Student Common Room.

Roy wandered into the common room, feeling very much like an insignificant side character in someone else's story. If he were the main character, what would he be doing? Rescuing damsels in distress, no doubt. Or searching for treasure in some forgotten tomb. But no, here he was. Sitting in the warm, cozy common room. Perhaps it's for the best, he thought. There will always be someone to rescue the damsel in distress, and tombs are scary. His place was right here, studying until bedtime. Still...it would be nice to have some sort of excitement in his life. When was the last time he'd really done anything fun, or out of the ordinary? Hmm...he'd found a silver coin on the ground yesterday, and had used it to buy himself an iced lemonade. That was good. Thinking back, that was probably the highlight of his week. Not that the week was bad, it was just rather...dull. It was odd, thinking about the past. It was almost as if all his memories were cast in beige. He couldn't think of a single particularly notable incident in the past three weeks, besides starting school and buying the lemonade. He sighed, flipping idly through his notebook. Perhaps if he had a girlfriend...someone to talk to, to hold and kiss. There's plenty of pretty girls at the academy, after all. He glanced around the room. There was Ashani, although she was kinda young...and there was another girl Ashani was talking to. There was also a cute girl sitting on a chair in the corner, wearing a red cloak...something seemed creepy about her, though. He briefly considered going to talk to Ashani and maybe get to know the girl she was helping, but decided against it. He didn't want to interrupt, after all.

"Gah!"

Roy jumped when the strange woman dumped a dead deer on the table and sat down next to him.

"Er...no, it's not taken. You can sit there. Um...I'm Roy. Nice to meet you, Vera."

He looked at her, then looked at the deer. It certainly was a very large deer. Did she drag it all the way here? Where on earth had she found a deer?

"So...uh...where did you get a deer? Did you catch that all by yourself?"

"Ehh?"

Roy turns red...or at least, he would if he wasn't a vampire.

"Um...yeah. I'm new. I'm an exchange student from Aaedan."

He at Vera, then at the she's currently gutting.

"The Foret Woods, huh? Isn't that dangerous? There's all sorts of things in there. Bears, and bandits, and witches in candy cottages. Isn't it scary?"

The thought of dark and spooky woods makes him shiver.

"Also, what are you going to do with a whole deer? Eat it all by yourself?"

Roy shakes his head.

"I dunno...I like safe, cozy places. I'm not so sure about scary woods."

He looks down at his sword and sighs.

"I used to be an adventurer, y'know. I tried going around and looking for treasure and monsters...but it was too scary. So I gave up and went back to school. Adventuring is for my cousins, not me."

When she bristles at his comment, he panics and backpedals.

"What? No! Of course not! I would never say that! You're not fat! You're very lithe and athletic! I was just curious, that's all."

His worried expression might remind Vera of an accidentally-kicked puppy.

"A guy with a scar, huh?"

Roy looks at his hands. They're soft and uncallused. Clearly not the hands of someone who takes risks...or does anything, really.

"I dunno...oh, I remember. I've got a scar!"

He glances around, but nobody seems to be looking their direction. Perhaps the dead deer put them off. Tilting his head to the side, he shows off a bite mark on his neck.

"I got bitten once. By a vam-"

He cuts off, realizing exactly what he was about to do. Does he really want to give up his secret? Maybe she'll react badly...ah well. Most people notice quickly anyway.

"I got bitten and turned into a vampire. That's why I stopped adventuring."

Ashani had finished her discussion with Professor Echoes and Seraphine, which had been really quick and straight to the point. As Vera and Royal spoke, the studious young girl had retreated to a corner seat near the fireplace, reading a book casually with one leg crossed over the other.

Vera looks at Roy deadpan for a moment. She tries to keep a straight face, she tries not to laugh. She fails miserably. After a few minutes, she wipes a tear from her eye.

"Ah... I'm sorry, I'm sorry! That's just the cutest, silliest thing I have heard! You're a you know what, and you're afraid of the dark? That's just... I'm sorry..."

She bursts out laughing again, after another few minutes she manages to calm down again.

"Well if you'd like... I go hunting every week or so. Part of my belief system requires I only eat meat I kill myself. I don't usually bring the carcass to school, but if you can stomach it you can come with me to the woods. Drain the blood of what I kill, and drink that. You'll probably still need to buy some blood sausage, but it should help a bit."

Vera smiles at Roy when he accepts.

"There you go! It will be fun, trust me. Unless of course a monster shows up."

Vera mimes a monster jumping out of the woods.

"Rawr! But of course if that happens, I'll have my own monster to protect me."

She ponders his proposition, for a few minutes.

"I usually just cook up a chunk, and smoke the rest. I eat a lot of jerky. Can't remember the last time someone cooked for me."

Working quickly she scribes a quick rune in blood around the organs, bones, and head. They vanish in a puff, she then wraps the meat in the deer skin. Jumping to her feet she says with a grin.

"Sure let's go see your roommate!"