fandomhighdorms | The Dorm Stairwell, Sunday Night

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The Dorm Stairwell, Sunday Night

The stairwell was not usually a place Alluka liked to linger, since it wasn't pretty, or fun, or colourful. In fact, the stairwell was pretty boring.

Which had led to a conversation with her toys, when Mr. Bubbles had mentioned wanting to go somewhere outside of their room, and then her bunny had pitched a fit about how it was too dark to go outside, and most of her toys from home had backed her bunny since none of them were used to leaving their room anyway.

Mr. Bubbles had been near tears when her dinosaur had piped up with the fact that, even though the stairwell was boring, there was nothing that said they couldn't make it less boring.

So that was how Alluka, and a pile of her toys, and another pile of crayons and markers and pencils had wound up in the stairwell. She also had a blanket and snacks, because going anywhere without those seemed silly.

She drew a yellow circle on the wall in marker and held up her elephant. "What do you think?" she asked. "Should it be a sun or should it be a smiley face?"

[Open!]

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"They are." Ringo grinned. "They're really pretty. So maybe when summer starts we can go out and see them some evening?" That would give them time to work up to it, if Alluka needed it.

Alluka might need it, at that. She'd never gone outside after the sun had gone down, after all.

"Yes, please! That sounds fun!" So much fun! And so pretty! She'd have to wear a princess dress for it. "Oh! Did you want anything to eat? I have candy, and chocolate, and juice!"

"Yay!" Ringo grinned at Alluka. "It'll be a couple of months before there are a lot of them, but that gives us time to plan."

"Oh, and juice would be awesome. I've been exercising a lot, and I'm pretty thirsty."

Alluka had juice boxes, and they were even cold, so she hopped over to get one from where her baby flower was guarding them, and came back to offer it to Ringo.

"That sounds like a long time," Alluka said. "Will it be long enough to make plans?"

Ringo pretended to think about that one. Then nodded slowly. "I think so, yeah. I mean, you can get used to going out in the evening if you want."

Ringo peeled out the little plastic straw and stabbed it into the juice box, then sucked some juice up with a happy sigh.

She glanced over at Alluka and went still, looking a bit distant for a couple of moments.

Alluka blinked at her, puzzled, but since Ringo didn't look unhappy or mad, she picked up her marker and turned back to the wall.

"It'll be fun," she said. "I think Papa will help me go outside though beforehand. Maybe Kathy too. She likes it when I'm brave and do things like eat vegetables. She'd probably like it if I started going outside at night too."

"That sounds good." Ringo grinned slightly, still sounding distracted. "And you let me know if you want me to help, too."

She fell silent for a couple of seconds, then took a breath. "Hey, Alluka. Can I ask you a question?" Funny how serious that sounded.

Alluka finished drawing the lines to mark the sun's rays before she answered that.

It was kind of scary, answering things when people sounded that serious.

"Am I in trouble?" she asked, her voice tiny.

"Oh, no, nothing like that," Ringo said quickly. "I didn't mean to worry you. I just, um, had a question."

Her shoulders slumped in visible relief.

"That's okay then!" Alluka looked over her shoulder. "What is it, Ringo?"

"Um. I've kind of been wondering since we, you know, went to your parents' house to pick you up? But, uh, who is 'Nanika'?"

Ringo really, really hoped that the question didn't send Alluka retreating back into her shell again.

It didn't, though there was a pause as Alluka thought about the question.

She doodled eyes in her sun. Her sun could have eyes. No one was going to tell her it couldn't.

"Nanika's my sister," Alluka said finally.

Was that all? Ringo frowned slightly. "Oh. I don't think I knew you had a sister. Is she back with the rest of your family?"

But, wait, that didn't sound right. At least not the way everyone had been talking back in that dungeon (even if they called it Alluka's room).

"Not like that," Alluka said, shaking her head. "She's not like my brothers. She's my sister, but she's not one of my mommy's and daddy's kids. She's just mine."

Alluka looked at her sun for a moment, then sat down and looked at Ringo instead.

"When I'm around, Nanika can't be. And when Nanika is around, I'm not here," she explained. "We share space."

"Share space?" Ringo wasn't entirely sure she was following.

"Our body?" Alluka tried. It made so much sense to her that Ringo's confusion was confusing. "It's my body, but when Nanika is out, then it is her body."

"Oh." For a moment Ringo wondered if Alluka had multiple personalities, but that didn't sound quite right to her. "Is she not out much, then?" Ringo asked. Because Ringo had never seen her.

Unless. "Or have I met her and just didn't know it?"

"She can come out whenever she wants," Alluka said, "but she only tends to come out whenever she wants something in particular. I don't think you've met her."

Which was sort of a mixed blessing, really.

"Oh. Too bad." Because now Ringo was curious. "What's she like?"

"She's really kind," Alluka said. "And she's really nice."

There were a number of people who'd argue those points, but Alluka believed them wholeheartedly.

"Did, did you want to meet her?"

"Sometime, sure." She really did. "I mean, it doesn't have to be now, if you don't want to interrupt the drawing." But it could be, if Alluka wanted. It was kind of hard for Ringo to hide her curiosity.

"It's okay! She can draw too! If she wants to, I mean."

Alluka considered Ringo for a moment.

"She's not very talkative though." Which was probably for the best, given that when she talked she tended to want things.

But without waiting for an answer to that, Alluka took a breath and closed her eyes. There were no spectacular effects or anything, but anyone who was able to sense aura's would know something had changed.

And then Nanika opened her eyes, and that would be obvious even to those who couldn't feel anything. While Alluka's eyes were huge and blue, Nanika's eyes (and mouth) were empty black pits. She regarded Ringo curiously.

Ringo didn't do auras, exactly, but the hair on her arms felt like it was tingling. And then there were those eyes, and the rest of Ringo's body felt like it was tingling, too.

It was weird feeling like she might be in danger with Alluka. Even if this clearly wasn't Alluka.

"Al--" No, wait. "Um, Nanika?"

Nanika didn't say anything--Alluka had not been kidding when she'd said Nanika was quiet, generally speaking--but she did lean forward a bit, eagerly, like a silent 'Hi! It was nice to meet you, Ringo!'

Ringo's smile was a bit hesitant, but it was real. She could feel the goosebumps running up her arms at those eyes and that mouth. But that lean was a kind of Alluka mannerism.

"It's nice to meet you, Nanika," Ringo said with a quick bow of her own.

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The Dorm Stairwell, Sunday Night

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