She was used to staying up till four in the morning, so college was not any different for her. That is to say, she didn't seem affected by the stress due to her odd sleeping habits. Or not- He wouldn't know enough to say for sure, just watching from afar as his job was told to be.
Her hair was boy-cut-short and a light golden brown, a step below dirty blonde but she deserved it. She was real in a way most blondes weren't, intelligent and artistic to a fault. He had never seen any of her work turn out bad, because if it was bad it didn't turn up in anything more than ashes on the floor. He knew because he had watched her burn a failure one day, the day he decided to keep out of accidental reach for his own safety. It's hard to look after someone when they kill you.
He actually didn't know much about her, only that she was important. At first, a single glance at the somewhat masculine body and fierce hazel-green eyes had caused him to scoff at the idea, but now it didn't seem so farfetched after all. He wondered if she didn't have two sides to her or more, as every interaction he observed was radically different from the previous.
It was too bad, really, he wasn't big enough to flirt with her and not get snapped up like some bite sized morsel. This was one of the ones he hadn't gone to bed with.
That spark of light caught her eye again as she put the finishing touch on the picture, prompting her to change her mood quickly to a more aggressive one.
"Izzie, you'd better not be in here…" when her roommate's answer did not come, she relaxed and returned to the picture.
She really wasn't sure why she was drawing this. It had been years since she last played Tales of Symphonia and months since she had drawn proper yaoi… she sighed and scrolled through the shades of red and pink. Some things were easy, like pairings in this and other Tales of- games.
Reminded suddenly of other activities, she opened the tab to her Luke and Ashe picture, painstakingly coloring each piece of hair and making sure the pieces ended correctly so that there would be no hair confusion. Sure, using the reds straight from her other picture make Luke look way too much like Zelos, but that was fine. She could work around shading later, when everything was colored in.
Again the sparkle distracted her, and this time she slammed her hand down on the bed and shut her laptop, growling.
"I'm going to sleep dammit." And with that announcement, Arlene Flood retired for the night earlier than anyone could have possibly expected. Her hair fluttered gently in the breeze from the open window, and she had about a minute of time to reflect on the sparkle before the sounds of the night lulled her to sleep.
He slipped down to where she slept and took the opportunity to examine her closely. Her skin was actually quite unmarred for a 19 year old, but for a single odd mark on her collarbone, like something oval had been extracted. He smiled as he braved to be close enough to give her a kiss on the forehead, quickly jumping out of arms reach with a grin. He could check that off his list.
To be quite honest, he wasn't sure he wanted to stay here for long. He was supposed to protect her, but in this form there was only so much he could do without her knowing of his existence and that was quite impossible to pull off because she was far too insane to be safe.
He flapped his wings in frustration and sat on her bedside table with arms crossed, thinking. If he had to, he would reveal himself but for now she wasn't in very much danger and he had no need to do more than watch her invisibly like the fairy he now resembled. She wouldn't be able to see him as long as he was in this form (which was until his lord chose to remove the curse) because no adult human believed in fairies and as such ignored the signs of their presence.
He fluttered off the table and alighted on a stuffed animal in the old, worn toy hammock over her bed, happy he at least had a safe place to sleep. He knew by now that if she was woken up by something, he would be forced out of sleep too because of the 'guardian' title that was slapped onto him along with the curse. Tonight, there would be no interruptions.
They would sleep till dawn.
When Arlene awoke it was to the welcome sight of sun in her window, along with the unwelcome sight of her roommate Izzie blushing at the artwork on her laptop.
"IZZIE, Get the hell out of my stuff!" no gentle tone for nosy Izzie today, but her perverted roommate simply grinned and held up a welcome sight: a finished wig. That's right, it was the day before Symphonicon, the Tales Of convention. She had to finish up her Emil/Ratatosk outfit today or go as Lloyd for the third year in a row.
She was a skilled artist with cloth as well as computers, and as such was a well respected cosplayer despite having problems with boobs and a face that was slightly too round. Her roommate and best friend Izzie was exactly the opposite: she couldn't sew worth crap but had the exact right features to pull off any costume. Luckily, her skill with wigs redeemed her.
"I'm thinking of doing a fanservice tomorrow. Do you mind at all?" Izzie was going as Richter, a character often paired with Emil. Truth be told, Arlene didn't mind that at all, though she usually only allowed fanservice with Izzie when she was in her Lloyd costume or when Izzie was in her Asch costume, both characters being their best. Emil was a new character for her, and she wanted to have fun as him.
"Yeah, yeah, fine. Hey, I wonder if Luke is gonna be looking for his Asch…" the pointed remark made Izzie blush, clutching possessively at the pink/red wig in her left hand. It was no secret that they both liked to find yearly 'crushes' at Symphonicon (who were normally good friends), sometimes even discovering they liked that person as their real self too.
"Not MY business. What about that Zelos you were cozying up to whose hair was REALLY that long? Adam?" It was Arlene's turn to be embarrassed, but her embarrassment was different.
"Shut up! You know I don't like guys. Anyways, did you finish the wigs for the second day yet?" From Izzie's haughty air she could see the answer was 'yes', but she had to ask anyway. A golden blond wig was plunked down next to her Emil wig and over her painstakingly made hat.
"Second day, the Zelda special. I never did get why they allow Links in at Symphonicon… I guess it's best not to ask. Hey, my turn to ask a question… did you fix Asch's gloves? I want to go as him again this year on Zelda Day." Arlene dug the gloves out of a prop box and handed them reverently over, watching as Izzie slipped them on with a squeal of delight. They fit perfectly, and now there was no hole next to her thumb like there used to be.
When Izzie left to try on her costumes and practice Richter's emotions, Arlene turned to the mannequin body that her own costume hung from, removing the sheath with care.
The leather on the end wasn't connected with the wood end piece, so all she had to do was sew the leather onto the already made holes and test it with the dull metal blade she had commissioned last year after getting the idea. It didn't take her long to do, and the blade fit perfectly so she replaced the sheath onto the outfit, slipping into it to try it out.
Everything seemed perfect, so she put on the wig and her red contacts and slipped out of her room, bumping into the taller Izzie in full costume on the way out.
There was a moment of awkward silence before both of them laughed, looking each other over. Izzie was once again channeling the looks of her character, tossing the wig as if it were her own hair just like Richter would do. Arlene, also, was a wonderful example (if a bit more muscular and filled out than Emil… honestly, he didn't have boobs) of a good cosplay, if Izzie's look was any indication.
"So, want to go to class like this? It's entirely within dress code and Miss Emilie would love us for it…"
It was thus that the two college students walked into Classical Music 104 in their costumes, complete with the makeup needed to help their looks.
He had to follow her, as per his contract. One year as a guardian in silence before he could make himself known, and it would be a year to the day from their meeting tomorrow. He sat on the empty sheath belted to her back as she walked, flitting away only when she sat down for class. He made his perch on the other girl's shoulder, knowing she knew of him and that she had to be silent.
It was odd to find that the companion of his charge had angel blood, as he was sure that strain had been bred out in humans. However, he could tell from the girl's russet eyes and dark brown hair that she was of the breed, enough so that he didn't question her seeing him. In fact, she seemed to like him, if the candies she handed him every so often were any indication.
His charge, Arlene, was a very good musician when she tried. He liked the fact that she played a good amount of music directly from 'games' in the Tales Of series, perhaps the only video games to be based on real events. Karma was a favorite in Piano lessons, and she would warm up in voice lessons with the Grand Fonic Hymn.
He nibbled on the mint Izzie gave him and listened as the eccentric Emilie gave the class today's drill, a song recommended to her by the class cheerleader Xema (whose real name was Bella, but nobody cared).
"Arlene! Can you play To Zanarkand for the class please? The music is up here." He flew after her as she approached the grand piano at the front of the class, the geeky band commenting on her outfit the whole way. As he sat on the piano, she set her fingers to the keys and her eyes to the music, starting the song.
It was scary to look at her in costume and be able to see one of his friends. She had the exact attitude of Ratatosk and the musical skill, and now she had the looks down as well. Of course, he had no right to judge… last year she had channeled Lloyd all too well and he wasn't at odds about it.
The music stopped and the class clapped, and the next person came up to play the tune. Emilie's teaching style was unorthodox but extremely good, designed to use music to teach theory rather than the other way around, a method he wished had existed when the others forced him to learn how to play an instrument (he chose the violin). Lost in his thoughts, he cuddled into the strange collar on Izzie's costume, much to her amusement.
The day was only music and art, so the two were in their element and had time to relax. This meant hiding time for him, and he was very happy he had Izzie's wig to hide behind.
"Hey Arly! In our costume a day early, are we?" the cheerful voice of Kaitlin Donohue warned Arlene to dodge left and avoid a glomp, grinning at the teenage girl who fell to the floor unsupported.
Kaitlin was only 17 and still believed in such nonsense as ghosts and fairies. What was more; she seemed adamant that Arlene was a channeler of spirits and took every opportunity to prove that Izzie was some sort of angel. Introducing her to Tales of Symphonia did NOT help her Zexion complex (what they called the science of trying-too-hard-to-prove-myth-and-getting-your-nose-stuck-in-an-encyclopedia).
"Izzie, look, it's our favorite crazy cat. How are you, Kait?"
"Squished. Owie, Arly, you're channeling 'Tosk again." Arlene shook her head and clucked her tongue in a disapproving manner, helping the insane girl to her feet.
"Kaitlin, for the last time… Ratatosk is just a video game character. Please, don't do this again." She helped the girl dust herself off and then plugged her laptop into the outlet on the end of the meeting place, immersing herself in coloring Luke and Asch correctly and finishing off Zelos's (mostly off and crumpled) outfit.
She couldn't work while Kaitlin was staring at her art. It didn't help that Izzie was doing the same thing.
"Whaaat? Stop staring at it!" blushing, she minimized the Photoshop window, glad the image had been the mildly censored Luke and Asch (long hair helped as a censor) and not the blatantly sexual image of Zelos and Lloyd. Watched by the 17 year old, she started drawing a much less sexual but still drool worthy picture of Richter and Aster.
The disappointed party left, and even though they were working on their own stuff she still could feel eyes on her art that annoyed her and kept her looking around. She finished all three pictures and sighed, closing her laptop.
"Time to go home. See you tomorrow, Kaitlin!"
As the girl with the dyed-blue hair walked away, she could swear she saw that sparkle again and an odd grin from her crazy friend. Then, it was just a scene out of a fan fiction, Richter walking home with Emil to a nice dinner and then a crazy night of DDR, karaoke, filming for Youtube, and pocky.
She couldn't wait for the fun to start, but she found herself questioning as to whether or not she should have a good glass of wine.