{AW}Game Time

    It was just after lunch on her first day and admittedly it had been both eventful and somewhat…strange. For most teens an day off from school to do with as you pleased a blessing in disguise and many would jump on with not a second thought. For Eve, it wasn’t quite that simple. She’d been awake for no more than two years and not a day had gone by when she had not been told what to wear, where to go, what to eat, what to study, and when to train. Her life was as controlled as her appearance in this world. Everything was calculated, everything in it’s place. After finishing the packets she’d been sent to Foresta with, eating lunch, and then sending out her mail, Eve found an void in this…For she had no orders.

    No one in Foresta could tell her to do anything but herself. For at least an hour Eve lingered in the hallways of the school, simply observing other students and the way they spent their free time. Thinking perhaps it might give her an idea of what to do with herself until bed time later this evening. No friends to socialize with excluded that option rather quickly. Her dislike of computers followed seconds after that. It was not until she saw a pair of boys playing a card game that she remembered her own game sets located back in her room. At least, she hoped so, for her luggage hadn’t quite arrived when she did this morning. It was something to fill time, she supposed.

    Luckily, Eve found her belongings in her room and worked for a while getting them all packed away with the rest of what she was able to carry in with her. At the bottom of one of the boxes were three board games. Chinese checkers, chess, and Weiqi - better known as ‘Go’ by English speakers. Laying out all three on her bed, Eve observed each one for a long moment before finally taking her pick. In her arms she took the tan Go box and left her room once again, remembering the advice her handler had given before arriving at the school. ”Don’t coupe yourself up in your room. Get out and make friends.” Which is what Eve had been doing so far on her first day. At least she had spoken with several people, that was nice…At least, that’s what she was told it was supposed to be.

    Just beyond the dorms was the student lounge, currently somewhat empty due to classes which left the red head ample room to set up her game at one of the vacant tables. Opening the case she removed a lined wooden board, two cups each black and white, and two baggies filled with black and white polished stones. Go is considered to be a particularly physiologically revealing game, with profiles for every type of player ranging from the conservative point counter, the aggressor, and the finesser. Eve did not favor a strategy, in fact…she could mimic and manipulate each one according to how her opponent played. A matter that was deeply troubling for her benefactors. For now, she would be her own opponent and began placing stones upon the board in accordance to it’s rather simple rules.

Jayden took a deep breath, feeling the cool air filling his lungs quickly as he strung up his hair into a high ponytail.  He had rather enjoyed his day so far, what with learning all of the new things in his classes.  Of course he felt that he was lacking in a few areas that other people seemed all to proficient at, but what was learning a new skill?  Typing on computers and learning how to work the Internet, finding out about special workings of plants and animals... it was all so interesting to him.  Many things flew over his head, but after quickly looking it up on search engines, he had become a sponge for knowledge.  What all he would be able to retain he wasn't certain, but the more he learned, the more curious he became.  What else was out there?  What was there for him to discover?  It almost made his hollow bones rattle with excitement to think of all the things he had yet to find out.

For lunch today, Jayden carried around a small sack of almonds and a water bottle.  It wasn't much, but he also wasn't going to be too keen on flying for the next few days, so it wouldn't be too much of a problem.  He munched absently on the nuts as he sauntered down the hallways and eventually ended up in the student lounge.

Upon entering the room, he found it much less crowded than normal.  He wasn't sure why it was this way, but he had no right to complain.  Rather than plopping down next to a stranger and engaging in conversation, Jayden decided to take a few moments for himself.  He nestled onto one of the couches and threw his body lazily over the old, sunken-in cushions before taking a few long swigs of water.  His wings ruffled easily behind him until they found a comfortable spot which, sadly, ended up taking quite a bit of space.  Thankfully, he was the only one on that particular couch, so until the room became more crowded, he didn't feel a need to draw in his wings too much.  It wasn't until he had finished off the small meal and a few seconds of rest passed that the door opened.  He didn't budge until he heard unfamiliar noises--light clacking, stone jangling together...?

Jayden glanced up finally and saw a new person setting up a table.  He had never seen that particular... thing... before that she was using, so quickly, his interest was piqued.  Once she had settled herself, Jayden squirmed his way off of the couch and walked over to the table, pressing his tanned hands onto its surface.  "M-may I ask what this is?" he mused, brown eyes sparkling with amazement as he scanned each individual item.

    This wasn't the first time Knell was phased into a wall, and it most certainly wouldn't be the last. Why was he in the wall, you may ask. To stare at people without them freaking out and going away, obviously.

    With the power of dark-sight, Knell could see that one of the worthless sacks of meat in the room was messing around pointlessly with something on a table. He couldn't make out what exactly the thing was fiddling with, but he had a good idea it was some kind of board game for idiots.

    The other one, which had just entered, appeared even more pathetic than the other. Unable to carry out the act of standing on its worm-legs for more than a few minutes, the thing had fallen onto a large seat. 'I am amazed such a lowly thing can remember how to breath,' Knell thought to himself. The thought of the pathetic couch-sitting worm forgetting how to breath amused him greatly, and despite trying to remain unnoticed he ended up bursting into a fit of cackling, the ethereal laughter echoing around the room he was spying on. '....Damnit.'

    Eve did try her best not to stare at anyone, since it was consider socially unacceptable. Perhaps one of the few social things she understood and tried to follow, however logic and knowledge did not always win over the acute fascination she was starting to grow for each new thing she came across in this school. As the placing of stones slowed to a crawl green eyes only rose from the game with a pair of lightly tanned hands moved to sit palms down upon the table. Glancing up Eve found a boy standing there, with hair colored a vibrant blue and brown eyes. Under one of them was a strange marking, but these details were put aside in favor of the boys proposed question. Eve sat back in her chair, hands resting upon the table with impeccable posture as she looked down to the board. ”It is a game.” She began.

    Realizing this was probably not to degree he might desire, the red head happily began to go in more detail. ”To English speakers it is know simply known as ‘Go’. Originating from China more than two thousand five hundred years ago. It is an abstract strategy board game for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent.” With that said Eve took another white polished stone from it’s respective bowl and observed the board momentarily before making her play. ”Despite its relatively simple rules, Go is considered more complex than chess, having both a larger board with more scope for play and longer games, and, on average, more alternatives to consider per move.”

    By that point, a strage phenomena occurred when the entire room seemed enveloped in a rather sinister-esque sort of cackle. As though a malicious being was watching the two, contemplating various ways to ruin them, but at the same time gave way that it did so. Eve cast her softly glowing gaze around the room, but knew the voice couldn’t have come from someone in the room, for it’s origin she could have easily pin pointed. This she could not. ”How strange.” She muttered, seemingly unconcerned with it at most.

(ooc; it's been well over a week since Planchette last posted, so in the interest of keeping the thread out of the graveyard I am going to skip over Planch in the post-order for now)

    Having blown his own cover, Knell decided to skip a few steps in his usual plan when it came to watching people, and revealed himself early by phasing out of the wall he was hiding in. While for the most part Knell looked his usual self, his eyes remained hidden behind the dark mist that made up his face, leaving the aforementioned smile his only visible facial feature. Even though he had no eyes at the moment, Knell took the time to glance around the room. As his gaze fell on Eve the Limbo Lord let loose another amused chuckle, his mouth remaining a perfectly still cheshire-grin as the disembodied cackle bounced around the room.



    "You honestly think this game to be more complex than chess? It barely looks more challenging than checkers," Knell proclaimed, his voice carrying an amused tone. This 'Go' game looked stupid, infantile even, there was no reason for someone to be playing it over the strategical gem that was chess. "I mean, just look at the pieces, they are so unimportant and interchangeable that they all look exactly the same!" he followed up the exclamation by phasing into the floor, only to pop up next to the table Nina was at moments later, and he quickly reached over and grabbed one of the game pieces. "Do you even see these things? A toothpick has more thought put into it. Only a defective-worm would even dare to compare this to chess."

    Her attention had remained upon the board until a form morphed in from the wall that opposed her. Green eyes took in the form for a moment, noting the strange oddity that was his face for the most part but felt no compelling reason to say anything about it. This in turn had the woman turn her attention back upon the board, remembering again what she’d been told about this place and the people who called it home. Some would not appear ‘normal’ and that was okay, it did not make them bad people. However, her intent to live and let live did not seem as though it would be enough for the other. With that same cackle that echoed through out the room before he approached her table and like the other, seemed taken in by the game but not for the same reasons.

    Eve had just set down a piece on the board when the boy with no eyes and just a wide smile began to speak. Her gaze lifted to his features, no visible disturbance lingering on her visage either by his features or by his words as she took in his simple complaints. He began by comparing to checkers, then complaining about the simplicity of the pieces used in the game. Out of these, Eve made no attempt at rebuttal, mostly due to the fact that she was positive these were not his only issues with Go. A moment after his last comment he seemed to melt into the floor, reappearing at the table nearest her before reaching over and nabbing one of the stones before continuing with his assessment of game she was positive he’d probably never played. Topping it all of by implying she was a ‘defective worm’ by comparing it to chess.

    There was just a moment of silence and no discernible change in her emotional state due to his attempts to make her feel bad in some manner. ”Perhaps you did not hear me before.” She began. "Despite its relatively simple rules, Go is considered more complex than chess, having both a larger board with more scope for play and longer games, and, on average, more alternatives to consider per move." She stressed the reasons why the game was considered to be such when compared to chess. ”These are facts sir, and if you wish to dispute fact on personal issues with the game then you are choosing to remain willfully ignorant.” There was no malice in her voice when she said these things, simple observation of the elements at play.

Ooc: I wasn’t entirely certain of Knell’s placement so I hope this kinda made sense. @-@

    "I am right and you are wrong, said the ant to the sun," Knell said in a sing-song voice. The fog of his upper face began to shift, revealing his featureless eyes as he began to inspect the game piece he was holding. "A bit of a broken record aren't you? I heard your explanation of how this petty game is supposedly complex, and still it remains as pointless as your life," as he spoke he brought the rock close to his eyes, before carefully placing it where he had found it. He had been tempted to disposed of the worm's game piece, but that would just incur the ire of the Academy staff, which he was not quite in the mood to deal with at the moment. 

    "The challenge of this game stems purely from the fact that the board is large, and that the feeble minds of mortals have trouble keeping track of everything going on around it. The pieces are all identical and interchangeable, which points to them all behaving identically, which would mean that the game is easier at its core due to not having to manage 6 different unit types that have to all be managed with care; in chess you must keep the pieces out of harms way while utilizing all of their unique movement types to create an opening to capture their king," he explained while glancing over the board, but to his disappointment the game remained mediocre looking even when using his proper vision.  "Surely even a worm such as yourself can see that if chess was played on a similarly sized board to this rubbish, it would be much more mentally demanding of you lesser beings."

    Knell briefly glanced at the boy sitting on the couch to see if he had anything to say about all of this, but it seemed content sitting their quietly. With a small shrug he looked back at the board for a second before turning to stare at Eve, his head tilting to the side a bit. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your special skill that allows you to attend this humble school? Because from what I have seen I would guess it is that you are emotionally stunted to a supernatural degree," he chuckled.