A Most Fantastic First Day {Melissa}

[FAUNA ROGERS]

Well, golly, Fauna had to say that it had certainly been a lovely experience working with the students at the fine establishment of Baum Academy. It was almost like a haven midst the wretched city of fear and lies and treachery that existed just outside the borders of the wondrous school. She could happily say that a great deal of the students there were well-behaved little angels, simply WONDROUS testimonies to all that was good and Disney in the world.

Well, not all of them. MOST of them fit this description most perfectly. There were of course certain students who did not fit it all that well, and who in fact seemed to strike Fauna as most definite servants of the dark Maleficent. Goodness gracious, it had taken all her restraint to keep from standing up right where she was and casting them asunder. No, that wouldn't be appropriate. She had to remain at least under the pretenses under which she had come to this fine school, and she supposed that a substitute teacher would NOT generally make it a habit to turn problem students into dinnerware.

Tutting softly to herself, she looked around the dining hall, trying to figure out where on earth would be the best place to sit. Oh, golly gee, it really was wretched trying to find a spot to insert herself into. OH! She had made a small joke to herself! Spot - what with what she was currently wearing it was hilarious!

Chuckling softly to herself, simply decided to sit down by herself. There was no need to continue the good hunt for Aurora just yet. She would have plenty of time for that later. At the moment, what she really needed was a nice moment of peace and rest. The interrogation of the students to find out exactly which one of those idiotic little humans was harboring her precious baby inside of them could begin later. Oh goodness, yes, she could worry about how she would keep the rest of the building being alerted by the screams and animalistic whoops of the liars and scoundrels who were hiding Aurora's location from her later, for now she just wanted to sit and enjoy her... huh.

The substances she had been provided most CERTAINLY did not qualify as food where Fauna came from. In fact, she doubted that they qualified as food nearly anywhere in the world. Glancing around surreptitiously, Fauna made sure that no one was being too nosy. All the children were wrapped up in their own nonsensical conversations, so she deemed herself safe from any wandering eyes. Pulling her wand out from her purse, she gestured quietly at the plate in front of her, and in a flash of green sparks the slop that had been provided transformed into a most scrumptious plate of berries and tarts. Oh, how she loved magic.

outfit: here

[MELISSA HEWITT]

Melissa had never cared for the school lunch. The food the students were given was certainly not a nutritious meal. They needed food that gave them energy for the rest of the day and kept them full. They needed food that was healthy yet delicious. Not the mush they were being served. This was a private boarding school! She couldn’t understand why they were getting mediocre pizza and cartons of milk. They deserved fresh fruit and sandwiches made just to their liking. If only she’d considered lunch lady instead of guidance counselor. It wouldn’t kill her to look into a chef side career…

As usual, she’d packed her own lunch. Not so usual, though, was her eating lunch in the dining hall. She usually stayed in her office and joined other staff in the teacher lounge. Today, though, something in the dining room was calling her. Melissa was hoping it would be somebody from her story. Unfortunately, there was never a feeling to that, just a glow to them. Perhaps this feeling meant somebody from a different story. Kanga had decided to make herself visible today, or more so than usual anyway. Instead of just bouncing around in Melissa’s head, Kanga hopped along beside her, tutting about the poor quality of the school food.

Melissa soon found herself joining a familiar woman in a very spotty outfit. She smiled and gestured a silent ‘may I sit here?’ This woman was the character she’d felt, she was sure of it. How else could she have gotten such a delicious plate of berries? She was either hypnotizing the cook into giving her the meal or using magic to change it. Melissa knew the woman’s name was Fauna; hadn’t they been a Fauna in a Disney movie somewhere or another? Either way, Melissa was sure of how she felt. “I’m Melissa,” she introduced herself, taking a seat and setting her lunch bag down.

outfit; not spotty

[FAUNA ROGERS]

As Fauna prepared to dig into the lovely little meal she had prepared for herself, she remarked that what she TRULY liked about this school was the feeling she got about some of the people within it. There was just something about the people here that SCREAMED personification to her. Oh yes! She was quite certain about it. Some of ths tudents here at the Baum academy belonged sandwhiched between two bookends - much like herself - and it was Fauna's mission to find out whether or not any of them were her beautiful, gorgeous, DARLING little baby Aurora. Glancing throughout the dining hall, Fauna took in a deep breath and knew - she just KNEW - that there were other personifications about. Oh, yes, it was a definite fact that she was no longer alone. After all those years of being trapped inside the mind of that poor little country farmgirl, now she was truly among her own people! She could get out and meet them all and interact with people from other stories and garner help to find her poor baby and set her ree from the mortal chains that bound her mind and -

Oh, wait a second, who was this young pip of a girl, and who did she think she was sitting down with Fauna? Honestly, it was hard to tell if the stranger was an old-looking student or a young-looking staff member, and Fauna was truly not in the right mindset to waste her time trying to distinguish between the two. The main problem she had with the little twat was the fact that she was clearly not of literary breed. Her outfit gave away the overwhelming mundane-ness of her humankind. Only a true human would dress with such boring colors and textures. Well, a human or some kind of dwarf or troll or hob-goblin, but Fauna had already dismissed the idea of running into any of those kind during her stay in the city. A dwarf in New York City? Preposterous!

It was just the worst timing for the little girl/woman to show up, too. Fauna could tell that one of her kindred spirits was close. VERY close, actually. It was actually making her rather anxious. Fauna was rather attached to the idea of making a good impression. She wanted her fellow literary characters to like her ever so much. She needed all the help she could get in the coming war against the forces of darkness and foul manners.

"Oh, yes, very nice to meet you and all that," she said airily, glancing around the room and at the people behind her, trying to pick out exactly which one of them belonged in a fairytale. God, why couldn't this process be easier? Why couldn't they just walk right up to her and introduce themselves? That would make this process oh so very much easier, instead of being forced to try desperately to pick out where it was they were hiding.

"I'm Fauna, dear," she said, glancing back over her shoulder at the little pip that had chosen to take up her precious hunting time. "First day, y'know. Just trying to see if I - er - recognize anyone."

notes;; I'm sorry Fauna is so dumb >_> IT WAS FUN TO WRITE THOUGH, SO I DON'T REGRET IT

[MELISSA HEWITT]

Fauna seemed very distracted. Almost as soon as Melissa had taken a seat, the woman began to look around the dining room, as if searching for someone. Melissa slowly began to unpack her lunch, watching Fauna curiously. She was certainly distracted. “Pleasure to meet you,” she answered uncertainly, wondering if maybe she should’ve taken a seat somewhere else. But no! This was important. Fauna was a character, Melissa was sure of it. She was determined to find them, whether they were from her story or not. (Kanga had disappeared during the short interaction which disappointed Melissa; she figured it would’ve been easier if she’d stayed visible in case Fauna could see her).

Melissa took half of her sandwich out of the ziplock bag and began to eat, waiting until Fauna was more focused. She set the food down, tilting her head curiously. “New? Welcome to Baum, then. I’m one of the guidance counselors.” Melissa hadn’t been aware that Fauna was new to the school. Perhaps this was just more proof to Fauna being a character. Who’s to say Melissa hadn’t known her at some point, perhaps in a different body? Melissa wasn’t helping, really, in letting Fauna know who she was.

“Your sisters?” Melissa asked, recalling that there had been more than one fairy in the story. “Or maybe your princess?” Melissa smiled, hoping she was being clear enough. She continued to eat her lunch, waiting for a realization of some sort from the woman across from her.

[FAUNA ROGERS]

This was getting to be quite ridiculous. Fauna felt like Tantalus. Every time she felt that character come back into reach, she whipped around and couldn't spot it anywhere. This was unnecessarily difficult, and good golly, Fauna SWORE that she would not leave this darned dining hall until she had hunted down that character and asked it for all the inromation it had about her precious baby girl.

She only wished that the conventions of manners did not chain her to this useless girl-woman. It was making her hunting plans much more difficult, as she could hardly just p and leave the conversation in order to more closely inspect the students around her. At this point the closeness of the character was driving her batty, and she could hardly be bothered to pay attention to the conversation she had been involuntarily dragged into.

“New? Welcome to Baum, then. I’m one of the guidance counselors.”

Fauna nodded mindlessly along and munched on one of the berries she had conjured up for herself, still a bit antsy about this whole thing and only half listening. Where could this character be hiding? It was bonkers, really, that they could be operating right under her nose and she couldn't find him or her.

“Your sisters? Or maybe your princess?”

Fauna jerked back to paying attention to the conversation. In fact, she paid far more attention than before. She scrutinized the girl-woman with great....scrutiny. It was imperative that she determine whether this was a friend or foe. With just that little comment, Fauna had gone from aloof to red alert. Whoever this was they clearly knew what they were talking about, and Fauna was not going to let her get away before finding out everything this little whelp knew.

Pointing her wand beneath the table, aimed like the weapon it truly was, Fauna kept everything visible above the tabletop happy and blissful. It wouldn't do to alert any of the students without just cause. "Sweetheart, now don't freak out, but if you don't tell me exactly who you REALLY are and what you know, things could get very uncomfortable very quickly," Fauna chirped, still all smiles. "Now DON'T freak out and DON'T make a scene, but keep calm and explain." Fauna popped a strawberry in her mouth, waiting.

[MELISSA HEWITT]

Kanga made it quite clear that she felt Melissa could have handled that better. She was shaking her head, making disappointed tutting noises. Melissa dismissed her companion easily enough, thinking she had handled it just fine. It wasn’t as if she had sounded threatening or villainous. Hardly! She was very subtle and kind about it. Though, she did feel a bit guilty. Melissa really didn’t know anything about the other fairies or princess; not their names or if they were even in New York. She hoped Fauna wouldn’t expect this of her. The woman seemed so distracted, though, that Melissa wouldn’t have been surprised if she hadn’t heard the comment. If she had in fact been looking for her sisters or princess, or any character for that matter, wouldn’t she have realized by now that there was one sitting right across from her?

Fauna turned around so quickly it made Melissa start, nearly dropping her sandwich. Carefully setting it back in the Tupperware container, she rested her forearms on the table, clasping her hands together. It was simply the sudden change of posture that had startled Melissa. She wasn’t frightened by the woman, heavens no! She was hardly giving off an evil vibe. She did, however, seem as if she could be dangerous if she needed to be. And that was unnerving. “I’m not ‘freaking out,’” Melissa quoted, wearing a most reassuring smile. “Why would I be? You don’t exactly seem like a villain.” How dreadfully embarrassing would it be if she were wrong? Melissa prompted Kanga to show herself but the kangaroo still remained hidden. Melissa toyed with her necklace, “Kanga from the Winnie the Pooh books. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Melissa was as all smiles as Fauna was, though she looked rather curious.

“You’re Fauna.” Again, it would be quite embarrassing to be wrong, but the name just gave it away. “I’m sorry but I don’t know anything about your sisters or princess. I was simply trying to get your attention.”

notes; this post. it's terrible. u__u

[FAUNA ROGERS]

Fauna contemplated each and every horrible circumstance she could magicaly impose upon this sneaky rat of a character should she choose not to divulge her secrets. Of course, there was the time tested tradition of tea cup related transformation, but Fauna knew that simply wouldn't do for this particular case. No, she needed something more along the lines of torture, and smashing a cup beyond repair was certainly nothing that Fauna could get information concerning her sisters and more importantly darling baby girl from. No, she would need something a bit more painful, and yet just cruel enough to keep her alive throughout the process so she could eventually squeal out her information and Fauna would smile as she ended the lying rat's life and flounced off to rightfully reclaim her beautiful baby girl.

But... what? Goodness, Fauna was always terrible at coming up with torture techniques. Murder she could handle. Murder came easily. Figuring out something that wouldn't result in death, however, well, that was an entirely different kettle of fish. It was, unfortunately, not a kettle of fish Fauna was particularly adept at.

Fauna decidedly did not trust the mysterious character's assertions that she was not going to freak out. It was far too fishy, and she didn't particularly like the way she said that "fauna" didn't seem like a villain. Well of COURSE Fauna wasn't a villain! Fauna wasn't the one under trial here, though! Her innocence and purity and renowned kindness and desire to help all those she came into contact with was undisputed. No one who questioned her perfection ever lived to spread that belief, anyway. She had to admit though, the soft and carefree way this potential minion of Maleficent spoke certainly didn't remind Fauna of any of those disgusting, hideous goblin fiends the old witch had kept around. In fact, this girl seemed positively perky in comparison.

And then, of course, there was the big reveal. Ohhh, it was only Kanga. Good, non-villainous ole' Kanga. Lovely, sweet, informative Kanga.

.... Who in good gracious was Kanga? Ah well, it hardly mattered now. Fauna was simply keen as ever to know that she wasn't at the table with any sort of goblin girl. She shuddered to think what the tableside manners of such an incarnation would be. "Well dearie," Fauna laughed, bringing her wand out of the aggressive, violent position it had held beneath the table. "Why wouldn't you jst say that to begin with? Oh, goodness gracious me, it would have cleared everything right up!"

Fauna popped another strawberry in her mouth, still chortling about the whole situation. "And to think, I was this close to killing you! BAM!" She slammed her hand down on the table, making all their food jump from the force of it. "Stone cold, dead as a doorknob! Why, I'm certainly glad that's all figured out! Got any other little friends around here like us?"

[MELISSA HEWITT]

Picking her sandwich back up, Melissa resumed eating. They didn’t have all the time in the world for lunch, after all. She’d have to get back to office just as soon as the students would have to get back to class. Eating lunch with another reincarnate was… well, it had been a very interesting experience so far. Smiling delicately, she did her best to not say anything snarky. Such as ‘Well, I would have had you been paying attention in the first place.’ That would just lead to more trouble. Fauna certainly could pull off threatening. Had Melissa seen the wand poised for use, she would’ve been wary about Fauna. Honestly. She wasn’t quite expecting a fairy to resort so quickly to violence. Nonetheless. They had gotten passed that. “Of course,” she said, tilting her head.

Melissa expected now for everything to be smooth sailing. They would get along splendidly and everything would be right as rain. Well, perhaps after a few speed bumps. Melissa jumped, pulling her arms back. Her bottle of tea had toppled over and she was sure her apple would be on the floor right now if it weren’t still safely in her lunch bag. Melissa laughed a little nervously, setting things back together. “Really?” That was certainly unsettling. “I’m glad I answered before it came to that.” Her stomach was a bundle of nerves now. Oh, it was so silly of her. There was no need to be anxious now. Other friends? Yes, a distraction was well-needed. Thinking on it, Melissa wasn’t quite sure. She’d seen a few of her characters, the ones with the glow. However, she had no idea who they were.

“Friends from my story have a certain glow,” she started, pausing to take a drink of her tea. “I don’t know who they are, though, so I suppose they don’t either.” Pondering it some more, she tried to think of anybody she’d met that had the same feeling she’d had with Fauna. “Nobody else comes to mind.” Melissa felt a smidgeon guilty now. She wished she could have at least a little information for Fauna about her princess and sisters. “I get a certain… feeling if they come from another story. I’ll be sure to let you know if I find anybody who may resemble your friends.” Melissa smiled, hoping to smooth over their rough meeting.

[FAUNA ROGERS]

Fauna was actually quite excited about this little discovery. It was certainly a pleasant little surprise to have another reincarnate such as herself around and about for use in recruitment purposes for the upcoming war with the forces of evil and ugliness. Fauna may be a force of nature to be reckoned with, but she certainly couldn't raise an army all on her own. She just didn't have the time or resources at the moment. A spunky little kangaroo was all she needed to start her campaign of recruiting soldiers and aid. This was certainly a stroke of luck!

Reclining in her chair, Fauna munched on another strawberry, contemplating various ways she could manage to get the pair of them out of work for the rest of the day so that they could spend time discussing various war stratagems at their leisure rather than being worried about worthless work and students and such. Perhaps a simple transformation of a student or two into rabid beasts roaming the halls would necessitate a cancellation of afternoon classes for the day. It certainly made sense in her head. She was sure she could pull it off. It would be hardly worth worrying over, and then she could get to know this useful little marsupial a bit better. She would have to get that annoying little human out of the way at some point, but she was sure that once she had time to talk a bit with the character within she could convince her to overpower the weak homo sapien mindset. It had hardly been a challenge for Fauna. She could only assume other characters would have the same level of ease with which to crush the weak human mind.

A definitively displeased look marched across Fauna's face upon hearing that this kangaroo girl knew hardly more than she herself did. What had promised to be a lovely afternoon of discourse on who else had set up shop in the city was just whisked out the window. Still, if the girl could detect other characters she was certainly worth something. Fauna was not particularly pleased that she seemed to be lacking this skill. She hadn't been able to pick out this darn girl in the middle of the crowd for goodness sakes! She was positive it had something to do with that brat Sarah trapped deep within their shared mind. She was always doing her best to ruin poor Fauna's fun. She had to be stifling her power in some way or another. Ah well, that was a topic to pursue another day.

"Well, gee, I'm sure that would be certainly helpful!" Fauna laughed, correcting her snarly look to one of perky cheerfulness. "I have to say, I'm awful jealous of your being able to see all those glows and such! I'm new to the city and I'm afraid to admit that I haven't been particularly good at finding many other people like us, you know. I'm sure that there's been some I've walked right by and never known the wiser!"

[MELISSA HEWITT]

Kanga appeared quite suddenly, watching Fauna with the utmost curiosity. She almost seemed confused by the fairy and Melissa couldn’t help but to smile. She fought it as best she could, hiding her mouth behind her hand. Melissa could feel it, that Kanga had made herself visible to Fauna now as well. Along with any other storybook characters in the cafeteria, if any of them were in fact awake. However, Melissa wouldn’t have noticed, right? “This is Kanga,” Melissa said, gesturing to where the kangaroo stood, realizing it would look like empty air to anybody else. “From Winnie The Pooh,” she added, in case Fauna hadn’t caught on earlier.

Melissa barely noticed Fauna’s disappointed look. She’d resumed eating her lunch and that didn’t leave much room to focus on the expressions of the woman across from her. “I really am sorry that I don’t know more.” However, it seemed she was better off as Fauna was unable to see the same glow that Melissa could. “New York is huge,” Melissa agreed, sounding a bit exhausted. She couldn’t understand why all of these reincarnates had to choose New York of all places. “I’m sure when you’ll find somebody you know, you’ll realize it’s them.” Melissa toyed with her necklace and thought about what Fauna had said.

Surely, she’d walked by characters and never known who they were, right? Sure, it was probably for the better. It wasn’t like she wanted to run into a villain, especially not on her own. However, she would be none too pleased if she walked by Eeyore or Owl on a daily basis without recognizing them. “I’m quite sure I’ve found Christopher Robin,” Melissa said, smiling quite happily. “I tend to notice characteristics of students when they’re in my office. Getting to know them helps me figure out if they’re from a story.” She couldn’t have picked a better job, really.

[FAUNA ROGERS]

Now that she really thought about it, Fauna wasn't quite sure what one earth was wrong with her that she hadn't been blessed with the gift of telling where her other compatriots were. What did this stupid marsupial have that let her spot other characters a mile away that had somehow skipped Fauna over! She was a PERFECT candidate for such a gift! She was sweet, helped with animals, and really she had rid the world of plenty of undesireables. The powers that be OUGHT to have deigned her more worthy than any worthless maternal kangaroo! It was just unfair. That's what it was.

As a thought occurred to her, however, Fauna stopped mid-chew. Huh... she supposed that should this little kangaroo brat have the ability to detect what characters other people embodied, well, shouldn't it follow that she would also be gifted to read minds? Fauna probably ought to curb her resentful thoughts.... at least for her time at the lunch table. Once she got home she could plot to her heart's content about how exactly to steal that little gift from the Australian Foreigner and - UGH. She needed to stop it!

Resuming her masticating and demure look, Fauna nodded contently to the freshly materialized outback creature. Honestly, she looked like the kind of mangy creature Fauna would have put down long ago out of pity, because NO creature should have to live looking so... - but she was stopping with the hateful thoughts lest she incur the wrath of this strange new friend. Right. That was harder than it seemed.

"Oh, deary, please! Think nothing of it. I was merely wondering. You can't have too many eyes looking out for these types of people, can you?" Waving her hand dismissively, Fauna guffawed. Oh!, how she cracked herself up.

"Honestly, though, it sounds simply PEACHY that you can figure all that out in your office. What a job! I never really seem to hold one down MYSELF, of course, but you know, that seems to be just the way I am. Flighty as a feather, I'm afraid." Making conversation came naturally to Fauna. She was ALL too happy to just prattle away about everything while her mind was on auto-pilot.

"Of course, I'd LOVE to just hover in on one of these meetings the next time you've got a character in your office. It sounds AWFULLY exciting, and I'm sure you wouldn't mind! I hope so, anyway! I simply haven't met many others! You're my first, I'm afraid, darling!"