It had been a long few days for Andras, since meeting Bianca and Amber they hadn’t stopped messaging him in the group chat Lena was a part of. Their curiosity about the island had died down a little so after the first day he was thankful he was no longer constantly having to think of answers to their incessant questions. Idsalis had only given him a handful of pre-thought out responses so he had to get creative when answering their constant queries.
The demon had thankfully managed to avoid any repeat run-ins with the girls by continuing to go when few people were there. He had loved his trips to the Cafeteria, even going at least twice a day he hadn’t come close to trying everything. Andras loved this creation called Pizza, a thin disk of dough that can come with all sorts of things on top but mainly meat and cheese.
The focus of the group chat had since turned to the impending game of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’, Idaslis had sent him a digital copy of the books upon request which he thought were quite large for what was meant to be a board game. Luckily Andras was informed by the aforementioned demon that he would only need to read a handful of sections to understand the basics of the game. As it turns out it is a game more about fantasy and roleplay rather than trying to complete any sort of objective.
Though he was worried at how he would fare roleplaying a character while still pretending to be the girl whose body he had stolen, there was a silver lining to the situation. According to the file on his target, she also played Dungeons and Dragons so if he managed to convince her to come along he should be able to use it to gain her trust. That would be the hard part because as far as their research into the possessed girl and his target, they probably haven’t ever spoken to each other.
Sparing a glance at the corner of Lena’s laptop the time displayed read 9:37am. Less than half an hour until class, time to get ready he thought to himself. With that he stood up and walked past Sarah’s usual spotless bed to his dresser. While he had managed to avoid Bianca and Amber, it was not so easy to do the same with Sarah given that they slept only a few meters apart. That girl certainly hadn’t made it easy on the demon, sure for a fair amount of the day he was able to study up on Lena’s animation notes in peace but from the afternoon until she went to sleep Sarah was usually pestering her with questions to which he didn’t always have an answer prepared for.
Just yesterday she had asked him about the character he had created for DnD and he was able to provide her with the character sheet he had created. The piece of paper had looked quite convoluted when he first gazed upon it but once he had read the relevant information on it, it was rather easy to fill out. What he didn’t have an answer for was what she had asked next,
“Why are you playing as a… purple kobold? You’ve only ever played as an elf or human.”
He couldn’t tell her that he had picked it because it’s the closest match to what his real body looks like, “Oh uhhh I just wanted to try something different I guess… plus they make great rogues!” He sputtered
Sarah had paused to examine him briefly after that, she had done that quite a few times since he had arrived but never pressed him as to why her friend was acting so strange. Hopefully it would pass as she got more used to the new Lena, the idea still gave him no end of anxiety though he thought to himself as he slipped on a fresh set of clothes, discarding his dirty set into the growing pile at the foot of his bed.
He would have to wash the humans clothes at some point, he had neglected to do it thus far but it was becoming harder to ignore. He turned to check himself in the mirror to see if he looked presentable, he’d been in this body a little over a week now. Four days on the island and now this was day number four at the university and still the view in the mirror wasn’t getting any less spectacular.
He’d settled on a pair of plain black pants, white shirt and a jeans jacket. It was one of the outfits that he had spotted Lena wearing in the Picture folder on her laptop, his neon red hair was as bright as ever but the very top was starting to show his host’s regular brown. From her photo timeline he could tell she had kept her hair dye well maintained for a few years now so he might have to redye it, lest he give the girls another change about ‘Lena’ to talk about but hopefully it would last long enough to complete his mission.
With Andras satisfied with how his host looks he grabbed Lena’s backpack and her laptop and headed off to class. Unlike his first trip outside of his room several days prior this time there were students everywhere, most were presumably walking to and from class but there was a lot more studying on the grass this time.
With the absolute mess of students around him made him a little nervous the first time he had been out and about during the high traffic times but with just so many people around no one noticed him in the crowd so he was able to confidently strut to where he needed to go without worrying about all the eyes around him.
12, 13…. 14! He counted to himself as he found the right theater, despite the fact that the lecture didn’t start for another 5 minutes the lecture hall was packed with dozens of students. Now it was time to find his target, scanning face after face he was coming up with all negatives when right at the very back, sitting by herself did he spot Kiera.
Kiera was a thin, medium statured girl with short dark brown hair, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a gray tank top covered with a plaid jacket. She was engrossed in her laptop as he approached he climbed the steps and plopped down next to her, setting up his own gear so as to look natural.
The sudden appearance of ‘Lena’ seemed to confuse Kiera as people rarely changed lecture hall seats, despite her confusion she didn’t do much more than spare a glance at the girl while she was opening her laptop.
Finally being next to his target, Andras was unsure how to broach the silence, he had only a few minutes before the lecture would begin and he once it did he didn’t think Kiera would appreciate a random girl trying to distract her. As he was getting out his wireless mouse a thought popped into his head, he placed it down and pretended he was having trouble with it. “Gahhh.” he said, letting out an exaggerated groan.
He turned it upside down and plucked the battery from it before pretending to rifle through his back for another one. “Shit.” he said queitly but loud enough for Kiera to hear. He turned to her and said, “Hey I’m so sorry to bother you but would you have to have a spare mouse battery on you? Mine is empty and I can’t animate without my mouse.” Kiera eyed him for a second before dipping a hand into a pocket of her bag and producing a fresh battery.
“Here you go, yeah I can’t animate without mine either. It sucks.” She said sympathetically.
“Thanks!” He said, accepting it, “I’m Lena.”
“No problem, I’m Kiera.”
“Nice to meet you Kiera, uhh how long have you been into animation?” He asked the girl
“Oh a few years, I’ve been self taught up until now but I figured I could use an official course and a degree If I wanted to make this my full time career. How about you?”
“Oh about the same time, I’ve loved making whacky little animations in my spare time for a while now.” He answered.
“Yeah me too, It’s very tedious work but the payoff can be so satisfying.” She told him.
“Mm it sure is… hey liste-” He was cut off by the arrival of the teacher who quieted down the students. “Tell me later.” Kiera whispered to him and the teacher started his lecture by booting up the projector.
The class itself was only about 90 minutes but it felt like a heck of a lot longer to the demon. He was right next to his target but instead of talking to her he was forced to listen to the professor as he instructed the class on how to replicate certain animation techniques. Kiera seemed a lot more fixated than most so she didn’t seem to notice the possessed girl quickly glancing at her every few minutes.
Finally the teacher said, “Ok class just one last thing before I let you go, I’m giving you all a small project due in a week. You will pair up and work together to create a short thirty second animation. You will be required to implement at least two of the techniques you have learnt here today but you can do all of them if you want. How it will work is that both of you will work on the script then one of you will do the animating before handing it off to the other for sound design. This will help prepare you for when working in larger teams where there are a separate group of people for each aspect of production. It will be due by 11:59pm next friday. I’ll see you all next class.” With that the students started piling out discussing amongst themselves and seemingly pairing off.
Andras quickly withdrew his borrowed battery and offered it to Kiera, “Hey thanks for lending me this.” He said to her with a friendly smile, something he had worked on obsessively with Isalis. The muscles in a demon’s face are significantly different to that of a human so when demons would go to do the same thing in a human’s body it would produce a very creepy smile. Even with all the practice he had with Idsalis and by himself in the mirror he wasn’t able to get it completely right but It would have to do.
If Kiera felt put off by his smile she definitely didn’t show it as she turned to look at him. “Oh don’t worry I’ve got plenty more, keep it.” She said packing up her stuff.
“Oh ok thank you again… hey so I don’t really know anyone in this class, I don’t suppose you’d want to pair up with me for this project would you?” Kiera paused briefly to seemingly mull it over.
“Uhhh I suppose, I’d want to get it done quickly though if you’re ok with that.” She offered
“Of course! I’m free for most of tomorrow but in the afternoon my friends are coming over so we can start a new game of dungeons and dragons.” He said
“DnD? I haven’t been able to play that in forever! What campaign are you guys playing?” She asked, seemingly much more interested in the conversation.
“Oh I’m pretty sure it’s saltmarsh… but hey you’re more than welcome to join us, we only have 3 players and a DM, it’d be great to have a fourth!” This was the make or break moment, he could get to know her better through working together but socializing would earn her trust which will help him achieve his goal.
“Are you sure your group would be ok with it?” She asked
“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic to have an extra party member.”
“Ok then! I’ve had a DnD character I’ve wanted to play for ages so this is perfect. What time were they coming over?”
“Well Sarah will be there with us, she’s my roommate and the Dungeon Master but the other girls, Bianca and Amber will be there around 5 so we can get a good session in and play for the rest of the night.” He answered
“Oh cool, an all girls group of DnD?” Andras smirked internally at that, “Usually there is always at least one guy and I’ve had to deal with a few creepers in my time. This sounds really fun though!” She finished
“Of course, it will just be us girls. So I’m thinking you can come over just after lunch tomorrow and we’ll get some work in before they arrive?”
“Yeah that sounds great! I can even bring some food over so we can eat together if you want, here what’s your phone number?”
Andras gleefully exchanged contact information with the young animator and they went their separate ways for the day. This day had worked out perfectly for the demon, not only had he acquainted himself with his target but they had plans to be around each other for most of the next day! If all went well he would be able to complete his mission in no time at all and earn himself a greater reward for his performance.
He licked his lips thinking of what he might be granted for his efforts.
