I walk this empty street on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams...

[cruisin_gal]

It was six in the morning. Some of the other students were just now waking up. Others ate breakfast in the cafeteria before classes began for the day. But one was just now returning to the campus

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[ralph_ashton]

Ralph sat on the edge of her bed while trying to understand what had just happened. She'd dreamed of Elphaba, something she had not done in a long time. But it had been weird. She remembered Elphaba telling her that 'now you can fly too' and that they had both climbed on a broomstick to fly off to Oz.

And it had been a very painful contact with the ceiling that woke her up the next minute. Ralph had first thought she'd fallen out of bed. But then she fell down on the bed, something which was quite impossible to do if she had been lying on the floor. And Ralph realized that somehow she had been flying.

But she couldn't fly! She was a Slayer! ... Right?

Ralph was almost grateful when Jessie came in. It provided a moment of distraction and someone with whom she could talk about. But at the sight of Jessie, that feeling of grateful soon changed into worry.

"Jessie!" the woman exclaimed as she got up. "What the hell happened to you?"

[cruisin_gal]

Jessie's words were a low grumble. "Dun' wanna talk 'bout it." The gruff, standoffish response was almost automatic, though whether it was really the truth or not remained to be seen. She almost seemed as if she didn't even register what Ralph was trying to say or even that it was her roommate and not just some random person that happened to be nearby

[ralph_ashton]

Ralph watched her roommate move through the room. She was not the least bit surprised by the response she got; it was still Jessie she was talking to. But all the gestures, such as the slumped shoulders and dumping her helmet in the bin, almost seemed to tell Ralph this was not Jessie. Or at least a side of Jessie she'd never seen before.

Once the girl had laid down on bed and buried her face into her pillow, the door softly opened and closed. For a few moments, Jessie was completely alone. But then Ralph returned with the first aid kit. She would not sit there and watch at an injured student, even if she could guess the help would not be appreciated.

"You know," she said calmly while she began to rub some salve on the black bruises, "as your roommate, classmate, professor and friend, I think I deserve to know a bit more about what happened to you. You're obviously not yourself and I've never seen you come back looking in such a bad shape."

[cruisin_gal]

All the girl wanted was to just be alone. For a moment she was alone, seemingly abandoned just as she had reached her lowest point. Funny how things always seem to work out that way. But a minute or two later the door again opened, though Jessie could hardly care what happened around her. Her body instinctively winced as Ralph touched a tender spot on her right shoulder blade. Deep green eyes drifted to the side, casting a half-hearted gaze at Ralph but she said nothing. She was simply too tired to fight about it

[ralph_ashton]

"Just don't skip on all of my lessons," Ralph said teasingly in a soft voice. "You just go sleep now. You need it." She moved her head along with Jessie's. She knew that somehow it might not have been a good idea to pull off her teacher position. But that was what earned her money... and what could help the girl at the moment.

Then to show that Jessie was really more than 'just a student', Ralph placed a gentle kiss on the girl's cheek. "If it helps, you're also my friend. And roommate. And classmate. Reasons enough to care about you, right?" She followed it with one more small kiss, then got up and put all the things she didn't need anymore back in the first aid kit. She took her own blanket to place it over Jessie and then put some towels and other things over the curtains to keep the sunlight outside.

"Sleep well," Ralph said softly once she'd taken care of that.

[cruisin_gal]

The blonde didn't really have much to say to Ralph's playful warning. But when the soft sensation of Ralph's lips could be felt along her cheek, Jessie smiled a sleepy smile. "Mmhmm," she barely seemed able to agree, her eyes already closed and her mind ready to drift off to sleep.

Despite so much trouble, so much heartbreak in these past few hours...she looked strangely relaxed. That small gesture was the most affection she had seen since arriving at this school. The tough girl persona had been worn away, melted by that kiss. Her normal standoffish attitude was no more. As she lay there, snuggling under the covers that her roommate draped over her bare shoulders, she looked feminine and even cute in her own way.

"G'night," she sleepily mumbled back at whatever it was Ralph just said...she couldn't really even tell anymore. She curled up, clutching onto one of the pillows on her bed. "Thank...you..."

[homonka_sting]

ooc: small comment, the hime mark would be on her, because her hime powers have "awakened"