Welcome to Germetropotamia [Sammy, Open]

[Germaine Sharpe]

Gerri scurried into the auditorium, carefully shutting the doors behind her as to not make a sound. She didn't want anyone to find her yet, because that would ruin all of her fun before it even began. Once again Germaine was on a mission, this time to claim some land for her own and build a fort on it. Off her shoulder hung a backpack filled with everything she needed for the operation.

The girl settled in the center of the room, flung her backpack at the ground, and started to push chairs around. When her work was done, there was a circle of six chairs in the middle of the room, all with their backs to the center of the circle. Gerri knelt by her backpack, opened it, and started pulling out supplies. The real work was about to begin.

She had with her a pink sheet which she draped over the chairs, tucking the edges under chair legs where she could and wrapping them up in duck tape to secure them. The girl made sure to leave an extra large space between the two chairs closest to the stage, and taped that side of the sheet up so her fort would have a door. When the construction was finished, Germaine returned to her backpack and pulled out another sheet and a pillow. She laid the second sheet out on the floor of the fort (she wasn't about to hang out on the auditorium floor, ew) and plopped the pillow down off to the side. It would function as a chair later.

The final touch was a crumpled up piece of paper that Gerri pulled out of the bottom of her bag. With a bit of tape she fastened the paper to the outside of the fort next to the small opening she had made, and then she grabbed her backpack and crawled inside.

GERMETROPOTAMIA

Trespassers Beware

[Samuel Rixon]

Sam was bored.

Not that this was anything new. If Vincent wasn’t around to play with, or attempt to kill, depending on what they’d been up to recently, he grew bored easily. He had no idea where Vin was, if he was even on campus, but that didn’t matter because he was still mad at him for shoving snow down his jeans. And kissing him. Bastard.

Because he was currently pretending homework didn’t exist, he had opted to escape his dorms (sneaking by Ember’s room in a ninja-like fashion, so she didn’t yell at him to get back to work) and scamper down the halls. Before leaving, he’d dumped out his backpack, relieving it of the crumpled papers and textbooks. Now it held an assortment of junk, which he planned to survive on for the next few hours. Namely, half a bag of spicy Doritos, two handfuls of loose Starburst candies, and a few chocolate bars. This way, he was prepared, should Ember attempt to track him down and drag him back to homework doom.

He’d also shoved his Nintendo DS into his bag, with a few asinine games (Raving Rabids, for one), which meant that he wouldn’t be bored if he had to hide out for a bit. Which looked like it was going to be sooner than later. His cell phone buzzed, and a quick glance confirmed it was indeed Ember, threatening him to get back to the dorm, and back to work.

Yeah. Right.

Sam turned ninja, creeping with his back against the wall. To anyone unfortunate enough to pass by, he probably looked like an idiot, which was fine with him. He was ninja. So ninja, in fact, that the first door he found, he opened and slipped inside. A quick glance around told him that it was the auditorium. A place he’d spent way too much time in lately, what with the play in drama class.

But something was different. “Heeeey....” All the chairs were moved around, and it looked like someone was camping. He approached the tenty-forty thing with little caution, cocking his head when he actually read the sign. “Ger... Germetro... dude. COOL!” Yes, the warning that trespassers should beware was ‘cool.’ “Anyone home?”

[Germaine Sharpe]

The girl crawled her way over to her floor pillow and sat on it cross-legged. She situated herself so she was facing the door before digging into her backpack once again and pulling out decorations for her new home. Pink ribbons, posters of soccer players, teddy bears in tutus and sports jerseys. Germaine had the works. She even brought the tinfoil hat she had made back in July, and put it on her head to protect her from any alien invaders that might be searching for such an awesome fort like hers to invade.

By the time she heard the auditorium door open, she had plastered the inside of her fort with ribbons and posters. Gerri paused for a minute to listen and confirm that there were footsteps heading in her direction. She tenderly placed her bears on her floor pillow before tumbling over to the fort door with her backpack in hand. Silently reaching into the front pocket, she pulled out a water-gun and flattened herself against the fort wall so the intruder couldn’t see her. She immediately recognized Sammy’s voice, but there were illusionists and mimics at this school. The girl had to be absolutely positive it was him before she could let him in.

“FREEZE!” She shouted, popping out of the fort door and aiming her squirt-gun at the boy. “This gun is loaded with snow-water. That means its extra cold!” It was true. Germaine had painstakingly stuffed the gun with snow, because snow-water was much more gross and cold than tap water which meant it had to be a better ammo. Of course, that also meant it was more difficult to squirt people with because the snow could clog the tube, but most of it was melted by that time anyway.

Germaine glared at the boy with suspicion. “Who are you, and how do I know you’re really Sammy?” she asked, brandishing the water-gun in his face. “And don’t try to trick me or I’ll have to squirt you!”

[Samuel Rixon]

The last time Sammy had had his own fort to play with, it had been before Hammel, with his siblings. Well, it was more that his little brother had built the fort, and Sam had conquered it. With use of hitting, profanity, and threats. It had been his for a whole four minutes, until his mother had discovered what he’d been up to, and he’d been grounded.

But it had been fun while it had lasted!

This fort, while it looked girly, still looked fun. Which was why he wanted to know who was home. And when he got his answer, a massive grin lit up his face. “GERRI!” Aaaaaand he was faced with a squirt gun. A squirt gun filled with snow water. He promptly looked horrified at the notion that she would actually squirt him with it. “I’M FROZE, I’M FROZE! DON’T SHOOT!” He even put his hands up, as if that would help his cause. “... I’ll die if you shoot?” Hey, guilt tripping was completely fair when it came to war. And snow filled squirt guns. “An’ then who’ll I skip class with, huh?”

Her questions baffled Sam. Granted, there wasn’t much that didn’t baffle Sam. “Uh.... uh...” Panic, much? How was he supposed to prove he was himself? “GERRI! You know who I am! We burned all the grass by the pond and you skipped class and you... uh... I....” Cue a pitiful whimper. “I don’t knoooooow! How do I prove it’s meeee?” The display he was putting on was admittedly pathetic, but in the back of his dense skull, he was hoping that Gerri would just take pity on him and let him play in the fort. “Just don’t shoot me?” He slowly brought his backpack off of his shoulders. “I have... Doritos?” Maybe an offering would do it?

[Germaine Sharpe]

Germaine smirked, proud of her ability to intimidate the older, taller boy. That was awesome. It was hard to hold a fierce composure while Sammy was acting the way he was, however. His sheer panic caused her to giggle, because it was just so silly and over dramatic. “You still gonna skip class in heaven? Would they even have class in heaven? That doesn’t seem like paradise to me.” She commented with a shrug. Then she remembered that this was suppose to be a stick up (of sorts), so she put her serious face back on.

She narrowed her eyes at his flimsy story. It was accurate, she could give him that, but there were so many rumors flying around these days. Anyone could have derived that information if they asked the right people. Those people being either her or Sammy. She knew that she never told anyone about that, but she didn’t know that Sammy never told anyone about that. And Sammy didn’t seem the type to...

Wait.

Doritos? Gerri eyed the backpack intently. Yes, food was a very good way to get her attention. “What kind of Doritos?” she asked, glancing from the bag to Sammy’s face then back at the bag. The flavor didn’t really matter, but she was curious to know anyway. Holding her free hand out for the bag, she continued. “Give the bag to me. Slowly. Don’t do anything stupid.”

[Samuel Rixon]

It wasn’t like intimidating Sammy was difficult. Deep down, below his obnoxious, loud, moronic nature, he was a bit of a coward. Yes, the younger girl intimidating him, but she had a squirt gun. With snow water. If that wasn’t enough to scare a pyrokinetic, he wasn’t sure what was. “... They better not! And I meant YOU! Who are YOU gonna skip class with if I’m dead?” Way to think on your feet, buddy.

Flimsy was all he had for a story. He couldn’t construct a decent story to save his life, even if it was all true. That alone should be enough to prove his identity. “I”ll... show you... my student ID?” Like it would help. He had no idea how to prove that it really was him, and that squirt gun looked awfully intimidating...

But it seemed he actually had a tiny amount of luck on his side! He remembered how easily she was wooed by cookies, so he smirked. “Spicy ones,” he countered. “And I got Starbursts.” Not the best example of the English language but hey, he was trying to win her over here. Asking him not to do anything stupid was a bit like asking him to stop breathing (please don’t, he’ll actually try it. ... Again.). But he complied, slowly handing the backpack over. “Y’ gonna let me in now, right?” He even tried the puppy eyes that worked so (not) well on his older sisters. Something had to work.

[Germaine Sharpe]

Oh, she hadn’t thought of that. “Uh,” Gerri said as she struggled to come up with an answer. “I could ditch with...uh. That doesn’t matter!” She shouted as she shoved the gun in his face again. “You’re just trying to confuse me!”

Gerri continued to eye the pyro with suspicion as he came up with suggestions to prove his identity. “No, that won’t do,” she turned down the student ID. If an illusionist could fake Sammy’s appearance, they could easily fake his ID card. And in the case of a shifter, well they could have stolen the boy’s ID or something. In either case, Germaine still wouldn’t be sure if she was dealing with the real Sammy and not an impostor.

But real Sammy or not, she was willing to risk everything on bribes of food. Her priorities were only entirely skewed. Honestly, it was a wonder that she was never kidnapped before. She snapped up the backpack, pulled out the chips, and examined the bag. “Yeah, okay. Looks legit!” She confirmed with a grin before dropping down on her knees and crawling back into the fort. Germaine settled back down on her pillow and put the backpack down beside her. She opened up the chips and nibbled on one before calling out to Sammy. “Come on in! It's even cooler on the inside.”

[Samuel Rixon]

Ha! He was winning. Sam could see the look on her face. He was winning. She was going to put the gun down and –

… Dammit. His face fell. So much, in fact, that he began to resemble a kicked puppy. “I am not! I’m… confusing… myself.” Yes, he could admit it. “C’moooooooon Anni!”

Why did she have to be so smart? It was like no matter what he could find to prove he was himself, she shot it down. He was looking more and more like a wounded puppy. Why didn’t she trust him? Had he done something wrong? Was she mad at him? Sometimes Ember would shut him out like this when she was mad. Or he’d done something wrong without realizing it. “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?” Sam, stop begging. You sound pathetic.

At least Gerri was still easily bribed. Had he remembered that sooner, he might have thought to shove more food into his backpack. In his pocket, his cell phone buzzed again. Probably another angry Ember text, telling him to get back to the dorm and do his homework. If Gerri didn’t let him in, he’d have to go back to homework, and that was to be avoided AT ALL COSTS.

Thankfully, she approved him. He copped a goofy grin and dropped to the floor, army crawling into the fort. Instantly, he was impressed. Sure, it was kinda… pink. But that was okay. Pink was a cool color. “Dudette, awesome fort! I like it.” He came to sit beside her, throwing one arm around her shoulders. “Can we live here? Like, forever? Or… just long enough for Emby to forget I have homework?” Yes Sam, rope Gerri in on your negligence. Good job.

[Germaine Sharpe]

Germaine shoved the chip in her mouth as Sammy came inside, and then grabbed a few more to nibble on. “Thanks!” she happily squeaked as she leaned into him. “Yeah! That would be so cool!” Gerri practically choked on a chip due to her excitement. No one else got to live in an awesome fort in the middle of the auditorium. It would be the best dorm ever. Of course, when someone with authority showed up, she’s probably get kicked out of the room, but she really didn’t consider that as a possibility.

The girl hardly noticed that Sammy was neglecting his school work. It wasn’t as if that was abnormal for him, anyway. “We can have sleepovers and a campfire and hide here when we’re ditching class!” she exclaimed, practically bouncing in her seat. All those things were already awesome, but they were so much more awesome when you were doing them in a pink sheet fort. “And no one will be able to make us do homework!” It was the perfect plan.

“Oh yeah!” Germaine tumbled over to where some of her teddy bears were propped up on one of the chairs. “This is Val,” she pointed to a black bear in a tutu “And this is Timmy,” a polar bear in an Arsenal jersey. “They’re gonna be living with us too!” The young teen giggled with glee and brought the two bears over to where she left Sammy. She handed him Timmy. “Aren’t they cute?!”

[Samuel Rixon]

As Gerri leaned into him, Sammy was quick to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer. “It would ROCK.” He absolutely adored the kid, and really, it would be awesome to just camp in the pink fort forever. (Sam had nothing against pink. He’d grown up with a house full of sisters, and two brothers. He’d seen a lot of pink.) Of course it would be the best dorm ever. The most impractical, of course, and Sam knew that. But it was awesome all the same.

“That sounds PERFECT!” Sam, volume. He snuggled the girl before reaching across her for a chip. “I fuckin’ love sleepovers. AN’ I COULD TOTALLY MAKE A CAMPFIRE.” No, Sam. Just… no. Don’t even try. “Dude, that is the best thing EVER. Emby always makes me do homework. So I just make up answers, so it’s done faster.” Stop telling her this. No one needs to know the exact details as to why you fail your classes. “It’s totally fun.”

He watched as Gerri scrambled away, and when she introduced the bears, he just grinned. That was too cool. “HI VAL! HI TIMMY!” He happily took the bear and snuggled with him. “They’re fuckawesome.” Yes, not just awesome. ‘Fuckawesome.’ Then he started bouncing with excitement. “Hey! Guess what guess what guess whaaaaaat!” He couldn’t contain himself. “So I went with Vincent to the pet store to get some shit for his spider, ‘cause he’s got a pet spider named Ema and she’s fuckawesome too, like a puppy but with more legs, an’ we saw a GECKO and I loved him and I want him and I’d totally name him Iguana.” … Yes, he really said it like that, all in one breath. “I’m totally buying him when I have money.” As in, when Vincent stops extorting money from him.

[Germaine Sharpe]

Over joyed by the older boy’s declaration, Gerri squealed with glee and wrapped her arms around him for a tight hug. “Ohmigosh, totally!” Then she let out a small gasp when she realized that chips and starbursts would not sustain them for very long. “Oh no! But what about food? I don’t think you brought enough,” she said, pulling away from him and frowning. The girl would have brought her own if she had any snack foods, but her parents tried to avoid that sort of thing by not giving her an allowance. They were aware of their daughter’s tendency to binge on junk food, and that was the best solution they had for managing her diet from 3,000 miles away.

Of course, she always managed to find ways to get around it. Like now, for instance. Germaine greedily ate up another chip as she listened to Sammy talk about homework. “Oh, I know!” she piped up, just a tad delayed, “If you can make a camp fire, we can have s’mores!” She grinned, very much proud of her idea. “Right? All we need is graham crackers and chocolate and marshmallows and those metal sticks people use to roast marshmallows on. We can eat them everyday! Then we won’t have to worry about food.” Well, at least she hadn’t clung to the idea of writing down random answers on her homework to get it done faster.

“Yay!” she cheered as Sammy enthusiastically took up her teddy bear. “I’m so happy you think so!” Gerri started to bounce with him, totally absorbed in all the excitement of camping, teddy bears, and new pets. “That’s. So. Cool!” she shouted before giving him another hug. “I’ve never seen a pet gecko before. We used to have ‘em crawling in out house all the time when I lived in Colorado because they’re all over the place up there and like to come inside to eat the bugs and stuff when it’s cold and yeah. I didn’t know they could be pets too.” She was also failing in the containment department. “Can I play with him when you get him? Please please please?”

[Samuel Rixon]

As Gerri squealed, Sam just let her hug him, giving her a warm hug back. He loved cuddles. It was his favourite pastime, after getting high and fleeing from homework. He let go when she gasped, though. He was half afraid he’d hurt her. “Oh! Food! Uh...” He thought about that. He could call Vincent to bring them food, but a) he wanted the goth nowhere near Gerri, and b) he was sure it would come at a price. “I can go get us stuff!” His parents, sadly, were completely unaware of what their son did with his allowance, so he was given money unfailingly every month. Some of it went to Vincent, so he would keep his big ugly mouth shut. And the rest? Pot, and junk food.

“Fuck yes! I fuckin’ love s’mores.” It would involve a little bit more work, but if he found all the ingredients, and managed to make a campfire without burning the entire auditorium down, maybe they could survive on those alone. “I can find all that stuff!” Well, he could try. The possibility of him getting distracted along the way was high.

Apparently, he wasn’t mature enough to be too old for teddy bears. He had a number of fluffy things in his dorm, but half of them were used as a secret stashy hidey hole, and the others... were just awesome. Like the squishable dragon his older sister, Miranda, had given him. He was too awesome to make a stash hole in. “Aww, dude, he was so cute! He was all ‘HI WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU’RE HUGE!’ at us!” He pulled the girl into another hug. “You can totes play with him! An’ we can feed him Doritos and take him to class and it’ll be AWESOME.” And sadly, the gecko would probably have a better chance of passing Sam’s classes than he did.