Really, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Riverswell looked so ... divine. And to think, this was only the gate.

Yet, here at only the entrance Alena was frozen, standing in front of the thick iron bars that marked the next passage in her life. The demigod lingered there, before the towering iron already thrown open in welcome with her grey-blue gaze roaming along the intricate ivy almost woven with the metal. Occasionally someone passed her, but Alena had no eyes for them. Not yet. Standing before the archway, path weaving into the forest of trees that would lead to her new home with the sky dreary and clouded, made her feel somehow... small.

Perhaps the feeling of not belonging would go away with time.

A deep exhale escaped her lips before Alena squared her shoulders and straightened out, eyes narrowing in determination. It was a [i]school[/i], one that she didn’t particularly want to go to and full of people with fantastic abilities, but a school none the less! As far as universities go, she could’ve done worse. Nodding as though to confirm the thoughts the redhead finally steeled her resolve and adjusted her bags before starting her trek, a red duffle bag hanging off her hip and an extraordinarily large camping pack snug against her shoulders. The latter was large enough she could’ve brought the entire kitchen sink, but of course that was ridiculous; Alena only brought a blender.

It took only a few minutes to find the giant stone building that served as the dormitories, majestic in its own right. Not to mention the people shuffling towards it was a dead give away, thank God – was that appropriate here? Shaking the thought off with a quick glance at her palm, or more specifically the rather neat scribble of a number in black ink on it confirmed her destination and set Alena’s mind back on track. Room 417, that had to be fourth floor right? It was quick work to find the stairs just passed the large wooden doors guarding the entrance. She did pause briefly at the third floor landing seeing a congregation of people at one of the nearby rooms, wondering if the owner had a similar problem to her own oral obstacles and needed help. She lingered only long enough to overhear something about roommates and determine there wasn’t an issue before moving on. 

Fourth floor, seventeenth room. Her new home for the foreseeable future. Alena took a moment outside the door to bounce on the balls of her feet, psyching herself up with muttered words.

“[color=f44242]It is not that bad, you have this,[/color]” The redhead told herself, pointedly ignoring the way the imperfect English slid off her tongue like honey and flowers. Emboldened and filled with partially artificial bravery Alena finally opened the door, only to stop short,eyes widening.

“[color=f44242]Look at the view![/color]” Unable to help herself Alena moved to the large glass doors leading onto the balcony, not moving outside but drinking in the scenery. It was nothing like back home. Maybe it really [i]wouldn’t[/i] be so bad if everything was like this. Despite being completely distracted from her earlier overcast mood matching the weather outside, the demigod wasn’t so ignorant she couldn’t hear movements in the apartment. It was faint as no doubt the walls in such a luxurious home were thick, but moving in always had its own cacophony of noise. Tearing her gaze away Alena went to investigate only to pause hearing the squeak of her running shoes on the hardwood floor.

Oops.

Now holding her runners in one hand Alena poked her head into the hall to the left of the entrance, noticing a bathroom and laundry room just passed the kitchen, with sounds further down the hall of someone else. Looks like someone else had already started moving in – well, two someones. She really should’ve paid more attention to the papers sitting crumpled in her bag. Oh well, she should set her own bags down first.

“[color=f44242]Hey, just letting you be aware I am here – I will be unpacking![/color]” The polite warning given, called down the hallway to the room set apart from the others – just to be safe before she tested her roommates’ reaction to her words -  Alena retreated to the opposite hallway, seeing only two doors. The noises indicated someone else in the left one, so she turned her gaze to the only room left, and immediately let out a disappointed sigh. At least the living area had the giant windows, since her room had none. That’s what she gets for loitering.

A shrug of her shoulder had the dufflebag on the ground, the large pack following a moment later with a rather loud thud. Alena winced at the noise, almost feeling the floorboards rattle beneath her socks. There [i]were[/i] a nice set of weights inside, on the bottom, but luckily the floor didn’t scuff. It was when Alena was taking her fur-lined jacket off to hang on a small hook on the back of her bedroom door that she first got a glance at the roommate opposite her.

Alena, daughter of Aphrodite, promptly froze with red rapidly appearing across the bridge of her nose as she gazed upon the expanse of skin on show.

Well, at least despite not getting a window in her room it appeared she still had a view.