I'll Survive

[Kristina Northampton]

I'm most terribly sorry about this, milady. Lord Fortesque could apologise as much as he liked, but it wasn't helping. Lucile was not behaving like a lady, and all the other characters were very agitated for some reason, which was why Kristina was still awake at this insensible hour. She wouldn't have been surprised if the librarian had fallen asleep, and the only light she had noticed was the table-lamp by which she was struggling through her chemistry homework. Functional groups, structural properties of organic molecules, easy, but reaction mechanisms were going to be the end of her at this rate.

Strangely enough, seventeeth-century gentry weren't very helpful with modern chemistry, and the two aspirin hadn't done anything for her headache. Turning up the light slightly, Kris clicked her pen twice and tried to struggle through yet another question, tugging slightly at her black pinstriped shirt. She wore a red waistcoat over it, with a baggy pair of tartan trousers held in place by a belt with a large silver skull buckle, while a series of small steel chains jingle-jangled along the seam down towards a pair of knee-high Demonias, making each of her footsteps sound as if they were from some iron giant rather than a midget from East Anglia.

Whoever those footsteps were from, the owner of those boots was getting well and truly fed up with chemistry. With a grunt, she let her head bang against the table, quickly regretting it as the wave of hot pain rippled back and forth through her skull, picking it back up and leaning it against a clenched fist. "Shut up," she groaned once more, as the tenants in her head protested something new.

[Carleigh Davidson]

The one thing Carleigh always appreciated about Hammel was the fact that there were always a few places open, even at late hours such as tonight. She could go down to the first floor of the dorm and hang out, or go to the student lounge. Those were the two places the blonde normally frequented on the nights where her insomnia kept her awake.

Tonight, Carleigh had to work on chemistry homework. Since getting tutored, she had raised her mark; not sufficiently, according to the teacher. She still had to get extra help, but it was an improvement. Surprised, she saw that the library doors were still opened and made her way inside, carrying everything she needed to do the work. It would have been better to have Liv by her side to help her, but who else was going to be awake at this time?

Actually, there seemed to be a handful of people who had trouble sleeping at night. Carleigh walked into the library, hiding her thermos of coffee behind her textbook. Just in case. Her eyes darted across the dark room, seeing only one light. And it wasn't the librarian. "Huh." She mused out loud to herself, quietly. After her eyes adjusted to the dark room, Carleigh began to walk towards the light, manoeuvring her way through the tables and chairs.

As she got closer, Carleigh noticed that there was a girl sitting there with... interesting fashion choices. Not that she could say anything, wearing a pair of leggings and a blue pullover sweater. She paused, clearing her throat. "Homework causing you some problems?" She asked, as sweetly as she could muster at.. 1 in the morning.

[Kristina Northampton]

For once, Kris was actually glad of the company - it would be a welcome change from the nonsensical gibberish that was ringing around her head. Letting go of her pen, the little goth stretched and yawned before replying, "Chemistry. Can't live with it or without it." With a sigh, she sunk back against her chair, her legs dangling in the air beneath the table. Looking up at the newcomer, she realised that she had shared a class or two with her before now - exactly who she was escaped Kristina, but she remembered her from Chemistry class. Great, now she'll think I'm some sort of freakish nerd.

You ARE, silly. Lucile spat an unwelcome epithet, and had Krissi been on her own she would have probably told her out loud to shut up and stop being such a horrid creature. Wherever she came from clearly did not have a very strong emphasis on teaching children to behave themselves. Perhaps we need to look into post-mortem finishing school. Can't do any harm to find a ghost's manners tutor. Rubbing her temple, Kristina groaned before prodding a chair roughly in the girl's direction. "Sorry if I'm not riveting company, not feeling great at the mo. What can I do for you?"

[Carleigh Davidson]

Grinning, Carleigh awkwardly shifted the books in her hands to hold up her own copy of the chemistry textbook. "I feel you." She said with a chuckle, setting down some of the books on the table. The blonde was usually forward and didn't bother asking to join people; she just butted in and continued on merrily. "Even so, I'd rather live without the class. Came down to struggle through the homework myself." Now that she thought about, Carleigh did recognize the girl from a couple other classes, including chemistry. With her fashion choices, it was hard not to take notice, even if the girl seemed subdued and quiet.

Carleigh took Kristina's gesture as an invitation, plopping down on the seat after setting down her homework. "It's okay!" She assured her with a beaming smile. Yes, even at this time, she was bubbly. "Just came down here to do homework so I wouldn't bother my roomies. But hey, we can probably work through the equations together." She suggested, frowning at her declaration of feeling unwell. Had they been closer, she would have pried, but instead nodded. "Chemistry doesn't help with that I'm sure." Carleigh joked, grinning at the girl.

"I'm Carleigh, by the way. Recognize you from a handful of classes but can't place the name to your face."

[Kristina Northampton]

"Kristina." A familiar tightness began to pull at the insides of her chest as Carleigh sat down opposite her, her left leg tap-tap-tapping against the floor with the chains hanging from her belt making hard metallic sounds while the familiar sense of anxiety began tugging at her coattails. An infectious warmth was pulsing from Carleigh's side of the table, and rather than putting her at ease it made Kris feel as though she was doing her an injury by sitting across from her and dampening her fine mood. No doubt Kristina would eventually say or fail to say something which would upset the other blonde, and she would run off for another night of aggressive self-analysis and waiting for all the lights to go out so that they wouldn't notice her discrete excursions or the running of the tap.

"Anything in particular you're stuck with?" In truth, Kris was hoping Carleigh would say no, shutting down any attempt to help, and closing off an avenue of conversation. Silence, beautiful, uninterrupted silence free from conversation or interaction. Perhaps, Miss, if you were to be quiet, as though she were not there, she might flee to find a more engaging chemist? As ever, Lord Fortesque was right on target. Making a sort of noncommital humming noise for a moment, Kristina returned to the questions, scribbling away as though she were making progress rather than stalling hopelessly in the face of free radical substitution and a headache that was threatening to leave her head and set up some sort of extra-bodily pain vine. Please just shut up.

[Carleigh Davidson]

"Nice to meet you." Carleigh watched the girl across the table, noticing that she began tapping her leg. She didn't think much to it; afterall, kids did it in class all the time. Maybe Kristina was bored, or maybe she was beginning to feel restless. Happened to everyone. Adjusting to her seat, Carleigh opened up to a clean piece of paper in her notebook and flipped to the page that Kristina was on in the chemistry textbook. She glanced across the table, nodding to herself before settling on the notes and questions in front of her. Sigh.

"Well, everything." Carleigh said with a chuckle, noticing that the other blonde seemed to be moving at a steady pace. "Hey! Well, it seems like you know what you're doing. Maybe you can help me out? Chemistry is difficult, and I always have a hard time grasping the concepts."

She continued to ramble. "I have a chemistry tutor right now, actually, but I doubt she would appreciate it if I woke up her at this time of the night. I can try but maybe if we work on it, out loud, together or something, we can get through it quicker." Carleigh suggested, clicking her pen a couple of times. "So, I guess let's start with these reaction questions. Don't understand anything 'bout it." She laughed at her own stupidity.

[Kristina Northampton]

If you can't- Kristina was about to think something utterly cruel and definitely unrepeatable before she stopped herself, sighed, and decided that if nothing else, she was going to be kept from her own problems by dealing with Carleigh's own issues. "Right, let's get cracking," she conceded, moving her chair to the side of the table nearer her new companion. Taking a quick glance over the questions, Krissi suppressed the urge to roll her eyes; this was actually pretty easy. Reactions of acids with alkalis, bases and carbonates? Easy enough. Slowly, repeating what she said two or three times for each point, hoping it was getting through.

"I think that's everything - ions, valence shell...yeah, I think I've covered everything." Carleigh was starting to annoy Kris just by her presence; she was a pretty young woman, with a charming smile and an affable manner - everything Kris would have died to have. The table brought a faint recollection of winters spent towering over the soil and the scratch-scratch of birds and squirrels before she said, "Is there anything else up, while I'm awake?"

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh beamed her cheerful smile at Kristina, happy to receive help in the class she hated the most. Who knows, maybe a new friend was in store after? She didn't notice the other blonde's struggle, only focusing on her words. It always helped hearing it from another person. Carleigh nodded every so often, writing down each and everything that Kristina said.

Finishing up her sketch that showed the atom, she looked up with a smile. "Alright, thank you!" She paused for a moment to take a sip of her coffee, holding it out as an offer to Kristina. Scanning the page ahead, Carleigh shook her head. "Hmm.. I think I should be able to handle this. I hope." She laughed. "You.. you going to sleep?" Carleigh frowned slightly.