Little Talks (Mia/Open)

[Alyssa Ramius]

Relax. You're sitting out here now.

A girl in a pair of blonde braids sits in the student lounge, still and silent with her eyes closed. The appearance of peacefully mediating only garnered a passing glance from others.

You resolved to do this…you can do this. Just relax.

Alyssa had made it a point to try the social game today, initiated by an encounter with her equally kind and quiet roommate. What good were her words and advice if she could not make an attempt to change her situation? Heaviness gripped her chest the moment she walked through the student lounge and immediately she found herself regretting leaving her dorm. Sounds surround her and though her sight was absent at the moment, her hearing had assumed enough of the slack to zero in location and distance. It was a favorite exercise in concentration, especially since she was out in the open and was all that kept her from her nerves overtaking her.

Clack.

From her left, that was from the pool tables, interlaced with conversations varying in subject. The flickers were from a TV flickering between channels. She could feel the air pressure change when someone passes close to her. Conversations dance around her, but she wasn't focusing on their content, but proximity. It was an exercise in clearing her nerves, calming enough that she can open her eyes and take another sweep of the room

There were groups of smiling people chatting with aching familiarity that made her miss Noah’s company, and lone figures that appeared to be comfortable in their solace or studying. Alyssa bowed her head. Living a quiet existence at Hammel also meant she had created a considerable distance between herself and others around her, or so it felt.

All right...this is going to be tougher than I thought.

[Mia Bell]

Mia walked out of her dorm room, her pet corn snake wrapped around her hand. It had been awhile since she had take the snake out of her dorm, today seem a better day than any. School had started for everyone, except her… She had graduated this year, but she still had power training to do, and she was thinking about doing an internship, she had to talk to Dr. Neville about it. She was still thinking about what to do, it was too late to go to the local college, but she was still able to do college courses online. Mia knew she had to stop being indecisive and just chose what she wanted to do… It just made her head hurt, trying to figure out what to do.

Maybe she should ask Vincent or River what to do about her future. She sighed as she walked out of the dorm building and into the student lounge. There were a lot more people in here than she thought there would be. She looked around; no one seemed familiar to the pink-headed girl. However, one girl seemed to stand out, not because she looked familiar to Mia, but just because she was just standing there in the middle of the room. She seemed to be at a loss of what to do with so many people in a room.

Mia walked to the girl, keeping the hand with Spike (her snake) close to her stomach. “Hello” She said softly as she put a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder. She wanted to make sure the girl knew Mia was talking to her and not someone else. “Are you okay?”

[Alyssa Ramius]

Dammit, the girl’s mind winced upon rising from her seat. How could she possibly believe this would be any different? This distance, the troubling thoughts, it could not just settle for one moment to just make a forward effort to connect with someone here. But it had always been the trouble with her: the need to hide away trumped the need to be a bridge to others.

And the recursive thoughts is exactly why Alyssa flinched at the touch of her shoulder, completely thrown off by the sudden appearance of…wait. Bright brown eyes shifts to person next to her. Pink hair, it was not uncommon for other students to dye their hair in fantastic colors, but this one was close to magenta as humanly possible. A blink and a look of recognition cross the blonde’s face. And there was only one person who played that figure in her mind, a few dozen times from the stories and experiences not her own.

“Ah…Miss Mia.”

It was only until that name passed her lips that her mind went into instant, super-anxious upheaval. They had never even met! Sure, Alyssa had seen her, the girl wasn't hard to miss among the student body, but still! Even with the politeness tacked on, was the girl going to think she was some sort of stalker?!

Of course, allowing those thoughts of panic to surface took every ounce of her being not to show it on her face. She was in a public area, Alyssa had to keep it together as long as she could.

"Sorry! I mean-" Dammit. "You um, just startled me."

Brown eyes to the corn snake curled around the girl's hand. Oh! There was soft interest in the little creature, momentarily forgetting her minor blunder.

[Mia Bell]

Mia removed her hand as soon as the girl flinched “I’m sorry!” She hadn’t remembered seeing too many people with their haired dyed in unnatural colors. But maybe it was because she hadn’t been getting around as much around the school as she used to. She had just gotten so busy, but that was alright, she was trying to make up for lost times. “Ah! You don’t need to call me miss, Mia works just fine.” She blushes at how formal the girl was being. Yes, she knew all the stories, and rumors that were going around about her. Well they weren’t really rumors, since they were kind of true. Still, people were gossiping, and judging her; not that she could really blame them.


Truthfully, she was really used to people knowing who she was. It was what came with having pink hair, and having a reputation like the one she had. The past year she really had made a name for herself. Alyssa wasn’t the only person she hadn’t meant that knew who she was, and knew her name. It really wasn’t a big deal.

Mia waved her hands a bit in front of her “No, no I’m the one who should be sorry! I totally didn’t mean to startle you. But since you already know my name, can I ask what yours is?”

The girl smiled when she say Alyssa’s eyes move to the snake. She held her hand out a little, “Wanna pet him?”

[Alyssa Ramius]

“Mia. Right.”

She repeated the name, this time without the title. It was harder than she thought, her first inclination was to add a title befitting the person she was speaking to. Figures it would be weird to use among her peers…Alyssa had to force herself not to show how much she was wincing inside from mild embarassment. Now she only hoped she had not misrepresented herself just by knowing her name outright. The girl was a bit of a hermit, so any sense of reputation the pink haired girl really did not reach her ears.

“I'm Alyssa. A senior now...” She finally responded to her question, wringing her hands together a moment in nervousness. She should explain, but what she wanted to say blanked from her mind. And that’s why she may have been grateful to see the snake. Despite the nervous girlishness she exuded, she had no fear of snakes. They were misunderstood figures in the world, just like dandelions.

She glanced at Mia. It was okay to pet the snake? The girl actually managed a small smile as she pets it. Scales felt nice and cool to the touch, befitting its beautiful patterns. It was calming, just a little respite to gather what she really wanted to say.

“I…only heard good things about you, Mis-ah, Mia. Noah spoke positively of you.” The blonde offers to her – if that was both some consolation to her and explaining why without coming off stalkerish.

“T-that’s why I knew your name.” A small pause. “And you were never hard to miss either.”

[Mia Bell]

Mia nodded, then smiled. It just felt weird to hear ‘miss’ in front of her name. She really didn’t think he deserved that kind of title. It wasn’t like she was a special person or anything. Mia would be glad to hear that this girl hadn’t heard of her reputation, because she was sure the girl would be scared of her if she knew about all of it.

“Oh! That’s pretty cool. So, that makes you seventeen, right?” The girl had no reason to be nervous with Mia. She was pretty relaxed when it came to the shier types of people. They made her smile, it was nice to see the innocense of the world. It was one of the reasons why she really liked River; but he was another story…


Mia smiled with the girl as she started petting Spike. “His name is Spike.” She named him after the baby dragon in My little Pony, friendship is magic, series. Yes, Mia was that much of a dork, but she was okay with that. Mia would let the girl hold him if she really wanted to.

That sentence made Mia blush, “Oh? Oh…” Mia tried not to frown as Noah came up. “So, You’re friends with him?” This conversation was going to end badly for Mia’s guilt. “It’s flattering that he has only said good things about me.” She smiled widly, it was good to know. Yet there was guilt in the pit of her stomach. “I see, yeah I know I’m not hard to miss. But the more important thing is, now I know you!”

[Alyssa Ramius]

Alyssa’s shoulders slumped and Spike’s patting ceases for a moment. Ah yes, well…suppose it was a bad thing that she could be mistaken for an underclassmen still, but that was not quite the point either.

“Actually…eighteen.” Corrected softly, leaving Mia to figure the discrepancy there. Certainly it would not be hard to figure out. In fact it really felt like an embarrassment – she could have been on her way to college about now. It took everything not to physically droop into melancholy over it. But she had to think positive! She met one of the figures she heard so much about, faces that a name can be placed to officially!

“Noah’s my best friend.” Alyssa admitted with a cheerful smile. It was hard not to manage a smile at the mention of her dear friend, even if his presence was absent and missed. “Met him way back when he first got here…He was my only friend really. Ah, but he graduated, I’m quite proud of him for his efforts!”

The girl wrung her hands together briefly, unsure of what more to say without boring the girl. Her eyes would attune more to the little snake…who winked at her.

Blink.

Snakes could not possibly wink-ohhh no, not NOW. A quick lift of her head, seeing a small trio of stars hang over Mia’s head, absorbing the pink dye of her hair – and they would be gone in another blink.

She's...Star?

“Ah, sorry, I…lost track of my thoughts. I um, s-still keep in contact with him, just to make sure everything remains well with him.”

Great, she winced inwardly at her own words. The last thing she wanted was to come off flaky, so she hopped to another subject quickly. Better to keep her focus away from more hallucinations.

“You, graduated already too, did you not?”

[Mia Bell]

Mia felt bad for thinking that the girl was younger than she actually was… “Oh, I am so sorry. I didn’t know… That’s cool though!” She couldn’t find the words to actually say why it was cool. Oh! “You have more life experience!” Maybe that wasn’t true… But that was one of the positive sides to it, wasn’t it? “You kind of also look really young for your age.” That was a compliment right?


Mia smiled and nodded “That’s great! He’s a great friend to have.” Mia had also met Noah around the time she first came to Hammel. He had became a crush of hers, it was only a slight crush; nothing big. Those feeling were long gone now, she guessed that happens most of the time. Mia nodded, “Yes, I’m proud of him too.” Even if Mia wasn’t talking to him now.

One thing was for sure; Mia didn’t get bored easily, and would gladly stand here in awkward silence if that made Alyssa comfortable. But it probably didn’t, because it rarely did with shy people. Mia just stared at the girl as she seemed to have went into her own little world. She tilted her head to the side like a cat, confused, and also a bit worried. Was she okay? She looked like she was just staring off into space. Had Mia become that boring so fast? “Oh! That’s good!”


“The school part yes. I’m still in training though. Being at Hammel for only a year to work on a power as a pain as mine doesn’t cut it…”

[Alyssa Ramius]

Alyssa was quick to bow her head. Did she really look that young? It was quite the compliment, but the poor girl never really knew how to handle such a thing properly.

“Ah,thankyou.”

She spouted quickly, more concentrating on trying to stop blushing. She could not imagine people could easily blush at simple compliments, and she’d rather not have Mia thinking she was more of an oddball than she already exhibited. Pauses and her eyes flickering to imaginary visions, this could not possibly be going well at all.

And then something in Mia’s voice gave her focus. Thoughts to question her about a few things appeared and left in a hurry. This did not feel the time or the place to ask, especially since she finally was able to meet her. Besides, she said something that interested her. In fact she brightened up!

“You’re…able to still see your trainer here?”

That was good news! Once she became an alumni, if she ever manages to do such a thing as actually graduate, she could still see Valentia! Alyssa wrung her hands a moment in nervousness before recalling the image her companion had over her head a moment ago.

“I, um, also heard from Noah on many occasions that you are very talented. Is that so?”

[Mia Bell]

Mia nodded, “It is the truth.” The girl was also very cute, but figured that would be too much for the poor girl. Mia wasn’t used to compliments either, even though she got a lot thanks to her hair. However, she did not think the girl was an oddball, she was perfectly fine. She smiled at her, the blush on Alyssa’s made Mia smile a bit.

The pink head didn’t mind questions, any questions, as long as they weren’t too personal. But that was a bit of a stretch for Mia, she was an open book, as long as it didn’t have anything to do about certain things in her life. Things, that she would just generally not talk about.


Nodded at the girl’s question, “yeah, I think any graduate can visit freely. But I have to see my trainer still… It’s not an option..” She still had a lot of work with her powers to do.

She smiled at the girl’s other question, “Ah! I never thought so, but I guess I am, yeah….” She rather not go through the list of things she could do… not unless the girl asked, she didn’t want to seem like she was bragging. “What are you interested in doing? Have any hobbies?” She was a little tired of having the spotlight… And she wanted to get to know Alyssa more.