[HH PVP] Waiting Room (Taima/Wash)

[Inle-roo]

Taima had walked the halls of Amityville so often in the year she had been a student there that she no longer needed to pay attention to where she was going. As long as she kept her destination in mind, her feet would follow the well-tread paths and lead her wherever she needed to be. Walking to and from classes was time that could be better spent reading or studying, and if she didn't have to dedicate her attention to the former, she would be more than happy to give it all to the latter. As long as it worked, Taima was happy enough to do it.

Most of the time, anyway. She had wound up in completely different classrooms a few times, and once spent memorable day walking around in circles.

Whatever. Walking was stupid anyway, but if she absolutely had to do it, she would use as little brainpower as she needed to.

While Taima's plan to up her own productivity was good and theoretically sound, it would only work if her path remained the same. It didn't account for variables like other people--and really, they could watch where she was going, thank you very much--objects in her way--if you didn't want your glasses stepped on, you probably shouldn't drop them on the ground, sorry about your luck and have a nice day--or a sudden misstep into the Haunted House.

Taima had actually wandered into the Haunted House a few minutes before she suddenly walked into a wall; it was only by the House's whim and sheer luck that she hadn't done that sooner. She uttered a noise of dismay as she jumped back, startled. She wondered, for a second, which classroom this was, or if she had reached new directionally-challenged heights and wandered into a different building altogether.

Lowering her book to her side, she took a good look at her surroundings. It was starkly grey and littered with the remnants of clutter, like someone had once used it as a storage space. It didn't look at all familiar, so Taima walked through the only doorway in the room.

The next room couldn't have been more different from the first; it could have been a child's bedroom, for all that it was brightly furnished. Taima frowned as she looked around it, and then noticed that the doorway she had just gone through was no longer there. It took Taima a moment to realize why.

She hadn't been in the Haunted House since it had taken a turn for the traumatic--Halloweeners turning into weapons, Hunters turning into monsters, the sudden and triumphant return of a teacher long considered dead. It wasn't a place she had ever sought out before, and had actively avoided afterwards, but the House would do what it will. The good news was it looked a lot less freaky than it had last time. The bad news was she had no idea how to get out.

Well, maybe it would get bored with her if she decided not to play its little game. Taima wandered through rooms until she found one with a comfortable looking chair, then threw herself in it sideways and resumed reading.  

[Ravvlet]

room status effect

NO HEALING IS ALLOWED IN BATTLE. Someone is whispering to you about something, but you can't place out what, it is hard to focus. Everything distracts you, even the tiniest flash of light or flicker of movement.

Wash stumbled out of the portal he'd taken and into the Haunted House. He was really just planning on orienting himself with the place, perhaps for future ventures. The instant he set foot into the small room, however, he heard whsipers...

There was someone sitting in a chair, reading a book and paying little attention to her surroundings.

"Hello?" he tried, holding Sally in front of him defensively.  

[Inle-roo]

This had probably been a bad idea. Taima really wanted to just read her Jackdamn book, but it seemed the House was conspiring against her. It was hard to concentrate when the House was going out of its way to distract her, whispers echoing off the walls just loud enough to be distracting. It was annoying.

The final straw came when an actual voice emerged clearly from the otherwise nonsensical murmurs. She didn't quite jump, but she didn't move from her chair, either. She glared over the top of her book, an expression that only intensified when she caught sight of the white coat and weapon.

"What do you want, Hunter?" Taima snapped, her eyes flashing warningly.  

[Ravvlet]

Wash sighed. Of course, this would be his luck, to run up against some kind of harpy that had a worse attitude than his baby sister.

"Jus' pokin' around."

He lowered his shield to his side.

"Kinda picked an odd place to do some readin'."

Maybe he should have brought Dragonfly in Amber.  

[Inle-roo]

It had been a good handful of seconds and this Hunter hadn't done anything more aggressive than question her choice of hangouts. Taima's eyes narrowed further, but less in aggression and more in speculation. Her head tilted as she marked her page and closed her book, settling it on her lap so she could study the figure before her.

"I figured it was better use of my time than wandering around here aimlessly." She had never encountered a Hunter who didn't immediately try to kill her before--and vice versa. Humans in general were fascinating to her, much like any new land to an intrepid explorer, but these Hunters were a breed apart. They were as human as any of the others, they shared similar forms, they bled red blood, but somehow they were considered more. Taima didn't see it.

"Kinda picked an odd weapon to hunt with," she returned, nodding at the Hunter's shield.  

[Ravvlet]

Wash looked down at his shield.

"Fair 'nough. Wasn't really plannin' on doin' any hunting though."

Then he thought of something.

"Say, you know a gal named Amphi?"  

[Inle-roo]

"Why are you even in here, then?" There was only really a handful of reasons for the hunter to be in the Haunted House if he wasn't doing his job of pointlessly attacking anyone he came across, or whatever it was hunters did, and all of them involved him either being stupid or a liar. Having seen a human movie in which the humans tried to outsmart predators that were so far above them in the food chain that they were barely specks and failing miserably, Taima kind of thought this human was maybe just a little dumb. It was to be expected, though; prey animals so often were.

Well, if this human wasn't going to run away, she certainly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to get a closer look. Humans were endlessly fascinating to Taima, despite their propensity for random hugs and, in particular, their assumption that they were somehow at the top of their food chain. That part was actually kind of adorable, in the way a baby scareon was before it grew up and started chewing on everything.

Taima wiggled off the chair, her book still in hand. Her wings rustled behind her as she smoothed her dress back into place, electricity arcing between the digits--a tacit warning not to do anything human, human--before settling against her back. Like a piece of art, he was interesting to look at from afar, but details would only reveal themselves with closer proximity.

"No," she said absently, taking slow, purposeful steps towards the hunter. "Do you know everyone in your world?"  

[Ravvlet]

Wash raised an eyebrow.

"I knew a lotta th' girls I went t'school with, yeah," he shot back.

The electricity thing was neat - they kinda looked like moth wings, at first glance. He thought about making a bug zapper joke, but he could feel Sally radiating disapproval, so he kept himself in check.

"Jus' tryin' t'get used to the place, I guess. S'been a while since I been in here."  

[Inle-roo]

"I didn't think humans had schools," Taima retorted. It was only half a lie; clearly they had to go somewhere to learn how to make movies and fake science and whatever else it was humans did, but at the same time, humans on the whole seemed to be awfully dumb.

Taima had gotten close enough to reach out and touch the hunter, if she stretched and maybe leaned forward a little bit. She gave the human an exploratory once-over before her eyes settled on the plain features of his face. "How do humans even tell each other apart? You all look pretty much the same."  

[Ravvlet]

Wash couldn't help it; he laughed.

"Oh, it's awful tryin', sometimes we even gotta wear nametags," he replied.

"Speakin' of, my name's Wash. I don't suppose I could get yours?"  

[Inle-roo]

Hmm, yes, Taima could see where nametags would come in handy with such little variation in size or shape or features. "That makes sense," she said, nodding understandingly.

She hesitated before responding further to the hunter. She had been warned in the past that they weren't to be trusted, but at the same time, what could this human possibly do with only her name. "My name's Taima," she replied after a moment. "Wash is a strange name. Is that your function as a hunter?" Taima asked, completely serious. "Do you wash things? Is that why your weapon is so...well. It's not like a real weapon, is it? It's just a shield."  

[Ravvlet]

Inle-roo

Wash grinned, then grimaced. "We-ell, they got me workin' in the infirmary, so I guess I do my share of washin'." Mostly bedpans.

"Oh yeah?" He countered. "Watch this."

He aimed at a moldy looking bookshelf that lined one wall, and threw his shield.  

[Ravvlet]

((AND THEN HIS RPER REMEMBERED TO ROLL DICE))

He didn't use quite enough force, but it managed to thunk into the thing before clattering to the ground, taking a nice chunk out of it.