Dirty Little Habits

[Merida Kaufman]

She was filthy.

Dirt clung to practically every part of her body in a thick film, heavier in some spots than others. Merida was acutely aware of every single speck as she made her way fast down the halls towards the showers. Moving was uncomfortable as the shift of her clothes disturbed the soil underneath them. She might have been clean to start out with an hour or so ago, but now she was a walking bag of earth and dust. Worst of all, she couldn't blame anyone but herself.

If there was one downside to her vulture form, this was it.

Despite how useless it probably was, she instinctively lifted a hand to try and rub away some of the dirt on her face.  From what she could feel under her fingertips, she'd only succeeded in smearing it around without getting any off. Irritation growing, she picked up her pace through the halls in the direction of the locker rooms. While she would've much rather gone back to her room to clean off, that was a luxury. The unclean, grainy feeling she was dealing with demanded she take the closest solution.

Slipping around a few other students, she purposefully ignored the stares she could feel follow her.  The closer her feet brought her to the locker rooms, the less she cared about what others thought. At this point she was nearly jogging, which proved to be her downfall. Before she had time to react, someone popped out from behind a door. A tiny cloud of earth puffed out at the abrupt contact, spreading from Merida's filthy body to their own while she stumbled. "Shit." Involuntarily, it came out in a surprised breath. She put a hand on the person who she'd hit into and pushed to create some distance. Her gaze flicked over the mess the impact left.

It would have been just her luck for this to happen.

[Raewyn Lockyer]

Given it was hokey season, Raewyn of course had to deal with practice, and even games when the school would have matches for them to do. Today it had just been general training from doing multiple laps around and back ad forth on the ice rink, along with typical drills that came alone with the sport. They might have bee on ice but all of that movement and training of course built up a swat. Even more so for Rae who was naturally warmer then most people due to her power, so it was safe to say she was a sweaty mess after training ended. Everyone was released to head to the locker rooms were a bit of a walk from the rink if they wanted to hit the showers, which everyone pretty much did.

Rae remained behind to help clean up like she always did since she liked to help out and well the longer she took to get to the locker rooms, the more likely they woudl be cleared out so she could get a shower and not have to deal with too many people around her. Wither everything cleaned up at the rink, Rae headed for the locker rooms. Her gear was still on, hokey stick, and ice skates in hand she had not expected to be ran into someone.She managed to keep herself from falling but not only was she sweaty but now dirty from the filth on them. I really hope this is just dirt. Rae thought to herself, raising a brow when the offender even pushed her back to put some more space between them.

"Well...I guess it was a good thing I was already heading to the showers but looks like I'll have to wash my gear now too." Raewyn spoke up, letting out a small sigh as she dusted at herself but it did little to help. "Where are you off to in a hurry that you so rudely ran into me?" Rae asked. She was not upset yet, more so bothered that they ran into her, pushed her back some, and had yet to apologize.

[Merida Kaufman]

It would also be just her luck for the person to be her dorm monitor too.

Another swear nearly left her mouth at the mere sight of Raewyn, now dirty thanks to Merida. Her gaze snapped up from the mess she'd made when she was asked a question. Running her fingers through her hair, uncaring of the dirt her touch spread, she let out a puff of exasperation.

"Showers, same as you." She grumbled. As fortune would have it, Merida didn't spot any sign of outright anger across Raewyn's features; only annoyance at their collision no doubt. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to clean off..." The sentence trailed to nothing as Merida gestured to herself and the ball of dirt she'd become. Her current state of being spoke more clearly than her words ever could.

She was a walking, uncomfortable mess at the moment.

Once again her eyes took in Raewyn's form and she grimaced. "I'll pay for the laundry if you want." She offered. Though she wouldn't normally want to spend her own money on anyone else, she was willing to make an exception to her habits in this case. It really was her fault for the majority of the mess, after all.

[Raewyn Lockyer]

Raewyn would never use her position as a dorm monitor to intimated people into behaving, she felt like she could do that without the aid of the position. Plus it was not like she held a lot of power, she was more so just there to help and make reports when she needed to. The main work was done by the actual people the school hired for the job, she was more like a aid then anything but she still got paid for it. At hearing they were headed to the showers, she could understand them wanting to hurry and at least they were not running around creating a mess on purpose. "Oh, well we can head there together then. After I'll probable have to call someone to clean up the trail you left behind but you don't have to worry about getting into any trouble or anything like that." Rae assured her.

It would have been different if they were doing it on purpose but it did seem like it was an accident and well she was not the only student to make a mess on accident. When there were kids with all sorts of different powers living in the same place, messes and destruction were going to happen. "It's okay, at least you apologized." Rae responded, moving to get back to heading towards the showers because now she wanted to get undressed and cleaned up more then ever. That and she doubted the other girl wanted to keep standing around and talking when she was in such a hurry to get cleaned.

Rae picked up on the expression on the girl's face and gave her a small smile to add to reassuring her that it was okay. "It's alright. I would have to wash it eventually with the sweat build up. This just means I get it done and over with sooner." Raewyn assured her, since well it was true she would have to wash the gear eventually.

[Merida Kaufman]

As Raewyn spoke, Merida felt the tension in her body ease away. The remark about her trail caused her to turn her head back. Sure enough, there were tufts of dirt behind her that again made her wince. The only thing keeping her from swearing again in frustration was Raewyn's reassurance that she wouldn't get in trouble for the mess she'd left behind.

This habit of hers really needed to come to an end.

Turning her head back, she realized the other brunette was already walking away. Merida wasn't far behind in following. Her original intentions to swiftly get cleaned up still remained, as the irritable sensation of the dirt on her skin and under her clothes was still there. While she walked, she listened to Raewyn speak and shot her another glance. Giving a short nod, Merida once again observed her now messy outfit with a bit more curiosity. "You play hockey?" She asked after a moment, her gaze flicking back up to Raewyn's face. She was aware of how very little she knew about the other girl.

[Raewyn Lockyer]

It was clear the other had not been aware that she was leaving a mess behind her by the way they looked back and grimaced. It just yet again showed that they were not really a bad person, just a girl trying to get cleaned up after becoming filthy for...reasons that Rae was not certain of yet. She would ask, but later when they were at least closer to the showers or outright in them. The latter depending on if the other girl was comfortable talking to other people while she was trying to get cleaned up. Some people were very much about getting cleaned up and getting out of the locker rooms as soon as possible while others were fine having chats and walking around naked.

Rae would not have even minded if the girl swore in front of her, as long as it was not done too much. Son enough the two of them were walking towards the locker rooms, their goal in all of this, and Rae was certain the other girl wanted to shower more than she did. They could have walked in silence, but that would have been awkward so Rae did her best to just maintain a small level of conversation. Pleased that the other asked a question that would keep the conversation going while they walked a bit further. "Yes, I love just being out there on the ice and it’s a perfect way to get out any pent up anger." Rae admitted as she let out a small chuckle.

"What about you? Play any sports? I'm trying to think of one that would lead to you getting this covered in dirt." Rae asked, pointing out that she was at a loss. There were a few that could get you messy but given the cold weather and the sports currently going on it was hard to say for sure what got her so dirty. "And...I'm sorry to admit but your name escapes me at the moment. I know your initials to be M.K but thats it. I'm Raewyn, by the way." Raewyn then spoke up, trying to recall the girl's actual name and not just her initials.

[Merida Kaufman]

With Raewyn's explanation, a smile curled Merida's lips with amusement. Though she played no sport herself, she could definitely see the appeal of it to some others. When the question was turned on her, Merida shook her head. "I don't play any sports. This," she said with a gentle tug to her dirt stained shirt and all it indicated, "Was due to my power. It comes with a few downsides, and this is definitely the worst of it."

Downsides that continuously had a habit of rearing their heads at the worst times.

Terrible timing aside, Merida glanced back over at Raewyn when she spot up again. She could hardly blame the other girl for not knowing her name, considering she had to monitor a number of other students. So Merida gave her a hint of a hopefully reassuring smile. "It's no problem. I'm Merida." As they reached the door to the locker rooms, Merida went first and held it open for Raewyn. "Honestly I'm surprised you even remember my initials." She added with something closer to a smirk. There were plenty of students on her floor so even that was impressive.

[Raewyn Lockyer]

Raewyn was happy to see the other girl smile, it meant despite how things started off with a rather rude way to meet someone, turned into something good. She didn't know much about the girl but at least that had manners and seemed friendly enough, perhaps they could be sort of friends. Rae's head did tilt a little to the side as Merida explained that her current dirty situation was not due to a sport but a side effect of her power. Rae didn't know just how many powers were out there or anything but in class they were always informed of a few here and there. "Can I ask what your power is? I want to guess perhaps something to deal with Earth Manipulation?" Rae asked.

She would understand if the other girl didn't want to share; some people didn't really like to talk about their powers to just anyone. "I can create and manipulate fire by the way. I can show you if you like." Rae informed her. It sometimes helped to tell what your power was to get others to open up. The reassuring smile did indeed help Rae feel less bad about not knowing the other girl's name. She had not been a dorm monitored for that long and she was only tasked to handle certain matters so it was not like she knew everyone’s names. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Merida. As for knowing your initials, we live on the same floor and I have a photos and initials of those on our floor." Rae explained. She hoped that made sense and was not creepy at all.

It was to her 'job' and it really was just a small printout with one photo with initials next to each one. Raewyn gave a nod of thanks when Merida was kind enough to open and hold the door for her. She didn't hesitate to head into the locker room then, dropping what she had in her hands on the ground and working on getting her gear off. "Before you hop in the showers, you think you can help me get this off? I need to just by a new one because I can never get the straps unhooked myself." Rae then quickly asked before Merida would get too far in the locker room. She pointed to the bulk of her gear, the shoulder and chest pad piece.

This of course meant Merida was going to have to get close and reach her hands near Rae’s chest but Rae hoped that was no issues. They were both girls after all, so it was not like Merida didn't have boobs of her own.