<strong>Character:</strong>Penn Solomon<br/><strong>Who:</strong>Maple<br/><strong>Where:</strong>Penn's room in West Tower<br/><strong>When:</strong>a little after 5 PM<br/><br/>Maple takes a meandering route to the dorm tower, turning Min-joon's phone over in her hand the whole way. She eventually ends up at Penn's door and knocks after pocketing the phone. Min-joon's laptop is still in her messenger bag.<br/><br/>After a moment, Penn opens the door. She looks immaculate, different T-shirt than this morning (this one has a fretwork of interlaced pentacles in white on a black background), makeup apparently freshly redone. When she sees Maple, she smiles a little (a rarity for Penn). "Come in," she says, and steps aside.<br/><br/>Maple blinks in surprise at the smile, but smiles back. She does not ask if Penn's entirely sure she wasn't possessed. Too soon. "Hey," she says, moving inside. "Everything okay with your surprise visitor I take it? No one coming to drag you back to class~?"<br/><br/>Penn has a single, which is unusual. The bed is covered with crap—books, papers, a couple of medium-sized cardboard boxes the contents of which Maple cannot see without going over and poking around, a fishing tackle box, a small titanium briefcase of the sort used by technicians for tools and such, and a collection of a half-dozen padlocks of assorted brands and shapes. At a guess, Penn must sleep curled up in the big beanbag chair by the window.<br/><br/>"I'm fine," Penn says. "Dr. Balthazar is giving out excuse notes like candy. Happy birthday." She seems not to think of this as a non-sequitur.<br/><br/>Maple blinks and the precise moment she remembers it's her birthday is practically broadcast across her face. "Oh! Oh…um, thank you."<br/><br/>"I got you a present," Penn says. "It's over on the windowsill."<br/><br/>It's a bonsai. It's a bonsai…dwarf Japanese maple? An elegant little tree, sculpted in an organic asymmetry, in a pot that's a marvel of its own—hand-thrown pottery, cracked and then repaired with gold mortar.<br/><br/>Maple stops and sort of stares at the pretty little tree, puzzled and conflicted. "I—you didn't have to—I—I mean thank you but…"<br/><br/>It's probably rude to ask someone why they got you a gift, right? She could probably count the number of words she and Penn had exchanged on her fingers and all she'd given Penn for her birthday was a quick little pen and ink doodle of a bat. Maple realizes she's been quiet an awkwardly long time and goes rather red.<br/><br/>"It's too much," Penn says, and turns away. "BC said it was too much, I should have listened…I just saw it and thought of you…because it's small and cute and has red leaves." Her voice is low-pitched and monotonous, her posture stiff. "It's too much though."<br/><br/>"I, um, I mean," Maple stammers awkwardly, twining and untwining her fingers and shifting her weight back and forth from one foot to the other. "It's really sweet and thoughtful and I love it but—it's, it's a lot yeah…"<br/><br/>"Sorry." Penn falls silent. She's still turned away and stiff. It looks as though that might be the last word she ever says in her life, as though she might become a monument here in this dorm room, perhaps titled "Awkwardness."<br/><br/>"No! No you don't have anything to apologize for," Maple says, half propelled by guilt, half by a need to fill the horrible awkward silence. "I just—"<br/><br/>"You brought the phone?" Penn interrupts.<br/><br/>"Yeah," Maple says quietly.<br/><br/>Penn turns back to face Maple. "Let's see it."<br/><br/>Maple pulls the phone from her pocket and stares down at it for roughly three seconds before the floodgates open and she bursts into tears.<br/><br/>Penn physically rocks back on her heels, then summons up her nerve and makes an awkward shuffling motion toward Maple, holding out her arms.<br/><br/>With a half-suppressed sob Maple steps forward and throws her arms around Penn, burying her face in the other girl's shoulder as a good two hours of repressed grief and guilt pour out.<br/><br/>Penn slowly relaxes and lets Maple cry out the tension. She holds Maple gently, as though something might break. She doesn't say "shhh" or "there there" or any of the usual meaningless noises people make when holding someone who's crying; she just stands there, arms loosely around Maple, and lets Maple cry herself out.<br/><br/>The sobbing and the trembling eventually fade, and several minutes later Maple pulls back, trying very hard not to make eye contact. "I'm sorry," she murmurs, her eyes red-ringed and eyeliner smeared a little as she tries to dry her eyes on her sleeve. "And thank you."<br/><br/>"You're welcome," Penn says, and offers a box of tissues. "Is there anything else I can do that would be helpful? Would you like some water?"<br/><br/>Maple takes a few tissues but says, "No, no I think I'm okay now. Just…been a rough day."<br/><br/>Penn puts the box of tissues back on the desk, turns the chair to face Maple and sits down. She says nothing.<br/><br/>Maple wavers indecisively for a moment before sitting in the beanbag chair. She sinks in further than she expected and makes a startled little "eep!" sound, then proceeds to pretend that that was not even a tiny bit embarrassing.<br/><br/>Penn starts to stand up, then sits down again. "I—really would like to do something about the phone," she says.<br/><br/>Maple turns the phone over in her hands a few times before taking a deep breath and holding it out.<br/><br/>Penn stands up to take it from Maple's hand, then turns the chair to face her desk and sits back down. She plugs the phone into her laptop and starts doing computer-y things.<br/><br/>"Um…you're the one he attacked, so whatever you want to do I won't try and stop you, but…" Maple trails off for a moment and it almost looks like she's about to cry again, but she pulls herself together and runs her fingers back through her hair. "But we don't know what happened to him. Like, at all. I mean he was always kind of a jerk but jerk to attempted murderer is a pretty big leap. If there's any way you'd consider helping me try and find out what happened, I…"<br/><br/>Penn sits silently for a while, staring at her computer and the phone, saying nothing. Eventually she says, "I'm going to download the contents of the phone's memory for analysis, but I won't destroy the phone yet."<br/><br/>"Thank you."<br/><br/>Penn resumes doing computer-y things for a while, making little "huh," "mm," "gnh" noises from time to time as she works.<br/><br/>Maple takes out a sketchbook after a few minutes have gone by and starts doodling.<br/><br/>About ten minutes go by before Penn says, "I can't make any sense of this. If machine code were DNA, this would be all introns, no exons. It's—I can't make any sense of it." She sounds bitterly frustrated, perhaps even angry.<br/><br/>Maple stands up and moves to look over Penn's shoulder, though it's not as if she's going to understand anything she sees. "Could it have, like, functioned as a phone like that?"<br/><br/>"Not conceivably," Penn says.<br/><br/>"Hmmm…I don't suppose you speak Korean?"<br/><br/>"No, sorry."<br/><br/>"I think he might have done something to it. Or the thing that was inside him did something? Right before he…before he died," she makes herself say it, "I saw him on the phone's screen. He yelled something at me. I doubt it'll be anything useful but I wrote it down phonetically. I've got a friend who's part of the Asian Students Union, she can probably find someone who could translate it for us, just in case."<br/><br/>"May I see?" Penn says.<br/><br/>Maple retrieves her little pocket notebook from her bag, flips to the appropriate page, and hands it over. "I mean, he was probably just calling me a stupid bitch or something…"<br/><br/>Penn glances at it and hands it back. "I'll look into it. Please ask your friend as well."<br/><br/>"I will. Thank you, again. Um…I have his laptop, too. Please don't wipe that either. Yet." Maple pulls it out of her messenger bag and sets it on the corner of Penn's bed.<br/><br/>Penn is silent for a while, then gets up, turns her chair around, and sits down again facing Maple. "I'm sorry about the tree."<br/><br/>"It's—it's really not anything you need to apologize for, it's just…" she trails off, biting her lower lip, and looks over to the bonsai. "…Tell you what. Why don't you hold on to it for me for now and we can…you know, hang out and stuff. Work our way up to teeny tiny tree level presents."<br/><br/>In a small voice, Penn says, "you would…hang out with me?"<br/><br/>"What? Of course I would! I didn't think you, like, liked that sort of thing."<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">"um I like you"</span>Penn mumbles. She sounds like she should be blushing, but she isn't.<br/><br/>"Oh…" Maple is definitely blushing.<br/><br/>Penn clears her throat. "I've been meaning to ask you." Pause. Pause. It becomes apparent that the pause is more of a cliff and she's never going to say anything again for the rest of her life unless Maple encourages her.<br/><br/>"Yes?"<br/><br/>"It's too soon." She smiles a little, for just a second. "We should hang out first."<br/><br/>Maple desperately, desperately wants to push but it seems like too much too soon when Penn's already outside her comfort zone will only backfire. "Okay," she says with a little smile. "I'm going to head home for the night so I won't be at dinner, but how about you sit with me at breakfast tomorrow?"<br/><br/>"OK."<br/><br/>"Um, so…" Maple starts digging through her bag. "Between the fact that you hang out with William, who is full of secrets, and how well you took everything earlier, I guess you kinda know what's up with regard to, like, magic and other assorted weirdness?"<br/><br/>"Some. I know what you do in Advanced Spirituality."<br/><br/>"Like me specifically or the collective 'you'?"<br/><br/>" 'Y'all.' "<br/><br/>Maple giggles.<br/><br/>Penn smiles, a little longer this time. "Yes, I have an idea of the scope of paranormal phenomena represented at this school and in the wider world. By the way, please do not infer that I hang out with William. He employs me as a consultant. That's all."<br/><br/>"Oh, hmmm…I suppose you don't know anything about his 'higher power' then?"<br/><br/>"I am not aware that he has any religious beliefs."<br/><br/>"Not sure this is a religious thing, really…anyway, not important. I've probably got at least a week and a half before the curiosity starts to drive me mad." She pulls the little black book with her star symbol painted on the front and pulls one of her last sketches from the little pocket in the back and hands it over. "Do you know what these are?"<br/><br/>"This is one of your 'wizard portraits,' I take it?" Penn says. "It feels strange."<br/><br/>"Yeah, they feel kinda cold when they haven't been used up. Um, here, that one will only work once but if you want to try it you can use this one." Maple flips her sketchbook open to the first page, which has a self-portrait in an oval frame of vines and flowers in the center.<br/><br/>Penn sets the Trump sketch on her desk next to her laptop and accepts the sketchbook. She examines the Trump of Maple for a moment; Maple feels the connection starting to form, but Penn jerks her hand away. "Strange," she says.<br/><br/>"Yeah, it takes a while to get used to. Want to try again?"<br/><br/>Without replying, Penn touches the Trump again and concentrates. The familiar rainbow halo and overlaid image of Penn form in Maple's vision after a few seconds.<em>How very odd,</em>says Penn's mental voice.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">What Maple notices</div><div class="spoiler_body">Penn really ought to be in Advanced Spirituality, to Maple's judgment. Even if she has no training, her raw psychic talent is ahead of Ken's or Morgan's, almost on a level with Lara's.</div></div><br/><br/>Maple grins and waves, then tilts her head a little to the side, looking puzzled. "Huh…hey you're a decently strong psychic. Do you, like, hide that normally somehow? I've never noticed before."<br/><br/>Penn slowly removes her hand, and the Trump contact blinks out. "…William says I'm not a monster."<br/><br/>Maple tilts her head further to the side. "You were—worried about that?"<br/><br/>"Yes."<br/><br/>"Well I mean you don't seem monstrous to me. And William's apparently actually dealt with them so…um, would you like a hug?"<br/><br/>"Would," Penn says. After a pause, she finishes, "…you let me sit with you?"<br/><br/>"Sure."<br/><br/>"Move over a little, please?"<br/><br/>Maple obediently scooches over.<br/><br/>Penn gets up from her chair and sits down in the beanbag next to Maple, a little stiffly, then slowly, slooooooowly relaxes. Just about the time her posture appears to be comfortable, she starts crying quietly.<br/><br/>Maple hesitantly loops an arm around Penn's shoulder. If that seems to be helping, or at least not making things worse, she'll pull her in close.<br/><br/>Penn goes absolutely limp as a kitten. It's her turn to cry on Maple's shoulder now.<br/><br/>"You're not a monster," Maple says, calmly gathering Penn up in her arms.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">"then what am I?"</span>Penn mumbles into Maple's hair.<br/><br/>"I don't know," Maple says quietly. "But you're not alone. there's something…odd about me too. And William, and BC. Our whole Assembly class. I don't know what it is, but I don't think we're monsters."<br/><br/>"You keep secrets well," Penn says.<br/><br/>"What can I say, I have a weakness for pretty girls. Besides, you're part of the secret so it doesn't count."<br/><br/>"I'm—" Penn starts crying again, and mumbles something Maple can't make out.<br/><br/>Maple gently strokes her hair.<br/><br/>Penn quiets down, except for sniffles now and then, but doesn't say anything for quite a while. "You're nice," are the words that eventually pass her lips.<br/><br/>"I try," Maple says. "Besides, so are you."<br/><br/>"You're the only one who has ever said that to me," Penn says very quietly.<br/><br/>Maple squeezes her a little tighter.<br/><br/>"I told William…" Penn says, trailing off. A moment later she resumes, "When I was nine years old, a vampire attacked us. Me and my father. I turned into a Bug and told it to go away, and it did. I—Father said I must be a monster. William said he would be able to tell if I were, though. He sounded very certain."<br/><br/>There's a little pause, but it's brief enough that it might have just been a trick of Penn's mind and Maple keeps stroking her hair. "That must've been frightening for you. Also, no offense, but your dad sounds like an ungrateful jerk."<br/><br/>"He hits me," Penn says very quietly.<br/><br/>Maple definitely pauses this time, then hugs Penn tightly again. "My mom's a social worker," she says quietly. "And she knows a bit about weird magic stuff. She could help."<br/><br/>"No!" Penn stiffens up, pulls away from Maple. "No no no no! Don't tell anyone! No!"<br/><br/>"Okay! Okay…I'm sorry. But…maybe you could come stay with us over spring break or something? Assuming you won't let me kick your dad's teeth out?"<br/><br/>Penn relaxes, but doesn't cuddle up with Maple again yet. "If I ask he'll say no." Pause. "I won't ask. He'd rather I never came home anyway."<br/><br/>It takes Maple a moment to force herself to unclench her fists, then a few repetitions of her breathing exercises to calm herself down. "Okay. I'll ask my parents tonight, but I'm sure they won't mind. And I won't tell anyone what you told me without your permission. Any of it. But…I think you should consider talking to Reverend Foley. About the Bug thing. Maybe it was just some kind of weird magic? Like an illusion or something? She knows a lot about that sort of thing."<br/><br/>Penn nods.<br/><br/>Maple resumes petting Penn's hair.<br/><br/>Penn cuddles against Maple again. "This is really nice," she says softly. "I had no idea this would be so nice."<br/><br/>Maple blushes brightly, glad Penn can't see her face at the moment.<br/><br/>"I need to tell you something," Penn says. "If you don't think I'm a monster then this should be easy, right?"<br/><br/>"Yes?"<br/><br/>"I used to have a boy body," she says. "I changed it. That upset Father more than the Bug change. But I won't change back. I won't!"<br/><br/>"…yeah, sorry, I'm definitely kicking your dad in the teeth if I ever meet him."<br/><br/>"He's tall," Penn says. "You need to study Taekwondo. It has leaping kicks."<br/><br/>"I'll look into that."<br/><br/>Penn giggles. It is not a sound Maple has ever heard from her. When she calms down, she says, "Don't kick Father in the teeth. It'd be beneath your dignity. I hope you never meet him. He'd say nasty things if he knew you were my friend—" She stiffens up again. After a moment, she asks timidly, "Are you my friend? Is that too much?"<br/><br/>"Oh I think you wildly overestimate my dignity," Maple says. "But yes, I'd very much like to be your friend."<br/><br/>Penn wraps her arms around Maple and hugs her tightly without saying anything. It's hard to tell, because she's not sniffling or sobbing and Maple can't see her face, but she might be crying again. Eventually her hold on Maple relaxes and she lies there passively letting Maple stroke her hair. After a while, Maple hears her begin to snore. It is the tiniest, cutest little whistling snore ever~<br/><br/>"Ooooooh no I'm trapped," Maple whispers to herself. "Trapped forever."<br/><br/>Breathe. Whistle. Breathe. Whistle. Maple might be able to slither out of Penn's arms without waking her, but it is one of those things like getting out from under a sleeping cat: one risks disturbing something cute.<br/><br/>Maple veeeeery very slowly, veeeeery very carefully attempts to escape.<br/><br/>Penn instantly stops snoring. She rolls away from Maple and sits up. Her makeup is completely untouched by all the crying she's done.<br/><br/>"Sorry," Maple says sheepishly as she sits up. "I never escape without waking Patches up either, shouldn't have pressed my luck."<br/><br/>"It's OK," Penn says. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep like that." She sounds calm, un-Penn-like almost. As though she's in a trance. Or…happy? Is this what a happy Penn sounds like?<br/><br/>"I don't mind, I'm glad you feel comfortable with me. I just get twitchy if I'm stuck in one spot without something to occupy my overactive brain is all."<br/><br/>Penn stands up, seemingly without effort despite the deep, soft puffiness of the beanbag, and offers a hand to help Maple up. "I feel the same way," she says. "I have to find things to think about all the time. Math is good. I can do math all day while I'm in class."<br/><br/>Maple takes Penn's hand and stands. "I doodle mostly. Math and I've never really seen eye to eye."<br/><br/>"I like math because it's straightforward. There's nothing hidden. Everything is what it is." Penn slowly lets go of Maple's hand. "I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."<br/><br/>Maple's phone beeps with a text.<br/><br/>"Yeah! Plus, I mean, you can text me or message me on that weird chat app thingy you put on my phone. I'm guessing if you did that you've probably got my number, right?"<br/><br/>"I have everyone's number."<br/><br/>"She said ominously~"<br/><br/>"Every computing device on this campus that connects to the network is mine. Every computing device those devices connect to is mine. Et cetera. Maple, I have so much<em>time</em>on my hands! I read my textbooks the first two weeks of the semester, it takes me only as long to do my homework as I need to type it out and I type fast…I don't need much sleep. I have nothing to do but hack and prove theorems and dream. It<em>hurts,</em>I'm so bored all the time." She swallows. "I get along with William because he's the same way."<br/><br/>Maple stops in front of the door, lingering awkwardly. "Having a hobby that doesn't get repetitive helps. If you ever want to learn to draw or something let me know."<br/><br/>Penn quirks a little smile. "Maybe I should transfer into Advanced Spirituality. I have my math independent study in 7th Arrangement but I finished my thesis weeks ago. Could you ask Rev. Foley whether she'd accept a mid-semester add?"<br/><br/>"Sure." Maple smiles a little as well.<br/><br/>"See you later."<br/><br/>"Bye~"<br/><br/>Maple can feel Penn's eyes on her even after the door closes, as if Penn could somehow see through the wall. She can't, though. Probably can't. Not with all the wards. Right?