Issue 1 Downtime

This being England, it wasn't terribly difficult or out of the normal pattern of things for fog to be everywhere in the early morning or late in the evening. Tonight was no exception, though it was perhaps a little odd that the fog was deepest under the eves of the wood. Theresa sat cross-legged in the woods, the skin of her legs pressed against the ground as her eyes glowed with a vibrant green light. The fog occasionally swirled around her, blown by small breezes that countermanded the typical air flow.

((Open))

It would take a while, but Theresa would eventually smell a familiar blend of incense-like herbs and a touch of tobacco wafting along with the breeze swirling around her.

"If you want to be mysterious, you should stop smoking something so distinctive," Theresa said, her voice strangely distant.

"If I cared about being noticed, I wouldn't dress the way I do," Victoria pointed out from the bough of the tree she was lounging in.

"You have a point," Theresa said, breathing deeply. "What brings you out to the woods tonight?"

"Probably the same thing you come out for," she said. "Just more generalized and with less certain results."

"Peace of mind? You don't seem the type to go looking for that," she teased.

"I never said that it worked. But hope springs eternal, dear."

"I suppose you're right, after a fashion. I saw your pictures from that big thing in London. Have fun?"

"I'm not sure anyone went there to have fun. It was... enlightening, at least."

"And you? Been keeping yourself busy?"

"Trying to. College is worlds different than high school. I still don't know that I'm used to it."

Victoria shrugged. "Just don't let the work pile up so much that you can't claw your way back out. It's not that bad." She reflected a minute. "Unless they have you in calculus. Fuck that class forever."

"Calculus I get. It makes some sort of strange sense in my head. Which is good, since I have to take it. I have been trying to make some time to go out now and then though. I need to get down to London sometime soon to do some shopping."

"Well fuck you forever, too, then," Victoria said, playfully, with a smirk. "Just don't spend all night raving in London. Too many vampires."

"Vampires? Seriously? I mean, I know they exist, but London?"

"Not anymore, really. They weren't much to talk about, either. Never understood if they were actual vampires or genetically altered things, or... eh. Not important anymore."

"What happened to them? Destruction of habitat?"

"They pissed the school off," Victoria answered simply.

"Ah. That could lead to destruction of habitat, but usually just general destruction. That seems to be what many here excel in."

"Well, they didn't exactly give us much choice. Pricks." Victoria shrugged. "Anyway, yeah. Turned me off a bit to the London scene, all of them dead or not."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, Maldon isn't exactly stuffed with good clothing stores though. So I'll have to take the risk."