Walking around the halls of Dorm C, Blaine was completely and utterly lost. How she had become in this predicament was beyond her, but she was. She glanced around the hallways, a bewildered expression adorning her pale face. Chestnut hued eyes sought out Room 142. Why couldn't she find Room 142? I mean, it wasn't that hard... was it?

An exasperated sigh escaped her pink tinged lips, sighing out of pure frustration. The bag that had been slung across her shoulder was becoming heavier and heavier by the minute. The few books lying in her bag suddenly felt like boulders. Her left hand tightened its grip on the strap, hoping she'd take off some of the weight on her shoulder.

Once white, worn tennis shoes adorned her feet, touching the ground softly as they stepped upon the ground. Loose-fitting, tattered jeans hung off her hips, the bottoms 'flaring' out and sweeping the ground, the hems of her jeans already frayed and dirty. A light pink turtleneck was fit on her upper torso, the shirt also appearing faded and worn.

"I guess they didn't feel it necessary for them to tell me where the hell I'm supposed to go," Blaine mumbled angrily to herself. Today was obviously not going well for her and the not too distance future looked to be heading in the same way.

"Well, that was rude of them, wasn't it?" came a voice from behind her. It was melodious and persuasive and slightly echoed in the hallway.

The voice belonged to a man just as interesting: dressed in a smoky gray three-piece suit, a fedora perched on his head. In hand was a simple cane. He was smiling, his teeth were still closed, however. When he did speak, there was a flash of silver.

"Who are 'they', anyway?"

Apate was pretending to be in a good samaritan kind of mood.

Jumping lightly, Blaine turned on her heels, startled by the sudden presence of another. "Yeah, it was," She said, quirking a thin eyebrow curiously. And yes, this man was indeed curious. She shifted her weight, the frustration still there.

"'They' are the people at that damned front office. They bother to tell me the rules of the university and shit, but not where my damned dorm room is…" She replied furiously, her arms folding across her chest as she rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. She looked like she was... well, whining.

She had never been one to curse, though it seemed after leaving the strict house she had once lived in, the cursing had just suddenly started. Coming as a 'natural ability' to her.

"Oh, are you lost?" As if he couldn't tell by now.

"I can help you find it, if you like. I've been here at the university for a few years now." That was a lie. He couldn't help.

"What's the room number?"

Right now, Blaine didn't feel like dealing with either trusting this guy or not. She just felt like getting to her room.

She nodded and replied quickly, "Yeah, I need some help… It's 142," She said simply.

"Well, there's your problem. You're on the wrong floor. You should be upstairs." Another lie. Apate knew very well where it was, but this would be fun. She seemed like an angry sort of person, deep down, and they were always the most fun.

"Come along, we'll find it," he said, walking to the nearest staircase.

"What? Upstairs? Erg.." She mumbled, following closely behind this man that she was trusting… when they had only just met. She had thought it was on this floor, oh well, this guy supposedly knew where he was going…

Shifting her weight again, she held the strap of the bag with one hand while the other swung at her side. "And what is your name?" She asked him, since he was the one who was to be showing her where to be going.

"My name? My name is Freddie," he said, rolling the r and, oddly, the d's. "And your name, dear lady?"

Trust. Such a powerful thing, and easy to gain if one knows how. Freddie knew how. He moved up the stairs lightly, only his cane making a dull thump on each step.

Farther and farther away from room 142.

"Blaine," She said quietly, following his footsteps. How she was so dumb to actually believe this… Freddie, but she was desperate to find her room.

Again sighing, she followed quietly, not knowing what to say to this stranger who so willingly was helping her.

"So," Freddie said, "what are you studying? Something exciting, I hope."

Silently, he wished for law. Lawyers were so much fun.

"Marine biology," She waited a moment, "And you?"

The ocean's creatures were fascinating to this selkie, and so, she had chosen marine biology.

"Me? At the moment I'm studying the effects of lying." Kind of true, which was phenominal for Freddie.

Let her think what she would. Psychology, maybe? Or if he just lying now? Descisions...

Lying? The effects of lying? Oh, God, just what Blaine needed, a lying bastard. Hell, he was probably lying to her right now.

"Never heard of that course before," She said, eyeing his back carefully.

Again, the effects of lying? Over and over did these words travel through her mind.

Had she been in front, she would have seen a devious grin on his face. It would have made it interesting if she could see it.

"No? It's very popular around here, I must say."

Yeah, sure it was. She couldn't believe any more words that came out of this guy's mouth. For all she knows, Freddie doesn't even go to this damned school.

Now frowning, she simply said, "Yeah…" And left it that.

"Are we almost there?" She asked impatiently, a few moments later, cursing herself for even asking the question. He would most likely lie to her about this as well. Ah, well, what the hell.

Glancing back and forth at the numbers on either side of the hallway, Freddie appeared to be confused. "Hm. I thought we were, but... it seems we are on the wrong floor." Another truth. He's on a roll.

"Perhaps it's back where we were?"

"Yeah. I thought it was on the floor we were on..." she said quietly, letting her voice trail off. Glancing up at him, she watched his facial expressions curiously.

She changed directions and headed back down the stairs, for the first time noticing the numbers on the walls. "Ah, there's numbers..." She said happily, grinning widely.

She could really be a blonde at times.

"Is there? I hadn't noticed." A lie.

"Perhaps they can help us," he said, following behind her down the stairs. "When in doubt, always check the numbers."

She reached the bottom step of the stairs and stepped onto the floor they were originally on. Luckily, she was in mildly good shape, and was not affected by the walking up and down the stairs.

"All right, let's see..." She mumbled to herself, looking to the numbers on the wall to see which way to go. She could be independent, she could do this... she hoped. Starting off in the right direction, she figured the numbers would get bigger as they go, since the number tile said, '100-150.' "...I think it's this way."

((Sorry for the change of font, but the little font was hurting my eyes. xP))

((Sorry for the long absence, but, well, I was absent. As for the font, thanks for changing it. It hurt me too.))

"Is it now?" Freddie replied thoughtfully. Upon looking at the plaque, he was forced to agree. "Why, so it is. Well, off we go, then." He started on his way as well, looking at the numbers as he passed.

He wondered how best to prolong the fun.

She walked beside him and turned to look at him, at his face. "I thought you knew where we were going. Why would you have told me it was upstairs?" She asked him, arms swaying lazily beside her as she walked.

She wasn't mad, just, curious.

(( That's all right. Sorry for my short post, and delayed reply as well. ))

"I never said that," replied Freddie. "I was following you." A frown was painted over his face, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth invisibly.

"How very odd, no?"

Arching a brow, Blaine nodded her head slowly in agreement. "Yes, very odd. You were the one who suggested to try up the stairs..." Her voice trailed off in thought as they wandered ever closer to her room.

If she only had read her mythology; she would know who she was dealing with.

Reaching Room 142, she grinned with excitement. Taking out the key to her room, she unlocked the door and turned to thank the man who had 'helped her.' "Eh, thanks for helping..." She mumbled.

Freddie grabbed his cane and tapped the door. "But this is not the room number you are looking for."

And indeed, the door no longer said 142, but 143. "Very odd, no?" A charismatic smile crossed his face.

Glancing to the plaque, Blaine frowned and stepped out of the room quickly. "It isn't?" She asked, finding that bit of information surprising. "I need my eyes checked..." She muttered to herself. She shifted the bag onto her other shoulder, leaving the other shoulder to rest. "Okay, how 'bout this time you show me where I'm supposed to go. Obviously I don't have a clue."

"With pleasure, m'lady," he said with a bow. Then he started off quickly, off down the hallway.

Stairs. He turned, and went up them. He never even checked to make sure she was following.

Hallway. He turned, doubling back one floor above their previous footsteps, off down the hallway.

Stairs, this time going down. Freddie took these, returning the floor they had previously been on. He made his way to the door they hd just been at, tapping it with his cane.

"Here we are," he said with a smile. "142."

The door once again read 142.

How very odd.

She had followed him. Around the whole school it seemed like. Walking with brisk steps, she stayed close behind- heaving the bag around- short, quick breaths. Finally coming upon the door, she stopped.

Her hands found her knees and she bent over, breathing deeply. "That... was... a workout," She breathed heavily. She stood after a moment, noticing the door was already slightly adjacent. She shook her head. They weren't just here, no, wait, or were they?

Walking into the room, she threw her bag on the table and began to rub her shoulders, the pain subsiding now that the bag was on the floor. She stood at the doorway, not sure whether to thank Freddie, or cuss him out. "Uh, thanks," She finally said.

"My pleasure," he said with a bow. "I really must be off, though. Ta, my dear." With that, he turned and walked off down the hallway.

When he was out of sight, he disappeared into a puff of smoke. A few tendrils remained, floating lazily.