Chapter Text
How many years has it been?
Her thoughts shift, a conscious effort to remain in the here and now, golden orbs refocusing on the professor giving a lecture at the front of the class. He’s prattling on about ‘proper study habits’, like they’ve somehow changed since high school.
Still, she does try to pay attention, high school was more than a couple years ago, part of why she was forced into this class actually.
Still, inevitably, her thoughts begin to wander again, especially once he has another student shut off the lights and he begins playing a 15-minute video about proper study habits and goals related to studying.
Her thoughts wander again, not back, just around the room, once again, taking in her classmates. The age range is actually pretty wide, from fresh-faced teens, barely out of highschool, to fully bearded and burly men, even an elderly looking woman with a shock of white, curly hair, reading glasses and all on her nose.
Shiori glances down at her notebook. The page is only half-filled with her small, perfect writing. Honestly, there hasn’t been much to take note of in this particular class. Still, she is trying, at least. Staying focused is proving to be harder than usual. She’s in her final semester of her first year of college, her advisor had forced her to this class, something about it being a requirement.
As is typical of first and second-year students, she has to take several ‘general education’ courses. Some of them were at least interesting, so it wasn’t all completely terrible. Other classes however…, were proving to be painful. A glance at the clock near the door told her they still had well over thirty minutes of this.
After this class, she does have about an hour before her next one, so realistically, that meant she had about 45 minutes or so, which would give her time to get to the next class early and be prepared. She’s only half-listening now, instead, thinking about her next class. It’s still a beginner course in terms of her major, but it’s one she actually enjoys since, obviously, it’s required for her major and not just random bullshit.
She’s a history major and as such, she has to take several history classes. The only one being offered that semester was World History I, it didn’t go very in-depth on several of the topics, it was definitely more of a surface level ‘these things all happened in these years, try to remember these names and dates’, rather than actually going into the deeper details of the history. Many people were taking it simply because it was a general education requirement. Not her though, she was there to actually learn the history.
Finally, the class is ending, a familiar, slightly melodic voice reaches her as she’s packing her note book and pen into her black messenger bag.
“Ugh, we have history next don’t we?”
Shiori frowns, usually rather good at ignoring people, but there was something about that voice that drew her attention.
Raven-black hair with a dark blue undertone, pale skin, mole under one eye, and one of the tallest women at their school, Shiori recognized her immediately. They hadn’t spoken directly, beyond a passing greeting or the like, but Shiori had heard of her.
Nerissa Ravencroft, a music major, her father was some sort of important business man and she was declining to follow in his footsteps of taking over the company, instead, choosing to focus on a career in music. Not that Shiori cared. The other woman was just loud.
She leaves the room, barely a handful of people still hanging about, determined to go get her usual snack from the vending machine on the first floor of the building before making her way over to the building that held her next class, her plan being to find a place to sit and look over her notes from a few days ago.
She’s just sat down on one of the numerous benches lining the hall with her pouch of mini cookies when she hears that same, loud voice from earlier. There is no way. She does her best to ignore her though, finding her wireless earbuds and putting them in, playing some soft music to help drown out the sounds of everyone else, munching on her snack and rereading her notes.
Unwillingly, her thoughts drift as she’s staring down at her notebook, eyes even flicking up, catching sight of that same long raven mane.
She does know a bit more about Nerissa. It’s all rumors, people love to talk about others, none of this has she gone in search of nor does she really put much stock into any of it, but she does, on occasion, wonder about the validity of the information she’s heard.
For starters, Nerissa is supposedly bisexual and dating a plethora of men and women. And then there’s the rumor that she is an amazing singer, rivaled only by a woman named Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame and Mori Calliope, the latter Shiori only knows of vaguely, given she’s older than all of them, without knowing their exact ages but given said woman is in her master’s program, she’s only guessing she’s older. Then, there are rumors that Nerissa is a cheater, a slut, some even call her a whore, saying she’ll sleep with anyone that pays enough. Most of the rumors feel like childish nonsense, but still, they do hold a certain curiosity for the goth. She is curious about her voice, if it’s really as great as they say. The rest, she couldn’t care less. What a person does in their private life is their business, no matter if they have one or several partners, the rest of the world doesn’t matter. Personally, she finds herself leaning towards aromanticism. Perhaps for safety, perhaps because she truly is. Even…, even before, when she had someone, had she thought of them in a romantic sense? Had she? Did she understand what that meant? There were… feelings, that was certain, but if they were truly romantic in nature, she will never know. She had loved…, but whether it had been a romantic type of love, again, she doesn’t nor will she ever know.
She bites her tongue accidentally, jolting herself from the path her thoughts had started to wander down.
Quickly, she’s taking a long drink of her water, swirling the cold liquid around her mouth, trying to see if she tastes blood or not. Thankfully, she doesn’t, her tongue is simply sore from the unexpected bite.
Sighing, she closes her notebook and returns it to the bag, shaking her nearly empty bag of cookies before peering into it to see how many she has left. Three. She reaches into the bag, selecting one and popping it into her mouth, golden gaze once again, wandering the mostly deserted hall. She can’t see anyone and due to her music, she can’t hear either, but that doesn’t mean that someone isn’t sitting at one of several little study ‘cubbies’, which is just a wooden cubicle with a desk, charging port, lamp, and uncomfortable plastic chair. There are several spots similar to this around campus, each cubby is two sided, spaced roughly five to six feet apart from each other. During spring and fall semester, finding one unoccupied is often a challenge, which is part of why she usually just takes one of the benches instead, unless she needs to utilize her laptop or has actual need of a desk, in which case, she tries to go to the library if she doesn’t feel like going back to her dorm room, which she typically doesn’t even though she lives on campus. The trek isn’t bad, per se, but it can be annoying if she has to be back in class within an hour or two. She pulls her phone from her pocket, checking the time. With a smile, she stands, her phone back in her pocket, before she’s striding down the hall to her next class. She’s still early, but it’s only by twenty minutes. She finishes her snack as she walks, depositing the trash in one of the many trashcans, sipping on her water as she makes her way to the classroom, pleased to find it unlocked despite the early time. Sometimes, rarely, the classroom will be locked, indicating the previous class wasn’t held and therefore they then have to wait for the professor to arrive and unlock the door. Which again, doesn’t happen that often, but it can be mildly frustrating when all you want to do is set your things down in the room and prepare for class.
To her surprise, she’s not the only person who decided to show up early, not even five minutes after sitting down in her usual aisle seat, Nerissa strides through the open door, taking her usual seat near the front of the class, smiling up at Shiori before she turns. Shiori rolls her eyes, they’ve barely spoken, Nerissa’s friendliness is unnecessary. Still.
Resting her chin on her palm, Shiori gazes down at the other woman, considering approaching her. She is very curious after all. If those rumors have any merit. Not because she’s interested or anything like that, but just because she likes to know things.
It’s like the other woman knows she’s being observed because she turns around in her seat, but Shiori looks down at her notebook quickly, hoping the other woman hadn’t seen her staring. Her heartbeat is loud in her ears as she pretends to intensely study her notes, but soon enough, the rest of the class is piling into the room, chattering amongst themselves and then Nerissa is partaking in the conversation too and Shiori can’t help the sigh of relief that she exhales.
Weeks pass, still just over half of the semester to go.
Shiori has finally decided she is ready to approach Nerissa. To get some answers about the rumors. The questions have been bothering her, so to end that, she’s going to talk to the other woman and then maybe, she will be able to focus on her studies properly.
The hardest part of her plan, seems to be getting Nerissa alone, she always seems to have someone or multiple someones, with her.
“Nerissa,” her voice is said softly, but there’s a hint of command in her tone, the way the raven haired woman whips her head around to look at her, expression one of irritation that quickly melts into surprise before shifting into a sort of cautious friendliness.
“Y-yes?”
Pushing aside any nervousness, Shiori plunges right into the heart of what she wanted to talk about, “Are any of the rumors about you true?”
Nerissa blinks, staring at the gothic woman standing just behind her, taking in her lolita style, the two-toned hair, that unsettling golden gaze.
“That depends. Which rumors are those?” Her smile isn’t friendly, it shows an edge the goth was unaware the other woman possessed.
Shiori shrugs, “Whichever you care to confirm or deny.”
Nerissa is silent for a long time, studying the other woman who doesn’t shift or squirm, merely standing there, awaiting an answer to her question.
“It’s rude to speculate about people.”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking you directly.”
Again, the other woman is left temporarily stunned, but she recovers quickly, “Well, let me start with the most basic one; I am bisexual, I have multiple romantic partners because I’m polyamorous, but that doesn’t mean I have sex with all of them nor do I accept or want payment for sleeping with anyone.”
“What about your voice? I heard you rival Mori Calliope and someone named Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame.”
Nerissa stands then, towering over Shiori even as the goth stands on a higher step of the lecture hall.
“Why don’t you come see for yourself? I sing a few nights a week at this bar not far from campus.”
“I don’t drink.”
“You don’t have to,” Nerissa shrugs, reaching into her purse and withdrawing a black business card, fancy white font on the front and back, “Just come listen, judge for yourself. Liz will be there too.”
Shiori stares at the offered card, eventually taking it, never once breaking eye contact.
“Hope to see you there darling,” Nerissa simpers, leaning forward, just barely into Shiori’s personal space, before she’s standing tall again and gathering her belongings before sweeping out of the room.
She stares after the taller woman for a few more seconds, it isn’t often someone affects her like that. She slides the business card into her jacket pocket before she also leaves the lecture hall, this was her last class of the day, a very boring English 101 lecture, easily her largest class due to the nature of it being ‘essential’, she should have already taken it and be in 102, but she had opted to take other gen ed courses first, but since she took courses over the summer too, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Back in her dorm room, a single, Shiori sets her messenger bag on her desk before reaching into her pocket and withdrawing that business card.
The card does indeed look very professional, the name of the bar is Masq, with standard hours on the front and the back cites performers typical nights, indicating with an asterisk that the schedules are subject to change without warning but the listed performers are usually there multiple times a week even if the days change.
She hadn’t been lying when she said she didn’t drink, it wasn’t that she wasn’t of age to do so, she simply had no interest in the activity. As such, going to a bar wasn't something she had done before. Lying in her uncomfortable bed, Shiori scrolled on her phone, looking up etiquette for a bar with live music.
By the time she finished scrolling, determining she had enough information, she had only a couple of hours before she should leave, if she were going to go watch the taller woman’s performance.
She goes into the small kitchen, deciding to make some instant ramen before heading out. It wasn’t often the goth left her dorm for something other than class.
After looking up how far the bar was, Shiori decided to walk there and back, unbothered about danger due to the probable lateness of her return time.
The bar itself is different than she had imagined. The outside is sleek, modern, the glowing name sign and another neon sign stating ‘open’, have the goth feeling a bit better about her decision to walk.
Inside, it’s loud, between the murmur of the patrons and the music and singing of the person on stage, she’s a little surprised that anyone can hear individual conversations.
Still, she makes it past the entrance, deciding to order herself a soda and then take a spot against a wall, somewhere she can watch the stage from a safe distance.
Cold can in hand, Shiori selects an empty section of wall, leaning her back against the cool stone, face turned toward the stage on her left.
As expected, Nerissa is there, adjusting the mic for her height.
“Hello Darlings,” she begins, voice all smooth silk, her smile seeming real as she begins her introduction to the patrons, earning more than a few whistles and cheers.
Shiori sips her drink, eyebrows raised in curiosity.
The rumors weren’t wrong. Nerissa’s voice was amazing. She could belt, take her voice to high notes, and even drop into a lower octave, it was seriously impressive. Before she realizes it, she is among those clapping and Nerissa is exiting the stage.
She digs her phone from her pocket, checking the time, somehow, over an hour had passed. Shaking her head in disbelief, she finishes her soda, staring down at the can in her hands when suddenly she feels someone approach, making her look up sharply.
Hands are raised in surrender, half a step taken backwards.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”
Golden orbs flash but she lets the comment slide, waiting for Nerissa’s next words.
“What did you think? Pretty good right?” it’s said good naturedly, not as a boast, just an acknowledgement of fact.
“Quite.”
“You don’t talk much, do you?” Nerissa comments, leaning a few feet away from Shiori, her back also against the wall, her wine red gaze turned to the stage as another performer is just beginning their introduction.
Shiori’s gaze however is pinned to the raven haired woman, questions on the tip of her tongue, but truly, unsure of how to voice them.
“Well, I hope you got the answers you were after; Liz is on next, I want to get up closer, so, I’ll see you at class,” and with that, Nerissa has pushed off the wall and strode back up towards the stage, standing up close, looking up at the red head on stage.
She only stays for half of another song, golden orbs watching as Nerissa smiles up at ‘Liz’, her ears once again blessed by the gorgeous singing of the woman on stage.
On her walk home, hands stuffed deep into her pockets, Shiori wonders what it was she hoped to gain from tonight. By the time she reaches her room, she’s found an answer, but she isn’t sure if she likes it.
Friendship. Companionship. Warmth. Connection.
Things she thought she had left far behind. Things she tells herself she doesn’t need. The end result is always the same afterall. This was just a whim. She had her answer as to who Nerissa Ravencroft really was. There was nothing more to contemplate. She could return to her usual routine of class and homework now that her curiosity had been sated.
That was the plan anyway.