(Untitled)

[of_highdegree]

Who: John Kenway and you.
When: Saturday, early evening.
Where: Just outside the Rice Building.
What: Smartphones are for pansies.
Warnings: None.

Comments

[splice_of_life]

Mohinder was just coming back from the storage room at the Medical School. He needed some beans and, luckily, there were quite a lot of them and all for the taking. He had two sorts, white kidney and chickpeas and therefore, was grinning to himself as he rounded the bend.

No, he hadn't seen John, and given that he'd been here for two weeks now, he was pretty good with faces. John's face? Not something he recognized at all.

"Oh, sorry about that!"

[of_highdegree]

John had heard him coming. Hearing someone coming and being able to anticipate them barreling into you were two different things, however, and he barely made it out from underfoot before he came crashing into him. Things were always infinitely harder when you feigned a limp in public as often as possible.

Frowning, he straightened a bit and leaned heavily on his cane. "It's quite alright, boy." A beat. "I don't suppose you could tell me where we are, exactly?"

[splice_of_life]

Oh God! He nearly ran into an old man! Mohinder's thoughts were somewhat erratic, half understandable, and completely charming in that bumbling professor sort of way. Mohinder reached out a hand to steady John, taking the other can under his arm to do so. "We're... Well... Oh."

Wait. So John was new? It'd been two weeks since what Mohinder understood as the last group of people so--

"We're in America. This is Miskatonic University in Arkham."

[of_highdegree]

"I see." No new information and, from what he could tell from his thoughts, rambling as they were, he was neither lying nor behind his appearance here. That was reassuring and frustrating, both in equal measure. "And how did I come to be here?"

[veryemerson]

Now that the Rebekah and his existence in Arkham was known -- Elena probably went right back to Alaric and Damon with the information -- Stefan was taking the opportunity to explore. He hadn't done much of it, trying to keep a low profile and off of his brother and Alaric's radar, but now that he was on it again, it wouldn't hurt to look.

He paused in the middle of the quad, trying to get a sense of the place. He also would need to feed soon, but he was trying to keep that sense of rage in check. He couldn't draw that much attention to himself. After all, he knew that Alaric wasn't the only vampire hunter in town.

[of_highdegree]

After his meeting with Mohinder, John, too, had taken the time to explore. He'd found several buildings locked up -- boarded up, more accurately -- and surrounded by some sort of barrier with no explanation, or at least none that were immediately apparent without going back and checking that damnable phone he'd been left with, as well as one around the campus proper which put something of a damper on any ideas about escape. As far as he could tell, he was trapped here, just the same as everyone else, and that was irritating. He didn't do well in cages. One of his animal forms involved impressive mobility for a reason

[veryemerson]

Stefan actually wasn't using his phone. He wasn't old enough to be uninterested, but he was old enough that it wasn't a priority, even if he only looked seventeen. As he rounded the corner and spotted John, he gave him a thin smile before speaking up.

"Great day for a walk." There was a small mix of amusement and sarcasm -- it's not fun to walk where there was barely anywhere to go -- but at least they weren't trapped in some building that they couldn't escape.

[of_highdegree]

John mirrored Stefan's amusement and sarcasm both, offering him a brief, thin smile. "I couldn't agree more. There's nothing quite like a stroll around a foreign university that one happens to be apparently trapped at."

[respected]

As with most of the vampires currently residing on campus, Elijah had come to the realization that feeding on the humans living here without actually killing anyone would become necessary for survival fairly early-on following his resurrection. The finite amount of blood stocked in the medical building wouldn't last more than a month, and the small population of humans who were still left alive within the town appeared to hold the number one slot on the endangered species list given the current state of affairs. It was in every vampire's best interest to keep their potential donor's alive for as long as possible.

Which explains Elijah's presence outside near the quad, where the largest flow of human traffic passed as they moved from the residential buildings to the cafeteria, library, and other choice destinations throughout the day. Pickings were slim, but Elijah intended to keep up his strength-and in doing so, the advantage he had over just about anyone else currently preent.

[of_highdegree]

As he had with Stefan, John heard him lingering before he actually saw him. He still had no great desire to deal with the humans here -- though, to tell the truth, his odds were about half and half so far -- but he still needed answers. Surely there had to be someone who could give him a better explanation of what was going on, whether they meant to or not, and the third time was, of course, said to be the charm

[respected]

Elijah had sensed the man's approach long before he ever set eyes on him. Still, he waited until the other had moved close enough that the sound of his footsteps would conceivably alert a human before turning to face him. He had little to fear from most people-even here, as far as he could tell. Well, so long as he remained within the protected areas of the campus anyway. That confidence definitely revealed itself by how casually he regarded this stranger ... not that John's appearance would make him the most imposing of figures under any other circumstance.

"Can I help you?"

[of_highdegree]

Humans. Always so overconfident. Still, likely no idea what he was dealing with or not, Elijah was still a potential threat and so the sour look he affected was a bit more than just for show.

"I would ask if you had any idea what was going on here beyond what we've been told by that Dean fellow, but considering how entirely unhelpful everyone has been thus far ... " He shrugged.