Girl in gray silhouette.

As the campus slowly gravitates towards dusk, she's starting to fade into the dark gray of the changing day. She's been here for hours now, one of the only places that feels like safe refuge: the warrens of criss-crossing rooftops and maintenance tunnels that make up the hidden city above the ceiling of the dorms. Her skin is a healthy pink from the exposed sun, easily burned, tender soft. She sits with her legs folded under her, back to an A/C unit, floral peasant skirt pooling languidly under her.

She's been sketching, page after page of notebook given way now to a rough blueprint of the courtyard below. As girls come and go, she fills in a patchwork of the scene below, faces mismatched to bodies, exuberant flashes of life in what amounts to a prison yard below, clean lines sketching a tropical court she knows is a lie.

Darkness was slowly creeping over the school, during day to night in its inevitable march. The rooftops were still touched with the rosy-red of the setting sun, the skies cast in orange and pink. As shadows lengthen, creeping over the rooftops, the girl sketches out a image of the world below... a design, a map, and a glimpse of the reality behind the mask...

The AC had hummed behind her, a quiet and steady sensation against her back as it worked to cool the building below. It was hot out, a tropical summer heat that she was trying to adjust to; it made her feel sticky and in need of a shower, but the night breeze she was feeling was starting to soothe her overheated body.


But Anna was not the only person who found refuge in the warrens above the buildings and the maintenance tunnels below. Someone else had noticed her activity, her sketching and drawing with some curiosity. Silently at first, the slim adult had watched her from afar, squinting and observing her ceaseless work. It took over an hour for it to get closer, moving quietly onto the rooftop she was on... and finally, sliding up onto the AC unit she was set against.

Now, a pair of eyes and short pale hair was peeking over the edge of it above her, the shapeshifter called Icosagon watching her work with intense curiosity as his feet dangled off the far side.

In that proximity though, it was only so long he could linger before Anna would notice. At the least, the barely audible breathing, or the faint creaks of the AC unit behind her... or perhaps that sixth sense, that feeling of being watched intensely by something as the shadows stretched out around her.

The t-shirt clings to her skin, damp locks of hair sticking to face and neck. She rolls a toothpick between her teeth, the A/C bringing a cool flow of air to her back. The skirt ruffles beneath her at the beck of the artificial breeze. She doesn't notice the presence of her voyeur. Being watched from afar is something you come to accept here. If it's not the monsters creeping through the shadows, it's the disturbingly aggressive nymphets strolling around campus. There's barely been a moment in this damn school where she hasn't felt watched.

But there's a creeping awareness, a rising of hackles on the back of her neck. The scritching of pencil on paper pauses as she turns her head to peer at the lengthening shadows. The pencil is turned over in her hand, held in tight palmed grip, sweaty, wielded like a knife. Eyes narrow to dark slits.

"Whoever the hell you are, you better show your face..." Sitting up, tense, notebook in her lap, eyes alertly flitting to the courtyard below, still thrumming with activity.... but that's a hell of a drop.

She heard nothing for a minute; only the murmuring and babbling of people below, almost as serene and passive as a brook up here... as well as the hum of the AC, and now a faint metal rattling coming from somewhere within it. The pencil readied like a weapon, small and deadly in her hands, waited to strike.

But nothing answered her. The silence dragged on, her eyes flitting about. But she saw nothing, even though there was something wrong, something strange and out of place that her mind could not identify. Seconds turned into minutes. Tension drew tight across her skin, across her neck and back as her muscles remained tight and alert.

And then her eyes fell upon something beside and behind her. To her right, her shadow stretched, the setting sun sending it all the way across the rooftop that she sat upon. And behind it, the polygonal shadow of the AC unit... and something else. Some amorphous shape distorted by the rays and angle, making it impossible for her to identify. But whatever it was... seemed to almost loom above her shadow, still and waiting... definitely not supposed to be there.

As she noticed this detail, her eyes following the shadow, she heard a simple word uttered from above. "Boo."

"JESUS CHRIST!" She nearly jumps out of her skin at the voice. Her skin is prickled with goosebumps, a feeling of shock cold despite the overbearing heat of the day. The pencil clenched in her fist, white-palmed, until she can feel it bending, just about ready to break in her grip. Her heart races like a runaway train, and full breasts heave under the rush of her heavy breath, sticky shirt tangled around her frame. Her head is turned over her shoulder, body all taut muscle, pretty eyes squinted to narrow lines as she tries to match the shape of the shadows to something that makes sense in her mind.

"You just about scared me to death. What a stupid, stupid joke..." For the life of her, she can't make sense of the shape. She can picture the lines in dusk, but none of them sketch together to make a sensible form. Her throat runs dry despite herself, rasp rising up in her voice, lifting an octave. "Get out here so I can give you a good smack, why don't you?"

Watching Anna jerk in surprise, spinning about with weapon in-hand, Ico smiled just a little. "Sorry, sorry." He said lightly, his smile friendly enough. Over her shoulder, she squinted at the shadow until it made sense. That almost took longer than would be natural... but she slowly made out the head above hers, craning over the edge of the A/C unit from above, and the feet idly kicking and hanging over the other side. The voice too, came from above...

Where a young man was looking down at her. He was laying across the metal frame of the A/C, elbows bent and resting on the edge as his hands supported his chin in their palms. The evening breeze blew through his short blonde hair, and sent ripples down his plain white T shirt. His slender features could belong that to a girl... although his voice spoke otherwise. And that... was a problem.

"Don't let me interrupt... you were drawing something very interesting."

"Jesus Christ you creepy little bastard. Don't you know any manners?" Well, it's just... a boy. Isn't that odd? She blinks her eyes, curious, despite herself, even as she defensively snaps her notebook shut, head tilted back to continue squinting up at the kid. Harmless he looks, and the way she leans back gives him a nice look down her shirt. She doesn't let go of the pencil though. The more she thinks about it, the more it seems likely he's just some weird-headed cross-gender girl, but that won't stop her from cracking jokes. "If you want me to talk to you, you can get down here and stop staring down my shirt, you little weirdo...." she scolds, crossly. "I guess you're from the anti-gay camp on the other side of the river, huh?" Her voice is dry, not so much amused as just vaguely irritated, guarded.

The youth drunk in Anna's reaction, smiling a little. The voice was just young enough and high enough to believe it might be a girl... maybe. Anna had seen one or two such figures around campus. At Anna's harsh words and anger, the figure let out a girlish giggle in response.

"Hah! You scare easier than I thought, then. For shame... Anti-gay camp? So you have a thing for girls, then?" Ico gave her a winning smile, notably not getting down from the perch he took. Kicking sneaker-covered feet idly, he just smirked smugly down at Anna... but seconds before it annoyed her enough to stand, move, or withdraw, the figure suddenly rolled to the side and disappeared. A gentle 'thump' was heard 'round the corner, and the "girl" walked out around the A/C.

"Sorry for spying... you just seemed to notice me, I thought I oughta say something. If you want to draw, I can sit over here." Ico walked past Anna, the shapeshifter settling down with his back to the small stone rim around the edge of the building. Smiling as s/he spoke, Ico bent a knee and wrapped palms around it as the alien settled down comfortably.

Anna would notice that the front of the shirt isn't completely white; on the center of it is a picture of a stick of butter, running on stick feet and with a horrified expression on its face... being chased by a butter knife. "See? Now I can't look over your shoulder." Now a smirk was passed over to Anna. "But you could say I'm from 'across the river'..."

"Uh-huh. Whatever." prickly, as she zones out the rest of the boy's talking. Just another he-she trying to get into her pants, undoubtedly, compensating for a lack of appeal by being nosy. Her attention follows him as he walks past her, waiting for him to settle a distance from her before she rolls her eyes, lowered back towards the notebook. A flick of the page and starts on a new sketch, ignoring him as he continues to chitter obliviously along.

She sighed almost dramatically, her friendly tone vanishing. "It's not 'whatever'..." He finally commented, smirking. Where he was sitting was a bit closer to the doors that lead to the stairs... but only by a few feet. Moving that way, though, would require Anna to pass by in front of Ico... a minor but deliberate placement she might not understand for a while yet.

"That's a nice drawing... so I hate to interrupt. But god, you ar boring. At night... this roof is MY territory. I don't take well to girls coming up here... even cute ones." A smirk back at Anna, and idly she began to pop her knuckles. "I'll give you permission this once... if you do something more than sit there like a lump."

She understands the implications of his closing the gap between the door, particularly more as his voice takes a more menacing tone. She's known abuse and has become quite accustomed to the small subtleties of intimidation and dominance; it doesn't show on her features but for a brief, irregular race of her heart in her chest. Eyes stay lowered in the notebook, fearful to raise her eyes back to Ico, teeth faintly brushing over her lower lip.

"Oh, I see how it is. I've heard aout these private girl's schools. Roving dyke gangs, rather like a prison, hm? I suppose you expect a toll for passage beyond Lizzie territory? How very Warriors this all..."

Ico watched Anna for a few moments, trying to read her. She was perceptive as all hell... that was actually quite good. He let out a snicker at Anna's words, but was able to read enough of her body language to know she was avoiding looking up.

"You joke, but..." 'She' took a minute, then grunted and climbed up to her feet. She walked for the door, secure that Anna wasn't in a position to run away... or want to. And so Ico stopped and walked around the square concrete that housed the top of the stairs. Anna heard some distant thumps from behind it... and then a scraping sound from coming on top.

Then the girl walks back around, holding a metal box in her hands a bit longer than a large hardcover book and almost as wide. It looked heavy, but evidently it wasn't full; she set it down on the rooftop, standing by the doorway now, and put a hand on her hip.

"I leave my stuff up here. So yeah, this is 'my' territory... who said anything about it being all 'lizzie' but you?" She said, sounding a little smug now.

"I'm not the one playing crossdress..." Eyes drifting up from the notebook to watch Ico. quiet. alert. Her tongue flicks to wet her lips while he's not looking away, fading to jaded disinterest as his attention wanders back. Eyes roll to the darkening sky. "I'd suggest you find a hiding spot that isn't quite so out in the open, kiddo..."

Ico snickered slightly at her words, just killing time and watching Anna. It seemed like the picture she was drawing was almost finished... that was good, he didn't want to interrupt it's completion. "But I like it up here... I can see where all the girls are coming and going from."

Setting down the box, he cracked it open, looking at something inside... different clinking and clacking sounds were heard from it as he began to push things around. Then, drawing out a deck of cards with a flourish, Icosagon closed the lid and pushed the latches shut.

"This is my kingdom... it might be in the open, but I do find it fun. So, to change the conversation topic, is your picture done...?"

She doesn't respond to his question, just pushes to her feet. The notebook is tucked under her arm, eyes drifting to the deck of cards in Iso's hand and then away. This one's a few cards short of a full deck, alright. Fucking loony.

"Oh yeah? Hell of a kingdom you've got here, girly. I'll leave you to it then." Her hackles are raised, carefully clipping the distance between her and the ladder leading down, eyes focused on her exit, not giving Ico the satisfaction of looking back at him.