They had spent the shuttle ride in silence, but now a few of the strangers had begun to talk, their voices carrying over the rattle and hum of the bus as it trundled down the road towards the base, invading his ears as he dozed. He could hear two of them clearly from the seats in front of him, and while he willed his mind to ignore them and rest, it rebelled and instead focused in on the female tones, one energetic, the other plain.
"Are you really a Nepleslian? I thought you'd be, you know, bigger?"
"Nepleslians have more variance in their sizes than we do...you should probably sit down."
"What? Why-"
The sudden bump in the road, and subsequent thud on the floor, jarred Jairen from his futile attempt to sleep through the ride. Sighing softly, he opened his eyes again and allowed himself a casual look around the busload of recruits. His gaze lingered on several individuals for a moment, his mind noting the way they stood out from the rank and file, before moving on to the next person.
There was a young man (probably no older than himself) with green streaks in his hair, a wiry young girl with freckles (likely the Nepleslian that was mentioned), and two Nekovalkyrjas, which he assumed were the ones talking. One bore blue hair that shifted in lightness as it approached her scalp; the other had dark orange hair and shapely, if petite, hips.
The latter was picking herself up off the floor, hissing slightly to herself in pain, her ears drooping in what he guessed was shame, when Jairen smiled softly at her, leaning forward in his seat when she met his eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked. His voice was firm yet concerned, and there was a slight twinkle of mirth in his pale blue eyes. "That sounded like a rough fall."