[b]Marceline Chen [indent]- 11:40 AM[/indent][/b] A hand flopped over the edge of the queen-sized bed, interrupting the sunlight flowing in from the bedroom window to create a shadow on the white wooden floor. Accompanying the movement was a muffled groan, escaping from the mouth of one Marceline Chen, whose face was buried in the dark sheets of her pillows. Thank goodness they were dark - otherwise they would have shown a Jackson Pollock of last night's makeup and lipstick. She hadn't been in her room more than ten minutes after leaving Graven before she half crawled/half sank into the mattress, only having enough stamina to remove her dress and heels. And thus she lay, practically naked except for the sheets tangled around her body. After a long and well-fought internal battle, she was finally able to heave herself up and into a shower, throw on a simple white t-shirt, a black pair of sweatpants, and a hoodie splattered with different colored paint, and shuffle out of the room in search of sustenance. She did notice the note left on her door by (supposedly) Sol, and there was a brief moment of [i]"Fuck, I could have stayed in bed for breakfast"[/i] before she reasoned with herself. She was already dressed and ready to venture out. Might as well. [b][indent]- 12:57 PM[/indent][/b] Downstairs in the Entrance Hall, she padded her way toward what looked like the dining room; but before entering, the room ahead of her caught her eye. A few more steps forward told her it was a library, and since Marceline wasn't sure if anyone would be keeping her company for breakfast, she figured she should stop and pick something out for her self. She wandered in and turned straight towards the shelves, instantly caught up in the sheer number of spines in the one room. The bindings were all beautiful in their own way, and with her fingertips she gently made contact with every one of them before stopping at one at random and sliding it out of place. Opening it carefully and slowly sifting through the pages, Marci felt a sense of excitement at the chance to explore the kind of literature the Wolfs possessed. But before she could get much further than the first couple of pages - “Marci, right?” The sound caused a very jumpy Marceline to yelp loudly ("Shit!") and whip around, the book nearly flying out of her hands as her breathing speed multiplied to about a hundred and her panicked eyes flew around the room to find the culprit. She was seated in one of the chairs, book already in hand, watching Marci make a fool of herself. "Oh my god…" Embarrassed, but mostly recognizing that spinning around that quickly wasn't in agreement with her hangover, the young woman lifted a hand to cover her face. After a moment to recompose, Marci chuckled weakly and rubbed an eye with the side of her hand. "I didn't see you, hah… Sorry that was… Loud… Uh… Hey, hah. Yeah, Marci." She nodded in confirmation, which bought her enough time to grasp for the female's name. Obviously it wasn't Lynn, so she had to be the other one. The one she saw running up the stairs last night. "And you're… Kim, right?" Kim nodded. “Yeah, pleasure to finally meet you. I mean I guess we have already met, but that didn’t feel real." She shrugged as Marceline found a chair somewhere near her and plopped herself down into it, still holding the book she'd picked out. "Pleasure to finally meet you too," Marci replied, flashing a warm, sheepish smile as she put the book down in the chair beside her and began to rub her temples, "Sorry, my head isn’t all here this morning." Then, in a lower, almost mumbled volume, "Had a little too much fun last night…" “No worries. I’m glad I avoided that. I only had a bit of champagne. I didn’t want to be rude.” Kim shrugged again, and though Marci's more sensitive side wanted to ask what she meant by [i]not wanting to be rude[/i], she ignored the impulse. “How was [b]your[/b] evening last night?” "Hah, well, didn’t wanna put their efforts to waste, I suppose." Marci scratched her head, an eyebrow twitching upwards at the emphasis placed on the pronoun. "My evening was pretty great, I think. Lots of dancing, lots of free drinks. I consider that a success." It took a moment for her to understand that the accentuation was probably put there to imply that she hadn't had so wonderful an evening. And judging by the fact that her only memory of Kim was of the girl running up the stairs, it wasn't such a bad conclusion. "Ah…" Shifting uncomfortably in her chair, she pressed on politely. "And how was your evening?" “I’ve had better.” Kim shrugged. She sure did shrug a lot. “So I have to ask, because Jonas seemed bugged by it, but I didn’t actually hear it. Did you hear anything late last night coming from the direction of the lake?” Marci brought her feet up onto the chair so that her knees were resting by her chest and shook her head, perhaps looking a bit overly curious because she was grateful for the subject change. "Umm. No, I don’t think I did. I mean, I was pretty much always in the ballroom so I couldn’t really hear anything aside from the band. And when I got to my room I practically passed out… So no, I didn’t. Why, what did he say about it?" “Well he or Tom would probably be a better choice to tell the story. But they saw something get dragged out by the lake, heard a huge splash, and then something howling, but it wasn’t any wolf. I didn’t hear myself, like I said, but it has him a bit spooked.” Marceline's face contorted into a comically skeptical expression. "Really? That’s weird… Wouldn't this just be a Scooby-Doo episode if there was a lake monster?" She chuckled at her own stupid little comparison. "Hopefully I run into one of them today so I can ask them about it. I haven’t really spoken to either of them yet, so that should be a good conversation starter. I wonder what it could’ve been though… Have you seen the lake yet?" “No I haven’t. I’m thinking of going either today, or if we’re having a free day again tomorrow. I just got so distracted with the books," Kim held up the book she was currently reading, “That I forgot there was even an out of doors to visit. Have you been out to it?” "Mm, no, not yet. I’ll probably go check it out later, when I’m all sorted. Gray - Graven, the older man in our group - told me he’s heard it’s beautiful, so I might try and catch it during sunset or something." Marci grinned at the thought, before rubbing her temples again and nodding at the book in her hand. "What’re you reading?" “It’s a poetry collection by Eva Strittmatter.” Kim offered the book over and she took it, skimming through the pages. “It has the German translation next to the English.” "Mm. Very cool… I suppose they wouldn't be upset if we took some books out," she commented as she handed the book back. "You like poetry then?" “I like reading in general. I’m a librarian, well I’m between jobs right now, but that’s what my degree is in.” She took the book back and set it next to her on the end table. “What about you, what do you do?” "Cool. Bet this place is your favorite about the trip so far, huh?" Marceline smiled, glancing around at the entirety of the library before answering. "Oh, I’ve got a degree in fine arts, with a focus on photography. Basically a multi-media artist. I like creating and all that." This time she was the one to shrug. She was always so damn modest when it came to self-promotion. "Where are you from, anyway?" “I do love this place," Kim confirmed, smiling back. “Wow you’re well learned then. I’m from California. The part where all the veggies and fruits come from, not the beach.” "Haha, do you get that a lot? The bit about you and California and the beach?" Chuckling at the thought, Marci rolled her eyes at how unfortunately true it probably was. "I've never been, but one day I hope to visit. I'm sure there are places more beautiful than the shore there, yeah?" “Yeah. I do. I recommend Yosemite. It’s absolutely beautiful there. I was telling Lynn she should visit sometime, after this is over. You could come too. It’d be some weird reunion.” Marceline chuckled softly and pushed her short hair back behind her ears. "That sounds great, I'd be down. I live in New York, so it should be a big contrast, I'm sure. Ever been?" “Once. For a friend’s wedding a few years ago.” Kim looked down at her hands, seemingly turned off by the question. Noticing the strange energy, Marci opened her mouth to change the subject. Quite musically her stomach rumbled to interrupt her. [i]Well, that was lucky. And gross.[/i] With a self-conscious laugh, she patted her midsection, as if to shush it. "Ah, did you eat yet? Apparently, I'm starving." “Yeah I did. The stew is good, and not rabbit.” The woman gave half a smile. Groaning and jokingly crinkling up her nose at the thought of stew and hangovers, Marci shook her head once. "I think I’m going to stick to some eggs and toast for now, to be safe." After taking a moment to push herself out of the chair, Marci pulled her sleeves down over her hands and turned to pick up her book from the chair. "Well, it was nice to finally getting to talk to you, Kim. I’m sure I’ll see you around sometime later." “Indeed. Not hard to find me.” She waved her hand to indicate the library. A wide grin split Marceline's face. "Right, right, that's awesome. Then, until later, madam." She halfway curtsies to get a smile from her newest acquaintance, then turned and began to make her way back out the door. But before exiting, a thought occurred to her and she paused in her tracks to look back at her. "Oh and, you looked lovely last night." A nice compliment always did everyone some good. Kim's cheeks grew a bit pink at the statement. “Thank you, you did too.” Mission accomplished, Marceline smiled and waved goodbye, catching a glimpse of the other doing the same as she exited the library and entered the dining hall. Félix was there, and as she ordered the said toast and eggs, plus a glass of apple juice and one of water, he hid what was probably a smug smile at whatever the hell she did the night prior. She pulled out one of the chairs and sat cross-legged as she opened her book and waited for her food.