Today was possibly the worst day ever. For Alec, anyway.

He'd gone in to work late, stepped in a huge mud puddle that he thought was frozen but was apparently not, tripped over some person, and went home to his crappy little apartment to discover that his "buddy" had invited himself in and raided the fridge again. Which reminded him that he needed a better lock for that door. And it also reminded him that he was letting that same friend's grilfriend move in, because he was moving out.

And now, he was finally here, at Keaton University, looking like an idiot. He didn't know where to go and didn't know what to do. And this definitely didn't look like a highschool.

He'd never been to a college before. Never seen one, either. Heard of them and how they worked, but, uh... it didn't change the fact that he'd never seen or been to a college before.

This place was so big, too, he probably would've liked a map to show him a little arrow that said 'You are here' and the rest of the campus and where to go. That would be nice.

But here he was, anyway, at Dorm Complex A. And the only good thing about this whole thing was he had just entered, but he wasn't just standing around, so he didn't look completely clueless.

(Sorry I didn't give you much to work with here. T_T *feels stupid*)

Violet edged inside the building, opening the door with her shoulder, as her arms were full of her well-worn duffle bag. She managed to scramble inside, and the the door slammed shut with a loud bang. She cringed at the noise, and looked around. There was only one person there to see her making a fool of herself, thank goodness. She hated feeling strangers' eyes on her.

"Wing three... where's wing three...?" she thought, scanning the main foyer for the right corridor. Ah, there it was. The one with 'Wing Three' stamped on a plaque over the doorway. She dropped her duffle bag on the floor, tired of carrying it. Holding it by the strap, she dragged it after her across the floor. Her room was on the third floor, and she knew she'd be sharing it with some guy - Alec something-or-other. Sucks how they make you room with people you've never met before, she thought, not noticing as her duffle bag snagged on a loose floor tile. She felt resistance, and, unthinking, tugged back. A sudden ripping sound made her stop, and turn around to look.

"Oh, fuck," she groaned, seeing the bag's contents strewn across the floor - including a few 'sensitive' items. She started stuffing her things back in the ruined bag, blushing furiously.

While he was trying to sort things out and walk at the same time, he got terribly confused. And then some other person entered the college, so he had to look like he knew what he was doing. But it was difficult for him, because, in reality, he really didn't know what he was doing.

But, as she dragged her bag across the floor, and he heard the distinct ripping sound and saw the bag's contents fly across the floor, things got a little bit easier. For him, anyway. At least he wasn't the only one that was making a complete fool of himself. Erm, with no offense to Violet, of course.

He tried to ignore some of her more... 'personal' items, per se, and gave her an easy expression. Relaxed, you could say. Maybe.

"Need any help?" Yay for good manners.

She looked up at him, biting her lip. Then, with a sigh, her gaze returned to her duffle bag. "Yeah, please. That'd be great," she said, sounding defeated. "Thanks."

Wonderful. Friggin' wonderful, she thought, viciously stuffing clothes, books, and various other items into the frayed canvas bag. This is a GREAT way to start college. Spreading stuff all over the floor. I knew I should have brought my suitcase for these things.

Then her thoughts trailed off into a string of unintelligible swearing, not unlike that used by Yosemite Sam. "Don't know how I'm going to get these up the stairs," she muttered, only half intending for the guy to hear her, "I never understood why they don't install public-use elevators in these dorms..."

"No worries," he said, and joined her in grabbing items and carefully placing them back in her bag. It was the polite thing to do, after all, and he was feeling the same way she was about this whole great way to start college' kind of thing.

The thing was, he could still hear her thoughts, too, so it was like she was still talking, even though he guessed she probably wasn't.

"Yeah. It doesn't make sense, really." This is said as he places another book in her bag.

"Mm-hm... I guess it must have something to do with safety regulations or stuff like that..." she nodded, and with a slightly less aggressive motion, put a metal pencil case in the bag. There. That's everything. If I can get this stuff upstairs and not kill myself in the process, I'm going to go get my suitcase... Not that I'll be needing it... since all my stuff's here anyway. She looked at her helper, and managed to smile. "Well...thanks again," she said. Her fingers traced the ripped edges of the canvas, then she gathered the heavy bag into her arms and stood up. "Maybe I'll see you around," she said, "But at a place this big, who knows?" She gave him a shy little finger-wave (quite the effort, since her hands were clasped tightly around the duffle bag) and turned to leave.

What a nice guy, she mused, her thoughts wandering beyond any real focus. Kinda cute, too. A folded paper, her class schedule, fluttered to the floor behind her as she headed for the stairs at the end of the hall. All her attention was focused on keeping her grip on the lumpy canvas sack, so it was no surprise that she didn't notice that one little piece of paper.

"Probably. I wouldn't know. Something like that." He shrugged a little as she placed the last item back in her bag. He was quite amazed that everything of hers fit into that bag, though.

"No problem. Any time." He smiled at her. It was a nice small smile. Nothing too bright, nothing too beautiful. All his teeth were straight at least. Courtesy of braces that he had as a kid, probably.

"Maybe you will, maybe you won't. Who knows?" He gave her a small wave of his own.

And he almost flushed at her thought. Ha, that was nice. He hadn't had anyone call him cute in a while. He almost forgot to ask, but not completely...

She was almost out of hearing range when he kinda shouted (just so she could hear him), "Hey, I didn't catch your name!"

She glanced back over her shoulder, pausing momentarily. "Wha- oh. My name's Violet. Last name's Vendrédy, with a 'y'. I didn't get your name either...?"

Violet... Violet... hm.... that name. Oh, it was sooo familiar. Erk. His thought process jumbled a bit, and went into that 'oh don't tell me', kind of thing.

But his relaxed expression held the way it was. "Alec. Alec Aliceton." He replied, still trying to figure out if he was supposed to remember that name or not.

Alec Aliceton? she thought, tipping her head to one side to think about the name. Well, I know my roomie's first name is Alec, but I don't remember his last. Funny coincidence if it turns out to be him.

"You're staying in this dorm, right? You wouldn't happen to be in wing three, third floor,... maybe in room eight...?" she said. Every few words her tone grew a little more hesitant, as she went further and further out on the hypothetical limb.

Roomies? Well, that might explain something. Like the familiar name.

"Yeah," he nodded when she asked her first question. "Yes and yes," was his reply to the second and third questions. If you could consider those questions, really. So, Violet knew where he was staying? Heh, fancy that!

"Well." she said, as if that one word explained everything. She grinned - a silly one that looked like it was the prelude to a burst of laughter. "Looks like we're roommates, Alec."

Coincidence kicks ass, she thought cheerfully. The one person I've met so far that I like, and he's my roommate. Of course, I'll have to make sure Wick leaves him alone. But that shouldn't be too difficult...

"So we are." He smiled again. He never really smiled that full, bright smile, but it was simply that small, meek smile. It never really got him anywhere, but it was friendly, nonetheless.

"In that case, need help with your things?" Never hurt to ask, right?

"Hm, no thanks. But you could follow me up the stairs. That way, if I trip, you'll cushion my fall," she joked. "Oh, by the way - do you have your stuff moved in yet?"

She shifted her grip on the duffle bag while she talked, trying to find an easier way to hold it. Finding none, she let it lean against her shoulder, partly obscuring her face.

"Oh, sure I could. But what makes you so sure that I'll cushion your fall, eh?" Never trust Alec. He could be joking or he could be serious. In this case, he's joking, though.

"And no. Not exactly. My stuff's still back in my apartment, boxed up. Haven't exactly had time to bring it up here." He shrugged. Simple enough answer. Partly true.

"In any case, there's still plenty of time to get settled in... classes only start in a week or so," Violet said. She pushed the door to the stairwell open with her foot, and slipped inside. She looked back at Alec. "Seen the room yet?"

"Yeah, that's true..." Which gave him about a week to move out of his apartment and get all of that sorted out. That would be nice. Probably be pretty crazy, but it'd still be nice. The thought of moving out defeated the thought of the craziness.

He followed after her, anyway. "Not yet," was his reply.

"Well, it's a ... pretty average kind of place," she shrugged. "Nothing spectacular, but it's better than some motel rooms I've been in."

Having made it up the first flight of stairs, she began on the second, trying not to think too hard about her footing. Going 'don't trip, don't trip, don't trip,' was a guarantee that she'd fall over. And let's face it, she thought grimly ,I'm not the most coordinated person in the world.

"Anything's better than that crappy old apartment I was living in." He shrugged as well. It was his way of saying it really didn't matter what it looked like.

"These stairs are perhaps hazardous to anyone's health. Any late student, or whoever, going too fast, could easily break their neck. Or something other."

"...Yeah, I guess that's..." Violet stopped dead in her tracks. A puzzled frown creased her brow. He'd just given a response to words she was pretty sure had only been thought, and not said.

"Was I thinking out loud? I thought I'd kicked that habit..." she said, feeling more than a little confused. I didn't say any of that out loud, did I? God, I'd better not have started talking to myself again...

"I'm pretty sure you were." Wow, what a lie. But he couldn't have just said no, in any case. Then there'd be questions and suspicions, and she might not know about magic... and ugh, he'd rather not go there. Besides, it was only a little white lie. Wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Old habits die hard, I guess?"

"Heh...yeah, guess so," she said, with a nervous, weak smirk. That's just plain unnerving... I hope I haven't been talking to myself and not realizing it. If I fall back into that, he'll think I'm crazy. Well, then again, I'm crazy anyway, whether he thinks so or not. Little figment-of-my-imagination faery dogging my steps...

She shook herself mentally, taking the stairs two at a time now. There's the second floor cleared, now it was on to the third set of stairs. At least I'm the harmless kind of crazy person, she thought, with a sort of resignation.

Wow, she had quite the busy little mind. She was almost always thinking, and he assumed this'd be the cause of many of his headaches. If she thought that much all the time... ugh. He'd never hear the end of it. I mean literally.

"S'nothing to worry about, though. Won't bother me if you do it," he reassured her. That was actually his way of telling her he'd be reading her mind and responding to things she thought without even thinking about it, actually.

She smiled in earnest this time. "Thanks," she said sincerely, sounding quite relieved. Her feet found the third-floor landing. "Hey, um, could you get the door? This one opens inwards, so I can't just kick it open."

Phew. That's a good thing to know. Still, I've got to try not to... Have to remember I'm rooming with someone now. I can't just go chattering onto myself... or to Wick. Her train of thought abruptly changed course. I wonder how Wick's going to be about this? He hasn't said much about the whole moving deal... .

"No worries." He said. It wasn't a big deal. It was more his problem than hers, anyway. He was the one reading her mind, in technicalities. "And, yeah, sure," he said, walking to Violet's side and reaching for the door handle.

He turned it, and opened the door and held it open in that kind of 'ladies first' manner.

He was kind of interested about this Wick person, but he certainly wouldn't ask about that.

Oh, the pains of being a telepath!

Violet slipped through the doorway, and headed directly for the fourth door on the right side of the hallway. She'd left it unlocked early that morning, after having brought in her bookshelf (if there was one thing she couldn't do without, it was her books). So, yeah, maybe it was a little imprudent, but she'd meant to be back right away. Not that that was how things turned out, but the effort had to count for something.

She tapped the door with her toe, and feeling it yield, pushed it open all the way. She went inside and dumped the duffle bag on the floor, then leaned against the windowsill. It was a little cramped, but it wasn't like she needed the space anyway. Violet could easily be happy living in a broom closet, if she had her books.

"So." she turned around to look at Alec, and made a vague gesture to the room. "What do you think?"

Alec just followed after Violet, and whichever way she went, he went. This, perhaps, was better than a map. Definitely.

That had always been weird for Alec. The way people just left doors unlocked for a long period of time without even thinking much of it. Personally, he was obsessed with checking, double-checking, and triple-checking that things were always locked. It was one of his weird habits.

He followed in after her, and into the room.

"Pretty nice. Not much space, but it's good enough." Apparently he was pleased with the way it looked. And the bookshelf-- "You like books, eh?"

Violet couldn't help but smirk. "How did you ever guess?" she said. "Yeah, I like books. I always have one or two on the go... I'm afraid I won't be much in the way of company, just so you know. I'll be reading most of the time. Or studying. You know. Notes for classes and stuff."

She shrugged, and her gaze travelled to the bookcase. It was a cheap-looking thing, about waist-high on her, and packed with tomes of various shapes and sizes. Most of them had obviously been read and re-read, and had the fuzzed edges that always accompany a well-loved book. I wonder what kind of roommate Alec's gonna turn out to be? she pondered, her gaze unfocused. They say you don't really know someone until you have to live with them. This'll certainly be interesting.

"Iunno." He shrugged, innocently. Like he was some kind of stupid fool. But he was just joking, in any case. "It's understandable. I won't be any better. I'm a quiet person anyway." Even though he didn't really read as much as he did, he did sometimes. He had a box of books he had back at his apartment, actually. Mostly, he'd be drawing or writing, because he was into those things. And, oh--- music.

He had to bring his guitar. Eeerk. Oh shit. I wonder if Violet will mind that. What a pain in the ass. Hm.

Well, this'd be... entertaining. Or interesting. Whatever. Dammit, he was reading her thoughts again.

"Wonderful," she said, without any particular emphasis. "I think we'll get along just fine."

Well, that was an utterly, utterly lame reply on my part, she reproached herself, And then comes the awkward silence, I can feel it now. This is why I hate people. I always end up thinking I'm an idiot.

Violet, feeling the pressure of having been in a conversation with someone for more than a few minutes, began to overanalyze. Even the tiniest things she did made her feel like she was making a fool of herself. She always felt like she was being watched - not the creepy stalker way, more like being analyzed for defects. It was just something she'd grown into.

He grinned. "We'll just see about that much. They say you never know a person until you've lived with them."

Alec didn't think it was lame. And he couldn't have disagreed with the 'awkward silence' bit more. After all, when you're with Alec, there's always conversation.

Okay, I just made that up. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you later.

Alec wasn't watching for defects at all. He wasn't that kind of person. He was really laid-back when it came to appearances. Hence his terrible appearance most of the time.

She looked surprised for a moment. "Heh... Yeah," she said, tipping her head slightly to the side, too puzzled to react positively, "You know, I was just thinking that."

Her gaze meandered around the room - she didn't quite want to look him in the eye anymore, but she couldn't figure out why, and so she chalked it up to shyness. If you start that, you're just going to make yourself miserable. He's your roommate. You're going to be looking at him for quite a few months now. Get used to it, her voice of reason said, in an annoyingly singsong tone. Still, she didn't look at him, pretending to be preoccupied with the state of her bookcase.

And then there was... a sort of shimmer on top of the bookcase. Oh, crap. Not now, you stupid hallucination thing!

He could've just said, 'I know.' and he was going to, but he caught himself before he did, and instead just said, "Heh. Odd coincedence."

Then, she didn't look at him anymore. He would've just passed it off as her being observant and looking around and such, if he weren't a telepath. The painful part was, he knew what was going on in her head and he couldn't tell her that. It was annoying as well.

Ah, well. He decided to pretend to be interested in the bookcase too.

The shimmer was in the shape of a person. A person less than a foot tall. Who, as the shape ceased to be solely a shimmer, was revealed to have sharply pointed ears, messy ginger hair, and funny ragged clothes draped on a twiggy frame.

Go away, Wick! she thought, though she knew the faery creature - her 'hallucination' - couldn't hear her unless she spoke aloud. Go back to watever it is you do when you're not proving I'm a basket case.

She bit her lip as the faery boy turned to her and gave a charming little wave. He'd dissolved his cloaking illusion so that only Violet could see him. He didn't speak to her. He knew perfectly well that it would be silly to reveal himself to humans - humans other than Violet, that is. She denied all proof of his existence anyway (and quite a lot of proof there was), so it was no big deal. Silly humans... don't want to see what's right in front of them, he mused. I could have fun with this - what's she call it? Roommate. Right. I could have some fun with this rommate of hers.

Alec didn't see the shimmer. He couldn't. He didn't see Wick, the little faery boy. He couldn't. Sure, he could read minds, but he couldn't see little magical creatures. So he just observed the books in silence, blinking on occasion.

What on earth is she on about?, he thought, raising an eyebrow in slight interest. Whatever it was that she was talking to had to do with this 'Wick' thing of hers. He wasn't sure if it was in her mind or not, and since he couldn't see Wick, he was thinking she was a bit of a fruit loop at this point.

Violet turned abruptly away from the bookcase, looking out the window again as if there was something very interesting outside that demanded immediate attention. If I don't see him, he's not there, she told herself nervously.

Wick took this as a cue to do as he pleased. He always felt slightly hurt when she ignored him like this - they had, after all, been friends, until Violet realized that faeries could not possibly exist. It had damaged the friendship a little. No surprise there, of course. It offended Wick to be told that he didn't exist.

The faery swung into the first set of shelves and kicked one of the books. The book had been teetering, so it didn't take much to make it fall. The loud noise made Violet jump and turn around. Just in time to see another few books come tumbling down. "You-" She started angrily, then bit down on her lip. Can't talk to him. Alec'll think I'm nuts.

Alec was still concentrated on the books.

He shifted his weight to his right hip and let his hand rest there, trying to be comfortable, though this situation was quite odd. I mean, what could be worse than hearing a conversation and not being able to see one of the people.

Anyway, books started falling off shelves. And that was when he convinced himself that his roommate really was crazy.

"What?" He asked, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

It didn't make sense. At all.

"Just thought you might have knocked something over. Guess not. Something must've jarred the bookcase," Violet lied, her tone hesitant. She glared at the faery, out of Alec's line of vision, and motioned for him to get the hell off the bookcase. Wick gave a mischievous grin, and, with the most innocent expression on his face, leaned on a heavy old volume of Lord of the Rings. It fell.

"The uh, floor must be tipped," Violet said, trying to sound confused. She went over and started gathering up the fallen boks. Another fell on her head. She knew perfectly well what was happening! That little brat of a creature was being as much of a pain in the ass as he could possibly be. Why is this happening? I have to be imagining this! Faeries don't exist, and they can't knock books off shelves. It's just coincidental that I'm seeing him at the same time the things... are falling....

Lately, it had been getting harder and harder to tell herself it was all in her head.

"Yeah, I guess so," he agreed, still confused and still trying to figure things out, although his tone didn't reveal that much.

When he saw all the other books fall, and the one that fell on her head, he finally asked, "Uh, need some help with that?"

He heard her. Well, her thoughts. She thought she was imagining things. Imagining what? The books falling? They seemed to be pretty real. What else could she be imagining?

This was all very confusing to poor Alec.

"No, no, I've got it," she said, flustered. She darted a look at Wick that bordered on a death threat. "Stuff like this always happens..."

Wick held a hand tightly over his mouth, stifling a giggle. Oh, I don't exist, do I? he thought. He had the urge to tip over the rest of the books, but decided not to. Violet was stuffing the books haphazardly back into their places, coming dangerously close to hitting him with them. It almost seemed like she was doing it on purpose.

"There," Violet sighed, pushing some loose strands of hair out of her eyes. "Done."
She stood up. I swear, you little faery monster, if you try anything else I'll - oh, damn, what can I do anyway? Maybe it's best if I just ignore it.