Icarian Dreams

Internet issues are mostly gone, so I'm gonna be taking a while to reply to all my threads. I don't think I'll hang around for long though, I've had little sleep today, and ain't feeling too fresh

Here I am, once again

It was truly fascinating how absurd and creative entertainment human females could invent, but Lucy had to admit that it was exceptionally fun. She laughed in satisfaction at her own successes as much as at the adorable viciousness of the pillow-armed gazer. "You've been practicing, goofball!" She responded with a smirk to the pillow bouncing off her side, in a playful tone accusing the little gazer. Simultanously, she backed off, avoiding the following blow and giving herself a bit more space, her back pressing against the wall. "Haah, we'll see about that!" She grinned widely, pushing herself off said wall, and using the momentum to strike against Karnis' pillow, trying to knock it out of her hands.

Anpu smiled, glad that her message was heard and addressed, but frowned slightly at the sound of Veronica scolding the late librarian. She was in the right of course, Myrddin was quite... lenient when it came to obeying authorities, but he always treated her well, and with two years of memories, it was hard for her to think of him in a negative way. It was clear though, that whatever he did, he must have really gotten under the headmistress' skin. Anpu nodded slightly, following the principal's words. "Oh, right," She blushed when addressed, the question bringing back the memory of yesterday's events. "I'm... working on it. There's a book on nullification that I managed to translate, but the casting of the seal will require someone with a talent in arcane, which I've not... and I'm not sure whether Master Havershan has it either," Anpu informed, feeling a bit embarassed at her unability to be of help - especially since the matter was related to magic.

It seemed that the conversation progressing, and the possibility of finally being able to get to the point of why she was here, calmed Anpu a bit, allowing her to take a slightly more relaxed stance. She straightened in the chair, resting her hands on her lap. Her gaze rose to Veronica's face, "Well, for starters, umm... we don't have the password to the computer," she admitted, getting a slight feeling that the headmistress might have expected her to say something else, although she wasn't quite sure what it was. She retreated a bit into her mind, trying to grasp what else she wanted to communicate. "Then there's the matter of secret compartments. Master Illrean kept a number of these in the library, some magical, and some mechanical, I think." Although she still looked a bit pent up, at this point, as she had a clear idea of what she needed to convey, the fluency of her speech started to normalize. "I don't think Master Havershan knows of them, and I can't really be of help there, since they are, well, secret..." she finished.

"Hey, that was a cheap shot!" Lucy laughed heartily alongside the girl, not quite stating whether she was refering to the pillow she just pulled from her face or the verbal jab thrown at her by the gazer. A wide-spread grin was now ever-present on her face, as she started to get into the heat of things, Seeing a follow-up attack coming, the slime-girl barely dodged away from the strike, maybe just slightly abusing the flexibility of her body to get out of the way of the pillow, and launched her own counter-offensive at Karnis' waist, pulling her punches a bit, not to knock her over - she didn't want her best friend to get injured after all.

"Oh- Thank you, Ms. De Parnacel," Anpu responded quickly, still slightly startled by the doors suddenly opening in front of her - she completely forgot they did that - and surprised by the suggestion of snacks. She quickly approached the desk, sheepishly taking a seat in front of the headmistress, before addressing her again. "Thank you for making time for me," she started, and paused, the anxiety already getting to her and causing the rehearsed speech to begin to escape her memory. She was showing a vastly different side of her, as compared to the excitable and eager girl she was in the library. The rather intimidating grandeur of the office was certainly not helpful as well. Anpu swallowed and closed her eyes for a second, trying to imagine herself back in the library. It seemed to help. "I was hoping to speak with you about Mas- Mr. Illrean, Ms. De Parnacel," she picked up, sounding a bit more natural, even through a couple stutters in her speech. "With his... umm... departure, there are some things that were left... unclear," she concluded, taking a few moments to find the last word of that sentence. She breathed out, realizing that she probably made it sound more significant than it really was.

As a follow-up to that, I would suggest that everyone keeps an image album of their characters in the images section of the club. If it happens that some image goes missing, it'd still be a way to view them. Edit: Just updated all of mine, should be working now

"Hah, you should have seen your face!" Lucy laughed in delight, clutching the other pillow in her hands. Her eyes widened at the sudden retaliation, forcing her to raise her guard in defense to the fierce aerial attack. Overestimating the strength of the impact of the little gazer, she felt her own pillow get pushed into the side of her head, causing her to stagger backwards, giggling alongside her cute friend. "Ahh, we'll see who'll be the one praying when I'm done with you!" she responded, catching her breath - and her ground - and preparing herself to strike at Karnis' side, whenever the girl would push on with her assault.

[ New Scene, morning after the first day ] Anpu's hand hanged before the door, her fingers curled into a fist, only few inches away from knocking on the wooden surface. She was looking prim and proper, even moreso than usual, with her white shirt all buttoned up and adorned by a rather cute bowtie around her neck, which matched in color to the black waist-high skirt that completed the look of her school uniform. Obviously, she had prepared thoroughly for this occassion, even now in her mind rehearsing exactly what she wanted to say, but the anxiety was eating her alive anyways. She hated being in situations like these - where she had to personally approach and talk to people - and the fact that her last interaction with the headmistress @JennyDK didn't end too positively, only reinforced her nervousness. Why couldn't matters like these resolve themselves... somehow? She sighed, resting the palm of her hand on the door. Her gaze went to the side, out the window and towards the courtyard outside, the rays of morning sun causing her to squint slightly. "Alright Anpu calm down, you can do this," she told herself, and focused back on the door, her hand raising again from its surface. She gave it two decisive knocks, and felt herself shake slightly, her hand resting on the doorknob, ready to push it open should she be called inside.

"Well turn around, goofball, imma change." Lucy laughed out heartily, kneeling to produce a complet of PJs for herself from the nearby cardboards, and herself turned away, giving the girl a chance to do the same. Karnis' joy and enthusiasm were quite contagious. As she got into the pyjamas, the slime-girl kept her ear open for Karnis' suggestions, in her mind considering options. Most of these were quite restful, so perhaps it would have been wise to start with something more active and tire themselves down first. With that in her mind, once done changing, she turned her head to the side, giving the gazer a side glance and a smug smirk, before diving under her bed to produce something from underneath. "Well I say..." she started slowly, keeping said thing covered by the bedframe. "...catch!" she exclaimed, throwing a pillow straight at the gazer.

Hello! I'm most likely going to be away for most of this weekend, but I'll make sure to send some replies when I can ^^

I feel like Anpu would have already made peace with Veronica's decision, and wouldn't really need to have to patch things up, but the library request part could certainly work! I just need to come up with something interesting to request. (Which may be difficult considering my utter lack of creativity ) I'm thinking something related to the previous librarian perhaps.

Alright, it seems that Anpu is open (or about to be open) again for interactions. Who's next in line? @JennyDK, I believe you had an idea for Anpu x Veronica, right?

[ Really sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, I couldn't gather myself to respond :c ] There was no other person like Karnis for Lucy. She remembered well how they accidentally met on day one. Lucy had been dealing with some dorks who thought it was a good idea to gang up on a slime girl, and just when she was about to prove them wrong, Karnis appeared and covered the room in darkness, bringing widespread confusion, and forcing Lucy to go and escort the little gazer away to safety. She smiled happily, Karnis' voice bringing her back from the pleasant memory. "You know it! Told you we're having the best sleepover ever!" she exclaimed laughingly, giving Karnis a side wink. Seeing the gazer produce an entire list of activities, she raised an eyebrow, listening to her ideas, and laughed alongside her as she finished. "Well, sounds easy enough! Worst case scenario, we'll just stuff ourselves full of snacks!" she concluded, herself taking a snoop into what Karnis brought as they both stepped inside. She closed the door behind them, frowning slightly as she heard that single speaker still play the playlist she put on recently. She thought she had turned it off when she left. It sounded quite nice though, and Lucy found it fitting for a sleepover, Hopefully, Karnis would too. The slime girl rested the bags on the stack of nearby boxes, turning around to check on the gazer girl nearby. "Soo... Pyjamas, right?" she made sure.

"I- That's alright. Visit me at the library sometimes." A corner of Anpu's mouth rose, trying to let him know that she, too, didn't hold the situation against him. She was quite certain that if anyone, it was her who made things awkward, but she found it polite of him to take the blame anyways. Seeing him bow, even if it was an apologetic one, made the Anubis blush once again, as she didn't really expect this sort of a reaction. For a moment she considered whether it would have been polite to bow back, but in the end settled for a slight nod, hoping that it didn't make her look too condescending. "Oh, and thank you for coming to check on me. It was really nice of you." The girl now smiled fully, glad to have found a way to finish the conversation on a more positive note. It wasn't false, either. She really did appreciate the visit - even if it had a bit awkward ending.

It was a good question indeed. Why not? Maybe because, while he may know what a heat is and how it manifests, there is only so much that books and lessons could have told him, and he wouldn't have possibly known how it feels, how it impacts you, or how to endure it. Certainly not better than someone who had had to deal with it personally ever since adolescence. Despite being a third year student, his idea of what it's like to experience an estrous cycle would have been scarce at best. Keep in mind, nobody had suggested that he might not know what heat is, only that he wouldn't know much about it. An important distinction to be made. "I understand, it's just a rather... intimate thing to talk about, you know?" Anpu explained. She didn't need a guardian, definitely not one in the form of Raúl. She didn't need advice on how to deal with her problems, if anything, it was rather empathy and encouragement that helped her. Not to mention, she already had an older sister... She sighed, keen on changing the topic. "Just... forget it. Apology accepted." She looked slightly uncomfortable by the situation, and why it might not have been his intention, she did guilt herself over bringing the conversation down, starting to worry that she offended the man. Her eyes picked up the gaze and she tried smiling encouragingly. She reaaally didn't want this to hang between them, and at this point she was most likely overthinking the entire situation.

"You're always welcome!" Anpu smiled too as he voiced his intent to visit the library more often. It was always nice to see some friendly faces around. Her ears lowered, however, to the sound of his following words. "Raúl, I- of course I did! I wasn't just sitting there and-" She fell silent, pouting her lips slightly, realizing that that's exactly what she's been doing for the last couple of whiles. Well, to her defense, she did also manage to get through a couple dozen pages of ancient, handwritten scholarly texts, but it honestly wasn't particularly helpful at getting her mind off... well getting herself off. She exhaled, calming her breath. "L-listen, I appreciate you trying to help, but I- I can take care of myself. I know what works for me, alright..?" Anpu knew that Raúl didn't mean anything ill, but she still felt slightly annoyed by the fact that he tried to give her advice. He was a human and a male, what could he possibly know about the state she was in?

Anpu didn't think much of the mistake - after all, such mental lapses can happen to anyone - even people as smart as Raúl, or the person controlling him were. It's what makes us human... well, or monster... but that was not the point. Ekhm. "Don't say that!" the Anubis protested, her lips pouting slightly. "Y-you're not dumb at all!" She looked up to seek out Raúl's eyes, and shifted as he did the same, paradoxically not expecting the sudden eye contact between them. She struggled to find words for a moment. "Uhm... I'll be sure to make you a list next time you visit the library!" she then affirmed, glad that he took her up on her offer. She felt a wave of embarassment go through her once again, as he followed on about her heat. "I d-don't actually. I mean, I've always just waited it out, but..." She shivered. Only now did she realize how close they got to each other. His body smelled so good... Anpu took a few quick, small steps to distance herself from Raúl, her breathing rapidly increasing, "...s-sorry..." she apologized, and quickly went to finish answering his question, trying not to think of how he just made her feel. "it's just never happened during the first days of school before. A-and I don't want to miss the first days..."

Anpu raised her eyes to finally meet Raúl's. She was glad that he understood her condition, but to hear it put so bluntly... "Yep." she agreed silently, not quite able to get rid of the blush on her face. It was clear that her heat was something of an open secret to people who knew her, but still, openly admitting it, just like that, was something she struggled with. His explaination did calm her down a bit, and even brought a small smile to her face, but, as he would learn in a moment, likely not for the reason Raúl originally imagined. She hesitated at his proposition, slightly afraid of any bodily contact in her current state. "Oh come on, it's just a single pat," she argued in her mind, "what's the worst that can happen..." Having decided, she nodded slightly, looking forward to the pleasurable sensation, and purred softly when it finally arrived, her ears shifting between his fingers. She pulled herself a bit closer towards him, finally stepping out of the corner she originally placed herself into, the fur on her arms brushing against his shirt. A smile of joy appeared on her face. "Thanks, I... needed that," she affirmed, restraining herself from giving him a small kiss on the cheek. There were still traces of worry of what he might have been thinking of her, but Anpu had to admit that Raúl's understanding did make her feel a bit better about herself. She stepped back once he finished his caress, looking him in the eyes. Her own irides sparkled as she remembered something. "Oh, and Raúl," Anpu started, giggling lightly, "Anubi are canine. We're related to jackals." The Anubis corrected, her tone not of malice, but rather playfulness. "I can recommend some books on the topic, if you're inclined." She winked after this slight verbal jab, glad to be able to take his overconfidence down a notch. It even almost made her forget about the burning in her loins.

"N-no- Yes- It's just... Yeah, a bit of a bad time," Anpu admitted finally, silently panicking inside. "Sorry," she once again sheepishly complied with her usual urge to apologize. She was burning with embarassment. Raúl wasn't stupid, and with how she was behaving, he would most certainly add two to two, if not now, then surely later when he would get to think about it. And he would think that she's some kind of... pervert. Anpu shivered slightly as her mind went into a full damage-control mode. "I'm- I just- Uhm-" she stuttered, making a few quick steps towards the door herself, not wanting to let him go before she got a chance to explain herself. She took a deep breath. "It's- it's an Anubi thing. I just- There are... periods where I'm not exactly.. myself. I get... uhh... distracted... easier.. sorry," she confessed, her voice fluctuating as she turned her head away a couple times, almost as if she were trying to hide herself from Raúl's inquisitive gaze, before staring almost directly back at him. She was unsure whether he could correlate her behaviour with one of his monster biology classes. If he had classes on that. Anpu wasn't even sure if she really wanted him to make that connection. "I-it's completely normal, I just- I just need to wait for it to pass..." she assured quickly, not wanting him to delve to deep into the topic.

"Oh, certainly not. He was quite adamant on that matter!" Anpu smiled, seemingly a bit more comfortable when she had a topic she could speak about. She couldn't blame Raúl for his jab. Master Illrean would call her for most trivial of things. Anpu of course never let that impact her scores, but the fact remained that, to grievance of many of her teachers, she often had to skip parts of lessons because of her duties as an assistant. Thankfully most people understood how Master Illrean was and didn't make her any problems, but the impression remained. "Umm... yeah, something like that..." She answered quickly, reddening even more profusely. A quick look over her, however, made it clear that it was not the case. Aside from a layer of sweat on her skin, her fur and hair had been mostly dry... if not for a few spots where the damp fur near her hand clinged to her underarm. It was clear to anyone who had spent at least a few minutes with Anpu that she wasn't a good liar. Slightly panicking from his question and not even acknowledging the possibility of dressing up when Raúl was in the room, she seemed to have completely missed the hint, and just kept awkwardly standing near the corner, mostly wishing for this to end before it gets weird.

"Y-yes, sorry," Anpu agreed, and machinally apologized, as if the cold outside was somehow her doing. Unsure what exactly to do with herself, she decided to stay where she was as she explained herself. "Thank you- for the concern." She smiled at Raúl after his response, not quite used to being looked after like that. In fact, whenever she was absent, it was mostly so that she could deal with her heat in a safe and controlled environment, so getting visited during these was something that she usually tended to avoid. But then, there was no way for Raúl to know that, and it was quite sweet from him to check on her anyways... "Hmm? Oh, yes!" she confirmed with enthusiasm at the mention of the new librarian, then blushed as her mind made a dirty connection after hearing Raúl's following words. Her eyes unwillingly went to the slightly ajar chest in the corner. Thank gods humans have a bad sense of smell, "Master Havershan's very... kind" She uttered. She wanted to say "charming", but realized mid-sentence that this was likely not a proper way to describe a school staff member. Her legs pulled slightly closer to each other, as the anubi girl felt a drop of lubrication slide down her inner thigh. She knew that she should probably somehow continue the conversation, but her mind drew a blank, as the only memories she could draw right now of the librarian were not ones she was willing to disclose. "I take it you've... umm... met him?"

"I-it's fine, really!" she assured quickly, not wanting to appear unwelcoming. To be frank, he was bothering, but she didn't want to appear rude by just turning him away. Awkward silence fell for a second, as Anpu nervously scratched the back of her neck, only now noticing that they were still standing in the doorway. "D-do you want to come in?" she asked, only after a second realizing what her proposal could have implied, "I mean- Not like-" She turned in place, trying to hide her embarassment, her tail protectively wrapping around her body. She took a deep breath, and stood to the side, letting him in. What he wouldn't know though, was that said embarassment came not from the implication itself, but rather the sudden surge in her arousal that said implication caused. "Alright Anpu, as long as you don't do anything stupid, it will be alright." she guided herself in her thoughts, dismissing the countless images of how this encounter could end that constantly popped up in her mind. "He's just a... friend, coming over to check on you. Just... umm... what do people do in these sort of situations?" She caught herself staring into distance for a moment, her hand hovering near the door. She shook her head slightly and, provided Raúl accepted her invitation, pushed the door shut. "Right, he asked a question. Wait, did he ask a question?" "Right. Class. Absence," she muttered, only half-aware of the fact that she spoke that out loud. Taking another breath, she managed to get herself to focus. "I was just helping out in the library. There's always a lot to do when the year begins, and Master Illrean didn't like when I left things unorganized," she confessed, using maybe a bit too many words. "Mr. Marlowe excused me! I'll just get notes from someone."

Whereas Raúl might not have been too perplexed by the encounter, Anpu, on the other hand, felt the blush on her face deepen, and pressed the towel closer to her body. "M-mister Raúl!" she stuttered, shaking slightly at the soft breeze coming from behind the opened door. The man was not unfamiliar to her, although his sudden visit was most certainly unexpected. She had always envied his seemingly natural affinity to magic (which may have been a reason why she had a crush on him during their first year,) and, while he was not exactly her friend - Anpu had never made many of these - she admired his intelligence and abilities, even despite his rather eccentric way of being. "N-no, it's alright, I was just... umm..." She reddened even further, struggling to find an explaination in the heat of the moment, her voice escaping as she turned her head away from his gaze. "W-what brings you here, Raúl?" she quickly changed the topic.