A new roommate?!

As soon as Owen said 'making it up', Rein's eyes snapped to the boy. His tilted his head down, hair slipping languidly over his shoulder, and his brows creased in slight anger. A spark of electricity went off at the corner of his eyes and the bottom drawer of Rein's new dresser rattled slightly as the skull's eye sockets intensified in their glow.
If there was one thing the normally agreeable teen didn't tolerate, it was anything bad about Neferure. The boy felt responsible for her troubles, he was the one who brought her back, after all. He would not listen to someone say anything that slighted her name. Seeings, however, that the boy did not actually say anything against her personally, and seemed quick to backtrack slightly, Rein gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"You're in for a surprise if you think that story is hard to believe. Please keep in mind, you don't know anything about us, Owen...though you are free to ask her should you see her. Just don't insult her." There was a surprising hard note in his tone. It disappeared quickly, though, as he swept his long hair back to all fall over his left shoulder. He nodded in acceptance, figuring gym and O/D would indeed be difficult with an injured foot. "Of course I picked math. Math is easy, plus it's useful in many sciences and formulas. I was hoping that this school's program would be superior to that of High School's. I'm more surprised you're taking gym." He seemed reluctant even at the word. Indeed, Rein had been the kind of student that had dreaded gym and longed for the familiar safety of the math classroom.

Rein looked down at his hands, idly playing with a strand of hair. He would wrap it around his finger and snap it, watching as it knitted back together when he put the ends close. Then, he'd break it again, watching it go back.

Rein's sudden change of demeanour surprised him, to the point where he found himself cringing. He honestly hadn't expected the reaction, and the rattling of the drawer only seemed to add to the oddity. It semed clear at that point his comment had offended him. However, almost as quickly, Rein had returned to 'normal', leaving Owen rather baffled. He raised both of his hands in a manner that might suggest he was trying to tame a lion. "Whoa, whoa, I didn't say nothing bad about her," he hastily assured, frowning. "Was just sayin'..." He trailed off, somehow getting the feeling his explanation wouldn't be quite as welcomed.

Maths? Easy? He may have thought that, but it didn't stop it from being the dullest class in his repertoire. Heck, even vibrant purple hair and a comedic lemur companion failed bring any new excitement to it. But he certainly had no interest in invoking another reaction from Rein, so he kept his trap shut. Instead, he addressed his later comment. "Hey, I'm only taking it 'cuz I don't have to study for it," he shrugged. "It's not that hard." Or at least, it wouldn't have been that hard. It wasn't hard to assume that Owen probably didn't play sports very much, but he did at least observe them from the TV screen.

He peered at what Rein was doing from the distance, unable to decipher his exact actions of what he was doing with his hair, but he disregarded it, languidly returning to his prior position of resting his head on his chin. "I dunno," he flatly stated, referring to his lack of stuff to talk about rather than any direct question. "So, uh..." His eyes sailed to the window again. "Any plans for... what you wanna be, when you like... grow up?" A lame question, even Owen himself admitted that.

Glancing up from his hands, Rein leveled a rather emotionless look at Owen. It wasn't of anger, irritation just as much as it wasn't of interest or understanding. It was just a look, and it was rather like the one of the skull in his lap. Looking back down, he spoke.

"I didn't say you said something bad about her. I merely warned you that you don't know about our situation and that you should not insult her if you inquire about her origin." He shrugged lightly. The immortal listened to Owen's reasons for taking gym, but still frowned. "Maybe I've just never liked gym. It was a hassle." He looked up, slightly confused. "What's wrong with studying?"

Tilting his head, a small smile played at the corner of his lips. "When I grow up?" He tried to keep the smile off his face, but he was failing slightly. Eventually, he had to drop his head as a small 'heh' escaped, and he took a deep breath to kill the laughter in his chest. He cleared his throat. "Well, I plan to do what I'm doing now. I'm learning. I intend to gather as much knowledge as I can, study old cultures, speak dead languages, preserve history, that sort of thing. I'm pretty well off on money, but if I need to actually be something, I can translate, or teach for awhile here or there. I haven't really thought that much about it past that...I can't plan that far in advance." The smirk was back playing at his lips, he was horrible at hiding his expressions. Sometimes...though...he did wonder what he would be doing in a thousand years...would it have felt that long, or would it be like blinking? He was awfully curious. "And what about you?"

Then a thought occurred to him.

"And...if you don't mind me asking...what are you to put you in this type of school? And, I mean that in the way like how I'm a necromancer."

As Rein spoke to him, Owen very carefully made a mental note - that he would never say a bad word about this 'Neferure' person. Or at least, not while his room-mate was present. If he had recorded his reaction correctly before, he certainly didn't fancy stepping on his tail again. Something told him it would be wise not to aggravate the very person who's presence he would be sharing for at least the rest of this semester. He decided hastily that he'd never touch that subject again.

He raised a brow. "Well, it's boring." He knew he was taking chances by saying that - it would likely end up as another long-winded explanation from Rein about how the world revolved around studying and how beneficial it was, and frankly, he didn't want to hear it.

His lips tightened into a frown at Rein's slightly concealed grin - he could see he was trying not to laugh. He knew the question was somewhat cheesy, but did he have to show it so obviously on his face? Breathing irritably, he listened to Rein's descriptions. Teaching? Learning? Didn't Rein desire any sort of excitement in his life? Heck, if Owen had the ability to reanimate the dead, he'd use it for more than just sitting in a classroom. The disbelieving look on his face vanished when the question was directed at him. "Me? I'm gonna be in a band," he stated, with the distinct tone of pride. He thought Rein would assume he was referring to being a guitarist, and that was only partly true. Being the lead singer would be a pretty good bonus too, if it weren't for his constantly failing voice.

Then that question came. At first, Owen had to pause and think, not because he couldn't remember his own abilities, but to phrase them in a way that made it slightly more awesome than being a 'necromancer'. "I can talk to anyone... and anything," he explained somewhat hesitantly. "I can also turn into.. a big.. lizard monster." He leant over the edge of the bed, reaching his arms down to pull out the mirror which he'd kept stowed under there. He angled it towards Rein, holding it steady in his arms. "Using this thing." His face marred into a frown. "I really suggest you don't touch it.."

"Yeah, sometimes, I suppose." Rein snickered lightly, shrugging. He guessed it really depended on what you were studying. He raised an eyebrow at the band. "Interesting, what kind of music will your band play?" He smirked. "Make sure you're famous enough for me to take down in history books, yeah?"

It was when Owen started talking about his powers, though, that Rein showed an active curiosity, his hands pausing in their absent fidgeting. Languages?

"Any language? Kun je het verschil als iemand glijdt in een andere taal?" Rein effortlessly slipped in to his dutch. "What about reading?" If Owen could read any language, he may be able to help translate his recent book, just a quick glance to see if he had made any serious errors. Rein spilled only a portion of his questions, stopping as the mirror was turned towards him. He slipped off the bed, approaching with this new curiosity to peak his interest.

Stepping up to it, he took the boy's advise and resisted touching the object, instead looking into the mirror. He saw himself, just as he was. Not finding anything particularly interesting about this, he took to glancing over the designs on the mirror's edge. "It's brilliant-" He cut himself off as something caught his eye. Focus returning to the mirror, Rein observed as his reflection changed. It seemed to...grow. The skin started looking aged at an alarmingly fast rate, wrinkles setting in. "What's it doing?"

The reflection was still a reflection of himself, it's mouth moved as he spoke. But, he was older, aging, actually. It didn't seem to be slowing, either. He watching with a morbid fascination as the skin dried and eyes sunk but glow never fading...as he withered in front of his own eyes. A feeling of disconcert settled in his chest, but he couldn't seem to look away. Even as his reflection melted in to that of a skeleton. Rein didn't realize he had stopped breathing, frozen to the spot by what he was witnessing.


((rough dutch translation: "Can you tell the difference if someone slips in a different language?" ))

Owen rolled his eyes at Rein's comment, believing it to be sarcastic. "Rock band, probably," he shrugged, caring little whether it matched the boys tastes or not. Considering he played a cello, it probably didn't.

And then came the questions. He probably should have expected them, given the vague nature of his powers. He nodded hastily. "Not just any language, any sound." He had almost missed the unexpected change of language, but he did manage to deter eventually that it didn't sound like English. "I can tell the difference, but it can be tricky. I almost didn't tell that one you just did was different." He grinned knowingly, before shaking his head. "And no, it doesn't work with written stuff. Just spoken."

"What's it what..?" Owen raised an eyebrow in slight concern at Rein's question. The mirror wasn't meant to be doing anything, he'd never told it to. Then again, the thing had a mind of its own, and it probably taken the opportunity to give Rein it's own welcome.

He craned his neck around to peer at the reflection, before almost dropping it in surprise at the sight he saw. "Wh-whoa..!" He looked between Rein and the reflection, just to confirm that they weren't the same. "Tha- THAT's not meant to happen," he said frowning. A hand reached out to turn the mirror away, and if Rein had been staring closely enough, he'd see a scaly claw rather than a hand. He didn't know if Rein still wanted to continue looking at it, but Owen sure as hell didn't. The mirror was placed face down on the bed, and an apologetic grin was given in the direction of his room-mate. "Just ignore that..."

Nodding distractedly, Rein filed away information about Owen's language skills for later experimenting.

But for now...he was too busy being captured by the image in the mirror. He was a little shocked at Owen's surprise.

"What do you mean that's not meant to happen?" He asked incredulously. Why was the mirror showing him growing old and turning into a skeleton? He couldn't grow old...he couldn't die...As Owen turned the mirror away, Rein cause sight of the scaly hand in the reflection where skin should have been, and a spark of panic went up in the long haired boy's chest. Owen had said that he turned in to big lizard monster using this mirror. What if the mirror could turn Rein into...into what it was showing him? C-could the mirror take away his immortality?

Rein reeled back, stumbling away from the mirror in a panic. Where was his phylactery?! He strained to remember as he scrambled to his luggage. He was almost positive Neferure had it, so it was probably safe. But he had no idea the power of this strange object. Digging frantically through his suitcase for anything, really, he shoved a hand in the outside pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. He flipped open the blade, and without thinking, raked it across his left forearm. He sat on the floor, back towards Owen on the bed with lanky limbs sprawled before him, staring intently at the wound. Was it healing? There. Was that healing, or was that just his eyes playing tricks on him? He waited...no, it was healing...there, yes, it was stitching back together already.

He released a sigh and dropped his arm, tiredly closing the knife and throwing it back into his bag. No, it was fine. If he was healing, he was still immortal. He rubbed a hand into his forehead, man, that was stressful. Note: stay away from the freaky mirror.

"Right...well, it's okay. No damage done." Rein sighed again.

His eyebrows creased with thought as Rein addressed him with the rather skeptical question. "I mean it's not normally..." He trailed off, noticing how ridiculous he sounded to suggest that the mirror had any sense of normality. Until now, he'd only assumed that the mirror reacted to himself, but on the other hand, he'd rarely showed it to anyone else at all. It was these kind of assumptions that often led to his downfall.

Rein's reaction was worrying to say the least, and he stared as his room-mate scrambled towards his bag. He strained his memory to remember what he had seen - was it an old man? Even taking the strange dimension within the mirror into consideration, it was an unusual sight. Perhaps Rein was scared of growing old and the mirror had decided to show that? His line of thought was interrupted by a flash of silver he'd seen graze Rein's arm.

"What the... Hey!" An expression of alarm crossed Owen's face, he hadn't expected the long-haired boy to go as far as to harm himself. Feeling partly responsible for his distress, he sat up on the bed, leaning as far as he could without actually falling off. He stared in concern, still unable to get a good view of the wound from the distance and angle.

The comment surprised him. "N-no damage?" he echoed with disbelief. "Dude, you just---" He waved a frantic arm at him. "Seriously, why'd you..." It was around that time he caught another sight of the arm - and he saw it to be healing faster than he'd expect a wound to. He stared, his already raised arms freezing immediately. "....What."

Rein turned slowly to look at Owen, placing his palm over the wound and pulling it to his chest, out of the other boy's view. Well crap.

"What? Really, there is nothing wrong, your mirror has not hurt me like I thought it might have." He gave Owen a somewhat strange look, like he didn't know what to think of the boy. Honestly, he didn't know what to do. The cut on his wrist, from which blood was dripping around his palm, was going to give him away. Glancing down and lifting his palm for just a peek, he frowned. In his recklessness, he had severed a vein. It was healing, but not quite quickly enough. Well...he could lie, but that never did sit well with him. He could tell Owen the truth...ha. Well, he didn't have to tell him the whole truth...or maybe he could just avoid it?

And so, Rein reached his bag with his uninjured, though slightly bloodied, hand. It was only a moment before he withdrew a small box and a lighter. He stood and turned towards Owen, not being careful about hiding the injury anymore as it visibly inched closed, stitching itself back together. In fact, he acted like it didn't exist.

"well, this sucks." He held up the packet of cigarettes to his mouth and used his lips to pull one out, shoving the pack into his back pocket. Rein held up the lighter and smiled a little sheepishly.

"Bad habit, sorry. Only on occasion, though, I promise. Should I step outside?" His spoke around the cigarette in his mouth as his eyes flicked towards the door. It wasn't the bravest thing, but if he had to step out to smoke, then he could postpone explaining what just happened, hopefully indefinitely. His injured hand hung at his side, and small droplets of red sat on the floor beneath it. Well, it would be gone later once the blood returned to his body, wouldn't even leave a stain.

Owen tried to crane his neck for a better view of the wound when Rein pulled it to his chest, frowning out how he seemed to be hiding it. He was still baffled - unsure about what he had even seen. What if he'd just imagined it? Those red smears of blood could not be denied, however. But when Rein turned to face him, he could see it clearly for himself. Disbelief was written plainly on his face, and he looked up at Rein as if he'd grown a third arm.

He'd almost assumed that Rein was going to burn himself with the lighter - at this point, it wouldn't have surprised him at all. Then his eyes flickered to the cigarette, then back to Rein's face. "Do whatever!" he exclaimed, before gesturing to Rein's arm. "I just wanna know what that is!"

"I mean, why'd you do that? Why's it doing that?" A hand rain down his greasy mop of hair in exasperation. "Are you gonna explain anything...?" Leaning on the edge of the bed, he tensed as if he was about to stand up, but he didn't move from where he was seated. He blinked, before looking up at Rein with the vaguest hint of worry. "You're not feeling, uh... down... are you?" The fact that Rein had not only harmed himself but was now smoking a cigar invoked some concern in him, even if his assumptions were a mile off.

Sighing heavily, Rein flipped his head to toss the hair out of his face before he flicked the lighter. He held the flame to the end of the cigarette, considering his options. He supposed the easiest thing would be to just answer the questions, or he could try and make a run for it. That was a bit low though, knowing Owen wouldn't be able to follow. He released the trigger on the lighter and put it in his pocket next to the pack. The black cigarette smelled faintly of tobacco and strongly of cloves and cinnamon, being of a rather nice kretek brand.

"This.." Rein spoke carefully, looking down at his arm. "is a cut. I made it with a pocket knife to make sure that your mirror was not taking away my power when it showed me aging." He looked off to the side and sighed. "You see, I may have neglected to mention, I am...slightly resistant to age and well...death in general. So, what the reflection showed was indeed troubling. However, since the cut is healing, I am still with my power. I assure you, I am not feeling down at all." He smiled warmly at Owen, as if grateful and amused by the question. Rein then frowned thoughtfully.

"Please don't tell anyone, by the way." He brought the cigarette back to his lips before he paused and lowered it again to speak. "Why did your mirror do that, show me aging? You said it wasn't normal? What is normal for it then?"

Owen took a quick glance down at the arm as Rein presented it, and he raised a brow. Was he mocking his intelligence? Of course he knew it was a cut! But he listened to him anyway, and Rein explained his powers, his expression became a rather vague, expressionless one. Somehow, Owen sensed the understatement of 'slightly', and his jaw drooped as he slowly came to this realisation. "But.." He looked to the arm again, then pausing, then back at the skull. Either it didn't make sense to him, or he didn't want it to make sense.

"You... you can't die?" His eyes squinted with thought, and he pursed his lips. With an expression that was less than pleasant, he looked to the floor. "How old are you anyway?" It was spoken with a slightly accusative tone, as if he was still wary of his room-mate's intentions.

A hand stretched out to touch the border of the mirror. It was still face-down on the bed - Owen wouldn't have felt comfortable with it any other way. "I dunno," he said honestly. "S'not even mine. I jus' found it. I thought it would leave you 'cuz..." he shrugged. "I thought you were just a human."

"No." Rein pointed out quickly. "You could kill me. You could stab me in the heart if you wanted, and I would be dead..." He paused. "Well, for a little while anyway," He shrugged lightly. "If you want to kill me permenantly, well that's a bit more tricky, but still doable."

The cigarette hung from the corner of his smile as he raised an eyebrow at Owen. He stuck his hand in his pocket and sauntered forward to stand before the boy, his tall thin frame looming. He leaned forward, close enough that the long hair that slipped over his shoulder would brush against Owen's knee.

"Oh, I'm a terribly old man, hundreds of years old, here in the hopes to be roomed with an innocent young boy." He smiled as though innocently, though lillac eyes glowed brilliantly, giving away a light of mischief. His smile cracked wider and he leaned back. "Naw, just kidding. I'm only 47, though my body is still 15....and I'm straight, sorry."

Glancing to the mirror, he side-stepped, edging away slightly.

"Yes, well, I am...I made myself this way, though. It's called a Lijk." He stared at it before he looked to Owen rather incredulously. "You found a strange magical mirror...so you kept it...well, I guess I would have done the same..." He gave in, pondering slightly. "So, now you know about me, what exactly are you? Are you human, or, you mentioned a lizard form?..." He trailed off.

At Rein's rather morbid suggestions, he raised both of his hands, shaking his head hastily. "No no no no, I'd uh, rather not..." He knew Rein had power over the dead, but he'd never have guessed that he could be some sort of zombie himself. Or at least, that's what he assumed.

As Rein moved closer, he found himself cringing away from him, without even realising. He'd stepped beyond his comfort zone, and a look of sheer disgust crossed his face when he described his occupation. "What?" Much to his dismay, the smoke which had been lingering decided to slither into his throat, irritating it. After attempting to hold it in, he found that he couldn't, spluttering out a dry, wheezing cough. Aw, great.

He was relieved when Rein stood back, but a frown was still present on his face. 47 was still old enough to be his father, and Owen looked thoroughly disturbed by this. "S'fine," he rasped, although it was clearly not.

"Just a human. I know it ain't the most exciting," he spoke quietly, grabbing the edge and holding it upright. He positioned the angle so that Rein would be able to see Owen's reflection in it, that is, a much taller, fearsome looking lizard beast, though with still the same dull, unpleasant expression he usually wore. "But I can turn into that, if I ask it to." He phrased his words carefully as he gave his reflection a sidelong glance. He certainly didn't want to accidentally transform now.

Raising an eyebrow, Rein looked at Owen like he was crazy. "Well, I wasn't suggesting that you actually kill me, it was hypothetical. I still feel pain. I would prefer you ask first if you want to." He rolled his eyes as if he were exasperated that the boy would think such a thing.

Looking down at Owen with a questioning expression, Rein glanced to the cigarette in his hands and back. Figuring the boy found the smell unpleasant, he quickly smothered and crushed the rest of it in his hands, ignoring the slight sting as it burned him. He was slowly becoming accustomed to pain, and his brain was beginning to just not process it. Hopefully, within a few more years, he wouldn't be able to feel it at all. A last tendril of smoke escaped his palm before he dropped his hand. Unwilling to just leave the butt of it lying around, he held on to it for now. He smiled at Owen reassuringly.

"I'm fifteen, Owen."

Turning his attention back to the mirror, his eyes widened at the beast in the reflection and he whistled lowly, impressed. "That's not quiet just human." His eyes flicked from the mirror to the human boy and back, giving a small smile. "I can see the resemblance. It's truly very neat. I'd be honored to see it one day...what does it allow you to do? Does it give you any extra power? Aside the physical benefits of the form, of course."

Owen frowned at Rein, his eyebrows furrowing at the way he seemed to act at him. Rein brought up the idea first on how to kill him, so it wasn't Owen's fault that it led him to make that statement. "But you said--" He cut the comeback short, deciding it wasn't worth it.

His mouth twitched in only vague satisfaction as the cigarette was smothered out. However, it was no instant remedy to the atmosphere, and he found another strong desire to cough swelling up again. However, he suppressed this urge, for the dumb reason that it would be a distraction to the conversation at hand. As a result, he ended pulling a rather odd expression in an attempt to conceal his will to cough.

Fifteen? The claim was quickly brushed aside. He certainly didn't act like any 15 year old he knew. He may have looked and lived as a 15 year old, but Owen knew there was a world of difference between them. Then again, there was a world of difference between most things in this academy. He'd always hated these contradicting thoughts.

However, he soon had a reason to feel pride at Rein's compliments about his alternative form. However, the question struck him dumb. His jaw hung as he tried to think of a response. Aside from the physical benefits? The physical benefits was the power, as far as Owen was aware. He'd only possessed the form for around a year - even he knew very little about how to control it. "...It's strong," he said lamely. In an attempt to avert the conversation away from his lack of knowledge about his own form, he cut his eyes at the window, frowning. "Mind opening a window?" It was said with a slightly snotty tone of voice - the smoke present in the room was Rein's fault after all.

As soon as the question was asked of him, he simply quickly dipped his head and strolled to the window without complaint. After all, living with a princess, you started just doing the things requested, not that Rein minded either. Even the tone of voice didn't faze him. Shoving the window up, he blinked at the slightly chilly wind that drifted in around him.

"Well, it looks very useful. That's one thing I can never manage, zombies give no way to physical strength." He chuckled, picturing the zombies just falling apart attempting to lift things. "and it's certainly unlike anything I've seen here as of yet. I would love to study it when you're feeling better." He turned at looked to the injured foot pointedly. Oh course, he wouldn't ask Owen to change while he was injured, but when he was better, he would greatly enjoy an opportunity to study.

However, having noticed the other boy's discomfort, he apologized. "I probably shouldn't have smoked in here. You are bothered by it. Should we leave the room until it's gone? I can make you lunch or something..." He frowned thoughtfully, not really sure what time it was. "That, or it's never a bad time for dessert." Rein shrugged lightly and smiled amiably.

Owen watched Rein open the window, relieved with how amiable he seemed to be with such commands. At the very least, he wasn't the "do it yourself" kind of person, the kind he'd gotten used to from his family. A deep breath was taken as the fresh air circulated - it had been a long time since he'd smelled the outside air.

He was glad that Rein didn't request his transformation at that instant, he hated the transformation so much, and he certainly didn't feel obliged to show Rein anything of how painful it was. "Study it?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow. "...Okay." He wasn't sure how comfortable he was with that idea, but he may be able to discover something new with this form that he didn't know he could do. With this thought, he cracked a grin at Rein. "...Did you know I can actually roar in that form? Like a t-rex?" It was a cool fact he'd always loved to share.

Owen's expression notably lightened at Rein's suggestion, a small smile forming on his face. He didn't know what to expect from Rein though, and almost imagined him preparing something to cannibalistic degrees. "Sure," he grinned, bending down to pick his two crutches from the floor. "Just as long as you don't put any zombie parts in it or something..." He pressed them both on the floor, lifting himself from the bed, his bad foot raised slightly form the floor. He looked to Rein expectantly. "You first."

Smiling at the boy enjoying the outside air from the window, Rein assumed that the walk to the main castle would be good for him. He nodded and hummed in confirmation. "Yes, study. I don't plan on dissecting you, so you should not worry. Just simple things." He then smiled and laughed lightly. "Can you? That will be one thing you'll have to show me. Maybe you're related?" He jested and tucked an escaped lock of hair behind his ear.

Noting the boy's happy expression, Rein himself felt more excited to cook. It was not often he made meals these days. Well, he made stuff for Nef, but still, he enjoyed it and wished to do more. Nodding, he grabbed two hair ties from his case. Pulling his hair in to a neat loose pony tail, he retrieved the pocket knife (from which the blood had already returned to him) and used it to make a swift slice from under, just above the tie. He felt the slack as his, now short, hair was released from the confines. He laid the long pony tail of his hair over his case as if it were a discarded jacket and pulled the hair that remained on his head into a short pony tail at the back. It was cut messily and was uneven, but it hardly mattered.

Crossing to the door, Rein only scoffed at Owen in good humor.

"You kidding? Zombie stomach soup is the best..." He raised an incredulous eyebrow as he opened the way out to the hall. "Are you sure you do not required assistance?"

Simple things? It wasn't very specific, and Owen wondered if Rein was being intentionally vague. He decided to take his word for it though, nodding curtly. Whatever 'studying' he would do, it would be postponed 'til later. "Related to t-rexes..?" A dumb smile played on his lips, he'd never really considered it before. "...That would be so cool."

Owen found himself tensing at the sight of the pocket knife again, wondering if Rein would spontaneously harm himself again. Instead, to his surprise, he cut his hair instead, and he watched him lay the hair down. He peered at Rein's new appearance. "...I think long hair suits you more."

He raised a brow at Rein's later comment. "Ha ha..." he dryly laughed, severely hoping him to be joking. He made his way past him as the door was opened, not offering him much of a glance. Standing in the corridor, he awaited Rein to follow. "I'm fine - try asking that when we get to stairs," he tartly pointed out. If anything, stairs were a complete nightmare.

Rein smiled charmingly.

"Thanks?" He chuckled and followed Owen out of the room.

(( Continued: https://aalc.rpg-board.net/t373-zombie-stomach-soup#7038 ))

(( INSERT UNSPECIFIED AMOUNT OF TIME HERE KTHX ))

At some point after the residents of this particular room had left, there arrived a visitor. Neferure let herself into the room without knocking of course, since she had that right (of course) and was slightly disappointed to find it empty. She was more disappointed, though, to find it in the state that it was. A motherly sigh heaved from her chest and she planted a hand on either of her hips. Well, if she was going to have to wait for Rein to return, she might as well make herself useful in the meantime.

She didn't have any idea who the roommate was that had left empty food wrappers and papers or whatelsehaveyou all over the floor, but it was unacceptable if Rein was to live here as well. So with resolve, the lioness padded around the room, gathering any trash she had found into a pile and tidying magazines into neatly even piles beneath the roommate's bed, which is where she assumed they should be since there were many more there as well. That job ended quickly enough, though, and still bored and alone, Nef left the room on a quest for sufficient cleaning supplies.

Upon her return, she found that the unmade bed--Rein's--had been removed and replaced with a plush high-backed and elegant arm chair. She nodded approvingly then wielded a feather duster and a damp rag about the room like weapons against the filth.

With the cleaning accomplished, and the room smelling sweetly like the orange zest cleaner she'd found, Nef completed the last chore of settling clean sheets on the single bed in the room, then settled on top of it. She sighed comfortably and closed her eyes, one massive lion's paw dangling lazily over the mattress's edge, and she waited for someone to return.

On the walk back to the dorm buildings, Owen didn't really have much in mind. Except for maybe that one thing Rein had told him earlier. What it meant to be a Lijk? What was that meant to mean? He couldn't even be sure if he was in the mood to discover what it was. The idea of lying around in his bed doing absolutely nothing seemed far more appealing, especially after a good dinner.

The room to his dorm was already open. Owen thought nothing of this at first, that is, until the moment he stepped inside and saw a large, catlike beast lying his bed. He stumbled back, startled by the sight. The second thing that hit him was the smell - a fruity smell that he certainly hadn't encountered before in his room. He realised, before holding up an arm apologetically to the sleeping... thing. "Whoa... Sorry, I thought this was our room... Rein, Rein we got the wrong... " He began to back out of the room, peeking out into the corridor to locate the right room instead.

But this was their room. Owen knew that. This was the place he made a beeline too after just about every class he went to, after dinners, after hanging around. He came here every day, and he knew well where it was. So how come it was nothing like their room? The expression on his face told pure bafflement, as he would peep out into the corridor, then back into the unfamiliar room. There was only one bed, everything was clean, there was no litter, and not to mention a complete stranger present. His eyebrows furrowed. "Rein, this isn't..."

Speechless, he knew this was the right room, but every scrap of sense he ever had told him that this was a complete strangers. Besides, why would they be sleeping on his bed? A hundred questions lingered on his tongue, and he just wanted to spurt them all out at once. With bated breath, he'd continue to exchange dumb glances with just about everything present in the room. Only one question would ever be able to escape his mouth.

"...What?"

Rein trailed along after Owen, back to humming songs he favored playing on his cello. Though, it seemed nothing quite fit, and so he kept changing the song part way through to try again. It was this that absorbed most of his thoughts, trying to keep in step with the other boy's pace just out of the back of his mind.

He wasn't paying attention, and so when Owen backed up at their door, Rein had to suddenly stop short so as to not bump into him. He blinked and raised a hand to place on the other boy's shoulder. Being a little confused as to the suddenly clean smell coming from the room, Rein looked down the hall. They weren't at the wrong room.

"No, Owen..this is our room..." With a creased brow Rein stepped to the side to look around the body on crutches and peer inside to see what gave it pause. The first thing he noticed was the lack of mess that had been here previously and the fact that his bed was gone, replaced by a comfy looking armchair. Glowing eyes drifted to what Owen was referring. His smiled widened at the familiar figure on the bed. Rein nudged Owen to encourage he enter and stepped in himself around the boy. Immediately, he dipped down in to a low gentlemanly bow, right hand coming to hover over his heart as his left ducked behind his back. Hair slipped over his shoulder and he held the position for a respectful moment.

"My Highness." He rose and straightened. "How nice of you to grace us."

At some point uring Owen's confused mental-stumbling, Neferure had lifted the top of her torso from the bed and rested one cheek on the palm of her hand. Her expression was patiently amsued, opting not to offer the baffled student an explanation. When Rein made his way in, she grinned smugly and approvingly at his lavish greeting.

There was a purr underlying her voice. "Rein, darling, you flatter me as always."

Her gaze slid back to the boy on crutches and she pondered him a moment with a quiet hum, then slid languidly from the mattress. She padded over to the boys and cut between Rein and his roommate, circling the latter with an invassive gaze in the same manner one would eye-up a horse before offering a price. Completing her circle, Nef came to stand in fron of Owen, and peered visibly from his face to his wrapped foot.

"And what happened to you?"