Migration Down the Hall (Open)

[Archer Thompson]

It had been about four months since Archer had come to Hammel. Having come in from overseas after his family had made the immigration from Australia to America, the then fifteen year old had quickly found himself a comfortable place in Hammel's social ladder.. and that place was as far away from it as possible. Archer didn't keep relationships and most of the time kept to himself. There were two exceptions however, though Archer had until recently made it a point to not get to close, in case he was able to find a means to drop out of Hammel. It hadn't taken long for that fantasy to be pushed into the back of Archer's mind, but it had only been over the past few days that he'd finally accepted the fact that he was *not* getting out of Hammel without being put in a cage.

It had been less then twenty four hours since he'd found out that he was being transferred to a different room.

Change wasn't something that Archer was fond of, but in this case he'd been more then happy to pack his things. While he didn't out right hate any of his old room mates, sharing living space with another dominant personality type had never sat well with the canine side of Archer's personality. Then of course was the fact that according to everyone, one of his room mates supposedly set up hidden cameras everywhere. While Archer had yet to find any monitoring equipment in his belongings or in his room, his history of paranoia had made it impossible for him to not regularly tear apart his room searching for some sort of unknown electronic to stomp into the floor.

But that was all over with and he was now in room two-zero-two.

Having once prided himself on being able to fit all his belongings in one bag while on the move, the past third of a year had seen his personal belongings expand quite a bit. Having come to Hammel with only clothes, a harmless wooden training knife, a few books, a small flat screen TV and a PS2 with some DvDs, Archer's belongings had expanded to the point where he needed to make more then one trip between dorm rooms. When you're able to turn into a big game hunting dog, the ability to collect reward money for missing pets tends to broaden your pockets quite a bit. In time, he'd been able to afford quite a few books, posters, a portable boom box, a metal dart board and magnet tipped darts to pass regulation.. and other assorted junk.

At the moment, Archer, dressed in a pair of black jeans and a Stevie Ray Vaughn tee-shirt, was hanging up said posters. The majority of them painted a pretty picture of his taste in music, with Down, Vaughn, Black Sabbath, Crowbar, John Lee Hooker and Hendrix representing his loves for blues, hard rock and a mixture of both. There were also posters for cage fighting, with Overeem, Lesnar, Le and Velasquez all being represented. He had a trunk for his clothes and other belongings at the foot of his bed, the television off to the side, a boom box set on top of a stack of books near the closet and a stack of cheap dumb-bells in the corner of the room. Now if only the staff would allow him to bring the mounted boar's head from home and hang it above the bed.

The door of the room was open wide and anyone walking by was likely to notice the young man making himself at home inside.

[Delilah Grande]

Nope, this wasn't at all a good idea. She knew that now. This was a disaster but with her hands full and no where to go but straight to Lucy's dorm, Lily had no choice but to make an absolute fool of herself. Oh God. The things she got into for her friends, especially one particular gothic friend of hers. The plat form gothic boots were sooooo not made for walking. Lily had only put them on in hopes of impressing Sidra. Mainly to prove that Sidra had taught her something but in the end she just couldn't walk in them.

She had to get an A for effort though but the boots did severely clash with her wardrobe so she had been forced to by a whole new dress to wear with the black boots. The dress was a ballet style dress. Big, bulky white and equally as difficult to walk in. She'd decided to make her way down the hall bringing sweet buns and frapacinos for the whole dorm room in order to get Lucy to help her walk in the shoes before she met up with Sidra. Lily wabbled a bit as she approached the open dorm and stopped to find her footting, sloshing the drinks she hand in her hands.

She steadied herself and straightened up trying to look more confident. She had to at least try and make an impression so with this in mind she held her head high and took ten more steps. She turned into the doorway before seeing a boy in the room, one she hadn't seen before and all hope was lost on her smooth entrance. She stepped foward and the platform slipped. A cry burst from her as she fall forward. The drinks flew from her hand along with the box of baked goods that had occupied the other hand.

Lily, once again, found herself face down on the ground a mess of white frill and long limbs. The girl gave a moan and pushed herself onto her knees before remembering what she had seen. Her eyes darted to the boy and she scrambled back.
"Who are you? This is the right room...."
Lily's big brown eyes darted round the room to make sure she had the correct room...

"Oh NO! My 'help me' gifts....."
Lily squeaked and started searching for the box and coffee which was probably more garbage then gifts now....

[Archer Thompson]

When he'd been notified of his imminent transfer between dorms, Archer had made it a point to get info on who he'd be sharing living quarters with. He'd managed to get a list of names from the staff. It hadn't been hard for him to match each name with a face. Archer had a habit of making sure that he knew who people were on campus, even if they had no idea who he was. However, the girl that entered room 202 was most certainly not part of the group that slept within it. She seemed rather familiar, as if they'd crossed paths on at least one occasion, though where and when that was Archer was unable to recall.

Having been about to answer Delilah's question, Archer instead stood there and watched as she went tumbling forward. That's what she gets for wearing those stupid boots, he thought. As she picked herself up off the floor, he'd turn his attention back to the Stevie Ray Vaughn poster he was stapling onto the wall over his bed. *Thunk* *Thunk* went the stapler, before it was tossed onto the unmade bed.

He'd wonder momentarily what "help me treats" meant, before making his way towards the girl sprawled on the floor right outside his room. He didn't rush to her, like some knight in shining armor ready to help. Neither did he look at all worried or concerned about her predicament. Instead, he'd stop about ten or so paces from Delilah and simply observe the girl as she gathered the likely ruined items that she'd carried into the dorm.

"You're not going to cry are you?" he asked as he looked down at the girl, a lack of empathy written across his face, though unlike a lot of people on campus, it did not come with any sort of smug, stuck up expression.

[Delilah Grande]

Okay, this guy wasn't helpful at all and she suddenly craved her unicorn hugger and of course Robbie because they'd at least show some sort of concern for her. Her big brown eyes slowly lifted to the stone cold male standing just off from her and yes, they were shimmering like she was about to cry. Not because she'd fallen. No... Because he was pointing out that she even looked like she was about to cry. What was he made of? Stone. That's why she'd choosen a girl over her boyfriend.

Some of them could be evil twats like this guy. Lily became slightly defensive and turned her attention to her boots trying to pull at the strings to get them off her feet so she could actually stand up.
"No... I'm fine. Go back to your poster or whatever. "
Lily pouted as she said this, her movements becoming yerky when she began removing her boots.

Her eyes flicked back to him and narrowed a little more. She had so much to say to him but unfortunately she couldn't bring herself to say it because it would be mean and cruel of her to say such horrid things about a person she hardly knew so Lily continued to try and get her feet out of the ghastly boots that Sidra adored so much. She was having no luck and frustration hit it's peak as she struggled with her boot finally flopping as she gave up lifting her eyes to find the cold male.

"Where's Lucy anyway and who are you? I believe I asked you that and you never answered me. That's very rude you know..."
Delilah informed him before making her ay to the mess she'd managed to make slowly trying to gather up the mess she'd made but she couldn't even attempt to stand with the boots on and she really didn't want to embarress herself in front of this guy again.

[Archer Thompson]

Archer didn't make a move, even when she said she was fine. Instead, he'd continue to stand there and watch Delilah as she struggled to get to her feet. Briefly, he wondered if she'd get up only to fall again, or if she'd even make it that far. It was blatantly obvious that the girl was not used to walking in the boots she wore. He'd always wondered why some people took the time to even learn to walk in those type of shoes. It wasn't like they were whatsoever practical and he doubted that there would ever be an instance that it would be a required skill in day to day life.

When she gave up and started to take them off, something half way between a smirk and a smile would cross his face. At least she had some sort of sense, he thought. Though he also wondered if even that was going to be possible from the look of the boots. He'd give a bit of a chuckle when Delilah decided that it was indeed not possible for the boots to be removed. Then, she'd begin to ask him where his room mates were... though not without calling him rude in the process.

That would get a bit of a laugh from him of course. While Archer was the last person to take an insult with grace, he never had a problem with being called something that fit. "Don't know where she is, but then I'm not her keeper," he said. Reaching down, he'd go to help her gather up what was left of her "help me snacks", or whatever she had called the bundle she'd been carrying. While he'd been reluctant to help her to her feet like some gentlemen, Archer apparently had no issue helping her clean up the mess she made. Then again, it wasn't like she'd learn anything picking up spilled food herself, as opposed to getting to her feet in those boots.

As he did so, curiosity peeked and he couldn't help but ask about the boots. "So why the hell are you walking around in those things anyway?" He'd pick up one of the pastries that had spilled from the box and onto the floor, taking a bite out of it. It wasn't like they were gonna be eaten now anyway, seeing that most of the students he knew in the school weren't the type to overstep the "five second rule".

[Delilah Grande]

Delilah actually heard him chuckle and she shot him a glare. Was she really that much of a ditz? Why was she even bothering to try and impress people in this United States of America when all of them would just laugh at her? She tried very hard most of the time and nothing seemed to work. Didn't everyone try and impress at least most of the time and yet when she did it it kinda blew up in her face like everything except when she sang. No, when she sang the world was hers. She felt beautiful when she sang.

Maybe she should stick to that? Lily shook her head and gave a sigh ignoring the fact that she was blushing at the fact that she'd been laughed at. Being a girl was hard. He'd never understand it and she didn't have the grace and flawless elegance that most girls her age had. They were all tough and untouchable yet when someone blew in Lily's direction she'd tumble to the ground. She just wished she'd found her feet at some point. The guy was being rude again giving her a very clipped answer.

All Lily could do was concentrate on the wet spot on the floor to keep from calling him rude again. She'd sound like a bad recording if she repeated the word rude more then once anyway. He did laugh about the fact that she called him rude though and it caused a bit of a frown from her.
"You Americans are very strange."
Or maybe it's just strange people she met.

At least Lucy seemed normalish. Lily tugged at the friendship bracelet around her wrist that she'd recieved from Lucy as a Christmas pressent. It had become a bit of a habbit for her to tug on it when she was contemplating something. It made her feel the slightest bit accepted in this strange world of American teen culture. Lily pulled the paper bag to her and three in the soaked napkins from the two coffees that had spilled the most of their content and slowly she attempted to get to her feet in the huge platforms she was wearing.

This time was a success and she leaned down and scooped up the other two coffees when he asked her the question. Oh great. He'd think she was pathetic if she answered him truthfully. 'Because I'm trying to impress a friend I'd made' sounded a little psycho didn't it? Lily groaned keeping her back to him as she carefully made her way to a desk to put down the coffees. Finally she turned to him but didn't look at him, finding the stain on her dress more interesting at that particular time.

"Haven't you ever wanted to fit in? Like belong? I have this friend who dresses like this and she suggested I learn to walk in these so I got mysel-"
That's when Lily looked up to see him munching away on a pastry on the floor. She made two quick steps catching herself before she fell down in front of him this time and smacked the pastry out of his hands.

"Dio Mio. That's gross. That's been on the floor where people walk with their shoes. Those shoes stepped in dog poo and squished bugs and covered old chewing gum that's been in the mouthes of disgusting gross people before they spat them out. All thos germs and diseases go into your mouth. Can't you just take one from the box. Geez... ewww..."
Lily wiped her hand on her dress her face screwed up in a disgusted way as she eyed the boy in front of her.

"Don't you think before you put stuff in your mouth?"
She shook her head shuddering at the thought of all the germs he'd put in his mouth just by taking a few bites. She indicated to the coffee and the box he'd helped her get together.
"Those are still full and take a new one. I got one for you too I guess since you've moved in..."