Welcome Home...now get to class! (Active, Open)

[gettheeadonut]

WHO: Harry Dresden, those who wish to welcome him home
LOCATION: Around the mansion grounds
When: Start of the new semester
WHAT: Harry took off right after the Zombie event and hasn't really talked to anyone since. Now he's returning with some new scars, souvenirs, emotional problems, and a beard of sorrow.
RATING: B for Beard, and T for Take a

Comments

[bad_touch]

Rogue didn't actually fly--if Rogue was flying, there was usually something of a problem--but she came damn near close to flying out the door when she saw Harry on the front lawn.

"Oh thank the lord," she said, flinging her arms around him. "I been trying to get a hold of you for days."

[gettheeadonut]

Guess he was wrong about the hugs thing. Harry was nearly knocked off his feet when Rogue exploded out of the door and hugged him. Luckily he managed to keep his balance, but he did freeze for a second, unsure of how to react to Rogue's relief, or her method of showing that relief. Even with the hugging he and Rikku did, he still wasn't used to anyone showing him affection, and it showed.

Still, after a second he managed to give Rogue and awkward one handed hug. "Hi ma'am. I'm back like I promised."

[bad_touch]

She pulled back just enough to smile up at Harry.

"Had me worried there for a second," she said, her eyes twinkling. "But I figured you'd pull through."

She reached up a hand to ruffle his (admittedly unpleasant hair.

"And what I tell you 'bout callin' me ma'am?"

[gettheeadonut]

"I always do," he agreed, giving her a tired boyish grin. He even tilted his head down to make her hair ruffle easier.

"Not to do it ma'am."

Room B04

[fang_and_fist]

Having a room to himself (even if half of it obviously belonged to someone else) was something new and kinda awesome for Yuri. And he was taking full advantage of it. His bags were strewn around, some of them open and half empty, but for the most part still completely packed away. Their owner was flopped on his bed, heading hanging off the edge and hair pooled in a mess of black on the floor, a pair of headphones blaring something indistinct but very loud in his ears as he tried to read his Geography book. While upside down.

It wasn't going well.

[gettheeadonut]

Sure Joshua had been kind of a strange guy, and there was something about the way he smiled that made someone want to introduce their fist to his face, but overall he'd been a pretty good roommate. He'd been neat, Mister had loved him, and he hadn't questioned Harry's strange habits. Sure he had women's clothing in his closet for no adequately explained reason, but everyone had their quirks. In his own way Harry missed the guy.

Especially when he opened his door to find his floor covered in bags and a strange girl hanging upside down on the other bed reading a book and listening to music that was so loud Harry could probably sing along to.

Wait, hold on, nope, this was a dude. Well then, that didn't change the fact that Harry briefly debated the pros and cons of homicide while Mister made a rather displeased sound in his crate, before deciding that he should probably know his roommate's name before he started planning his demise.

So, walking carefully, he came into the room and dropped his stuff on his bed.

[fang_and_fist]

Yuri didn't hear Harry come in at first, still bobbing his head to the noise he called music. But soon enough he felt the other guys eyes on him, and looked up. His eyes widened a little, and he rolled over onto his stomach, then up into a sitting position. Soon the headphones were tugged down around his neck and he flicked his hair over his shoulder in a show of lazy ease.

"Huh, guess you're my new roommate?" He managed as a greeting, looking around as if he just noticed how much of a disaster he had made the room. Oops.

"...holy hell that's a big cat."

[gettheeadonut]

Well, at least he seemed embarrassed by the state of things. Harry supposed he could give the other boy the benefit of the doubt and just assume he was just a normal teenager. After all, let he who had never reworn old socks cast the first stone.

"Well, that or I'm the world's least subtle burglar," Harry replied, turning to release his cat from his cage.

Pausing at Yuri's observation, Harry actually took a good look at Mister. Huh, he really had gotten bigger since Harry had found the little guy in the woods a few months back. Guess that was one more thing they had in common. "He's actually a very small puma."

[pickinurpockets]

With a sigh, Rikku headed down to the garage. Now that she was feeling better (she still got headaches and there'd be scars), she'd been spending a lot of time working on her truck and looking at where Harry's car had been, until it'd bothered her so much that she had to move her truck out of the way. She understood why he left, but that didn't make it any better.

She popped the hood on her truck and started tinkering; an hour or two passed before she stopped, and then it was only because she was hungry. The sink was over by where she had been parked next to the Jaguar, and she pointedly didn't look at Harry's old parking spot.

Which explains why she ran smack into the car.

With a squeak, Rikku stopped and stared at the car. How long had it been sitting there? How had she missed it? And why the heck hadn't he come to find her?

"Harry!" Forgetting everything else (though closing her hood and toolbox), Rikku ran out of the garage. "Harry Dresden, where are you?!"

[gettheeadonut]

Eventually Yuri had left and Harry had just enough time for a quick shave, and was currently engaged in the age old debate of How Shower vs Soft Bed with himself when he heard a frantic pounding on his door. Making his way over, and managing to almost kill himself on an open box, Harry managed to survive the minefield his room had become and get to the door.

Pulling it open, his eyes widened as the final piece of his life here slid back into place in his heart. He'd thought he'd missed her in the month he'd been gone, but he'd been wrong. Missed was too small a word for what he'd felt for her.

Now he was home.

"Well now, I don't remember ordering a beautiful woman. I'm afraid I don't have any money. Is there some other way I can pay you?" He teased, but his eyes sparkled with emotion, and he mouthed 'I missed you'

[pickinurpockets]

"You--!"

Laughing, Rikku threw herself at Harry and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You jerk, why didn't you come find me when you got here?" she demanded, peppering his face with kisses. "I missed you."

[gettheeadonut]

Laughing for the first time since that battle with Wesker, Harry took her in his arms and spun her slender body around as she kissed him. "Well, given I was carrying around a crate with a young saber tooth tiger in it, I wanted to get Mister unloaded here before the staff found me." Then he stopped, and leaned down to give her a kiss that showed just how much he had missed her.

[wantsaporsche]

Alice had been waiting for awhile now. She wished her powers were more accurate, but she did know what day Harry would be returning at least. She whirled through the boys' dorm, smiling at those people she knew before arriving at Harry's dorm, her arms full of carefully-wrapped present.

"Harry~! If you love me, you'll open the door and help a poor girl out!"

[gettheeadonut]

Shaking his head at the familiar voice, Harry smiled as he put down his razor and washed the shaving cream he was about to use off his face. Apparently his beard would be sticking around for another few moments.

Heading over to the door he opened it and said, "Now Alice, why must you insist on me proving my love for you, hasn't my undying devotion been enough?"

[wantsaporsche]

"Undying devotion won't save my arms from breaking because I carried this present all the way here." Even though she was prepared for what he looked like, Harry still ended up receiving Alice's frown of disapproval as she waltzed passed him into his dorm. "You are in desperate need of a makeover, Harry. The beard doesn't suit you."

She dropped the package on the bed and spun around to face him, hands on her hips as she sized him up. "Tough holiday?"

[gettheeadonut]

"Clearly you underestimate the strength of our love," Harry replied even as he held to door wide open for Alice. Actually he was about three seconds from just relieving her of her burden, but as usual she was far too quick for him. He rolled his eyes at the crack at his beard and said, "I was thinking of shaving it into a goatee and just telling everyone I was actually an Evil Harry from an alternate universe."

Despite his sarcasm, he really had missed her.

Sighing, he nodded yes to her question, even if she probably already knew the answer. "There were some...unscheduled incidents, and a few encounters that were less pleasant than they could have been." He paused for a second, then with hesitation in his voice asked, "How much did you see?"

[feigenbaumblue]

Today was still her first day here. So far she'd managed to have a breakdown about demons when she saw the rock kid and freak out about demon related things. Currently, Fred was sitting on the steps with her legs to her chest, just looking up. She didn't even notice the other kid at first.

She was lost in her own thoughts. Fred was informed about Christmas and she was also mourning the death of her parents who she just found out were killed. It seemed she was all alone in the world and stuck at this school. Of course she was grateful to Gunn, but she barely knew him.

Finally, when he was approaching the stairs, she slid over to let him by. "Sorry."

[gettheeadonut]

Distracted by his thoughts he might be, but Harry still had an innate awareness of what was going on around him that wasn't easily ignored. He'd actually noticed the girl sitting on the steps as he'd approached, but hadn't thought anything of it. After all, lots of students were probably out and about enjoying their last few days of freedom. It wasn't until he got closer and heard her quiet apology that Harry stopped to actually consider the new girl

[feigenbaumblue]

Fred really didn't think he would even notice her. Most people didn't. She tended to stay out of sight, out of mind. At least that's what kept her alive at Wolfram and Hart. Fred was also particularly tiny in general, standing 5'0, that and being malnurished led her to having a slight frame as well.

The fact that this guy took the time out to sit down next to her meant something, even if she didn't understand it. It was probably why she didn't flinch when he did. She wasn't used to human contact. The fact that she made it through most of the drive with Gunn without spazzing said a lot.

Fred bit her lip, and nodded. "I just got here today, actually." She looked down at her fingers and sighed.

So this was Xavier Institute. She was still trying to block out the horrid memories of Wolfram and Hart when she looked up through the windows. It was prettier than the law firm, but then LA is a city, not that she ever got out. Despite being locked in doors for the better part of a year, here Fred was sitting inside.

[gettheeadonut]

The more he looked at her, the more Harry recognized the signs that something was seriously wrong here. Not with the girl of course, but rather with the condition she was in. The way she curled in on herself, her reaction to his presence, the fact that she looked like she hadn't been fed properly in a while. Stars, she looked like he had after that day two years ago. If this girl hadn't been abused to some degree, Harry would give up on ever being a private investigator