad talked next to him. Truthfully, he hadn’t heard a word that came out of his dad’s mouth for the last twenty minutes. His dark blue eyes burned into the road ahead of him, and his knuckles only continued to grow more white each second. He had studied hard for this moment, he had been so relieved when he had gotten accepted, his parents so happy that their child finally seemed to have left his past behind him. Of course, that really wasn’t the case. The further they got from his hometown the better he felt, but he couldn’t help but feel like his past was running after him. His dad had just mentioned something about joining clubs when Klaus let a breath escape his mouth. His dad turned to him mid sentence, already sensing something was wrong. Klaus had a bad habit of showing his emotions clearly on his face, and it probably showed his irritation clearly. His eyebrows were screwed up, lips turned downward in a scowl, eyes hard. With worried eyes on him, he tried to put on a more relaxed expression. He really didn't want anyone asking for probably the millionth time if he was okay. His mental wellbeing was stable, for the most part. His father, Ronan, cleared his throat trying to clear the air. "So are you excited for your first day? You must be. You practically threw yourself into studying after all."
Yes, that was the point.
"I guess so," he practically choked out. He promised himself he'd keep his little comments to himself for once. Already so early in the morning and that seemed like a feat worthy of some kind of metal. A round of awkward silence transpiried, and Klaus knew he should say something more. He just didn't want to. Sure, he was happy to be away from all the horrible things from back home. He wasn't too happy about being back in school though. It felt like death stained the tips of his fingers, and whatever he would touch would crumble underneath him. Life seems so fragile now, especially after you watch someone die. He nervously picked at the skin by his fingernail. It was a nervous habit of his. His thumb was practically bleeding all the time from how much he picked at it. Klaus turned to the left, his stomach doing flips as he realized how close they were to the school. He felt like throwing up right about now. His dad didn't notice. Instead he chuckled, breaking the silence.
"Me and your mother swore that you'd have graduated upper secondary school by the time you were sixteen."
Klaus felt his body tense at the mention of secondary school. Everytime he thought his family was past it, it seemed like they liked to dunk him right back into the cold water. Leaving him shivering at the deeds that had taken place when he was only 16. For a so called prodigy child, how stupid he was. "Yeah, well that didn't turn out so well," he spat out, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly once again. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his dad turn to him with a pained expression on his face. Looks like he was going to make comments this morning.
"Klaus..."
"Can we just..not talk about this? Please," he said quietly. Running a hand threw his dark brown hair he tried not to completely break down and worry his dad even more. He could do this, he just needed to get the picture of a dead boy laying on the ground out of his mind. Piece of cake.
The rest of the trip was rather short, cold, and silent. The Dartford Institute came into view, the manor seemed rather old. Something about it though radiated a certain energy, Klaus couldn't put his finger on it. It just felt powerful to look at. The cloudy sky only seemed to make the grey building blend in more to the surroundings. Almost like if you didn't know it was here, you'd never find it. Klaus pulled through the iron gate, his nerves really starting to get the better of him now as he picked at his thumb. His father noticed, quickly scolding him about it before exiting the car to get some of the luggage. Klaus just stared straight ahead, his hands still on the steering wheel like they didn't stop the car. He took a deep breath, and let it all exit through his nose. He closed his eyes for a second, dark eyelashes fluttering against his cheek, before he opened them and unbuckled his seatbelt. He opened the grey SUV, his all black shoes meeting concrete. He felt a tad worried that he was supposed to dress up more. He was currently wearing black socks, navy blue pants, a tucked in black turtleneck, and a long forest green coat. He wasn't sure if this was the norm for prestigious schools. At least he kind of looked like he'd belong. He hoped.
Grabbing luggage out of his dad's hand, Klaus awkwardly shifting on his feet as he stared at the ground. His father didn't seem to notice how awkward it was though. Instead he pulled his only son into a hug. Klaus froze, not really sure what to do. He wasn't great with interaction like these, they always felt wrong to him for some reason. Especially after the incident. Now he just felt like he didn't deserve it. He relaxed nonetheless, awkwardly hugging his father and trying not to drop the luggage at the same time. He pulled away, giving a goodbye wave before turning around and walking up towards the receptionist. They had a guaty banner with the word WELCOME in big rainbow bubble font. Klaus resisted the urge to cringe before he looked down at the receptionist sitting at the table.Getting his room key, school map, and filling out some paperwork, he left the desk as soon as he could. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes everytime the bubbly woman, Lisa, spoke. Honestly the amount of pure energy that just seemed to radiate from her left Klaus reeling. Getting into the school he followed the map to where he dorm was. He just wanted to move in and relax the rest of the day, avoiding everything and everyone. That was his plan for the whole year really. Focus on studying and not talk to anyone. Hopefully people would get the hint that he wasn't really here to make friends. He didn't have much luck in that department anyways. Finally finding the dorms, he froze when he saw people already there. He held his breath, looking down at his key as he did so. Number 2. He walked towards the door, still holding his breath as he did so and avoiding eye contact with those still in the hall.

[_seo_]

XXX

X█║ ʙᴇɴᴊᴀᴍɪɴ ᴅʀᴀᴋᴇ ║█X
male || nineteen || the historian || tags(mentions); lily,paige, & oliver (klaus) -> open

indentBenjamin smiled at the two girls who responded to him, making sure to remember both their names and faces. He titled his head to the side at Lily's snappish response, but immediately brushed it off as her likely meaning to come off as sarcastic, he was used to things like that as his older brother was very similar, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all." When the talk of room numbers was brought, he realized he hadn't even bothered to check the number as he just followed the driver when they first entered, shifting so that the sword in his right hand was now being tightly held between his upper arm and chest. He pulled out the key and flipped it so that the number was visible, a small 'six' inscribed on the key, he glanced towards the others with a smile still bloomed across his face, "I'm in number 6." His eyes shifted over to the new person but kept silent seeing that the guy, at this moment, did not want to talk. With a short wave, he headed towards his room and slipped in quietly.

indentAfter entering the room, he placed the two swords alongside his other swords and dagger. His eyes traveled along the walls of the room, finally getting a good look at it. It was smaller than his room at home that was too be expected, but it was still quite nice. It took him a while to unpack and put away all of his clothes, he probably had far too many but he was the son of a fashion designer who loved to make custom clothing for her children and he could never turn her down. What took the longest was setting up the display for his swords and dagger. Benji lovingly carried each sword to the display, after putting each one in he would gently stroke the handle with a soft smile on his face. The last one was the dagger that his father had gifted him on his first Gotcha Day, it was a dagger with a jade hilt from the Yuan dynasty and out of all of his weapons, it was his favorite. He carefully put the dagger into its place on the display, letting out a soft sigh as he completed the display.

Ben looked around the unpacked with a proud smile on his face before grabbing his phone off of his desk and headed towards his door. Though he was a quiet and serious student, outside of studying he was too social of a person to be alone for long periods of time. He closed his door behind him, he moved towards the bar with a grin, Benji wasn't much of a drinker but he had a glass every now and then.

[LivingLethal]

𝚒𝚜𝚕𝚊 𝚒𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐

the botanist // location: dartford institute // tags: open // mentions: klaus, students in the dorm area

Despite the prospect of losing the freedom she'd amassed over her year away from school, Isla was excited to enter Dartford Institute and finally begin furthering her education. A year off from academia offered her the push she needed to recognize that botany was her drive—an interest that was here to stay. She'd reasoned that Dartford would offer her a promising opportunity to better her understanding and make it a realistic career path, furthering her prodigious interest into a true vocational path. Though a bundle of nerves sat tenderly in her stomach, the young adult remained enthused to open this new chapter in her life.

Escaping her head, Isla refocused on the drive ahead of her. The road to the Institute was lined with luscious plants of olive, jade, and sage—colors that spoke to her love of flora. She drove at a leisurely pace, admiring the path on the hazy weekend morning. Soon enough, she came upon the towering building that would be housing her for the coming years. Despite her eagerness, the sight of the building twisted the ball in her stomach; she ignored the feeling, pushing past it to return to her mindset on the drive down. Parking was a breeze, and within minutes, she was trotting through the heavy timbered doors to face the receptionist.

Seated before the entrance, a cheerful display greeted the incoming students. A jovial woman beamed upon Isla's arrival—a definite mood-booster following the gloomy punch of the Institute—and promptly introduced herself as Lisa McGutherie. The woman jumped straight into offering Isla the most pressing details of her new academic career: directions to the dorm, instructions for attending tomorrow's initiation, and her dorm keys. Without a moment lost, McGutherie was warmly hurrying the young adult on route to the other students, many of whom the lady had said already arrived. Nonetheless, Isla felt no rush to get to the dorms. She ambled along the aged hallways, caressing the old lacquer finish on the walls' detailing with her fingertips. The Institute's style was rather unique; she was pleasantly surprised by the bold, fantastical paintings of supernatural creatures accompanying the walls. Piece after piece showed a new creature of myth, up until Isla faced the entrance of the dorm rooms. McGutherie had impeccably described them, she noted to herself.

The common room was fairly unoccupied compared to what she'd expected; upon a first glance, she noticed a boy unlocking his room and thought she heard wisps of others listening to music and chatting. Isla figured she'd get settled before she began introducing herself to others—it'd be rather odd toting along her belongings during her hellos. She pulled the keys from her pocket, reading the engraved number seven that indicated her designated dorm room.

[onion]

✿ effie jo / 18 / bisexual / the artist
location: hallway
tags: open

it was raining outside- not too hard, but enough for effie to hold her pink parasol above her head to keep her bags out of way. she splashed through a puddle, then up the stairs and into the school, where she promptly shook her parasol and folded it. as usual, she was late. but she had a good excuse! effie had been down the street from the school shooting graduation photos for a client, so she had no choice to arrive later than the others on her floor.
after wiping her boots and wrapping up her parasol, effie began to climb the winding staircase to the floor she had been directed to over the phone earlier. it was the sixth, right? no, maybe the eighth... yeah, the eighth. she was beginning to run out of breath by the fourth floor, but persevered to the last.
arriving at the top of the stairwell was a girl with light pink hair, her bangs tied back in a little rubberband. she wore a frilly white blouse, a black plaid skirt, white thigh high socks, and black doc martens that still retained some water droplets from the rain. a black canon camera hung from her neck. it was effie jo, the last student to arrive in the first year class.
she shook her head slightly, then started down the hall in a slow fashion. she looked around at the fancy doors, the high ceiling, and the well vacuumed carpet beneath her. "i bet the others are here..." effie said aloud to herself softly. she looked to the side to admire the door to her room, but was caught offguard when she heard a voice. it came from just a bit down the hall. looking in the direction of the girl, effie smiled. "hi!" she waved with her empty hand.

[Aniki]

𝕆𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕄𝕒𝕔𝔽𝕙𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟
[location: the student lounge] [mentions: n/a] [tags: lillian//the whole group]

Startled awake by pounding on his door, Oliver shot up into a sitting position. He groggliy looked around his room as he dragged his hands over his face. It took him a moment to remember where he was. When he heard Lillian yell through the door about something happening in the student lounge he was extremely tempted to just shrug it off and either finish reading one of the textbooks he started the night before or fall back asleep. He weighed the options. He was going to be here at the school with them for a few years so it wouldn't hurt to get to know them, heck he may even make a new friend. That made him snort. Making friends was never something he was good at and he highly doubted that would change.

He got out of bed and looked down at his rumpled clothes. Not wanting to make too bad of a first impression, Oliver decided to change at least his shirt. He was already wearing a pair of light wash jeans, so he went over to the closet and grabbed a black t-shirt and pulled a dark blue button up shirt over it. Nothing too fancy but still would keep him from looking like a total mess. He groaned when he saw his hair in the mirror. It was sticking up in odd angles. Reaching up he did his best to wrangle it back in place with his fingers only to make it worse. He finally grabbed his brush and combed through it a few times to tame it. Once that was done he shook his head to get it out of his eyes which only made it messy again. 'Controlled messy' as his mother would say. Giving himself one last look he opened his door and headed in the direction of the lounge.

He looked around at it and couldn't help the smile that was growing when he saw the bar. While he preferred to stick to himself he was a Scotsmen after all and a good drink was never something he would turn down. He spied Lily who was also at the bar and frowned. They didn't get off on the right foot. He wasn't sure who's fault that was. She was cold, but at the same time he didn't have the best people skills so maybe it was him? Knowing that he would have to deal with it sooner or later he took in a deep breath before making his way over to the bar.

Dae ye ken if they hae onie guid whiskey?" He asked as he went around the bar to look at the selection. He could help but whistle. Closer to the back was a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. He could feel the grin growing. Of course a school as prestigious would have the very best possible. Knowing that it was there thrilled it. He would have to behave and not take it to his room and drink alone there. Gotta stay out here with all of the others for a least an hour before going back to his room. With the bottle of whiskey. Yes that was the plan. Picking up the bottle and putting it on the bar he searched for glasses. Finding the one he was searching for he filled it up and took a sip. His eyes fluttering shut as he enjoyed the warm burn that it gave him. While he really didn't want to share it with anyone he mother would skin him a live if he didn't offer a lady a drink. He turned towards Lily.

"Shaa Ah poor ye a body?"