[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/834066208189186108/967989617854939166/Lorelei__Rodrick.png[/img][/center]

[center][h1][color=558b86]Lorelei[/color] & [color=F08080]Rodrick[/color][/h1][/center]

Rodrick craned his head around in an attempt to see who was talking to him. For a moment he thought it might have been Athena, but the voice was wrong, not bland enough frankly, to have been Athena’s. When he saw the young woman in nothing but a towel, a myriad of thoughts ran through his head all at once. The first was that there was a young woman in his room. The second was that the young woman happened to be pretty, and was wearing, what looked like, nothing but a towel. The third was that she had said something about him moving or being cuddled with, the strangest threat he had ever heard. And the fourth, wasn’t really a thought as much as it was simple and pure panic.
Rodrick made some noises, half of them sounding like he was being strangled, before he managed to dredge up a… somewhat, coherent statement. [color=F08080]“Oh, uh..er Hi. Yes hello.”[/color] He could feel his face somehow turning redder than it already was but he managed to fight down the urge to turn his head back into the couch and die. The alcohol finally took over and he was able to get out a real sentence. [color=F08080]“Well, as much as I love the threat of a good time I guess a gentleman would move then wouldn’t he?”[/color] Rodrick tried to push himself up, but his arm was sucked in by the couch at every attempt. It didn’t help that the world seemed to be spinning out of control, quite literally. After a few more useless attempts he finally gave up with a sigh. [color=F08080]“Sorry, it seems like I make a shitty gentleman. I’m Rodrick by the way. That's a...very nice... towel?”[/color] He said, making sure his eyes were glued to her face and didn’t wander.  

Lorelei merely watched in amusement as Rodrick struggled to say something. She let out a small giggle, probably enjoying this far too much, but was impressed when he seemed to recover fairly quickly. [color=558b86]”I suppose a gentleman would…”[/color] She said with a smirk, deciding to keep up the fun. [color=558b86]”But where’s the fun in that.”[/color] She finished, a teasing tone to her voice. She’d definitely leave a memorable first impression. It was his next statement that caught her a little off guard and she couldn’t help from letting out a laugh.

[color=558b86]”You think so? I’m not so sure, I don’t think it’s the right color for me.”[/color] She looked down at the towel, as if examining an outfit. [color=558b86]”You’re cute, Rodrick. Thanks for making me laugh. I’m Lorelei.”[/color] She said as she moved over to her bed and started picking through the small amount of things she had. [color=558b86]”You also don’t need to worry about being a gentleman around me. As you can see, I’m definitely not a proper lady.”[/color] She finally found a pair of pajamas and turned back around to face him. 

Rodrick felt his face grow just a bit warmer at being called cute. Feeling just a little vulnerable laying face down on a couch, he took a moment to breathe, and then pushed with all his might against the diabolically comfortable sofa. [color=F08080]“Lorelei, that's a lovely name.”[/color] It would have sounded more like a compliment if he hadn’t been struggling so much to sit up. With one final heave, and far too much effort, Rodrick managed to sit up almost straight on the couch. He let out a sigh of relief before turning to look at Lorelei, still doing his best to not let his eyes wander where they shouldn’t. [color=F08080]“Well, I’m glad I could be of some service.”[/color] He paused for a moment before adding, [color=F08080]“That’s good to know. I hate being a gentleman, all the bowing and hand kissing and pretending to have manors. It gets exhausting.”[/color]

Despite the constant feeling of panic in his chest, Rodrick was surprised he was actually managing to keep up a conversation. Something had definitely been different about that wine. He wasn’t sure if it was magical, drugged, or magically drugged, but he had the feeling if he was going to have Lorelei as a roommate he would need a lot of it. He had the sense she was enjoying his poorly concealed terror. [color=F08080]“So, what brings you to this magical place of sassy talking rocks and drugged wine?”[/color] 

[color=FFC0CB]“Hoseforn’s Academy does not drug any of its food or beverage. Perhaps if you are feeling unwell, you should avoid over indulging yourself in the future.”[/color] Athena chimed in, in an incredibly unhelpful manner. [color=F08080]“I didn’t ask you, pebble!”[/color] Rodrick retorted, attempting to turn and glare at the magical floating crystal, but only managing to make the room spin faster. 

That crystal certainly was a sassy one, it was something Lorelei found quite entertaining. Though she was sure she’d eventually get fed up with it as well. She was just more curious about who would toss Athena out the window first, her or Rodrick. She supposed that would be determined in the coming weeks.

[color=558b86]”Oh yes, all of that certainly would be exhausting. Especially pretending to have manners.”[/color] She walked forward until she was in front of him and leaned forward until her face was in front of his, yellow eyes peering into his. [color=558b86]”So why are you still pretending to have manners, hmm?”[/color] She smirked deviously at him before standing back up. [color=558b86]”You don’t have to be polite and focus on just my face, silly. I’m aware of how I look.”[/color] She giggled and turned to walk back towards the bathroom. She wasn’t about to let him know that the confidence she exuded wasn’t what she was actually feeling. Perhaps she’d walked out like this to give herself a confidence boost? She wasn’t entirely sure.

[color=558b86]”While I’m curious at how much redder you could get, I’ll spare you for now and change out of sight.”[/color] Lorelei said before entering the bathroom, but she left the door cracked so she could continue talking. [color=558b86]”To answer your question, however, I suppose the simplest answer would be that I’m here because it’s better than where I was.”[/color] She sighed as she slipped her top on and then some shorts. She tossed the towel off to the side before exiting the bathroom once more. [color=558b86]”That and I hope being here can help me get revenge on the people that put me in the place I was before here.”[/color] There was a sweet smile on her face as she moved over to the couch and plopped down next to him. [color=558b86]”How about you? What’s the story of Rodrick, the darling pretend gentleman?”[/color]

Rodrick’s face did indeed manage to turn reder. He was almost impressed, he never knew he could feel so embarrassed, panicked, and fascinated all at once. There was no denying it now, she was getting a kick out of all of this. He supposed were he the attractive woman and she an easily panicked and drunk tiefling he would probably be enjoying it a little too. He did, however, decide to not concentrate on her face as she walked back into the bathroom to change. She had said it was okay after all. It would be rude not to admire her for just a moment. But as he was admiring he caught a glimpse of some scars on the young woman's back. The towel covered most of them, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what they were, and tell just how severe they must be. They didn’t subtract anything from her, but Rodrick felt a pang of anger and sorrow that he couldn’t quite place. Scars like that only came from the lowest dregs of humanity, the kind of people Rodrick had seen all too often, and wished nothing but the slowest and most gruesome of deaths on. The anger, and the fact that there was no longer a half naked woman in front of him, allowed Rodrick to collect himself a little bit. By the time Lorelei returned he was almost back to his regular shade of red.

 [color=F08080]“Ooooo revenge. A grand reason indeed. I have always loved a tale of scum and villainy getting what they deserve.”[/color] He paused for a moment as he considered her question. [color=F08080]“As for why I’m here… I guess for a similar reason. This place has to be better than the festering shithole that is most of Balmaria.”[/color] He paused for another moment before adding, [color=F08080]“I suppose it would be nice to find some actual purpose in life, rather than living in a constant state of fear that you’ll be stabbed for looking at someone wrong. Or because some starving and desperate sod thinks that your last three coppers should be their last three coppers.”[/color] He sat silently for another moment, before realizing that he had just been extremely honest, something that he was not in the habit of doing, with someone he had met a whole 10 minutes ago. His face, once again, turned an incredibly deep shade of red. It was actually starting to hurt a little. [color=F08080]“Sorry.”[/color] He said, not sure why he was apologizing but feeling that he should. [color=F08080]“There is absolutely something unnatural about that wine they served tonight.”[/color] He half expected Athena to pipe up again, but she didn’t. Her silence was all the proof he needed. That was not normal wine! 

[color=558b86][I]Scum and villainy.[/I][/color] Those two words repeated themselves in her head a few times as she knew many would describe herself with those words. She was forged into a villain from a young age, but did that mean she would now always be a villain? Was there hope for her to be a hero? We're heroes and villains even real? The mention of Balmaria pulled her back to the conversation at hand. [color=558b86]"Oh gods, please let this place be better than Balmaria."[/color] She said with a small laugh, but she found herself rather interested in all he had to say. It seemed he didn't have an easy life either, though that seemed to be a common thing when you grew up in the darker areas of Balmaria. She knew that all too well.

[color=558b86]"I'd have to be inclined to agree with you. I normally have a hard time getting drunk and I definitely was feeling it after drinking some of that wine."[/color] She grinned and briefly glanced over to Athena, waiting to see if she'd say anything. After a moment, she looked back to Rodrick. [color=558b86]"You know you don't need to apologize. I grew up in Balmaria too, I understand that fear."[/color] She said to him softly, a genuine kindness shining through. [color=558b86]"Who knows, maybe this place can be a new start for both of us and give us purpose."[/color] She nudged him encouragingly.

Rodrick found himself smiling back at Lorelei. Real kindness was not something he was used to having around him anymore. He wondered for a moment at the fact that he had ended up with a roommate who could probably understand him, and vice versa, better than he could have hoped for. Just a little while ago he would have thought that the roommate selection was random, but now he was beginning to think that there was a lot more consideration put into the roommate situation then was obvious….. Or maybe it was all random, dumb luck. Either way, he decided then that regardless of how much she teased him, or tried to make his head explode with panic, that he was going to enjoy having this young woman as his roommate. 

He opened his mouth to say something, when a tiny flash of light caught his eye. He turned his head to see two chilled glasses filled with, what he assumed, was water. They had certainly not been there before, which was a little creepy, but he understood their well intentioned appearance. Carefully, as the room was still moving, he wandered over to the small table, picked them up, and brought them back to the couch. Being extremely careful NOT to pour any of the water on Lorelei, he sat back down next to her and handed her one of the glasses.  [color=F08080]“Well then, to new starts and a better purpose.”[/color] He said, smiling warmly and lifting his glass to toast hers. He let out a surprised ‘Oh’ after taking a sip.  [color=F08080]“That's surprisingly nice.”[/color] It was, perhaps, the first drink of cold, and clean, water he had taken in a very long time. 

The flash had caught Lorelei’s attention as well and she glanced over at the two glasses, rather impressed. [color=558b86]”Well how convenient is that…”[/color] She said as she watched Rodrick get up to grab them. As he made his way over to the small table she had a brief moment where she wondered if she should have gotten up to get them as it definitely seemed like he was feeling the alcohol more than she was. He made it back after some time, however, and she thanked him as she took a glass. [color=558b86]”And to new friends.”[/color] She said as she lifted her glass to his before taking a drink. [color=558b86]”Oh gods, is the water here magical too?”[/color] She practically moaned before downing the whole thing. Either it was magical or she just was so used to dirty water and limited supply of water that it just tasted like the best glass she’d ever had.

[@Tae]