Leriana walked through the empty corridors in almost sileance, the only sound being her shoes as they clipped across the smooth floor. Her uniform was, as always, immaculate, and her prefect's sash was proudly wrapped diagonally around her chest. She was slightly smiling to herself, enjoying the feeling of knowing that despite the approaching curfew she was not only allowed to walk through the corridors, but was expected to do so in fact.

Leriana would have walked her route, not deviating, for the last strtch of her patrol, the few minutes until Curfew set in and an hour afterwards to make sure the student's were all following the rules. However a faint sound drew her to the side, and she walked down a corridor towards the music rooms. As she did so the sound of a violin grew louder and louder until she finally reached the classroom. It was off the main hallway, and a light was still on inside it. Without hesitating, or knocking, Leriana opened the door and stepped inside, her eyes sweeping the room to find out why this room was still occupied, and by who.

From the centre of the room, amidst the chaotically strewn chairs and instruments for the music classes' orchestra emanated a slow, heartfelt piece of music. Entranced within the magic of her performance of Massenet's "Méditation," Katarina stood defiantly in the otherwise deserted room. Her body swayed ever so slightly with the inflections of the piece, completely oblivious to the prefect's unannounced entrance. As usual, her love of music and private performance had stolen her attention from the world.

She continued playing, ignoring the nagging feeling she was being watched, for a solid three minutes. When the piece was concluded she stood still for a further few seconds, taking a deep breath and opening her eyes for the first time since she'd begun. Immediately her eyes were drawn to the pair of legs standing in the doorway. As her vision travelled upwards, so too did her sense of concern. When her eye caught note of the person's blue sash her mind immediately raced. What time was it? Was it really that late? This couldn't be good on her record to be out after hours again.

To date she'd not had any incidents at the school at all. No demerits, no tardiness, not even an absence for sick leave that she could recall. This time though it seemed she'd been caught as the proverb said, "red handed." Immediately she retreated to damage control mode, bowing her head to the other woman, "I-I apologize Miss, I lost track of time." she stammered out an apology before knowing if she'd done something wrong.

Leriana silently watched two things as she looked into the room. The first was the student standing in the middle of where the music classes orchestra. The second was her watch. She tried coughing to get the student's attention, but gave up after her second try was ignored. So instead she simply watched the time, and listened to the rather skilled student.

Eventually the song came to a close, and after a few seconds the other student finally noticed Leriana. You still have a few minutes before curfew ticks over ... how close is your dorm room Miss ... Leriana's voice trailed off to invite the student to supply a name.

Leriana had crossed her arms in front of her, and most of her attention was on her watch as the seconds slowly ticked by. Until curfew came into effect it wasn't technically against the rules to be wandering around. Although there were prefects who blurred the line a little, Leriana wasn't one of them. Of course that meant the very second the second hand ticked over she would be handing out an instant demerit, and the student would be treating a basement room as their dorm room for the night.

"Miss...ah Marseilles. Katarina Marseilles. I'm sorry!"r she apologized again. Before her mind could register a further response, Katarina quickly, though carefully, set to work. She put the violin and bow back in their case gently, scooped up the sheets of music that had become somewhat scattered across her area, and collected her uniform jacket. When she turned again to the prefect she had all these things either in hand or under arm.

Looking a bit flustered, she manoeuvred her way across the room around the various seats and stands before arriving face to face with the woman at the door. The first thing she realized that was, in spite of the intimidating stance and sash that the prefect had taken, she wasn't all that intimidating up close. Katarina was taller by at least a couple centimetres, though the sordid tales of demerits handed down and the basement that Katarina had thus far managed to avoid created plenty of fear. "My dorm...it is on the other side of the campus. If I ran?" she left the end of the question open, hoping that the prefect would tell her yay or nay.

Leriana closed her eyes for a moment, considering. By the time you get halfway across the campus you will be out of time, even if you sprint. Which means I may as well simply save some other prefect's time and give you a demerit right here and now. Leriana may not have been as tall as Katarina, but her voice was authoritive and confident. It brooked no arguement or disagreement, despite the size difference.

And if I do that I would than have to escort you to a temporary dorm room in the basement for the night. Leriana's went silent as she let the words sink in. There was really very little Katarina could do to stop that. Unless she had another dorm room she could stay in for the night that she could reach before curfew began she was, quite literelly considering what sort of punishment went on in the basement, screwed.

Leriana held her stern gaze for a few seconds before relenting as a solution presented itself. While Leriana was a strict enforcer of the rules she would do anything she could to encourige people to not break them. Her arm's unfolded and one pulled a key out of a pocket and held it out for Katarina. Give me your key and head back to the main corridor, go up two levels of stairs. Take the first left and in the middle of the corridor on the left you will find the door matching this key's number. If you can reach my dorm in time you can stay there for the night. Leriana stepped back, out fo the room and clear of the door. I recommend you run, and I will swing past your dorm on my patrol and get a change of uniform for tomorrow for you.

When the prefect brought up the prospect of a night in the basement, Katarina shuddered visibly. She knew all too well from widespread tales that it was well within this woman's ability to hand out demerit and banish her to the basement for the night for a crime she had not yet committed. Another dorm room was out of the question as well, since Katarina had not made any friends since arriving. In spite of her easy smile and welcoming personality, the absent minded that goes hand in hand with her music had turned her into a well noted wallflower.

When, however, the prefect presented the unusual solution Katarina took a moment to clear the fog of disbelief. "Really? I mean, really?" she asked. The other woman nodding in confirmation was all the assurance Katarina needed. She hastily pulled off the necklace that she wore her key on and passed it to Leriana. "Thank you SO much miss...um..." she paused, only now realizing she did not know her saviour's name.

Leriana rolled her eyes as she nodded at Katarina's question, confirming that she had indeed made the offer. Leriana took the necklace, plus attached key, and handed Katarina the key to her own room. Leriana Vallori, and I recommend you run. You only have a few minutes, and if I find out that you were out after curfew I am required to give you a demerit, no excuses.

Leriana turned and walked off, heading back to her patrol. If the student made it in time that would be good, if not ... Leriana had done all she could to help. The student would have to face the punishment and hopefully that would give her an extra deterrent to not mess up like that again next time.

Mentally Leriana changed her patrol route to take her to the room indicated on Katarina's key. She made sure it was near the end of her patrol, after all a prefect wandering around for an hour holding a spare uniform would raise questions. And although Leriana wouldn't have to answer them, it could look bad. That would reflect badly on Leriana, and far more cruically on Katya.

Katarina bowed her head again to Leriana after warning and set off immediately. The assortment of equipment she was carrying made her progress slower than she'd like, but after fumbling a moment with the unfamiliar lock she entered the room with a precious few moments to spare. She was immediately taken back by the size of the accommodation. It was significantly larger than any she'd seen to date. It looked like it even had its own bathroom.

It made sense that the responsibility of a prefect would come with some perks. It didn't make Katarina any more at ease though. She was desperately paranoid about breaking or otherwise disrupting the obvious order of the room. After a moment of searching she found the desk was fairly clear and very carefully chose to stack her books and put her violin case on it. At a loss as to where to put her jacket, or really touch anything, she pulled the chair out of the desk and sat down. Keeping her jacket in her lap, she picked up her politics textbook and began reading it, awaiting Leriana's return.

It would be another hour before Leriana's patrol finished and she went back to her room. She had stopped briefly in Katarina's room, grabing a single change of clothes for tomorrow, before leaving. She had done a quick search for anything contraband of course, but had found nothing. She hadn't expected too, but she did believe in being as cautious as possible.

Leriana finally approached her dorm room door, the rest of her patrol being uneventfull. She tried the door and found it open. Stepping in she wonders if Katarina had done anything to her room. However that brief fear is soon dispelled when she sees the room is almost exactly how she left it. The only exceptino is her desk, which now holds Katarina's books and violin, and the chair for the desk, which now holds Katarina herself.

Did you make it in time Miss Marseilles? Leriana asks as she walks in, placing the clothes she is carrying on the couch.

Katarina looked up from her reading as soon as she'd heard the door's latch click. Immediately she rose to her feet and offered a smile in greeting. Before Leriana could say anything she offered her thanks again. "Thank you again for this reprieve." When asked whether she'd made it on time she smiled again. "It was close, but I did make it, thank you again. For the clothes as well." She moved to pick up the clothing that Leriana had retrieved for her when she remembered. "Ah, before I forget." Katarina stepped towards Leriana and offered her key back in an open hand.

Leriana accepted her key with a smile, giving Katarina's key back as she did so. Thank you, and it wasn't a problem. Now just where to put you ... hmm. Leriana considered her room, but it didn't take long for her to run out of options. The only real place you can sleep will be either on the couch or sharing the bed with me. Do you have any preferences? Leriana asked with a sigh as she slumped down on the couch. She had been on her feet since lunch time with a mix of patrol's and her own choice to keep patrolling in the time that separated the two regular patrols since she didn't have class.

Hey could you be a dear and get me a glass of water from the fridge please? Leriana asked, her mask of sternness fading to reveal a little bit of weariness. Idly she reached down and started to rub one of her legs, trying to relax the muscles.

Katarina cast a discomforting glance at the bed. Two people on that would be logistically challenging, at best. "I wouldn't want to put you out anymore than I already have, the couch will be fine." she sighed slightly, memory serving her at that moment. She'd slept in the field during exercises and testing before. A couch was much more comfortable than a hole in the ground.

Her carefully observant eyes and ears caught the slump and sigh that accompanied Leriana's dropping on the couch. "I imagine being a prefect is tiring." she spoke with a twinge of sympathy in her voice. She understood the demands of the position first hand from secondary school. As soon as it was requested, Katarina moved to the refrigerator. Within a minute she'd returned with a glass of ice water.

Without hesitation she handed the glass of water to Leriana and dropped to her knees in front of the couch. "Trust me, I know what to do about sore legs." she offered. When she wasn't immediately rebuffed she set to gently massaging the kinks in Leriana's exhausted legs. Considering she'd been given reprieve from the basement this was a minor thing. Plus, somewhere in the back of her mind a nagging feeling told her that she enjoyed it any ways.

Leriana smirked at Katarina's reply that the couch was fine. Actually the bed is larger than you can see from here. The way the door is positioned you can only see half of it. Prefects have a king sized bed as a standard. But the couch is quite comfortable as well.

It can be at times. The fact such a large proportion of student's here are here because they were troublemakers back at their old schools makes enforcing the rules a rather tiring task. Leriana accepted the glass with a smile and a nod, taking a sip before sighing in pleasure. Partly from the chilled crisp water, partly from the comfortable couch, partly from Katarina's hands as they worked to relax her leg muscles, and finally from the sensation of having someone kneeling in front of her.

mmm ... that feels good. Where did you learn to do that?

The explanation of the bed's size made her reconsider her decision, though only for a moment. "Duke of York's Royal Military School. You learn these sorts of things pretty quick from the seniors in your houses." she explained. Long marches, physical training, and field work took their toll on the students. By graduation they all knew how to take care of their bodies quite well. It didn't take much to apply that knowledge to someone else.

She continued silently for another moment before her mind seized upon the prefect's comment. "I suppose that would be troubling. Would also explain a lot of the bizarre behaviour I've seen since coming here." she offered a light huff of laughter. "I would suppose that means the rest of you is as tense as your legs are?" she asked, her auburn eyes looking up at the prefect.

Leriana's brown eyes looked down at Katarina's auburn ones as she laughed briefly. They cause all sorts of problems, probably used to the slack discipline that their old high schools had. That is why the discipline, and enforcement, is so strict. And you would be right in that the rest of my body is as tense as my legs are. Leriana smiled as she said that, her arms reaching up and out her sides in a stretch. All throughout the movement the glass of water remained in her hands, and although it sloshed around a little nothing spilled.

Taking another sip Leriana sighed and let herself relax under Katarina's skilled hands as they slowly worked along her leg muscles. mmm ... You mentioned you went to a military school ... what was that like? Leriana asked curiously as she moaned faintly from the sensations. Leriana herself was fairly good at massage in general, the result of extra classes during high school. But she hadn't often been the one receiving the pleasure that skilled hands could give tense muscles.