Burn Baby, Burn

[Dex Doppler]

(September 3rd. Open to all.)

Who's BRILLIANT idea was it to have a bloody fire drill at 5am in the morning? Dex stood there outside, eyes narrowed behind his thick framed glasses, looking sterner than the nervous boy'd ever looked. He'd been sleeping, dreaming of stars. He'd awoken with a start when an alarm sounded. He'd groaned, ran quickly to change in the bathroom and rushed downstairs to stand outside in the courtyard while the other students filed outside. He'd forgotten his slippers in his mad dash outside so he stood on the concrete of the driveway with nothing protecting his feet from the ground. He huffed, arms folded over his chest. The sooner this ended the better. He was tired, hair sticking up in a very unattractive mess. He just wanted to go in before Etoile or Valerie saw.

On the other side of the driveway there was a pissed off daughter of a lion, eyes ablaze with anger and sleep depravity. She'd gone to bed, Scar tucked under the crook of her arm, iPod blaring some TLK music. Her eyes were narrowed, face turned downward in a scowl. She wore a black silk nightgown covered by a silk robe. It looked more like lingerie than sleepwear the way it hugged her body in all the right places. Right now though the female was more worried about getting back to sleep than what she looked like.

[Lavinia Facilier]

Just what in the heck? What kind of crazy idea was it to hold a firedrill this early. It was clear to say that the raven haired girl was not happy to be up this early. Shaking her head to try to wake herself up. It was to early for any of this and she was still sleep walking. "This better not be a false alarm. Or i will be mad!" she muttered

[Norma "Blackpaw" Dodger]

"Well, this is wonderful." Suffice it to say that Blackpaw was extremely unamused by this state of affairs. The girl had been jerked awake to the clanging of the fire alarm bell, on her first night here, no less, and had spent the next five minutes scrambling for her clothes in semi-darkness, because being the type who only slept in the bare minimum, she wasn't about to go charging outside in just her underwear. Nor was she about to ruin the reputation she wanted to make before she had a chance to make it, so after struggling into the first shirt and pair of jeans she could get her hands on, Blackpaw had made a point of grabbing her tie as well and was hurriedly tying it as she sprinted outside, looking otherwise a mess with her hair spectacularly dishevelled, her collar sticking up at an odd angle, and her bare feet which were getting cut by loose chips on the cold concrete driveway. Maybe she should have grabbed shoes instead of the tie, but Blackpaw was determined to give the first impression of not being someone to mess with, and a tie did that much more effectively than shoes - besides which, it was too late to have second thoughts now. Hurriedly pulling the tie up to her neck and smoothing her shirt's rumpled collar, she traipsed towards where the other girls more or less her age seemed to be congregating, without bothering to actually speak to any of them.

[Eleca Stone]

Eleca had been awoken by the alarm as well but because she slept like a log and didn't move, her hair was still perfectly in place, and still with grabbing the first two items of clothing she could get her hands on she looked well dressed. Even if it was just a hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans, she had also managed to grab shoes, something she noticed a few others had not managed to grab up in their hast. Her gaze sat sleepily on the building, she no longer cared if it was a real fire or not, she wanted some coffee. So standing there like a weird zombie she waited until they would be allowed back inside.

-------------------

Alexander heard the alarm and groaned at it, annoyed that he was woken up so early. He grabbed a random jumper and pair of pants before slipping on some trainers and heading out into where the other students were. He was annoyed to say the least, he wanted to sleep, it was already difficult to sleep as it was without them blaring an alarm at him at 5 in the morning. His red hair on one side stuck up at odd angles and he looked quite messy, but he was at the point where he didn't care, he was fuming. This was an outrage.
Alexis on the other hand had jumped to a sense of wake, almost screaming out of fear. Nothing natural made that sound. She didn't grab a jumper, or shoes, and ran out of the building and straight for the nearest tree in a singlet and shorts. Her hair was all over the place and her eyes were wide and frightened, when she spotted her brother mid sprint she ran to him instead and quite literally crashed into him. Alexander was slightly confused as to why Alexis looked like a startled deer, she was shaking too, but he assumed that was from the cold. He frowned. "Couldn't you have grabbed a jacket?" he scolded, she shook her head.
"No, can I borrow yours?" she asked shaking, Alexander scowled and shook his head. Alexis knew the question was probably wasn't going to give her the result she wanted since Alexander was not a morning person, and he looked like someone had just ripped one of his books in half.

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Bella couldn't have cared less about the alarm, it meant there was a fire. "Lovely" she mumbled smiling, and then she remembered this wasn't a dream. She groaned and got out of her bed, walking straight out and towards Monet. Bella's hair was slightly messy and she was wearing a shirt and the first pair of shorts she could find, she stood near Monet and frowned at the building. "They better have a good reason for waking us all up at....this early in the morning" Bella said pausing half way through her sentence because she went to check the time, but finding that she still didn't have a watch she decided to just say it was early.

[Ronni Sage]

Suffice to say, a late sleeper like Ronni was not happy. She'd tried ignoring the alarm, and even her roommate scrambling across the room to get her clothes. However, it soon became apparent that it was not going to stop. So, the wannabe sorceress stomped outside to the courtyard where all the students were being corralled in fuzzy black pajama pants with red polka dots and a black tank top, a scowl plastered onto her face.

"Well isn't this brilliant." She deadpanned as she came up to the group that was already formed before yawning. "I mean are they serious?" I have class tomorrow." She said, running her fingers through her light brown hair, wanting nothing more than to curl up in bed for the next hour.

[Sienna Bell]

To say that Sienna was startled would've been an understatement. The girl woke up frightened by the horrible clanging sound of the fire alarm and fell right off of her bed. After hearing her roommate leave the room (with a hurry, it sounded) Sienna scrambled up and ran straight out of the building. She only wore a t-shirt and dark blue pajama shorts, so she started shaking from the cold the minute she stepped outside. Rubbing her bare arms she hurried towards the other students and came to a stop at the edge of the group. Standing there by herself, Sienna glanced franticly at the building, not knowing if it was a drill or a real thing.

[Morgan Davis]

Morgan had been awoken in the absolute dead of night by the sound of a fire alarm. Her sleep-hazed brain had convinced her that it was the real thing – after all, who would be stupid or cruel enough to stage a fire drill at five in the morning? – her immediate reaction was to have something like a silent panic attack. It was only when her mind cleared and realized that it was indeed just a drill that she calmed down, she went outside with the other students, clad only in a pair of purple pajama pants, a black top, and thin red slippers that were doing very little to protect her feet from the cold.

Needless to say, Morgan was not a happy camper.

Spotting Monet in the group that had begun to gather, she hurriedly moved towards her – at the very least, there was the promise of additional heat. A cold wind blew through the courtyard, making Morgan grateful for her long sleeves.

“Can’t they waste our time when the sun’s out?” the would-be sorceress grumbled when she had reached her friend. “I thought I was done with this crap when I graduated.”

Morgan firmly believed that fire drills were pointless. In her mind, if ever there was an actual fire – or any kind of emergency, for that matter – there would be none of the “please exit the building in a calm and orderly manner” garbage that schools were so fond of preaching. It would be absolute chaos.

I could be sleeping right now, she thought bitterly, stealing a glance at the school and raising a hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn. It was while doing this that she suddenly caught sight of Dexter. At least I won’t be bored.

“Well hello, poindexter,” Morgan purred. “Remember me?”

He ought to. She'd zap-fried his shoulder just yesterday, after all.

[Dex Doppler]

"No shit, girl," Monet scoffed, staring up at the dimly lit sky, "The sun's waking up already. Screw this noise, I wanna go back to bed." She collapsed on a nearby bench and didn't take notice when Morgan started on Dex.

Dex, however, did notice. He winced hearing her voice and swallowed darkly, running his pale fingers through his dark scruffy hair. He'd been teased by girls before, sure but it was usually behind his back. Boys were usually the ones who made him a target. But this girl seemed to have it out for him. His eyes sort of took a sympathetic fade to them as he stared towards the floor. Despite being a bully, Morgan was still in fact a girl. Which meant he couldn't talk to her face without stuttering like a madman.

"H-h-h-hello..." He murmured softly, rubbing his arm and shuffling his feet. Despite being one of the oldest students there, Dex was proving to be one of the less mature. He hoped soon that someone would show up to rescue him like his brother always did. But he was alone here. So, as his glasses slipped down his face, he continued to stared down the floor.

[Morgan Davis]

Morgan tilted her head oh-so-slightly to one side, as though she were having trouble comprehending Dexter’s stuttered greeting. It was an act of course, an attempt to draw more attention to the embarrassing speech impediment. The poor sap was worse off than she had initially realized.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” she inquired ‘innocently’, feeling a giggle rise in her chest. “You have to understand, I don’t speak loser, and that seems to be the only language you know.”

The aforementioned giggle escaped, though there was nothing happy about it. Well, not what most people would consider “happy”, at least.

“But in all seriousness,” Morgan suddenly smiled and took a step towards her unwitting victim, “I wanted to give you a little apology, Dexter – it is Dexter, isn’t it? You know, for hurting your shoulder the other day.”

Another step, then another. She was only a few inches away from him now.

“It was an accident, you see.”

One slender finger went to his temple.

“I was hoping to hit your head.”

Sharp nails dug into the skin and raked down the side of Dexter’s face. Morgan’s grin widened, and she took a tiny step back to admire her handiwork. It was simple, but it would do for now. Maybe she could get him to cry again. That would be fun.

(OOC: I’m not sure if the stuff about her scratching Dexter is godmodding or not. If it is, I’ll edit it out.)

[Milo Dearly]

Milo was stumbling out of the dorms and onto the driveway at long last.

Like the other students, the piercing shriek of the fire alarm had ripped him from his cozy slumber, and his natural reaction was, of course, a panic attack. He'd only been there-- what, two days now? He still was getting used to the school, as it was huge and scary and full of people he didn't know (thank the heavens it didn't have that gross carpet and plastic smell like his old high school did)... and now the fire alarm was going off. Milo was thoruoughly convinced at this point that he was not going to have a good time here.

His initial panic had lessened some when he finally realized it was just a drill, but the sound still rang harshly in his ears, and stupidly he practically flailed his way out of dorm in just his pajamas (which thankfully weren't all that indecent... just some plaid sweatpants and a tank top was all). He just had to get outside and away from that horrible shreiking alarm... he was getting a migraine listening to it, and the longer he remained inside, the more dizzy and nauseous he became as the sound just kept shrilling deafeningly, drilling into his head mercilessly.

Finally though, he was outside. What a sweet releif it was. The alarm sound was still there, but it was distant now, and wasn't hurting his ears. He halted in the long driveway, trying to catch his breath from that long, dizzy flight from the dorms.

"Gh-ghaaaaa... ohhh god..."

He coughed a bit and massaged his throat. "Ugh... that was painful..." he moaned. "Who's bright idea was it to hold a fire drill this early; unannounced?"

The question was rhetorical, and he doubted any of his peers would answer... they were all just aquaintances, after all. But nonetheless he felt it nessesary to voice his thoughts.

He was stopped short when he saw Morgan approach Dexter-- a class-A case of bullying if there ever was one. He watched silently, hoping that Morgan would just leave poor Dex alone. He may not have known the older male but he disliked seeing anyone being bullied. He just didn't have the bravery to say as much out loud...

He gasped sharply when she suddenly slashed her nails down his face. How could she?! He was appalled at this scene of injustice, and pushing aside his inhibitions for the moment, he approached Morgan and cried out, "What do you think you're doing?! You're hurting him!"

[Dex Doppler]

Oh please, don't let this be another-

NOPE. Dex wasn't expecting it, but after his encounter with that red lipped vixen yesterday, he had no idea what was going on her. He leaned back on his heels, terrified that the girl was going to do anything from kiss him to slap him in the face. Blinking wildly, the youth bit his lip and awaited the worst.

The worst was what he got. Physical violence. From a GIRL. Usually it was the guys who resorted to hurting him. But no this was a girl and she was trying-scratch that (no pun intended)- succeeding in hurting him. His hand whipped to his face as soon as her claws left. He heard Monet cackle in the background as tears pricked at his eyes again, this time out of pain. He tried not to give her the satisfaction of seeing him in pain. He turned away from her.

Monet whipped her head to the side when Milo approached. She grinned, sort of herding him towards Dex by pushing herself towards him. The girl wrapped her arms around herself, tilting her head to the side. "Aw, are we rushing to our boyfriend's defense?" She purred.

Dex's eyes ripped open as he saw the younger kid approach.

Shit.

Now he was going to get it from these hyenas because he didn't have the ability to stand up for himself.

[Eleca Stone]

Eleca snapped herself out of her zombie state when Morgan drifted past her to get to Dexter, something wasn't right about this. She did remember what happened at dinner and it clicked in her mind, Morgan was a force to be reckoned with. Eleca was going to stay out of the way until she saw Morgan hurt him, Eleca frowned and stomped over. "Leave him alone!" she said loudly and forcefully to everyone pretty much, she was not normally one to interfere with these moments but her almost need to be a hero overcame her very quickly. Eleca stood there with a scowl on her face and stared at Morgan, she noticed that another boy was helping out too and nodded slightly at him. A small sign of appreciation, at least the kid wasn't alone.

------------------

Alexis smiled slightly when Dex was getting picked on, Alexander noticed too late and frowned. Alexis did scowl at Morgan though when she actually hurt Dexter, teasing was one thing, physical violence was something of an entirely different category. Alexander stormed over and was ready to push Morgan out of the way he was that furious, his anger from the alarm that woke him up and the anger from seeing his new friend get hurt had combined and made the red head very snappy. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!?" Alexander snapped at Morgan as he stood next to Dexter, he wanted to check if Dex was alright but getting Morgan to back off was the first priority. Alexis just rolled her eyes at her brother and stood in the cold shivering, she might walk over there just for the warmth the group would provide, but at the moment it wasn't worth it.

-------------------

Bella smiled evilly as she watched Morgan walk over to Dexter to tease him again, "This should be good." she mumbled to Monet smiling the whole time, Bella was going to enjoy the show. She sat down next to Monet on the bench and watched Morgan, she didn't stop smiling, even when Morgan scratched the boy. She laughed at the people who had gathered to help him and at Monet's words to one of them, this was a great show for her.

[Milo Dearly]

Milo visibly recoiled at Monet's comment, turning to face her very breifly before averting eye contact. "I-I'm not his boyfriend," he replied, trying to sound confident but utterly failing. "It's just... it's cruel to claw someone like that."

He shot a glance over at Morgan, trying to look firm to show her he wasn't kidding around, but it came out looking forced. Milo knew he wasn't a match for the girl and he had no intention of purposefully invoking her wrath upon himself. He was just trying to be a peacemaker and quell the fight before anyone else got hurt. Providing of course he didn't wuss out at the last minute, of course.

"I-I'm just saying..." he added a bit more quietly. "It... wasn't nessesary..."

Well there went all of his sincerity. He was sure he sounded absolutely pathetic. But for once, he didn't back off. He stood his ground and nodded back to Eleca, whom also had come to Dex's aid.

He observed the scratches in Dex's skin. They weren't deep but they had scraped the skin a good deal and were bleeding pretty heavily. "Are you okay?" he asked. Realizing that obviously, no, he wasn't-- he was probably in serious pain-- he quickly followed up with, "I-I can take you to a nurse... if you... think you need it, that is..."

It would be a bit of a releif if he did. Milo didn't want to deal with the other students this early-- especially if they were so hostile-- and the texture of the pavement beneath his feet was bothering him something terrible. He would have sat on a bench, since he hated standing on grass in bare feet more than he did pavement, if not for the fact that they were probably dirty, and, of course metal, which he wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole even if he had to. He wouldn't complain either way, though. Everyone else would probably just think of him as overreacting and he really didn't want to put himself in such a situation if he could avoid it.

[Norma "Blackpaw" Dodger]

Seriously?

Trying to ignore how painful the gravel driveway felt underfoot, Blackpaw crossed over to the gathering group, a disapproving frown pasted on her maw. It wasn't the bullying she had a problem with, of course, but in her not-so-humble opinion, their methods left a lot to be desired. So tactless... she shook her head, disgusted. Subtlty was always the key, in her mind; if Blackpaw intended to bully someone, they wouldn't even suspect a thing until everything came crashing down around their ears, and that was always much more devastating for the victim than a few harsh words and a cut across the face could ever be.

"You don't know anything about tact and subtltey, do you?" she growled under her breath as she scowled first at Morgan, then unsympathetically down at her victim. Girl didn't really care whether Morgan actually heard her or not - most likely not, given the fuss everyone else seemed to be making - and just folded her arms across her chest, impatient to get back inside and maybe grab some more sleep.

For a moment, Milo caught her eye, and Blackpaw frowned. Something about him seemed familiar in a way the girl was having trouble placing. Maybe... maybe his 'parents' were dogs too? Or maybe this place was already starting to erode her sanity, she wouldn't have doubted it. Either way, she made a note to keep an eye on the darkhaired boy, who she couldn't know was actually her half-brother.

[Morgan Davis]

Morgan’s initial reaction to seeing Dexter’s blood was surprise – she hadn’t known her nails were sharp enough to draw as much blood as they had. However, once that bit of information had been processed, she started to laugh.

Looks like I don’t know my own strength!

Dexter turned away and, unless Morgan was mistaken, started to cry. Mission accomplished. She could go back to sleep a happy girl.

The thought was punctuated by the sudden arrival of three other students, each one telling her to leave the nerd alone. Morgan raised an eyebrow, not intimidated in the least. Annoying though this new development was, the would-be sorceress couldn’t deny that it was also a little funny. This would have never happened at her old high school – the boundaries of friendship only extended so far there, and no one would care enough to help a complete stranger.

It must be all that heroic blood pumping through them.

“Here’s a tip,” she began, smiling sweetly. “If you’re going to try scaring someone, you should really have the means to do it, otherwise you just look stupid. Then again, I have a feeling that sort of thing is nothing new to some of you.”

Morgan vaguely caught a few muttered words – something about subtlety – and felt her eyebrows knit. Dark eyes glanced around for the culprit and settled on a teenage girl with, outside of the movies, the most bizarre hair she had ever seen. For a few moments, she wasn’t entirely sure what to say. No one had ever criticized the methods she went about bullying others with.

“Of course I know how to be subtle,” was what she eventually came back with. “This is kind of a long-term project. Sometimes it’s just more fun to be up close and personal.”