Linast and Noelani: Late Night Ramblings

Linast finished scrawling one last clumsy line on the short English essay he'd been working on, stared at it blankly for a few moments as the words swam in his vision, and then closed the notebook and let his head fall back on the edge of the doorframe he was huddled in with a thunk and a sigh. He had the distant feeling that under far different circumstances and in a far different place he might actually have enjoyed schooling. Among other things, he had been wanting to learn to read for a while now. As it was the entire experience had been pretty offputting so far, though, and he was just glad he'd been able to finish this particular piece of homework before it became to difficult to focus. Task completed for the night he let his attention drift, falling into a light and much needed doze.

It was late and a tipsy aspara came prancing through the academy gates. Parts of her form slithered and shifted. Fingers trailed like vapour, her hair ran along like droplets down a window and with each footfall, there was a soft 'poof!' A camera turned and stared at her. Noelani giggled childishly and clasped her hands behind her back, walking along very quickly. After evading the camera's suspicion, the girl meandered through a doorway. Or she would've, hadn't she tripped on something there... but not quite. Maybe it was her failure to remain in a fully physical state.
Either way, Noelani was sent across the threshold and landed in a white-whirled heap on the floor.

Linast jerked abruptly back awake at the contact against his legs, hissing out a yelp and scrambling to his feet. The notebook fell unheeded to the floor. He scrubbed at his face and then peered at the crumpled form of whoever had tripped over him, half tensed to dodge back without quite realizing it. The figure seemed oddly indistinct, he couldn't quite pick out coherent details. "Er. Hello?"

Snakes of vapour solidified here and there, revealing a fully-fledged human being. Or human form, anyway. Noelani was lying on her front, arms splayed above her and legs bent. She quickly propped herself up onto her elbows, twisting onto her knees and getting up backwards first, which probably wasn't great for Linast as her rear stuck out in the air. "What the--" she began, trying idly to 'sort' her hair, which fell in lustrous blonde locks. Then she stared at Linast. "Did you just see me trip over?" she asked him, unaware that it was him who had tripped her.

"Er, sort of? I-I mean I'm pretty sure you tripped over me but I was almost asleep--" which had
been stupid, now that he thought about it, why had he just shut down there instead of heading back to his dorm? Not that this student seemed hostile. He stooped, hurriedly, and scooped up his notebook and pencil. "A-ah, sorry, I really shouldn't have just been in the doorway like that. Y'think I'd know by now that just 'cause it's late doesn't mean people won't be around, but..."

Noelani twiddled with her hair, watching as flustered words came out at hundred miles an hour. She laughed softly, the moonlight alone lighting up the hallway. "It's okay, it's okay," she droned nicely, her arm held out after running her fingers through her hair, as if she were holding a handbag. "Quite a few are out at this time though, yeah," she nodded, looking passed Linast and into the night; her eyes not quite focusing. "Mostly... you know," she sighed, "demons and dark things. I'm not though." Noelani looked at the stranger and smiled alluringly. What she wasn't wasn't made clear though; was she not out or not a demon? She wasn't sober enough to calculate that possible confusion.

Linast squinted at Noelani; she seemed to be acting a bit... oddly. Possibilities flicked through his head--was she being influenced telepathically? Drugged, concussed? Or just distracted? "...Right. Ah, are you--all right?"

"I'm fine!" she insisted loudly, setting her hands on her hips. She frowned, then looked at Linast, regarding him. "What's your name then?" asked Noelani, her voice more indoor-volume. "I don't think I've seen you before." Her lovely laugh sounded again. "Probably not, with you hiding away like that."

Linast flinched at her loud declaration--because that level of insistence was so reassuring. He decided to try again in a little bit. He was really hoping she was just naturally odd, though, or disoriented from the fall. "I'm Linast. And, no, I attend classes and stuff, I just haven't been here long. Transfer student."

"Oh right," she said smoothly, nodding. "Li-nast," she pronounced slowly. "So what're you doing, Linast?" she quizzed, bouncing on her heels playfully.

"Just finishing up some homework, " Linast said, holding up the notebook vaguely. He eyed her movements with a bit of confusion. "I... Learned how to read recently, English stuff takes forever."

"Oh?" she said, pink lips forming an 'o' shape. The girl moved closer, peering at his notebook.
"I'm in top class for English," Noelani revealed proudly, her hands still set on her pelvic bones. "It's my second favourite subject. First is Music... or maybe Dance." A finger rested on her chin thoughtfully. "What about you, hm?"

"Nnn. I don't know." Linast shrugged. "It all kind of runs together to be honest. Music's kind of nice I guess. And alchemy, all you have to do is--follow instructions and you're fine." He stuck his pencil in a pocket and peered into the school through the still open door, rubbing absently at his wrists and split knuckles. "Um. Were you going in or out?"

"In," said Noelani, smirking. "Came back from a night-out. You been into Paris before at night?" The girl rubbed her lips together, feeling the smooth gloss on them. She let her arms fall limp, though one took to holding the other.

"No," Linast said, continuing to worry at his wrists. "I've got enough to think about here without getting myself lost. 'Sides, f-far as I've--experienced, cities kind of suck."

"Aw why?" asked Noelani, dragging out the last vowel like a whisper. "All sorts to do," she suggested lightly, one delicately shaped eyebrow raising. "Dancing. Do you like dancing?"

"They're too bright, people are jerks, you can't do anything without money, and finding a place to stay is impossible," Linast listed shortly, making a face. "And, a-ah, I don't know. I've never danced before." There were a lot of recreational things he'd never had the time to try, now that he thought about it.

"You like the dark?" Noelani asked, interjecting as he spoke. She nodded considerately about the money part, but it'd never been a problem for her. She either charmed her way into places or slithered in between the spaces inside. Literally. Her mouth fell open and her veiled eyes widened.
"You've never danced?" she gasped.

"No. It's not like I've ever really thought about it before, I mean--" Linast cut himself off, shrugged. "It's not a big deal, plenty of things I've never done before."

"What else haven't you done?" Noelani asked, her lip curving deviously. She shook her head and paced around idly. "Can't believe you've never danced," came an incredulous murmur.

"Um, lots of things. I don't know. S-seriously, could you just list off all the things you've never done?" Linast said in mild irritation, shifting from foot to foot. He found her contemplative attention unsettling, he'd never liked being the source of other people's amusement and this was getting uncomfortably similar. His thin hands curled unconsciously, tendons standing out starkly.

"Um..." she thought, pausing and looking up at the ceiling. "I've never abseiled before? Never been underground, never smoked... Honestly I haven't. That'd be totally stupid. I'm a freakin' aspara, smoke is pretty much the only physical, deadly, dangerous thing to me," she rambled, pouting and raising her brow about it. Then she looked around boredly. "Hey... do you even know what time it is?"

Linast shook his head, took a cautious step or two back now that she'd looked away. He ran a hand across his face, brushing away the last of the drowsiness, and wondered vaguely what an aspara was. "Not really. Little after midnight, maybe?"

"Oh," said Noelani gormlessly, eyes lidded. Her side seeped off into a vapour momentarily, before solidifying again. "Well, I'm going to my dorm. D'ya wanna come? Can teach you how to dance." She snickered, and it wasn't clear if she was joking or not.

"...er. You sure you're all right?" Linast questioned, eying her side and dodging the invitation for the moment. He'd have have had to be either perfectly relaxed or quite disoriented to be randomly losing control of his own form without noticing like that. Though of course he wasn't sure if it was more normal to her."You didn't hit your head when you fell or anything?"

"Huh? No, no," she said lazily, waving a hand dismissively. "I've just been drinking a little, that's all," came her light reply. She stepped closer to him, going to rest her hand on his arm momentarily if allowed. "I'm fine honestly, sweet," she assured. The aspara pressed a smile and began to wander off. "You coming or not, Linast?"

Linast twitched away from the contact without thinking, went back to rubbing his wrists as she started to walk away. "Ah..." He had an explanation for her odd behavior, he'd finished what he'd been planning to do, and despite his exhaustion and recent reclusive behavior he truly did hate spending too long alone. And what the hell, the chance to actually learn something without having it shoved into his head telepathically (or having previous telepathic 'learning' getting in the way) was tempting. "Yeah, I'll... Come along. Not for too long though," he said, jogging lightly to catch up with her.

"Great!" she said brightly, turning to him and flashing another smile. Noelani led the way through various corridors, passing sleepy classrooms and dark offices. Silence reigned in the academy. There'd be total darkness too, if it wasn't for the soft lamps on the walls, casting eerie glows. Soon the pair were traipsing up a grand staircase, as they entered the first floor of the dormitories. "Mine's just over here," she said idly. She slipped her key out of her pocket and turned it in the lock, the noise seeming to echo around the hallway. Noelani went inside, beckoning Linast to follow. Her dormitory was surprisingly elegant; not too typical of teenage girls. Rather than the signature pinks, purples or blues (despite her partial-to-pastel dress sense) the walls were painted a deep maroon. There was a huge wardrobe inside too, and beside her red-sheeted bed, a lava lamp. The floor was carpeted and soft. "Sorry about the state, I'm still decorating," she said, apparently not realising how nice her room was compared to other students'. Of course, she had plans to get rid of that standard dorm bed and replace it with a double. Go big or go home, it seemed.

"You're--apologizing to the wrong person," Linast said with a shrug. He had yet to make a single change to his dorms, aside from a heavy cloth across the window and his meager possessions scattered about. It looked like a half lived in hotel room, which was essentially what it was to him."This is pretty impressive, really." He dug around in a pocket, located his shades, and added, "Ah, it's fine if you need the lights on, just, let me know first?"

"Oh, thanks," came her humble reply, though the proud curl of her mouth told different. Noelani turned to Linast, still grinning. "It's okay," she said, in regards to the lighting situation. She simply went over and turned her lava lamp on, and soon enough a pink glow was cast across the room. "D'ya want something to eat... drink?" Noelani asked sweetly, wandering over to the kitchen area, which was small and largely unchanged. "I have tea, coffee..." The aspara dug around in the back of a cupboard, before producing a bottle of something alcoholic. "This!" she revealed gleefully.

Linast glanced up from the lava lamp, which he'd gravitated towards almost immediately (stubbornly ignoring the reflexive tears that staring at even a dim light source prompted). He'd been obviously entranced as the wax started to soften and flow. "Ah, is that--more of whatever you've been drinking?" he hazarded, coming to a guess based on her grin alone.

"No, no..." murmured Noelani, examining the bottle in her hands. "I was drinking something else earlier," came her vague conclusion. She straightened up, closing the cupboard door with her hip and taking two glasses out from above. She poured the drink, watching as it sloshed around in the glass. Then she'd go to hand Linast one before sitting down on the sofa, patting the space next to her invitingly.

Linast wandered over to her, took the glass for lack of any other ideas, and sniffed cautiously at its contents. And promptly sneezed, dropping onto the couch and making a pained face. "I think I'll pass, actually," he said, trying to clear his throat of the harsh, alien sensation without being too obvious about it and failing utterly at both goals. "Besides, my head's been f-fucked up enough recently as it is."

"Oh really, why's that?" she asked, lifting the rim of her glass and taking a long sip. Noelani's gaze bored into Linast with blurred interest. She crossed a leg over the other, resting the glass on her knee.

Linast barked out a small shred of a laugh before getting himself under control. He rolled his eyes, and they glinted oddly in the half light, catching and reflecting it only at certain angles so that a line of pink light scythed across his pupil, top to bottom. "Too many things to count," he said with a twisted grin, leaning over and setting his own glass on the floor beside the couch.
"How haven't I been messed up, there's the better question. Heh. 'Ss backwards--easier to count what I have done, n-not what I haven't. And what ways am I not fucked in--in every sense of the word, rather than what ways am I."

"Okay... so what have you done? What ways are you not fucked up?" she asked, not quite making sense and wrinkling her nose at this tongue-tied realisation. The aspara observed his twisted grin and light-cutting eyes, surprised at his emotion and yet without any alcohol to aid such. Impressive.

"Ohh..." Linast stalled for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He'd been far too open with Casden the other night, and was vaguely concerned about drawing his creator's ire, but if there was one thing Linast had never turned down it was an excuse to ramble, fill the silence. "I've met--all sorts of people. Traveled. Fought, there's been a lot of f-fighting. Played card games. Talked, wouldn't give talking up for the world. Even with this sstupid stutter recently. And--" he glanced down at his glass, grinned crookedly again, teeth bright against his skin-- "I have been offered far too many weird things to try, too. Though, I'll admit, drugs and dancing are n-new."

"Aw I think your stutter's cute," Noelani purred, listening to Linast though not with the most sober attention span. Her lips parted and her eyes widened in anticipation as that unpredictable smile braced Linast's features once more. "Yeah, I've never been big on drugs," she admitted, shaking her head and sending her blonde tresses into a dance of their own. "I guess it's because smoking them makes me morph funny, and I can't do that around the humans," she explained, nodding with a seriousness now. "And I'd never inject... that'd ruin my skin!" Now she was very serious! Noelani paused over her drink, then sipped again. Her gaze wandered passed Linast and to the stereo in the far corner of the room. "Wanna dance? I'll teach ya."

"It's not cute, it's--ffrustrating and makes me sound nervous. And 'n', why'd the first s-sound of 'no' have to be one I stumble over?" Linast grumbled with a faint trace of agitation. He had considered pointing out that he'd been talking about her drink, but before he could quite make up his mind on how to correct her she'd already moved on. "And, ah, sure. Last I knew that was the plan."

Noelani beamed, finishing her drink in one gulp and setting the glass down on the floor. The aspara bounced to her feet and went to the stereo, setting her iPod. Soon, a number of songs came up on a small screen. She flicked through them, until she found one she liked. It wasn't too slow, nor too fast and the music was largely composed of electronic sounds and beats. "Okay, okay," the aspara said seriously, gesturing to Linast to stand up and move into the center of the room. "First off, just sway to the music... you know, get the feel of it," she said lightly, beginning to move her own hips and closing her eyes.

Linast followed her instructions, stood in the center of the room with his feet slightly spread, and let out a long breath. The rhythmic swaying felt as awkward in this body as trying to fight did, too heavy, too reliant on his feet on the ground to stay upright. He closed his eyes as well, shifted his awareness to the darkness under his own skin in an effort to see what this actually felt like... and very nearly toppled over sideways in a sudden surge of disorientation. "Ack--" A brief stumble and flailing of arms had him steady again, blinking. "Er. Sorry. That was a terrible idea."

Noelani opened her eyes and smirked at him. "It's okay," she said encouragingly. "Maybe if you dance with me, it'll help. I'll guide you. Think of a dance partner as your crutch." The aspara nodded and offered her hand. "I won't go too fast," she assured, her lip curling. Provided Linast obliged, she'd draw him a little closer and dance to the music, moving at a moderate pace and occasionally pull him this way or that way, guiding the two into an easy routine. "What kinda creature are you anyway? You know, your powers. Maybe they'll help you."

Linast nodded cautiously and said, "We can try it. Just--just don't grab me, okay? I'll follow you, you won't need to." True to his word he stepped closer, placed a palm over her offered fingers in such a way that neither of them could do more than apply a slight pull with their fingertips against the other's wrist, offered the same procedure with his other free hand. He'd been doing well so far, had yet to feel closed in, and he was determined to keep it that way. "And, heh, no, see--that's what I was trying to do," Linast said, flashing another sharp grin. "I'm clumsy in this body, sure, but I don't normally fall over from standing."

Noelani nodded agreeably, feeling their hands brush as they danced. She let out a little laugh. "Oh okay," she conceded. "This body? What, are you possessing a body or something, like a demon?" That wasn't a bad guess. Creepy was full of demons and devils and the like. "Or are you a shapeshifter?"

"Ah--neither. Or at least, I couldn't have made myself into this, before. You could say I was shape shifted, though. I'm a shadow elemental. Used to be a lot more, ah, element than f-flesh," Linast said. "What about you? You seemed--you were misty, before, but you feel humanoid now."

Noelani grinned flirtatiously. "That's because I'm a cloud spirit. The actual term is aspara in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. I materialised into existence because of them, so I guess humans aren't that bad," she giggled, releasing from Linast and performing a small pirouette. "Don't worry, I'm very much human in this form." Though as she spun, her body trailed behind in little drunken wisps.

"Not quite," Linast observed dryly, a tendril of darkness coalescing to brush pointedly against her trailing form. He seemed to notice what he was doing an instant later, --his eyes widened and it abruptly dispersed. "A-ah, crap, sorry, that--probably felt really weird, I didn't think--"

Noelani chuckled. "It's okay, it was cool," she smiled, slowing in her spin and taking a step towards him. "I've never met a shadow elemental before. So can you control shadows and stuff?" The blonde looked about the dark room expectantly, then back to Linast with a girlish wonder.

"Pretty much," Linast hummed, relaxing quickly once it became clear she wasn't upset. "I used to, like, be the shadows, but now I have to think about it to feel them. So, yeah, control. Ah..." He belatedly realized that she seemed to be expecting some sort of demonstration. "Hmm. Do you--want to see what I used to look like?" The form was so ingrained that he'd hardly have to think about it to create it, and was the first thing to come to mind.

"Yeah, yeah!" she said excitedly, beaming. Noelani held her hands up, balling them into fists as she waited, holding her breath. Looking around the room again, the pink glow cast by the lava lamp caught her attention and she noted the pointy shadows in the dorm; stretching and recoiling.
Despite himself Linast smiled at her obvious excitement--a gentle, pleased smile, far different from the biting grins from before. Thinking ahead for once he settled himself into a cross-legged position on the floor, bony spine arched as he rested his elbows on his knees and closed his eyes. The shifting shadows coalesced quickly into a slight humanoid form that stood facing them both. It couldn't have been taller than five feet, and indeed was closer to four. The chest was hollow, almost shaped as if to hold something ( seemed to shift and search for a moment, for that matter). The shoulders were broad, and the eyes as they formed were solid black but shaped and proportioned as Linast's were. On an impulse Linast added the artistic struts and spines that he normally had to do away with because they took too much concentration; there were few distractions, now.

Noelani watched, lips parted in awe, as a dark form took shape before her. She moved around it curiously, glancing back at the supposedly empty Linast. "Wow," she whispered, reaching out to touch the shadowy creature. "You were born like this?" asked the aspara. Supposingly she was allowed to feel the black form, she'd rest a hand against its back for a moment (providing it was solid) and gaze in amazement. Noelani was rarely impressed, but she'd never encountered this. However if her hand passed through the shadowy humanoid, her fingers would curl slightly before vapourising out of wonder.

The form was solid, devoid of temperature and most texture--a force in the air, little more. Linast took a long moment to respond to her question, and the more intricate patternings on the form faded as he sorted himself out. His first instinct was to respond through the familiar shadowform, and on an impulse he followed it, walking the dizzying line between residing in his body and the shadows. "Not--quite," he said carefully, his voice more androgynous this way, lighter. "I was made. And my actual--my 'body' was just an orb that held all the--enchantments that made me. Bound the soul, stored my memories, let me control shadows, all that. This... I made this after. Took forever to figure it out. Still working on it." The shadowy face slowly grew more animated as he got used to the doubled perspective. Down on the floor Linast stayed hunched over, brow creased in concentration and eyes half lidded.

"It's really good," Noelani said wistfully, retreating her hand and closing it, as if she'd grasp something in her palm. She glanced back at Linast's hunched figure, approached and squatted beside him, peering at his face. "Are you in two bodies?" she asked the air, the scent of alcohol on her breath. Not too strong or off-putting, but there nonetheless. "You could really freak the teachers out with this," she giggled.

Behind her Linast's shadowform laughed, bright and startled, and it was echoed in a faint huff from his body. "Now there's a thought," he said, with some relish. After a short delay he roused and blinked, making actual eye contact with Noelani. When he spoke, this voice was ever so slightly slurred. " 'm not quite in two, though. I can s-ssee'n feel from both, but... definitely only thinking from here." He fell silent and thoughtful for a moment, and then added, "I did switch over all the way once. Couple weeks ago, in war sskills. But I was halfway gone t'start with, and then I passed out, and then I switched, so... n-not sure I could actually do it on purpose."

"You passed out? Surprised you weren't killed," Noelani remarked, straightening back up and turning to Linast's shadow form. A glossy smile. "I'm sure you could do it, with some practice," she assured with rare kindness. The cloud spirit wandered towards the window, staring up at the clouds as they smothered the stars above. "Took me a while to learn how to use a humanoid. I'm so fluid and free in my raw form, having 'walls' is weird. Do you get that feeling?"

"...yeah," Linast said quietly. "Yeah. Quite a bit." There was a brief silence, and then his shadow form joined her at the window, staring up at the sky with wide, flat eyes. It wasn't long before he was looking at her instead, though, curious. "So... Wait. You can shift between at will, right?"
"Yeah," Noelani said, nodding and looking at him. Her hands were settled on the window sill, her sleeves riding up, revealing a pretty charm bracelet on her wrist. Then she turned back and gazed at the clouds, which parted to reveal the pale, dusty moon.

Linast's form faded ever so slightly at the moon's light before adjusting to its previous opacity. He hummed faintly, sound without breath, as he looked between her and the sky. "...what's it like? Where did you first form?"

"It's like... pouring water from one glass into another," she explained, gesturing her words a little. "You know? Except one glass might as well not be there, because I don't have a body really, in my vapour form." Noelani smiled, then looked back up at the sky dreamily. "I first came to being in the clouds of course," she told him, pointing skywards. "Not unusual for a cloud spirit." Noelani giggled girlishly, jumping up and sitting on the window sill. "What about you?" she asked, perching daintily.

Linast blinked thoughtfully, absorbing her reply as well as formulating his own. "It's... hard to say, really," he said after a few moments. "I could be aware of so much, you know. Could feel...oh, whole planets if I wasn't worried about--details, though it made thinking kind of weird. And all the time I knew I coul go to other places if I just thought about them instead. I could feel them there, in the back of my mind." Linast smiled, faintly, and his fingers clenched and unclenched restlessly as he kept his eyes fixed firmly on the sky. "Ah--I don't know how long I spent like that. I guess the first time I really focused down was when I found people, though, a small city. "
A thought occurred to him, and he wrenched his gaze away from the outside world to study Noelani.
"Were there--other aspara there with you? Or were you alone at first?"

"There were others, but I wasn't really aware of them," she answered softly. "It's just like being up in the sky, on a plane... you only see clouds. I was dormant for a long time, I think, which means I remained just a cloud. Then one day I just, transformed. Asparas don't mix much. Most of the time, they're too busy dipping their toes in the human world," Noelani grinned deviously and bowed her head, turning her gaze to the floor.

Linast hummed again, nodding faintly. The patterns on his body shifted slightly, one or two reforming. "Must feel odd, knowing people like you were all around you at some point but never--having interacted with them much," he guessed, then looked closer at her grin. "...you're pretty happy interacting with humans, though, looks like."

"Yeah, most of the time," she affirmed lightly, looking up at him. "You don't like them much?" the aspara guessed. Most here didn't. Understandable, she supposed. Yes, she never announced her dawdling with the mortals. Wise decision, that. However she didn't feel so conscious of it around Linast.

"Ah..." Linast shrugged, leaning against the windowsill and tilting his head, back to watching the sky. "I don't know, until recently I'd only ever really met five or six. They're... just people, really. They can be complete assholes, but it's not like they're the only ones."

Noelani nodded, pleased with his answer, but only because it wasn't the uniform 'humans suck' response she normally heard. "Exactly," she purred. She drifted her attention towards the night sky again, and after a pause, remarked, "it's very late." The spirit hopped down from her perch and took her glass in hand, taking a long, contemplative sip. "Shouldn't you be getting home?"

"What?" Linast questioned blankly, the shadowed lines he'd created to stand in for eyebrows furrowing. He wouldn't be going home for months, if at all, what was she--"Oh. My room. Ah--yeah, probably. Should've gone back a while ago, really..." After all, he'd planned to only stay for a little while. He'd gotten caught up in the discussion, though. With mild contriteness Linast returned gracefully to his feet and looked back toward his body. He knew he hadn't switched, he still had to think too hard about every action, but now that he was looking for it the other perspective felt oddly numb and distant.

Noelani pressed a smile, then glanced down at his glass too. "Do you wanna finish your drink?" she asked, or suggested rather. She still looked between his forms with interest, but had wandered into the centre of the room. She swayed musically from side to side, as the stereo continued playing quietly.

Linast shook his head. "I'd--rather not, to be honest," he said. He concentrated, got a closer feel of the other perspective, and let his form disperse. Awkwardly he started to withdraw his focus from the shadows the rest of the way. As he went he became slowly more aware of his body's complaints--the ever present burns across his face and hands, the deeply split lips, and now a rather impressive headache to go alongside. "Ngh," he complained wordlessly, slumping forward and rubbing clumsily at his eyes. Nope; he hadn't missed this at all.

Noelani didn't say anything but she watched him still. "Are you alright?" she asked, standing there and holding her drink loftily. Her tone was mild, tinged with concern but otherwise bland and near-unreadable. "Wouldn't want you walking out of here in a state and me getting blamed," she stated, lip curling.

Linast looked up at her, eyes giving that odd flash at the motion, and considered her question. His expression tightened slightly at her second comment, some of the wariness that had begun to fade returning. "Not many people out'n about right now," he said dryly after a moment, the slur from before still faintly present. "Should be ffine, 's just a headache." He hauled himself to his feet with a suppressed grimace. "Ah. Thanks for--having me over. I enjoyed talking."

"That's alright," she said sweetly, beckoning towards the door. "Thank you for keeping me company... We should talk again sometime." Noelani smiled flirtily and opened her dormitory door, peeping out into the dark corridor. Indeed, it was empty. Just shadows.

Linast dipped his head as he scooped up his notebook from the couch and moved towards the door, failing to register (or purposefully not reacting to?) her flirtatious manner...just as he had the rest of the night. "Sure," he said. "Nn-not too many people around I can talk with here. And--maybe we could try dancing again, when it's not sso late. I think I would like to learn..." He stepped past Noelani and into the corridor, eyes darting along its empty length, looked back at her and offered a faint smile once he'd confirmed its safety. "Anyway, yeah. G'night. Talk to you again sometime, maybe."

Noelani beamed, secretly thrilled by his suggestions. "Sure thing," she said coolly, before watching him exit and cooing a "goodbye." His form slinked away into the darkness and soon she was left alone with the quiet music playing and an another drink, untouched.