Mont Chagrin Academy 2: Mascarade (Atlas Only, IC)

[Tenburg]

Entertainment Zone

Padraig, taking a long drag off his cigarette, suddenly felt a cloud come over him, a tingle went up his spine as he turned his head slightly and turned his eyes behind him. He saw a young woman looking at him, a camera in her hand, just... staring.

He froze, trying to identify anything about her, his eyes darting about looking for anyone who might be about to drop a bag over his head. She looked to be from east of Tenburg somewhere... but where? Elesar? Granzery? Chazicaria?

Seeing there was no one around looking to nab him, his eyes darted back to her. She was quite attractive, but that camera...

[New Elesar]

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Olesya was genuinely unsure of what to do. What had begun as a simple observation had turned into an incredibly uncomfortable staring contest; it had dragged on for almoat a solid minute now, and showed no signs of stopping unless one of them piped up. Obviously, this wasn't ideal. Olesya had always had trouble speaking to people she didn't know, and with the potential of a language barrier that being an international student posed, speaking to the young man with the cigarette seemed to be a very bad idea.

Still, however, this awkward silence needed to be broken. "I guess I'll go for a more universal option," Olesya thought to herself as she nervously began to speak.

"Um...bonjour...votre cigarette sent...mauvais."

"Dammit," Olesya kicked herself almost immediately after the words left her mouth, "Three years in-country and the accent still isn't gone."

[Tenburg]

Entertainment Zone

Paddy was able to detect the accent in her speech immediately: Elesarian.

A wave of relief rushed over him, as eighty years of history that his father had drilled into his head crashed back into his mind.

That said, there was no chance this woman spoke Tennish Gaelic, and perhaps only a slight chance of her knowing English. Thankfully, Paddy learned Elesarian as a child, and although he hadn't used it much in public, was still well-versed enough in it to converse. Or at least, offer her a cigarette. He decided to try his best to ease the awkwardness, taking a gulp.

"We... could speak your language, if that's easier." That was harder for him to pull of than he would have liked, but he immediately followed it up by pulling a cigarette from his carton and offering it to her.

[New Elesar]

Entertainment District

Olesya froze up a little bit. She had to admit, she was at least a little impressed; Elesarian wasn't exactly high on the lists of languages to learn for foreigners, and yet here this man was, speaking it well enough to be understood. Granted, there was a...notable...accent, but still, understandable.

Although she knew it was supposed to be a gesture of kindness, Olesya would have to turn down the offered cigarette. "Not after what it did to grandma," she shuddered, "I don't want to sound like a robot." Between that and the idea of cancer, smoking was not on the to-do list for the youngest daughter of the Petrov family.

She shook her head a little more than she needed to, and if it hadn't been for the strap of her camera her hair would lifted off her shoulders and flown about.

Now her mind was addled with what to say. How to turn down the cigarette. How to introduce herself. How to keep her camera from hitting the wall if she turned around.

"Please yes, let's speak my language andcanyoupleaseputthecigarettesawayIdon'tsmokethanks."

What a mess. It had started so well, and now she was mumbling her way through a simple sentence. What was wrong with her? Olesya had never known herself to be shy; reserved, sure, but shy and flustered like this? No, never. If anything, it was the shock of having a total stranger speak to her in her own language so far away from Elesar.

[Allied Connurist States]

Mont Chagrin Academy
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Alexia understood what it was like as Rozsa admitted that she was probably always going to somewhat tied to being a Princess. Of course, Alexia was no princess, but she too had the burden of a title that dictated certain responsibilities to you. She too was just kind of here in Acronia just seeing where university life took her, delaying the inevitability of returning home and being associated with anything remotely important in the local area of the Duchy. It seemed a similar story for Attila, though he appeared to have more certainty about his path. She could understand why there had been rules against royals holding government position, though she was happy for him as that barrier was no longer in place.

Of course Alexia was not exactly surprised when the topic of the Mascarade came up. She had half expected it to arise, it seemed to be on everyone's minds at the moment and maybe with good reason.

"Honestly I don't know all too much about it, aside from that anyone who's supposed to be anybody is expected to be there. I think the locals would know the most, they're supposed to take it quite seriously so I've heard."

[Tenburg]

Entertainment Zone

Padraig froze for a moment, moving only his hand to put away the cigarette. Was it something he said? She seemed, almost afraid of him. A lumo formed in his throat, as clearly he had done something wrong. Putting the pack back in his shirt, he took a drag off the one still in his mouth, careful to move his head to the side and exhale in a direction away from his new, erm, friend...?

Perhaps a change of subject was in order. "I suppose there aren't many, um... Elesarians around here. I mean, I'm not one myself, I'm..." He paused for second. SHould he admit his nationality? Yes... yes, it would probably be alright. "... well, I'm Tennish. But I learned the language from a young age." Name. That would do here. My name is Padraig, by the way..." He found himself questioning if the last phrase was good... suddenly he was in front of a million microphones, carefully constructing sentences and then immediately regretting it as if something catastrophic would result. His head rattled. He concluded it would be best to leave it at Padraig for now... there was no way of knowing would this girl would do if she knew his surname... if she would the connection.

[New Elesar]

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"His name's out of the way," Olesya thought, "That's a start, I guess. And Tennish, too. That explains the grammar and the accent." She couldn't help a small chuckle on hearing his voice. Sure, he claimed to have learned Elesarian from a young age, but it certainly wasn't apparent. All of a sudden, she didn't feel so bad about her poor grasp of French.

"You're right, there aren't very many of my people here," she said, still chuckling a little bit, "But then, there aren't very many of yours either. You speak the language well. My name is Olesya."

Now she was in her element. Nervous still, maybe, but definitely not even close to how she had been just minutes before. It was funny; all it had taken was a bad accent and sub-par grammar from Padraig to get Olesya out of her shell.

"May I take a seat?"

[Tenburg]

Entertainment Zone

Paddy opened a hand towards the empty seat, feeling slightly more comfortable. "Certainly." He took one final drag off his short cigarette and put it out in the ashtray between them. Then, after thinking a moment, moved the smoking ashtray away from the middle of the table. Cearly she didn't like it.

He didn't smoke but on occasion, especially when he was nervous, and since half his friends smoked like trains he would always have a pack on hand, something else he had picked up from his father.

"So... might I ask where in the Empire you're from?"

[New Elesar]

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Olesya took her seat, making at least some effort to angle herself away from Padraig. In her head, she thanked him for moving the ashtray away from them. Smoking was one of those habits that she could never understand. Sure, she'd tried it at least once back when she was younger, but after seeing her mother nearly die from it she'd quickly stopped before a habit could form.

"What part of the Empire am I from?" That was a good question. Because of her father's military service, Olesya had never really settled down in any one place for more than a couple of years at a time. She'd been all over Elesar, from the coast to the mountains to the plains, and when it came right down to it she'd only really ever lived in civilian housing.

"I've lived all over Elesar, I suppose. My family moves around a lot; I do like the Capital though. Of all the places we've lived, it's been the most frequent. How about yourself? Where are you from in Tenburg?"

[Tenburg]

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Paddy, too, had to think for a moment. There were three answers he could give: Port Pierce, Tallow, and Portrush. Which was the least pretentious?

"A small town named Portrush, in County Coolrain."

His spine shivered as he spoke. There was no need for the 'county'... Just call it Coolrain next time, you idiot. His mind briefly took him to the proud old cottage, which overlooked the sea. He could for a moment hear the waves crashing against the cliffs, his father's body lying in state in the den... but only for a moment before snapping himself out of it.

[New Elesar]

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"I can't say I've ever heard of it," Olesya said, cocking her head, "But I suppose there are a lot of small towns in the Empire you haven't heard of as well, so it's not really a shock."

Olesya did love small towns. Though for most of her life she'd been in one of a few larger cities situated near military bases, there were times when her family had gone, essentially, out into the sticks. The cities were loud, colorful, and exciting, but they didn't have the same feeling of life like the towns did. While they weren't isolated, there was a sense of removal from the rest of the world in the towns, where drama usually consisted of lost sheep or a young eloping couple. Life was simpler there.

A silence had fallen over the small table, and Olesya began to feel quite awkward again. For a moment, Padraig looked as if he had entered a trance. She'd seen that same look on her father's face, when her brothers had asked about the troubles in the East.

"You look troubled. Is something wrong?"

[Tenburg]

Entertainment Zone

"Oh, just... thinking of home. There's a lot of violence there at the moment. Some of my friends are involved, so... home's not the same." He quickly felt an urge to change the subject. "But Portrush is a small coastal town in the northwest of Coolrain. We lived on the top of a cliff, and we'd go down the road into town, which was on either side of the river Fein, goes right out into the ocean. It's lovely there. Out-of the way."