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Shona, looking a bit bouncier (likely from the multiple sugar cubes she's had by this point) chimes in with, "I don't actually know how I take my coffee. The servants always just made it for me, but I know it had milk and sugar and sugar is GLORIOUS!!! Here, sweetie, have some sugar," she says, holding a sugar cube out for the sloth to eat.
She then simply looks at Tre as if pondering whether or not Tre is simply going to serve the coffee to her or if she's supposed to actually get it herself.
Petro slowly opens his mouth to permit the sugar cube, smiling dumbly as he does. "THANK YOU YOUNG LADY!" Chocola smiles. "Servants? Do you have many servants?"
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"Servants? Oh I have lots of servants. Well, I don't have servants. My parents have servants, but that's because they're so busy. My dad is on the council that runs our city and my mom runs my dad's import/export business because he's so busy with the council which is why she's so busy which is why they didn't have much time for me, but they obviously raised me well, because I'm here. Well, they kind of had the servants raise me, but they had them raise me well. I guess," Shona says, seeming to get caught up her thoughts for just a moment and a look that might have been confusion or sadness flickered across her face.
She then shakes that off and smiles at Petro and says, "Such a sweet boy, and such good manners! You should have good manners like Petrodone, Mr. Thrush," and gives him a meaningful look.
Kade walked into the house, hoodie up, hung down low to his eyes, his new friend running in alongside him.
You were right, Kit. Kade said, looking around at the chaos. Radiant. He puts his head up and smiles wide. I love it!
Stop calling me Kit. The Fox behind him had said. And don't treat this like it's a game, this is serious business.
Kade whistled at the going-ons. If this is what you call serious business, I'd love to see what you guys do on the weekends.
He observes the room, waiting for... Something... To happen.
Chocola petted the sloth. "Actually his name is... oh never mind." She sighed as she took her coffee from The and sipped it lightly.
"CAN I HAVE ANOTHER CUBE?" Chocola sighed again, looking at the sloth. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Petro?"
Pulling a cigarette stub from behind his ear he lights it with the tip of his finger and positions it beneath a nearby fire sensor alarm, before sneaking off to the other side of hall from the office where he lurks waiting for the alarm to go off.
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"Of course you can have another cube, Mr. Cutiekins!" Shona responds, completely ignoring the questioning of that given by Chocola.
"Is having a tea party really the best way you could be spending your last bit of time before the Omnesiac returns?" the thrush asks.
"This is clearly not tea, Mr. Thrush!" Shona says, and simply returns to feeding and petting the sloth.
"No, tea is made from the dried leaves of Camellia sinensis while coffee is made from the ground seed of various varieties of Rubiaceae . They are really quite different, but both delicious!" Tre said as she poured the coffee.
"I'm sure your new friends don't want to listen to you going on about botany" the small caiman complained. "We would if been here on time if you hadn't insisted on stopping to check out that fascinating patch of moss on the way here"
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Shona looks clearly relieved as Tre serves her coffee and saves her the trouble and struggle of having to figure out how to do it for herself.
"I think that the Omnibus should return soon and collect our forms and get things started. If we get to choose rooms and have to have roommates, I think I pick you two," she says with a smile for Tre and Chocola (and with no thought for the idea that they may not actually want to room with her).
Luna slowly gets off the floor as she finally catches her breath.
"I told you we didn't have time for fight earlier!" Fluffy says, berating her; it didn't occur to Luna that a fox mothering her looked ridiculous to others. She had already gotten used to it on the trip to the school.
"I'm not going to leave people in trouble," Luna replies, resolute. "Now, how do I get a form?"
"They only hand them out to students who make it here on time," Fluffy says.
"But...but...but..." Unable to say anything else at first, it takes a moment for Luna to pull herself together. Time for a plan.
Noticing the scuffed students nearby, Luna heads toward them.
"Ooh, geeze," Shiro says, leaning forward and stretching her hand towards Kayin's suddenly aching head. Her hand stops short, unsure of what she'd do with it if it got there. "No offense but he seems like kind of a huge jerk."
"You shouldn't speak ill of a student's spiritual guide," rumbles Boscoe. "Each one is designed to provide the right push that a student needs to bring out their best."
"That doesn't make him less of a jerk," mutters Shiro. "Besides, you should thank him for being a jerk, it's the only way I'm gonna appreciate a giant eggplant like you." She sticks her tongue out, dodging the Walrus flaring its tusks huffily forward. Catching one she stops and half-turns at the new girl entering with her fox. "Well, looks like we're not the only ones that missed out on getting forms. People are still showing up?"
Kayin straightens up slowly, still in pain but obviously curious about the new arrival that Shiromori points out. "Well, seeing as this is a House of Perfection, which are virtually impossible to get into, it's kind of understandable that so many candidates would show accept their invitations," he says quietly as he rubs his aching head.
He then glances curiously toward the front gate and hums thoughtfully. "I do wonder why they're waiting so long to collect those forms, however. You'd think they'd want to get started on the classes as soon as possible, not to mention clearing out the late arrivals like us."
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Suddenly an unfamiliar woman barges into the room, her womanhood primarily evident by her long legs extending down from an archaic Vudrani-style skirt down to high-end, but rather starkly-designed black shoes, as her top half is mostly obscured by a truly massive bundle of strange charts and maps (seemingly more than even her athletically-built body appears it should be capable of handling simultaneously), several of which appear to have been recently scribed - perhaps even within the past few minutes, as, as this mysterious woman, whose pale skin somehow seems like it ought to in fact be many shades darker, attempts to clear the door with her armfuls of papers, a small blob of paint and dust slides right off of one, hitting the floor with a soft *spootch*.
The woman freezes at the sound.
"No! No! NO! NONONONONONO I WORKED SO HARD ON EVERY ONE OF THESE!!! Somebody help me with these! Please, hurry!"
Some kindly soul might help hold some of her scrolls, and several that they don't take of their own accord somehow find their ways into their arms as well.
Shifting the remainder of her load to her right hand, she leans delicately over the offending fallen ink, with a visible neurotic awareness of her own every movement and point of contact. She gingerly reaches out with her left hand, and extends what had looked like simply a large steel ring into a curved blade, nasty-looking despite its small size, and proceeds to painstakingly scoop it up, before abruptly jumping up and pulling out both the messed-up map and a few calligraphy brushes, clean and cared-for to the point of looking like new, and keeps her kerambit extended for use as a paint palette while she meticulously restores the renegade inking materials to their proper place on the map.
She scowls gently at her results (though her eyes indicate that there is nothing 'gentle' about her disapproval). "Notgoodenough, notgoodenough, notgoodenough, NO EXCUSE! I MUST do better next time...!"
She finally gets around to acknowledging that she is in company. She reaches for an ornate obsidian hand-mirror in her breast-pocket as if to help check her face and hair, but then halts awkwardly upon picking it up before putting it back (and shoving it in deeper).
"Namaste," She tries an awkward bow or curtsy or something (like she's sincerely trying to present a demure greeting, but some part of her isn't all in it) before continuing. "I am Shirokuro Shisōka. A am desperately sorry for being late, ah...hmm...am I late? Am I in the right place? I have just been accepted!"
Seeing the new arrival's dilemma, Luna moves over and helps her take some of the scrolls, though her hands quickly become full.
"This is the House of Unyielding Radiance," Luna says. "I was late as well, and it seems only the ones on time got the necessary forms we need to get in."
After a pause, Luna quickly adds, "Oh, and I'm Luna Stargazer, a fellow new student."
Tre turns towards Shona with a puzzled look on her face, "Why would a volume of different books collected together collect our forms? Oh you mean the Omnesiac!" Its clear that it will take Tre a while to get used to Shona's habit of mangling people's names.
"And you want us to be roomates?" Nobody had made Tre feel so included before. "Oh, I do hope that we do get to be roommates. You two are both so nice and friendly and everything"
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As Tre was speaking, Shona began with a light sip of her coffee, which turned to a bigger swallow, which turned to gulping, which turned to downing the whole cup at once.
"Moreplease!" Shona says, her eyes ridiculously large and a massive smile spread across her face.
"I don't think that's a good..." begins the thrush, before being cut off by Shona saying, "That'senoughoutofyou! Morecofeecoffeecoffee!"
Chocola, obviously flattered at the room mate idea, smiles widely. "I'd like that. For us to be roommates. That sounds nice." She sips quietly at her coffee imagining the fun they would have.
"You definitely do seem to like coffee" Tre says as she pours Shona another cup.
"Your eyes have gone wide and you are speaking even faster than normal" Tre states in a matter of fact tone, as if she's only just noticed.
"Congratulations Captain Obvious" the caiman mutters.
Changing the subject completing, seemingly ignoring her animal guide, Tre then asks the others "What do you think the lessons will be like here? All the students seem so different from each other. Do you think we get to choose which lessons we go to or will they all be compulsory?
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Shona downs the second cup almost immediately then thrusts both fists into the air with a triumphant, "Whoooo!Coffee!!!"
The thrush, meantimes, responds to the caiman's comment about "captain obvious" with a comment of, "Better Captain Obvious than being stuck with Captain Oblivious over here," and inclines his head towards Shona.
Chocola giggles at the animals exchange. "Thats not nice Mr. Bird! And I dont know what they do with classes here but Im hoping they do martial training. I mean, itis a training school after all and I could stand to learn a lot more about my swordplay."
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"Swordplay!!" Shona blurts out, jumping to her feet and flailing about as if having a duel.
"I...apologize," the thrush says, coming as close to blushing as one would assume a bird could manage, "I'm rather certain you will receive some martial training, though I'm not actually privy to the exact role of the registrar's office," he says, taking on a more formal tone than he had used with the caiman.
"Hyah! Hyah!" Shona blurts out as she flails about with her now drawn whip and pulls some of the handsome boys' feet out from under them.
"Reallyknocked'emofftheirfeet,eh? Eh?" she asks smiling and winking at her friends.
"I hope they have lessons in alchemy, and magic, and that they have a great big library filled with books on every subject imaginable. Shelves stretching out as far as the eye can see, filled with grimories, and journals, and codices, and folios, and monographs, and octavios, and quatros, and scrolls, and tracts, and treatises, and atlases, and encyclopedias, and omnibuses. All about anatomy, and alchemy, and architecture, and botany, and biology, and chirurgy, and Chelaxian Opera, and ..." Tre trails off with a dreamy look on her face, clearly lost in the imaginary library in her mind.
"Im sure they have a wonderful library Tre. I wouldnt mind reading up on old war strategies... Do you really think we should be attacking people on our first day Shona?" A worried expression crosses her face.
Luna notices a girl nearby gleefully tripping some boys with a whip. Forgetting about her armful of scrolls, Luna heads over to the scene, determined to put a end to the mean trick. Fluffy stays close to her side, already knowing that the girl's going to get into more trouble.
"Excuse me," Luna says as she reaches them, not noticing yet another scroll dropping to the ground. "Please stop messing with those boys. It's not very nice of you."
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"Attacking? Messing?" Shona says, a look of confusion and perhaps hurt on her face (and perhaps with less of the sugar and caffeine rush present in her system). "I'll have you know that I am a trained follower of Calistria!" she says as if that makes it better.
"Besides, you're not hurt, are you boys?" she asks not actually looking at them. The boys on the ground gran and give a thumbs up.
Shiro stands up, abruptly, staring hard at the girl who tripped the boys. Reaching underneath Boscoe's flipper she draws out a wooden cane, almost as long as she is tall. "Bullies..." She growls, twisting the handle of the cane. Boscoe's flipper lands heavily on her shoulder again.
"No fighting," he says. "It's your first day."
"But--"
"No buts! No fighting. Go make friends." The walrus lifts its flipper, letting Shiro take a step forward. Boscoe then punches her immediately and hard in the back. "FRIENDSHIP PUNCH." The blow sends her flying in to the middle of the stare-down between Shona and Luna. She skids to a stop on her face, coming to a rest with her face in the dirt. Her eyes swirly and dazed, she stands up using the cane, her knees knocking together from embarrassment and pain.
"P-Pleased to meet you. I'm Shiromori. N-no fighting on your first day."
Luna jumps when the halfling falls in front of her, spilling her lot of scrolls all over Fluffy.
"Um, I'm Luna, Luna says bending down to pick up her mess. Fluffy's swishing tail is all that can be seen of him.
Vinda returns to the small group of girls with her perfectly-copied admittance form, thanks to Tre.
"Oh, she's not hurting anyone! Let her be. She's just flirting. Even if she doesn't know she is."
"Boys, I'm Vinda. I'm sure some of you recognize me from the Paladins of Reality. Would and of you nice boys like to carry our bags for us today?" Vinda flashes a dazzling smile at the poor young men, instantly captivating them.
"Well...I guess if they're not hurt..." Luna murmurs, standing up with the scrolls once more collected.
"You shouldn't just jump at action like that. You'll be really sorry one day," the fox says, chiding her much like a mother would her child.
"I apologize for my forwardness. I am Luna Stargazer," Luna says with a bow to the group of girls. "Would any of you happen to know if they're going to pass out any more forms for late students?"
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Shona sees Vinda manipulate the boys into action and responds with, "I like this one. She's a keeper!"
Then, turning to Miss Stargazer, Shona says, "Pleased to meet you Llama," and then to Miss Okyoni, "And you as well Shamalamadingdong!"
The thrush instantly flies up and says, "Sorry about that. She's notoriously bad with names. In fact, she still hasn't caught on that my name is..."
"No, Mr. Thrush! You're only supposed to talk to me!" she says again, with a stomp of her foot and a slight pout before flipping right back to a big smile as she flicks her whip around her waist where it just kind of hangs in place.
Kayin stares slack-jawed as the walrus sends Shiromori flying forward after that shot to the back. Finding his voice after a few moments, he turns to the walrus, points at Shiromori--who is picking herself out a shallow trench made by her landing--and ask incredulously, "What was that?! You yell 'Friendship Punch', send her flying, and that's apparently a good thing? Who makes friends like that?"
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Kayin yelling at the walrus has drawn Shona's attention.
She glances at Kayin himself only momentarily before her eyes settle solidly on the large, purple walrus.
"Oh. My. GOODNESS!![/b]" she shrieks. "He's so cute!!"
She then runs over and punches the walrus in the side while yelling, "FRIENDSHIP PUNCH!"
"She sure is violent," Luna comments to herself. Smelling a familiar scent, Luna turns to the others and asks, "Is that coffee?"
Caught by surprise by the sudden chaos erupting all around her, Tre narrowly avoids spilling her cup of coffee. Her eyes flicker between the newcomers for several seconds before focusing on Luna.
"Pleased to meet you Luna Stargazer. My name is Tremetorideria Centicus but people call me Tre. The girl with the whip is called Shona and the catfolk girl is called Chocola. They are my new friends. It does not seem like they are handing any more of the forms out and the Omnesiac said anyone who did not have a form would face immediate expulsion. I think it might be a test. Some people have been stealing forms from other people but I don't think that is right so I have been making more forms." Tre explains earnestly.
In response to Luna's latest question Tre reaches for an empty cup.
"Yes this is coffee. Would you like some?"
Tre inwardly smiled. She knew it had been a good idea to bring the Galtian coffee press with her. Her mother had always said that the best way to make friends was to offer a hot beverage and it seemed to be working so far.
"Yes this is coffee. Would you like some?"
"Yes, please," Luna replies. "But only sugar cube for me. I get hyper easily."
"Too easily," Fluffy replies. With a yawn he leaps up onto Luna's shoulder and transforms into a blue ribbon at her neck.
Showoff, Luna thought. "So could I get a copy of the form from you? I'm got some change on me."
"Of course you could get a form from me" Tre smiles broadly. "I'll start making you one" She does not appear to pick up on the fact that Luna is offering to pay for a form and genuinely has not considered the fact that she could be making money by providing forms to those without.
Once again Tre methodically lays out her pens, inks and paper before starting to copy the form.
Before starting Tre also passes a cup of coffee to Luna to drink while she waits.
Chocola smiles. "I dont think you have to worry about getting hyper. Shona is already, and I dont think you can be more hyper than her." Chocola takes another sip of coffee. "It really is good. But do you think the copied forms will be enough?"
With her arms still full, Luna simply says a word of command with a flick of her wrist and the cup of coffee levitates up to her mouth. Taking a sip, Luna nods appreciatively as the sugar already starts its magically work.
"Thanks, I really needed that," Luna says. "Even if they don't accept them, at least we tried without putting anyone else out. You're pretty good with the quill. Are you a scribe?"
Chocola blushed at Lunas words and goes quiet for a while.
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Shisōka has been waiting patiently for a teacher to arrive...or something. She is starting to get anxious, but works hard not to show it.
OhgodswhataretheymakinguswaitaroundforIhatewastingtimeitmakesmesoillatease. ...
"I would like some coffee," She says with a small smile.
Still stumbling around, Shiro finds her footing, leaning on her cane for support. She glances at Vinda. "Just because they're dumb doesn't mean you should treat them like that," she says, before turning to Shona. "And my name isn't Shamalama--aaaaand she's already gone." She sighs, picking up a forgotten piece of paper off the ground and walking over to Luna to hand it off to her.
Boscoe lightly reels at Shona's punch, smiling so happily the air seems to sparkle around his face. "Heh heh," he rumbles. "See, Kayin? It absolutely works. As long as the friendship is strong in your fist, it will be strong in your heart." He sets a flipper down heavily on Shona's shoulder. "And what is your name, young lady?"
"Luna, I think you said your name was?" Asks Shiro, walking up. "You forgot this paper, and uh... Oh geeze." In the distance, a loud fire alarm begins to sound, and the scattered students, including Vinda's suddenly dedicated attendants look in the direction of the school's loudly ringing bells. "Brace yourself," she says quietly. "I think someone's trying to start a panic."
"Thank you" , Tre says, blushing. "I am not a scribe, although I did use to copy out recipes for my parents. It is not that hard to make a good copy, all you need to do is focus on the original in your mind and then follow it with your hand. If it is right in your head then it will be right on the paper. Hopefully."
"Well that certainly cleared things up for me" drawled the small green caiman sarcastically, "Who would have thought that to make a forgery you must imagine it with your mind and copy it with your hand?"
Tre nods, oblivious to the sarcasm, before noticing the scrolls Luna is holding, "Oooh, what are those?" she asks, standing up to get a better look.
Luna pauses as she hears bells ringing. Are the classes going to start soon? Luna wonders, oblivious to their real nature, even as a few kids begin to edge away from the gates.
Turning her attention back to Tre, Luna replies, "These are...um, Shirokuro was it? Anyway, I was just holding them for her. She looked like she had more than she could handle on her own. If only hoversacks were less expensive." Mentally sitting her cup down, Luna uses mage hand to accept the scroll and slid it in the top of her belt pouch. "I guess I haven't given magic enough credit, really. Thanks for the scroll. How much for your kind service? ...Wait...is that a baby crocodile?"
Kayin just blinks through the walrus' explanation, hoping vaguely that he's joking, but increasingly afraid that he isn't. It seems the House of Unyielding Radiance's class this year will be made of escapees from an asylum. Pondering this further, Kayin drops his face into his hands as he realizes exactly what that says about him.
With a sigh, he scrubs his face and looks up again to watch the walrus chat with the excitable girl and her thrush, who has an air of long-suffering patience as it watches its charge. He thinks briefly about trying to engage the girl in conversation, but decides after a bit of thought to start with someone a bit less... her... and so approaches the rest of the group that Shiromori was launched toward.
"A baby crocodile!" splutters the caiman, "The very idea! I'll have you know that I am a dwarf caiman, and a full grown one at that. How would you like it if I called you a baby ogre?
"Chaki does not like being compared to a crocodile" Tre stated "Or alligators. I do not think anyone has tried comparing him to a gharial so I am not sure what his reaction to that would be."
Tilting her head to one side she continues, "I wish that bell would stop, it is making it hard to think"
The caiman tuts, "That bell is the fire alarm, telling you to get out of the building to avoid the fire"
"We are already outside of the building" Tre replied to the caiman "So we, therefore, don't need to worry, do we?"
A few students brush by Luna, one even offering a quick word of apology, as they move away from the gates. "Apparently not for everyone. Besides, a fire can't be that bad. Someone could just put it out with a water-based spell," Luna says. "Unless..." Could there be a fight going on? Maybe I should investigate, Luna thinks to herself. I'll need to get away first, though.