Darren started to comment on the bullies but stopped when the conversation moved to clothes. A twinkle came to his eyes and a smile grew over his face. "You don't have any clothes? Just horrible. You know, I may look like a giant bully of a man but I actually really like clothes and food for that matter. If Tok agreed," he motioned to her, "I could hem something for you to wear for now. I doubt that little shop will have anything in your size that isn't pink and meant for a child. But I could get some fabric and make a few outfits for you or hem more clothes." He really did love sewing. Which was the reason he always got in trouble with males. Hm... she probably doesn't have any money. But I could buy fabric and make several things for less then buying then hemming. And then I could use the scraps for quilts. In the exictment over clothing he didn't hear about exploring.

"Thanks!" Shizu exclaimed gratefully when Tok said she could borrow clothes. "I should be able to get my own clothes sooner or later, I just have to get enough money first. I'm not sure what jobs I could do though. Being so small doesn't have a huge list of advantages." The prospect of exploring particularly interested the tiny girl, who smiled brightly at being offered. It was a first; in Japan, none of the kids invited her to anything, even when she was little. "I would love to join! Could we go to your dorm so I could get some clothes and get changed now?"

Darren's comment of the clothes she'd be able to buy made her a little excited to do so. She loved the color pink, but she had always been made fun of for it, as it was considered childish, at least when applied to her, so she had learned to keep it to herself. To be honest, childish clothing didn't bother her either. It made her look cuter than she already was, which wasn't bad. Unlike most girls, Shizu wasn't bothered by being thought of as "cute."

"The housewife has awoken," Tok teased Darren, giving a a reassuring smile to tell him it was a joke. "I know if the weather is nice you could try working at the shops by the train station, but we can go to my dorm now." She said, getting out of her seat and walked with the other two outside. Vara was there, and nervously Tok gave a little nod to acknowledge she knew the girl was there, but kept walking. I hope she's not pissed or anything, I did outburst suddenly. She thought.

The three arrived back in the dormitory building, Tok leading them down the hall to her dorm. "Home sweet home." She said, welcoming them inside before she went rummaging through her suitcase for something smaller. She hadn't unpacked yet, and didn't ever think she'd really get settled. Already, though, this place started feeling more like home then any other place she had traveled to. The school, that is. Tok's dorm was still boring beige color, perhaps she'd decorate it soon. Or at least get a few posters on the walls.

"Here's something a little less winter-wear," Tok suggested, pulling out a black dress, it fit Tok perfectly but Darren would probably have to hem it for Shizu. "Most of the stuff I own is black, but you could ask Darren to add stuff to it. I probably won't be wearing it ever again."

"Hi Vara!" Shizu exclaimed as she followed Tok obediently outside and to the dormitory. "Hey Tok? Do we get assigned dorms or do we pick our own?" Shizu asked sincerely as they stepped back into the rustic, yet homey building. Shizu had to pump her little legs a bit faster than Tok in order to keep up with the taller girl's stride, and, by the time they reached Tok's dorm, Shizu was panting noticeably. Absently, Shizu noticed how plain and bland the dorm was, and asked, "Tok-chan? Are all the dorms this plain?"

While waiting for an answer, she watched as Tok rummaged through her bags and withdrew a black dress that seemed like it would be a little long on Shizu. "Thank you!" she said as she took the dress, heading to the door to go and change. "I'll be right back, okay? I'm just going to go change." Once she was outside of the room, Shizu made her way to where she had placed her stuff, grabbing a fresh Pull-up and her changing supplies before heading to the bathroom.

The bathroom was just as plain as the dorms, if not more so, so Shizu hurried and changed, though still being thorough to clean her private area to prevent diaper rash. Her powder was unfortunately scented, so it would be pretty hard to conceal her babyish disability, especially with the smell of the Pull-up and wipes making it stronger. But there was nothing she could do about that. After she had her fresh Pull-up on, and the baby scent that came with, she slipped the dress on over her head, giggling when she saw that it easily hung down past her feet. As it was, it would definitely be hard to keep from tripping. Cautiously, she made her way back to Tok and Darren, tripping over the dress several times on the way.

When she arrived back at the dorm room, she smiled widely and asked, "How do I look?"

Darren laughed. The girls always think it is cute or funny. I wonder what the guys would think here? He got up and followed them out of the building. He nodded at the girl outside. When they walked into Tok's room he noticed how clean and orderly it was. His room was a mess and anyone who knew birds would think of a bird's nest.

When he saw the black dress she pulled out he nearly chuckled. That will be way too long on her. At least the top will not be too bad. When she left he thought about saying something but didn't. Instead he stayed silent trying to think. When she came back in he couldn't help letting a laugh escape. "Sorry. That will need to be hemmed. But," he pulled off his belt, "till I can do it you can use this." He walked over to her and wrapped the belt around her and pulled a lenght of the dress up like a kimono. He tightened the belt till it was just slightly lose. He had to punch a new hole because she was so small but it wasn't hard for him. He stepped back to look. The extra fabric now layered over the belt but it was no longer dragging the ground. "Better?"

((How big is Shizu exactly? Tok's like 4'9 to 5'))
"You just walk into one and take it for yourself," Tok explained. "It's just very free out here, apparently. Most of them aren't like this, I just choice the first I could find."

Tok stared at Shizu modeling the dress, laughing a little at how silly she looked. "Okay, it's far too big for you." She laghed, giving an honest smile. It was a sort of funny feeling, where you could be just the slightest bit happy at the littlest thing. The snake girl watched in amazement as Darren went to work on fixing the dress up. By the time he was finished. "That's amazing." She said, "Shizu's like one of those barbie dolls, ne?"
In all actuality, Tok hadn't known what a barbie doll was until pretty recently, and she loved them. Seeing a young girl carry hers about one day she wanted one. But, since she had a reputation of looking threatening and even helped beat up a few gangs, that option was out of the picture.

Leon woke up, lazily getting out of bed to change into pants and a shirt. What time is it? He wondered in his half-asleep state, staggering to stay up. Normally, Leon was the kind of person to wake up and noon whenever he wasn't required to go to school. Even later sometimes, when he slept through to dinner.
But today he was awake earlier.

((About 3' to 3'3" :D She's very small; about the size of a three year old.))

Shizu giggled in response to Tok and Darren's comments. She was a bit surprised when Darren came over and began fixing the dress so that it didn't hang over her feet and drag on the ground. When he finished, she looked in the window to see how she appeared. "I still look like I'm playing dress-up in my mom's clothes, but it's much better," she answered, smiling widely and showing off her bright baby teeth. It turns out that when your body doesn't age physically, that includes teeth. Shizu's dentist had told her that she'd never grow her second set of teeth, and frankly, she was okay with that. "Thanks Darren!"

"I guess so," Shizu responded to Tok's comment about being a barbie doll, giggling slightly. "I'm just not perfect like she is!" After a little bit of talking, Shizu decided to pull her luggage into the room across the hall, having made sure it was empty beforehand. Quietly, so as not to disturb the others, she walked back to her stuff and dragged it to her room. The room was still plain, but instead of beige, it was painted a deep purple. Shizu could probably add some detail later, being a very exceptional artist, but that was for later. The beds came with bedding, though Shizu threw the sheets and blankets into the closet with a huff. All regular cloth did was burn up when near her, and, when she was sleeping, she lost control of her body temperature, often resulting in disastrous fires. Sighing, Shizu grabbed her Pull-ups and threw them under the bed, hoping that they weren't visible. She left the empty bag at the foot of the bed, having packed away all her possessions. Maybe I could get the school to get me some fireproof blankets and some other things I'll need, Shizu proposed to herself. I'll make sure to ask later.

With a skip in her step, Shizu returned to Tok's dorm, smiling bright enough to diminish the hiding sun. "So... When are we going on this exploration?"

((wow, poor Darren must look like some childmolesting perv... or a giant))

"Yes, it isn't perfect but at least it'll stay on now." He laughed at his small joke. He looked at Tok and shrugged. "You did give a good dress to work with. I suppose she is though I thought a paper doll. Just shows my age and how I was brought up." He chuckled again thinking of his mothers paper doll collection. He looked at Shizu again. "Your very welcome dear." He watched as she ran off. I guess she is setting up her room. When she returned and asked he turned to Tok. "Yeah, what's the plan, boss?" He gave her a wink.

"Nobody's perfect." Tok said with a shrug, awaiting Shizu to come back form her newfound dorm. "Paper dolls are flat, though." She mused to herself, assuming that if they were made out of paper the object wasn't 3-dimensional. Tok hadn't actually seen one before, there were a lot of everyday things she hadn't come encounter with.
Shizu came back, and now the concern of the day was turned to exploring. Plan... Tok thought in her head. "I have no idea. But I think it's best to start right here in the dorms. Nobody really took the time to look around the common room, at least it's pretty." In all actuality, she wasn't really planning on finding something today. Rumors of things underneath the school enticed her, but Tok knew finding anything like a secret entrance would be almost impossible. Or at least for the first day.

She got up, making sure Lucifer was around her neck as usual before setting off into the main room. Funny, although she couldn't see at all she was having an easier time moving around. Getting used to this place already.

Shizu nodded as Tok explained what was what before falling into step behind her. After a few minutes though, Shizu found herself jogging to keep up. Huffing from lack of air and frustration, Shizu jumped a few inches in the air and floated, easily maneuvering herself to keep up with Tok.

"Hey, did either of you guys see the strange birds outside this morning?" Shizu asked suddenly, trying to keep a conversation going. "I saw one that was really bright orangish, almost like fire, and the another that was almost the same, but with blues and stuff."

While Shizu had been scared of Darren at first because of how he towered over her, she had gotten used to him and was no longer afraid. After all, no one could fake being that nice, especially to a little girl like Shizu.

Tok realized that she must have been walking around a little too well, since Shizu had a hard time keeping up. Poor thing, it was hard with her tiny size. Even thought Tok was short herself for an average human, Shizu was tiny.
"Birds?" Tok repeated, thinking over the description she was given. She hadn't seen anything like that before, but the description did run across in her magic reading years ago. "Are you talking about phoenixes? I don't think you'd see them around here. Why do you ask?" She said, what Shizu was talking about did sound a bit like the legendary bird. Well, not the blue part.

The entered the common room, still warm and welcoming like it was the day before. It was neat, with comfortable-looking furniture and some pictures on the walls of the night sky and even a lagoon. Ha, why would they have a picture of the beach here in the first place? It was a lagoon, not a beach. But to Tok they were the same thing. Lagoons usually had something like mermaids or things like that. "Starting here." She said, "Looks boring as hell but it's at least a place to start."

((Wooh! Guess what? I finished up the "bad guy" character profiles and the fighting rules (which are on the OOC thread) Please give critique if you feel something's missing))

((umm vara is in room across from tok, lol had a kinda strange thing at beginning lol sorry it took me so long to post, had a family emergency that disabled me from posting))

Vara had been sitting outside the cafeteria when Tok and Shizu had come out with a male, and had fallen into step behind them until they had reached the rooms, Toks reaction earlier still fresh in her mind as it had reflected what so many other people had reacted to her in the past. stepping inside her room she left the door open as she picked her notebook up off her bed, and placed it in her jacket.

stepping out of her room she had walked into the sight of tok walking into the common room and saying "starting here" her curiosity getting the best of her she pipes up asking "start what here?" almost timidly, afraid of her reaction this time.

((It's okay! It's 100% Okay! I'm just glad your alive TTwTT))

Tok blushed in embarrassment when Vara spoke, she hadn't known the girl was there. Still a bit wary of having hurt Vara's feelings she thumbled with her words for a second.
Why are you acting like this? She thought, almost yelling to yourself, This isn't the kind of girl you are! Don't you dare start mumbling too!
"We're exploring." She said, bluntly but also in a friendly tone. "You're welcome to join us. I'm..." She paused, about to mumble but stopped herself before doing so. How many times has she said things quietly under her breath in the last day? Too many for her to admit. "I'm sorry about before... I don't think I'm ready to let go of him just yet." She pet Lucifer on the head unsurely. It was funny, when Lucifer went up to touch Darren the other day Tok was fine with it. Perhaps it was just that Tok wasn't ready to physically let him sit on another person. Yeah. That was it.

Vara blinked in surprise before looking down, blushing and scuffing her boots on the ground. speaking almost just as quietly as Tok did, she also apologized "oh! I'm sorry, I only wanted to pet him, as i like snakes as well as animals... and thank you..." turning slightly she addressed shizu. "that dress looks good, though... a little big... you going to get it fixed?" she smiled as she asked.

it was then that she noticed the man standing with tok and shizu. "oh!... hello..." she says, surprise coloring her voice as her red eyes look the stranger up and down, noticing that like so many others he was shorter then herself. sighing slightly she took in more details of the man before realizing that she hadn't introduced herself. "my name is Vara, who are you?" she asked not knowing just how rude she was being.

she didn't make the same mistake to reach out to shake the mans hand again, as she didn't know what she would do.

Darren quietly followed the girls. He slowed down is gait so that he walked at the same speed as them. He looked at Shizu when she asked about birds then shook his head. "No, I didn't see any. Though I haven't really looked outside. The snow kind of depresses me."

When they reached the common room he looked around but wasn't very impressed. It was pretty and cozy but not very exicting. He had noticed the other girl following them but didn't say anything. When she started talking he stayed quiet but when she addressed him he turned to look at her. "Hello Vara. I'm Darren the friendly part dragon."

((how tall is Vara because Darren is just at 6'))

((Just move my stuff to the dorm next to that then. No big deal. :D))

"Uh-huh, just like them. I've seen a lot of them since I came here," Shizu said in response to Tok. "'Cept, I only ever see two. One that looks like an actual phoenix and one that looks really icy." While she was a little glad that they had stopped walking so fast, it didn't really matter anymore, as she had taken to floating along the ground instead.

"Hey Tok? Are we lookin' for the basement?" Shizu asked suddenly after they entered the Common Room. She found it interesting to say the least. She would have chosen different paintings, but they weren't bad. They gave the room a kind of warm feeling. With a sigh, she plopped down onto a chair, dangling her legs back and forth while she waited for a response.

((lol))

"friendly dragon?" vary blinked as she heard him speak but she nodded in greeting before also looking around. she had been in here two nights ago exploring while everyone else had arrived the yesterday day but she hadn't noticed anything but how the painting of the beach seemed out of place then the rest of the design.

((where is the secret entrance? or is having the lever within the beach painting fine?))

((A lever or something is fine, for the most part this is open-ended. Start keeping OOC chat/idea to the OOC thread from now on, s'il vous plaît))

"You like animals then?" Tok said, not much of a question, "I'm sure Lucifer likes you then. Calming souls like ours sooth almost any animal." Vara's physical stance made her seem like a very at-peace sort of person, and although her snake seemed a bit wary of the immense power Vara had, he seemed at peace.

"I don't think that's natural for those kinds of things to be around here," Tok said as she looked over the walls of the room. A basement... She had heard that the rumors took place underground "I'm not sure what we're looking for, but you've heard the rumors about this place, right Shizu?" If the girl didn't, It would probably seem like Tok was spewing giggerish or something like that.
Her eyes kept getting distracted by the lagoon picture at the far corner. With the blue and green hues, it really did stand out from the rest of the red-maroon furniture. She took a few steps closer, "I've never been to a beach..." She whispered to herself. 'La Lagune de Nuit' The painting said, while the other painting of the night sky read 'La Nuit de la Lagune'
Basically the same thing, right? "Can anyone here speak... french?" The snake girl asked unsurely. Sure looked like french with the 'la's.

"Probably not," Shizu affirmed. "They're kind of creepy though. They always seem like they're staring at me. Are phoenixes intelligent like dragons?" In response to Tok's following question, Shizu just shook her head 'no.' The majority of the people she saw on the way up shut up when they saw her. They either recognized her, or noticed how little clothing she wore.

"I don't know French, but I'm assuming those words are cognates," Shizu said, floating up to the paintings to get a closer look. "That one looks like it says 'The Lagoon of Night,' while the other says, 'The Night of the Lagoon.'" She shrugged as she finished. That was really all she had.

Vara brushed her fingers over the words on the picture, while answering her two questions. "yes i like animals, and i speak french, and shizu is partially right, its is 'The Night of The Lagoon', but the first is actually, 'The Lagoon Night', i wonder..." Vara's voice faded away as she lightly brushed the words again. she had also noticed something else.... "hey have you noticed that these words look the same forward and backwards?" pressing her fingers lightly into the painting she twists the part of the name till its upside down and a very audible click echo's through the semi-silent lobby.

Darren walked into the room and flopped onto a chair. "Well of course I'm the friendly dragon or at least part. I'm also the flirty part demon." He winked in the direction of the girls. "I'm like that dragon from Disney that liked to sing. Hm... I think his name started with a P. Though I don't sing and I like the gothic punk fashion." He laughed picturing the singing dragon being gothic.

While the others were talking about the basement and trying to find it he simply leaned back. He knew better then to go looking for trouble. You only ended up without the cookie and a very upset parent. No, if they found trouble he would follow but at the end he could happily say he hadn't gone looking for it.

"Ha." Tok mocked Darren's 'flirty part demon' comment, "As if you could pull that off." Although Tok didn't know most anything about pop culture, she did know Disney. A singing dragon was new, though.

Tok tried explaining what she knew of the rumors to Shizu, "They say things lurk about school, or under the school. Students have mysteriously disappeared over the years, although there isn't any proof since they don't keep any records of this place." She added a haunted tone of voice to the end in an attempt to frighten the girl. Just a little bit, like teasing. She laughed a bit, "Not something we need to worry about since we have Mr. Musical Dragon here."
"Oi..." She murmured suddenly, seeing Vara go over the letters as if she knew what she was doing in the first place. "What are you doing?" Tok could hear the slight clicking sound of the painting here Vara's fingers pressed. Tok certainly didn't see how the letters were the same forwards and backwards, but apparently that didn't matter. Funny... She thought to herself.

Blaze woke up and changed quickly. He knew that he had overslept and probably everyone was gone somewhere. And he was completely right. Blaze got on his shoes and messed up his hair a little, not really caring. He walked down the steps to try to find someone. "Ugh." He said as he rolled his eyes and put his hands in his pockets. Blaze really didnt want to have to look for people to talk to, but decided to anyways. 'If you wanna make new friends you first have to meet them.' He thought to himself as he looked outside.

(( Where are people?))

((Right now we're in the Common Room, finding the basement. :D))

"You should watch sayin' that, Darren," Shizu warned, giggling slightly. "If someone else would have heard that, they'd label you a creeper and call the police." By the end, she was giggling freely, glad that she had friends who didn't reject her for her appearance.

When Tok mentioned the things that were rumored to live in the basement, she shuddered, suddenly wishing she had her teddy from home. "You mean like vampires and ghosts and stuff?" she asked, noticeably horrified. "They won't... They won't get me, will they?" By now, she was shaking with fear, and the room was becoming noticeably warmer by the second. Certainly, fear didn't want to share her attention with anything, as her control over her body heat was rapidly diminishing while she waited anxiously for an answer.

Darren pretended to pout at Tok. "I think I would make a great singing dragon. And I'll have you know I was in high demand back at my other school. Though they were all guys and that one really creepy goth girl." That girl had always scared him.

He laughed when he heard Shizu's warning. He turned to look at her and smiled. "So what let 'em call the cops. They would come out here looking for a perv and they would find me." He air quoted then continued on in a deeper voice. "This must be the kid. Just look at how weird he is." Back in his normal voice, "Hello officers. Oh your looking for a perv who likes girls? Oh that can't be me because I like to sew and bake." In the deep voice, "Aw, it can't be him. He's just a weird gay kid. Do you think we can still rough 'im up a bit sarge?" Darren waved his hands then dropped the voice. "See it simply doesn't work. If I bake then it means I'm gay and I couldn't possibly be interested in you guys, other then to dress you up."

"And don't worry about monsters. Look around you. Your already surrounded by them. I'm a demon dragon and she's a fire witch. I'm not sure what the other is but I can tell you it ain't something normal. If a vampire came to get you you would toast him. I've heard they don't like fire much. If you dropped a human in this room they would think the monsters were already here and ready to eat them."