Zoia remained silent as the Principal and the Vice Principal spoke to her; one impressed, the other trying to explain a concept to her that she could do without wearing the stupid outfits. When they finally took their leave, she got up, packing her datapad up and walking back towards her dorm. She just wanted to go to her room, and sit in seclusion until class started. Given her appointment with the school tailors, she felt she would be pulled from that seclusion rather quickly. Little did she know, it would be cut short much faster.
The Aliens eyes locked onto the girl in her room. Her jaws worked for a moment, looking around to see that ore stuff was here, and not vice versa. After a moment, she finally shut her muzzle as blinked. "So... I never thought they would deliver food this fresh..." She grumbled, closing the door. "What are you doing here?"
Tall for a girl, and younger than the other students, this Nepleslian was not a usual sight in Tsubomi. She had dusky skin, and long, straight hair that, while well-groomed, was dyed with too much purple and not enough red to avoid clashing horribly with the school uniform. For that matter, the rest of her didn't go that well with the uniform, either, she was not someone born to wear skirts and a dress. The way the outfit showed off her muscles was not very flattering. She was busy setting down duffel bag after duffel bag, having slung at least three of them, and only looked up when the door closed. "H-huh? I'm not delivering."
Without asking twice, it was apparent she'd just moved in with her bags full of clothing, and... fruit. She pulled a pineapple out of an open bag, and proffered it. "Are you hungry?"
Zoia blinked, then let her muzzle part a little to show the obviously carnivorous teeth. "In the context of my joke... You were the food," she said a little flatly, doing a quick look around at the room again. She checked the desk, the shelf, and everything else. Without the girls stuff, the room seemed almost sterile, with obvious organizational compulses. The only thing that seemed out of place, was the skull sitting on a wall shelf, it's sockets staring ominously with a near omnipresence to them. The teeth glinting with a vicious animalism.
"Good... You haven't touched anything by the look of it. So it would seem the school actually did give me a roommate... Great" She mumbled, taking a moment to compose herself. "That side of the room is for your stuff. I didn't need it anyway, so it doesn't bother me much. If you plan on using the desk often, you might be disappointed. I'm more here for academics than I am for fighting anyhow" She explained. "Do you have any questions?"
Sarena watched Zoia, pensively, for a moment, before stowing her pineapple and unslinging the rest of her bags in a pile. "I don't think I taste very good... and I don't think moving into the room first puts you in charge." She stood up as she said this, and chewed her lip, while giving the room a second look.
Zoia popped her eyebrows, sighing. "I neither taste, nor does that opinion matter to me. You have your half of the room, I have my half of the room. Unless you really need to have this side of the room. Then of course you can take the time to move all my stuff to that side of the room, exactly how I want it done. May not make me in charge, but I got first dibs on side, and have already unpacked" She explained, crossing her arms. "So to reiterate... Don't touch my stuff, and everything will be fine" She finished.
"Er... this side is fine. Errr... don't touch my stuff either, and stay on your side," came Sarena's awkward, red-cheeked, and mostly forced response. "I still need to unpack." She pulled out a fruit basket, and started arranging it on her nightstand. "I guess you don't eat fruit." Her voice was barely audible.
"No we don't. We do not concern ourselves with the food our food eats. We get it from them, and it hurts our stomachs" She explained. "And I won't touch anything of yours unless it is in my way. It's yours, not mine, I have no need to touch it" She said, sitting down at the desk. "I don't have a martial art represented by this school, so I am majoring in both theoretical and practical physics, Biology, and some electives in martial arts. As I said... Desk use may not be that common" She explained.
"Hm, ants eat fruit... and I eat ants, and I eat things that eat ants, so maybe I concern myself with the food my food's food eats. It's also food." Sarena popped a large, red berry into her mouth, and tapped the back of her head with one finger. "That... sounds like the boring sort of school stuff." She had to admit, "I haven't been to school."
"Oh boy... An idiot" She muttered in her native language, placing a hand on her muzzle in exasperation. "Math... and Science" She said, speaking a little slower than usual. "And I am dabbling in Martial Arts, because I have to. I'm good enough at fighting without having to learn some silly pigeonhole that does nothing to improve what my kind can already do" She stated, turning around. "Why, would you like help with your homework? You are going to have to do school work here... I believe they are required" She explained.
Sarena turned her head this way and that, as if it might help her get a better read on Zoia. It didn't. "I haven't received any assignments." She fumbled with the fruit basket for a moment, before eating another berry.
"Well obviously. We just had opening ceremonies. We haven't even had a class yet. Do you know what classes you are going to be taking?" She asked.
"Yamataigo, Math, Science, Trade as a second language, Computer Studies and Music. I'm doing Marksmanship training, too. I don't know what else, yet." She unpacked some more, revealing hearing and vision protection gear, and other range training accessories.
Zoia stood up and got closer, standing at the center of the room and leaning over to get a closer look. If it had not been for the thick tail of hers, she would have fallen flat on her face. "Guns? At a Martial Arts school? You are shooting at targets, why do you need protective gear?" She asked. "If you get to shoot at others... I might have to see about getting into one of those classes, or taking the extracurricular activity for it" She muttered to herself.
"U... usually targets, I think. It's still dangerous." Sarena was not eager to explain. "I still need to be tested, I don't know if my skills are good in Yamatai." She shuffled around some of the other gear in her bag, looking for somewhere to put it, then gave up and set the bag on top of her dresser, before opening another to sort out her clothing. She had brown low boots, tan half-high boots, and a number of open tunic-like garments to wear over the summer clothes she brought: short shorts, long shorts, tank tops, and blouses, with a few different broad-brimmed hats and desert scarves.
"Uhm... Where are your uniforms?" She asked, standing up straight.
Sarena hefted up her third bag to show Zoia, nearly crashed into the dresser with it, and then placed it on the floor in front to unload her school clothes in the lower drawers. There was one, large, purple and black article she carefully laid down in the bottom-right corner. After unloading these two bags, she was still half-unpacked, and the dresser not full, but she seemed uninterested in continuing the activity, staring at the dresser with its drawers shut.
Zoia blinked, then walked over to her bed and turned on her lamp. The dull red glow reflecting off the polished and bleached skull on her shelf. "I hope you don't mind sleeping with a light on. I need the lamp at night" She started. "And you can wear stupid clothes if you want. I however don't unless I must, hance my uniform. If this bothers you, then well... Find a new roommate" She added.
Sarena gave a large shrug, though it was almost like a sigh, and still aimed at the dresser. "Everyone has to wear stupid clothes at school. It's a rule." According to her mother, at least. She didn't seem inclined to comment on the discomforts of her new dorm arrangement.
"It is a rule to wear the uniform. This is technically our space, and one part of it is mine. Don't worry, I have seen your kinds anatomy. We Vekimen do not show as much as you do when we are naked. Our reproductive organs remain inside our bodies" She said, unbuttoning her shirt. "Think of it as... a snake skin leotard or something" She added.
"Eh... if it's okay, I think it'd be easier just to not think of you as a human." Sarena glanced over, still stooped and looking confused.
"Please... I can smell the smoke. Tell me what is troubling you. You've had this dazed, lost and confused look on your face for the last few minutes" The alien said in a bored tone, pulling off the shirt. "And good thing I'm not a human. I'm sure we can find a common ground" She said, standing up.
"I just moved into... school." She waved her hands inarticulately, as if that could make up for a lack of verbiage. "And you're talking about eating me, reproductive organs, and watching me unpeel."
"These are uncommon things?" She asked. "What is wrong with talking? And the eating bit was a joke... Despite the fact I could very well eat you. I wouldn't though. Against the rules" She explained. "Also, what did you unpeel? I didn't unpeel anything" She asked.
"Well, yeah!" Sarena waves her arms, once, emphatically. It's enough to make a 'woop' noise. "Humans can eat each other, too, but we don't talk about it! Especially not, before... you know, introductions!" Her voice changes pitch and register a few times, in her incredulity. She runs her fingers across her forehead, roughly managing to calm herself. "I mean, getting out of my clothes. You saying it's like you're a doctor doesn't really make it more comfortable..."
Zoia just sat in silence, blinking during the whole rant. When the woman was done, she thought she would change the subject. She reached up ad plucked the skull of the shelf and handed it to the girl. "Isn't it cool? Took me weeks to prepare properly" She said, totally missing the entire point of that conversation.
Sarena's shoulders sagged, and she stumbled to face it, but she didn't contest the change of subject. It had been a long day. Instead, she tried to sound interested. "What is it?"
"My first kill. Once you advace far enough in the VDTF, the safety regulations get a little... Lax. Fights have obvious issues, and this is one of my classmates from the station" She said, turning it to face her. "He was sweet. I felt bad the instructor ordered us to fight, but he said he would be honoured. I think he had a crush on me" She explained, turning it back around. "Keeping the teeth all in their place was difficult, and applying my bacteria in the right doses to keep the skull intact was a pain" She added.
After the first three words, Sarena's involuntary recoiling had launched the skull into the air, and she struggled to catch it. For the remainder, she stared, before whispering, "I thought it was an art project!"
Zoia didn't look very concerned about the skull as it flew through the air. When Sarena had made her comment, Zoia took the skull back and looked at it. "Well... I guess you aren't wrong... But didn't you notice the resemblance?" She asked, holding the skull up beside her head and baring her teeth.
Sarena pouted, and said, "You're just fishing." She was glad not to be holding the skull anymore.
Zoia looked legitimately perplexed at the comment. "Fishing? I am not fishing. I am talking to you. Fishing involve water... And fish. Sometimes a pole depending on how easy you want it to be" She explained, placing the skull back onto the shelf. "I merely asked you if you did not notice that we were both Vekimen"
Sarena blinks, somewhat mollified, though there's a sheen of flop sweat still covering her. "Er, yes. I noticed that when I first came in. I just didn't know it was real."
"Well, it's real. removed it myself. Was hoping to save some of the spinal column, but I had crushed that with my teeth" She explained, finishing her process to being naked. She was right, nothig showed. Just a whole lot of scales. "So... Been to the mall here?" She asked.
Sarena said, nodding, "With my mom." From her tone, it sounded like she was complaining.
"She give you any extra GS? It's this weird currency that can only be used here"
"No, I only have what they gave me... and my stuff." Sarena goes back to her first bag to retreive a knife, and sets about carving up a cantaloupe from her fruit basket, mostly to have something to do with her hands. "What can you buy with it?"
Zoia shrugged "Anything at the mall. Wanna go?" She asked curiously.
Having only just stuck her knife into the cantaloupe, Sarena puts it back into the basket precariously, knife still in place, stood up and tried to dust herself off, but only got her hands tangled in fabric, as she was not wearing shorts. "Er... Okay. I guess there's not much to do in here." She was rather tremulous, but gathered her wallet and ID.
"Well, we could go have a bath. I do enjoy the water quite a bit" She offered as an alternative. "Maybe work on some quantum theory, just for fun. I coul set up a device that will allow us to see how particles change depending on who is looking at them" She added.
"It's too early." She could have added, 'and that doesn't sound fun', but she had complained enough, already. "Let's go to the mall."
