Coraline wouldn't necessarily find him in his room, but he did reside near it at least. Thus far, he was wandering aimlessly, lost in his own thoughts. He hadn't really had time to meet anyone, and caught brief glimpses of people around him. At this point, Serge was all but convinced the mansion was empty. Or haunted, at the very least. His Swallow laid strapped against his back, which appeared to be a pole with two curving metal blades on either end.
Coraline hummed to herself, walking zig-zag patterns down the mansion's chessboard-tiled hallways, making sure to keep her toes from touching the black squares. She pretended they were dark endless holes that stretched down into the ground like bottomless wells, and balanced precariously to keep from falling.
This preoccupied her a little, until she happened to glance up and find someone close nearby, windmilling her arms haphazardly to keep from stumbling into the black spaces. She straightened and grinned expectantly at the new stranger.
The sudden break in silence caused Serge to focus back on his surroundings, his gaze shot to Coraline, a hint of panic visible in his eyes. He was still wary of his surroundings, and considering who was after him, he felt he had every right to be. He had no way of knowing if this mansion was even safe or not.
"I, uh.. Just got here. I didn't think anyone lived here." He said, rising to his feet. Serge absentmindedly tugged his gloves firmly onto his hands, giving them a comfortable, snug fit. "Who are you?"
The girl didn't look particularly threatening, unless an eleven year old's keen roving appraisal could be considered a threat.
"Oh lots of people live here" She shrugged casually, rocking back and forth up onto her toes and back again. "The mansion's got a bunch of people in it, they're probably just...staying in bed today or playing on the computer or something. I'm on my way to go see!"
Still hopping tiles, she made her way closer and extended her hand.
[[OOC: Pretend that this takes place sometime after her log with Fai >.> ]]
Up on the third floor, there was a new resident who never bothered to lock her door. Inside said resident's room, there's three dolls, all in pretty dresses, sat on top of the dresser. On the floor, not far from the comfortable looking bed, is a plain teddy bear. Tossed on top of the bed is a plain blue dress.
The seemingly young, harmless woman was currently in her room, singing an airy, wordless song, while slowly moving about the room. Strangely enough, this song seemed to echo through out the hallway, but it was very pretty.
The singing was something which caught her attention pretty quickly, and Coraline's there with her ear to the door, eavesdropping on the melody for a little bit, before overwhelming curiosity gets the better of her.
The doorknob turns, creaks, and she leans inside, peering around, hat askew on her head. "What song is that?"
Diva knows that there's someone outside her door not long after Coraline starts to listen in, and when the girl starts to open her door, the Queen pauses, letting the song fade into silence.
Turning to face her, Diva smiles, "It doesn't have a name, it's mine~"
"Oh cool!" Coraline swings on the doorknob a little, looking the girl up and down. She's never seen her before, so she must be pretty new around this place. "You made it up?"
Coraline makes up songs too, when she's bored. But they're not really meant for anyone else besides herself to hear. She wonders if this person's song was meant to be a secret one too.
"I'm Coraline Jones!" She perks and salutes, wandering a little further into the room and fishing one hand around in her messenger bag. "Your official mirror inspector! Have you covered up your mirrors yes?"
The knock made Madotsuki jump from her seat on the floor. She'd been sitting in her room, the mirror image of her one at home, playing NASU, the most repetitive game ever. To be honest, the only thing it did was put her to sleep, but as the girl lived to sleep and dream... well, it was perfect, then. She'd just woken up, though, so she couldn't fall asleep again just yet.
The room being the same only reflected her need to consciously forget the fact that she wasn't at home. At home, no one would knock on her door. At home, other people understood not to do that.
She let the pixelated eggplant fall onto the ground and end her game, but stayed in her spot on the ground.
"Wha--" Her voice cracked. She hadn't used it in a long time. Not above a whisper, anyway. On the network, she either used text or was asleep when speaking. Madotsuki cleared her throat. "What?"
"Oh, are you sick?" Coraline backed up a wary step, watching the girl suspiciously. Hopefully that rasp was just a little frog in her throat.
But people really couldn't help being sick, Coraline reasoned to herself a moment later. And not feeling good only meant a little kindness and company was important.
So she wandered hesitantly closer, squinting at the pixels, and at the controller in Madotsuki's hand.
"Um... Yes," she lied. "So you shouldn't get too close to me." Madotsuki could only stare at Coraline, scared, but trying not to show it. Maybe she should've announced no one could come in... Maybe she should've locked the door. That would've been smart.
"Yeah." It was all she could really say. She pulled her knees close to her chest and stared at them. If she didn't look Coraline wasn't there. It was the phone. Or the network of computers. Someone was talking to her from outside.
"Well...hopefully its not catching." She winced, because colds and coughs were the worst, and a flu season in the mansion would be miserable for everyone.
But after a moment the 'Game Over' on the screen won her over to throwing most caution to the winds, and she stepped forwards bravely, in spite of the germs.
Aziraphale's door was always left cracked open. After all, what use would an angel have for locks or bars? His bedroom was rather unique, as holy domiciles went, because though its walls were appropriately free of ornamentation, books were piled in neat stacks across every available surface. The library of the mansion was impressively complete, and the angel had become fond of visiting it at every opportunity. The feint gold lettering along the spines of Aziraphale's constant companions, indicated a wide range of interests, from the exotic, curlicue script that couldn't have been English, to 'Dancing for Dummies'. Aziraphale's bed, too, was hardly the ascetic bare-bones affair appropriate for an angel, as it took up a sizable chunk of a wall. Larger than King-sized, and very soft, the mattress might better have been characterized as Parliament-sized
( ... )
Coraline's parents had been the very and busy sort who liked sleeping in on Sundays when they could, and so she'd felt a little bit sheepish after some time of figuring out Mr. A. Ziraphale was the kind of person or...angel-person who took his God-things very seriously.
She'd peeked in on Aziraphale and his wings before, had caught the reverent prayers and his squeamishness at stepping on slugs...and it made her a little extra cautious around him in the try-to-be-very-good way.
So after the initial shock and awe of finding him with his wings fanned out and backlit, Coraline made a small noise, perking up onto mousy tiptoe and shut the door again halfway, wanting to burst into a million questions, but also not wanting to get smote for the wrong kind of interruption.
The odd squeaking sound, followed by a distinct door creek, made Aziraphale's eyes fly open. His wings fluttered in his surprise, sending up a slight breeze that stirred several papers and blew open a few book covers. Carefully, he stood up, and folded his wings so they wouldn't cause undue trouble. Aziraphale blinked a few times in confusion. He knew he'd heard something. Wanting to investigate, he used all the powers of heavenly stealth to step closer to the door and put an ear on the worn brown wood. Hearing nothing, he crouched, and sneakily peeked around the edge of the door, only to come face to face with his young snooper.
Not entirely expecting this turn of events, he gave a most un-divine yelp and hopped backwards.
Coraline made a similar noise, scooting back a step from the door, shoulders bouncing.
"Ah... Ah...Mr. Ziraphale?" She winced apologetically, trying her best to look at her upmost polite, hands behind her back. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry...I didn't know you were busy praying!"
Coraline would find a door ajar and see that Ron was busy trying to figure out the limits of his closet and its gift-giving abilities. It managed to provide him with sheets and changes of clothes and other sorts of things to help make his room feel more like his room, but for some reason, he couldn't get any sort of Quidditch memorabilia out of it. All he got was a standard Muggle broom that he tossed onto his bed.
He figured that he probably just wasn't doing it right. He'd have to go ask Harry or Peter to see if this world could manage anything Quidditch-related. Thinking that perhaps it'd work better if he thought of a Muggle sport, he remembered Dean Thomas being a fan of something he called football. Ron focused on the image of the motionless posters on Dean's side of the dorm, then opened his closet.
After a moment, he emerged with a black and white ball in his hands. "Huh. It's a bit bigger than I had imagined."
"Bigger?" Coraline called skeptically from the doorway, overhearing his along mutterings as she let herself in and set her hands at her hips, squinting at the ball in appraisal. After a moment she shrugged. "I don't know, it looks pretty normal-sized to me."
"Are you trying to start up a game? The ballroom's big enough to play it indoors, you know. Or we could just play dodgeball with it?" She suggested hopefully, a little desperate for something to make her magically un-bored.
Ron's gaze shot up to look at Coraline, not having noticed that he had an audience. He nearly cried out, but merely huffed and pretended that he hadn't been startled. "Don't do that! I keep expecting another boggart to pop up."
Glancing back down at the ball in his hands, he remarked, "Well, I've only ever seen them in pictures. And those pictures weren't even moving, so I'm surprised I got anything at all. I was really trying to see if I could get some posters of my team from the closet, but it doesn't look like the ruddy thing knows what Quidditch is. A bit biased, I think."
"I'm not a boggart." She replied, looking a little bit offended.
"Maybe it forgot them after this place was Hogwarts." Coraline sighed, sounding a little wistful, eyes roaming longingly to the window. "On the weekend it was Hogwarts, we even had the pitch outside and everything."
Comments 58
For now, he didn't notice Coraline's presence.
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This preoccupied her a little, until she happened to glance up and find someone close nearby, windmilling her arms haphazardly to keep from stumbling into the black spaces. She straightened and grinned expectantly at the new stranger.
"Hello. I don't think I've seen you here before."
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"I, uh.. Just got here. I didn't think anyone lived here." He said, rising to his feet. Serge absentmindedly tugged his gloves firmly onto his hands, giving them a comfortable, snug fit. "Who are you?"
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"Oh lots of people live here" She shrugged casually, rocking back and forth up onto her toes and back again. "The mansion's got a bunch of people in it, they're probably just...staying in bed today or playing on the computer or something. I'm on my way to go see!"
Still hopping tiles, she made her way closer and extended her hand.
"I'm Coraline Jones. Who are you?"
Reply
Up on the third floor, there was a new resident who never bothered to lock her door. Inside said resident's room, there's three dolls, all in pretty dresses, sat on top of the dresser. On the floor, not far from the comfortable looking bed, is a plain teddy bear. Tossed on top of the bed is a plain blue dress.
The seemingly young, harmless woman was currently in her room, singing an airy, wordless song, while slowly moving about the room. Strangely enough, this song seemed to echo through out the hallway, but it was very pretty.
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The doorknob turns, creaks, and she leans inside, peering around, hat askew on her head. "What song is that?"
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Turning to face her, Diva smiles, "It doesn't have a name, it's mine~"
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Coraline makes up songs too, when she's bored. But they're not really meant for anyone else besides herself to hear. She wonders if this person's song was meant to be a secret one too.
"I'm Coraline Jones!" She perks and salutes, wandering a little further into the room and fishing one hand around in her messenger bag. "Your official mirror inspector! Have you covered up your mirrors yes?"
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The room being the same only reflected her need to consciously forget the fact that she wasn't at home. At home, no one would knock on her door. At home, other people understood not to do that.
She let the pixelated eggplant fall onto the ground and end her game, but stayed in her spot on the ground.
"Wha--" Her voice cracked. She hadn't used it in a long time. Not above a whisper, anyway. On the network, she either used text or was asleep when speaking. Madotsuki cleared her throat. "What?"
Reply
But people really couldn't help being sick, Coraline reasoned to herself a moment later. And not feeling good only meant a little kindness and company was important.
So she wandered hesitantly closer, squinting at the pixels, and at the controller in Madotsuki's hand.
"Wow, that looks like a really old video game."
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"Yeah." It was all she could really say. She pulled her knees close to her chest and stared at them. If she didn't look Coraline wasn't there. It was the phone. Or the network of computers. Someone was talking to her from outside.
Reply
But after a moment the 'Game Over' on the screen won her over to throwing most caution to the winds, and she stepped forwards bravely, in spite of the germs.
"Can two people play?"
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She'd peeked in on Aziraphale and his wings before, had caught the reverent prayers and his squeamishness at stepping on slugs...and it made her a little extra cautious around him in the try-to-be-very-good way.
So after the initial shock and awe of finding him with his wings fanned out and backlit, Coraline made a small noise, perking up onto mousy tiptoe and shut the door again halfway, wanting to burst into a million questions, but also not wanting to get smote for the wrong kind of interruption.
Reply
Not entirely expecting this turn of events, he gave a most un-divine yelp and hopped backwards.
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"Ah... Ah...Mr. Ziraphale?" She winced apologetically, trying her best to look at her upmost polite, hands behind her back. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry...I didn't know you were busy praying!"
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He figured that he probably just wasn't doing it right. He'd have to go ask Harry or Peter to see if this world could manage anything Quidditch-related. Thinking that perhaps it'd work better if he thought of a Muggle sport, he remembered Dean Thomas being a fan of something he called football. Ron focused on the image of the motionless posters on Dean's side of the dorm, then opened his closet.
After a moment, he emerged with a black and white ball in his hands. "Huh. It's a bit bigger than I had imagined."
Reply
"Are you trying to start up a game? The ballroom's big enough to play it indoors, you know. Or we could just play dodgeball with it?" She suggested hopefully, a little desperate for something to make her magically un-bored.
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Glancing back down at the ball in his hands, he remarked, "Well, I've only ever seen them in pictures. And those pictures weren't even moving, so I'm surprised I got anything at all. I was really trying to see if I could get some posters of my team from the closet, but it doesn't look like the ruddy thing knows what Quidditch is. A bit biased, I think."
Reply
"Maybe it forgot them after this place was Hogwarts." Coraline sighed, sounding a little wistful, eyes roaming longingly to the window. "On the weekend it was Hogwarts, we even had the pitch outside and everything."
Reply
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