darkSpyro

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear." Vuxta was thankful her disguise kept her fur from being felt. She didn't like having to wear the skin suit, but it was necessary to hide her true identity. She was about to say something more, when the bell rang. "Well, that's my cue to start class." With that, she headed up to the front of the room with a quiet little hum.

Vuxta turned to her students with a warm smile. "Good morning, class. How's everyone's day been so far? Good, I hope."

There were a few tired moans from the students. A few weren't even paying any attention to her, due to either being asleep, being on their phone, or stil gossiping with their friends.

"Ahem," Vuxta cleared her throat to get their attention. When she noticed that there were still a few ignoring her, she tried again. "Ahem." She saw how some students were still asleep, so she walked over to her desk and pulled out a ruler. She began tapping the ruler on the desk, until everyone's eyes were on her, even if they were still half closed. "Now that's better. Class is starting now, children. Pay attention now, please."

"We don't actually have to do anything today, do we?" One student yawned.

"I'm afraid so, dear. You're here to learn, not to sleep."

"But you let us do nothing yesterday."

"Yes, but that was simply out of my own kindness. It was only the first day of school. I wanted to give everyone a chance to relax and talk with friends. Today, however, we have to actually start working."

There was a collective groan from the students.

"Now, now, none of that. It won't be so bad."

"But history is boring!"

"Well, I don't know what history books you've been reading, but they clearly weren't the ones that I've read. My hope is that, by the end of this year, you'll have a little more respect and appreciation for the past."



Syndral blinked, unsure of exactly why Morph was reacting as strongly as he was. Why did he seem so jittery? Why was he trying so hard to apparently hide his face? What was wrong? Even more concerned and curious than before, she was about to speak up, when he looked back at her and began talking. Syndral wasn't sure if she believed his words or not. He didn't exactly sound fine, but she couldn't think of a reason why he would lie to her. Maybe she had just startled him somehow. Although that didn't explain why his temperature rose. Something had to be bothering him, apparently something he was struggling to talk about.

At the mention of the other students, she was tempted to follow his gaze and glance back at them. She ultimately decided against it, though, not wanting to draw their attention. So Syndral just kept her focus on Morph and listened to his words. So these kids were talking about them? A concerning thought, but if there were no red flags to speak of, then it shouldn't be a problem. At the mention of them being weird, Syndral sighed. He continued, and she broke eye contact to give a sideways stare at nothing really. It wasn't long before her eyes drifted downward to stare at the floor. She folded her arms with another sigh. "My apologies for behaving so strangely," she whispered. "I will try to refrain from--" she closed her eyes tightly at her formality, "--doing just that." She halfway opened her eyes, but kept them glued to the floor. "I doubt I will ever fit in here."

Mr. White stared at her with a guarded expression in his eyes, watching her every movement very carefully. As she spoke to him, his mouth settled into a frown, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She didn't seem too intent on actually getting to her seat. Instead, she seemed far too keen on the two of them interacting with each other. Which was not something he intended to do. He had his work to do, dammit - research to conduct on these humans. He did not need this siren here getting in the way and interfering with his work. Nor did he need - or wish - for his own personal bubble to be poked and prodded at. It was a game she played. A game he was very familiar with. A game he wished he'd never learned the existence of. He had her to "thank" for his... education regarding such a game that many zxicha played. He never did thank her. If anything, he loathed her for it.

Which is why he was so very grateful when the bell rang, and that it appeared that Ardunayne might actually heed the message it implied. She still insisted on calling him some ridiculous nickname, though he didn't expect anything other. He was relieved to see her turn to take her seat, though he didn't miss her risqué body language as she did so. He sighed angrily enough to the point where it almost sounded like a quiet snarl, shaking his head in an unamused fashion.

The student sitting in front of the class who Ardunayne ended up sitting next to obviously hadn't missed the exchange between them, who wolf-whistled at the scene. The look Mr. White subsequently sent him could only be described as a murderous death glare, which shut the kid up, though he still hid a wide grin behind his folded arms and other students were clearly trying their best to hide their own amusement.

This was going to be a miserable math class with Ms. Undefinedo around.


Rachel filed through her meticulously organized belongings until she got to the book she was looking for. Pulling it out from its designated place, she opened it up to begin reading when a thought occurred to her. Well, two thoughts, actually. The first involved Vester. Had he been provided with a book that he could actually read. She glanced over to his desk to find that he was trailing his fingers over the bumps on the cover, and she smiled internally. Good, he had everything he needed. She supposed it was silly to worry about him so much. It wasn't as if the teachers were oblivious to his blindness and would just give him a book that he couldn't read. Still, she felt like she had to keep an eye on him, however irrational such an idea might be.

Her second thought involved Jax, who she had spotted out of the corner of her eye when she had turned to acknowledge the sound of the bell. Swiveling around in her chair and finding that he was still out cold, she sighed softly before digging through her pencil pouch. She brought out a pink eraser, which she had dubbed "the thing to hit Jax with to wake him up." Making sure no one was looking, she tossed the eraser at his head. It wasn't a large enough eraser that the impact with his head would hurt, but it was big enough to hopefully get his attention. She wasn't going to be so presumptuous to think that she could actually get him to read like he was supposed to, but she could hopefully get him to at least pretend like he was reading.

Mort frowned in concern at Syndral's change in demeanor. "N-- No, Diane, you're fine. You just--" He raked his mind for some form of encouragement that would get through to her, his previous discomfort completely forgotten. He was afraid she would have reacted this way. Just the class before, she was putting herself down for such a minor detail. Now those stupid ingrates had to confirm her worries, and that was just perfect. "It's really not that big of a deal. It's a long process to get used to a new setting, and even the people here understand that--"

The bell interrupted him just as he was finishing his thought, but Ms. Espinoza didn't let him add another, as she immediately stood attention and essentially demanded the class to do the same by the sheer volume and energy of her voice. "Well, good morning, class! I can't believe it's only been a whole day since we last introduced ourselves!" She then took hold of her yardstick, walked in front of the desk with a prance in her step, and waved it around absentmindedly as she spoke. "And since I was nice to you yesterday, we can start with the curriculum immediately today! Yay!"

The students reacted with their typical dull, lifeless groans and complaints. Only in this case, the teacher's sarcastic, snide optimism seemed to increase the annoyance in their collective tone. Morph himself had to withhold a loud snarl, as she was heavily distracting him from what he considered a far more pressing matter. The displeasure only added fuel to her fire. She made a quick one hundred and eighty-degree turn to grasp a moderately sized stack of papers, which she held along with the yardstick, and begun passing them from desk to desk. "So this is what we'll be beginning with this semester! We have a lot of basics to cover, such as cells, the building blocks of life..."

Morph tried his hardest to push the teacher's nagging voice out of his head, keeping his focus on his troubled colleague. "You will fit in here eventually, I swear it," he insisted in a loud whisper. "It'll just take some time. I promise that I'll help you through it, every step of the way."

Dax was just snoozing away, dead to the world, when something hit his head. With a yawn, he raised a hand to his head to feel where he had been hit. He didn't even bother to raise his head or open his eyes as he searched. Rifling through his messy mass of hair, he finally pulled something out of there. Another yawn, and he opened his eyes. Without even lifting his head off of his other arm, he gave a tired glance to the object in his hand. A pink eraser? What the heck? Since when do school supplies fly across the room and hit you while you're--Oh. It's Rachel's.

It took Dax a moment to wake up enough to register what was going on. Once his brain was somewhat functional, he recognized this little stunt. Ah, yes, his old arch-nemesis, the flying eraser. He gave a snicker. Well, time to see where Rachel was and what he was supposed to be doing. Dax moaned as he raised his head and began to stretch out his arms. Once he was done, he placed his elbow on his desk and propped up his head with his hand. With a bored expression, he scanned the room for Rachel. Ah, there she was, next to some other kid. He paid no attention to the boy beyond that.

Immediately, he gave her a smirk and wagged his finger at her. Tsk, tsk, Rachel. Throwing things is not something the good kids do. Even if she couldn't hear him from where she sat, without him moving or yelling, Dax still had to sort of tease her for her actions. It was part of his little game that he simply loved doing. Anytime Rachel "misbehaved" he had to poke fun at her. It amused him too much, whenever she wasn't being perfect, and he simply had to relish in the moment while it lasted.



Syndral didn't meet his gaze, but she did listen to his words. They just felt like words, as if there was no truth to them. She tried to shake that notion, but it wouldn't go away. It still felt like a lie. Her arms tensed up more, her grip tightening. She wasn't fine, nothing was. It wasn't just a long process to get used to a setting, there was more to it than that. The setting wasn't the problem. It was her. She knew it was. It was always her. She was the weird one.

The bell didn't quite pull her out of her thoughts, as she was unfazed by it, but the teacher's voice managed to make its way to her ears. Syndral didn't budge an inch, but her attention had been grabbed against her will. She sighed. Oh, enough already, she hissed in her own mind. She was already sick of this class. Instinctively, she activated her defense mechanism for such a situation. She pulled her hair around to the front and swiftly pulled her hood up over her head. The sheer mass of her hair nearly completely covered her face now, which was sort of the idea. She didn't really even need to tighten the edges of her hood around her face, although she was tempted to do so, and bury herself completely. Syndral doubted she would come out of her protective shell until class was over.

She turned her head slightly towards Morph as he spoke up again. While she didn't quite believe that she would ever fit in, his words did resonate with her. She raised a hand to pull part of her hair back enough to see him better, revealing a part of her face. Syndral gave him a weak smile. It didn't fix everything, but it was comforting to know that he would at least be there to help.

Morph's heart sank when Diane concealed her face. His reassurance didn't seem to be working, and Ms. Espinoza squawking away wasn't helping. It was tempting to outright shout at the teacher and demand silence on her part. Instead he clenched his fists and and gave a low hiss when she passed by between their seats, although she probably wouldn't have heard it over herself. "Damn these stupid, loudmouthed humans! Don't they ever know when to shut up? If those delinquents had kept their bull**** to themselves, we wouldn't be dealing with this!"

Fortunately, his promise got a positive reaction. He visibly relaxed when Diane parted her hair slightly to give him a smile, as weary and uncertain as it was. Mort sighed and returned it with a relieved, somewhat enthusiastic grin. "Thank god, that's an improvement at least..."

Ms. Espinoza had returned to the front of the class at this point. "Well, there's a lot more to that, but we'll get there. Anyway, rules! No gum! I'm sorry, and I love you all, but every time I let you chew gum in here, it always ends up on the glassware for some reason! I have no idea why you people feel so inclined to stick them in plain sight when you could just hide them under the desk, like normal kids, but whatever. That's your deal. And bathroom breaks! If I catch whiff of you using them to skip class, I'll make you look stupid in front of everyone. Homework! If you show a habit of not doing it, I'll make you look stupid in front of everyone. You know what, you'll find that I'll just make you look stupid for any rule that you break. If you act stupid, I'll treat you like you're stupid."

Morph was hardly listening to her, and barely payed mind to the sheet of paper on his desk as she went down the list. He was satisfied knowing that he was able to offer at least some comfort to his colleague. Seeing her give him a smile had made his heart flutter for a fleeting moment, and then some as he continued to think about it. He sighed again, a faint smile still lingering on his face, and stared at his interlocked hands. It was a far better reaction than last period... well, she didn't feel like crawling into her metaphorical shell then, either... plus he sort of threw her under the bus when he saw Ardunayne there... but still! She smiled at him! And she never gave fake smiles, he knew. He was able to make her happy, to some tiny degree, and that was good enough for him. He was on the path to redeeming himself, from his reckless behavior yesterday, and his atrocious behavior all those years ago.

Telai however is excited to learn history from Vuxta, as history is something he loves. At home he has many books that others would find boring or just not be interested in. The book he currently has with him is a braille version of Gun's, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond. He takes out a notebook and prepares to start to write, with his book open to the first chapter of the book. He wonders if anyone else other than the teacher, shares his love for history.


Seeing Plagarius, calling out to me, by my alias's first name, Markus, I wave at him smiling. As my students are sorted into the different teams, I wander over to Plagarius and his guest. I hope this guest is better than most others that I have met. I wonder who this "friend" of his. Not many trust me, let alone are willing to get to know me and become friends with me. Plagarius and the others in our "family" however are an exception to that. Still I do not know how they will react when it comes time that I reveal my true appearance. Due to the legends and stories most only see me as that which many describe as "The Hound of War". We were as feared as we were respected by most races, how others, The Galactic Order, treated us as property, their prized pets, nothing more. Still I am optimistic about what will happen, after the kindness that was shown to me by "the family". My size itself will be enough to awe those that have the honor to see my true form and realize that I am the last of my kind. At twenty feet tall, I will most likely tower over everyone, but I do hope that they will see as myself and not the dark soldier that has been spoken of by so many through tales and gossip.

Plagarius grinned when Valdar spotted him and offered a wave, a gesture which the Corvonian gladly returned. He was pleased to see that there was a smile on Markus's human face, and one that didn't seem the least bit feigned, at that. His companion seemed genuinely happy, and that was something the doctor was grateful for. Valdarin had had a rough day yesterday, obviously, so to see him in such good spirits today warmed the birdman's heart and put him at ease. Hopefully today would go by much more smoothly for all of them.

When they were finally at a distance where they could talk comfortably, Corbin began, "Dearest brother! How I was hoping I'd get to see you! I assume your day is going well?" His more sociable side having made its greeting, the doctor in him seemingly rose to the surface to make its own presence known. Looking down at the man's hand, he asked, "How is your hand? I assume it feels much better by now, though I do hope that you've continued to take its condition into account during your outdoor activities." How easily Plagarius switched between the merry gentleman and the serious doctor, for no sooner had he spoken those words that his doctor-persona retreated back into the depths of his mind, and his more cheery nature returned. Glancing to his side, he confirmed that the psychologist was indeed still there. Looking back to Markus, he said, "Oh! I simply must introduce you to a new friend of mine!"

Gently putting one hand on the psychologist's back and gesturing to him with the other, Corbin said, "Brother, this good fellow is Ferdinand Valentine. He's such a fine gentleman and makes for such a wonderful partner in conversation. You simply had to meet him!"

As Plagarius introduces his friend and guest, I smile. I assure him also that I have been taking good care of my hand, though, little does he know that my hand is all but healed due to regeneration, a trait that I have. Still I have been careful not to reveal this as well as anything else that could lead to my identity being revealed. I am glad to see Plagarius, but remain cautious about this new person. My eyes glisten as I look from my friend and "brother" of the family that we created for this disguise, toward the stranger that he has brought. I look like a true athlete on the outside, as my disguise is that I am just that a skilled and talented athlete that loves to teach as well as play sports with others very much. I worry what will happen to this bond that I have with the students in my classes that I teach, if somehow my true identity is revealed, either through necessity or some underhanded method. My size alone of twenty feet tall will be more than enough to cause alarm, let alone the rest of me. I am a veteran warrior of numerous wars, big and small, with all the agility of what humans call Olympic champions. Ha, I chuckle at this title, I doubt any are on par with me.

"Welcome my dear brother," I say with a smile.

Ardunayne grinned at the wolf-whistle that was tossed out during her interaction with Mr. White. She knew her encounter with the teacher had drawn some degree of attention from the students, but that was even more entertaining, amusing at it's very core. Quite a few of the students seemed entertained at her playful jabs at the teacher, observing and waiting to see what would happen next. She was certainly still thinking about it. She had already encountered other agents today, so encountering him wasn't all that big of a deal. It wasn't that she had encountered another agent, but that Elim had been the one she had crossed paths with. Just to think that she would get a chance to see him again, to interact with him, and to playfully poke at him when he was least expecting it - that was what brought joy to her inside. She immediately knew that if he was going to be playing the role of teacher that there would definitely be a far less easy-going class than her first period. There was no way Elim would just let a class of kids mess around or chat their way quietly through class. If that happened, she'd have to double-check it was really him. No, there was definitely work on the way.

She identified the kid who had whistled at her and the teacher, a male sitting directly beside her. She cleared her throat to catch the student's attention, smiling and waving when the male curiously glanced her way. She couldn't help but make a subtle gesture like that, an indication that she had enjoyed someone watching her encounter with Mr. White.

After a few moments, she leaned forward in her seat, a wide smile clear on her face as she stared at the teacher himself. She was waiting to see what his first move would be for the class, what kind of assignment he would hand out to them. Ardunayne was prepared for what he would try and give them to work on, and to quietly observe how he handled being a teacher in a class of human students.

~~~

Cryktin found himself enthralled and confused by the book, his mind repeating each word inside as he trailed his fingers over the small bumps. He was admittedly not fully taking in what he was reading, but was at least focused enough to question the words themselves. As he read, he could hear a little movement here and there across the classroom. It wasn't enough to catch his interest, so most of his attention remained on the book itself. The encounter between Rachel and Jax had gone completely past Cryktin's radar, invisible literally and metaphorically to the young alien.

He wondered what this book meant to the humans. Was it a popular book? Did humans enjoy it or believe anything inside of it? He couldn't be entirely sure, but the questions it brought alive inside of him intrigued him to read further, to try and make sense of it and why it was written. After all, it was becoming quickly obvious that this was nothing more than a work of fiction - or a human's disturbed dreams, perhaps.

~~~

Ferdinand listened initially as Corbin and his brother exchanged pleasantries with one another, casual conversation about the state of his hand and that it was positive. It was quickly obvious, however, when the interested eyes of Corbin's brother were upon him. For a moment, Ferdinand was silent, attempting to read the emotions behind the eyes locked on him. Curiosity, maybe? It was hard to tell. There was definitely a lot going on in Markus's head; that much was clear. Perhaps he was simply considering the person he was meeting, pondering if this was a good companion for his brother or not. The fact that Markus wasn't as immediately easy to pin down the emotions of as Corbin was only made him even more interested, but he knew to keep this interest to himself, to learn by conversation casually, not question and curiosity.

With a small bow of the head, Ferdinand finally said, "Greetings. It's a pleasure to meet the family of Corbin. I have quite enjoyed getting to know your brother." Out of politeness, he offered his hand to be shaken, though it was always a gamble whether or not a stranger would accept his hand or draw back from it. There was a pretty good chance here it would be the latter.

Walking around to stand behind his desk, Mr. White gathered up a rather intimidating-looking stack of papers, which he straightened up into a neat pile before picking it up. Not once did he raise his eyes to look at the students in the classroom as he did so, instead focusing all of his attention on the group of papers he held. It seemed like he was doing his best to purposefully ignore Ardunayne's presence in the room, for even when he raised his gaze to address the class, he never once paid the tall young woman a single glance.

"You will complete all of the problems on these sheets within the duration of this class," he told them simply, passing out the assignment - which consisted of several, double-sided papers stapled neatly together in the top left-hand corner - as he spoke. When he had finally given everyone their assignment - making sure to give Ms. Undefinedo's to her as quickly as he could so he could get away from her faster - he returned to take his seat at his desk, going about grading papers as if he didn't currently have a class sitting in front of him.

It was another experiment of his. He had planned to test one class of students' response to a more detached style of teaching, and with Ardunayne around, he wanted to be as detached from his students as he could get. So this would be the class where he would tell the students virtually nothing, instead expecting them to figure out what they needed to do on their own. There were hardly any instructions on how to solve the math problems or the like within their assignment, and he wasn't going to help them any. He was curious to see just how competent these students would be figuring things out on their own, instead of having everything spoon fed to them. Would they be able to solve the problems - which were no doubt new material to most, if not all, the human students here - on their own? Or would they be absolutely clueless as to what they should do? That was what he intended to find out.

As he went about grading papers, he could not help but feel a sense of familiarity in this situation. It would not be the first time he's adopted such a detached teaching style when trying to show someone how to do something. He allowed the movements of his red pen to come to a stop for a moment, instead taking the time to recall a time years since passed. She had responded well to his rather... cold method of instructing. Though he somehow doubted that these human adolescents would come anywhere close to her level of competence.


At Jax's almost smug look on his face, Rachel gave him The Stink Eye, though it was only half-hearted and she couldn't keep it up for long. The girl knew that throwing objects at her classmates was hardly the proper thing to do, but she couldn't just let the boy sleep through the entire class. She would be remiss if she allowed him to simply snooze through the entire class. It was for his own good, really, so little miss Emerson would throw things at him if it meant he was doing his work (or at least pretending to). She was doing him a favor, so she didn't quite appreciate teasing, but she was used to it at this point, so it hardly bothered her enough to keep up The Stink Eye for very long.

Picking up the book they were supposed to be reading, she waved it at him in a meaningful way, a, "Hey look, you should probably be doing this," look in her eye as she did so. She then gave him a, "Now at least pretend like you're reading it," look before Jax's head could hit his desk again.


"Oh, good to hear!" Corbin said merrily in response to Markus's assurance that he's been minding his injury. He was unaware of Valdar's regenerative capabilities, but even so, he knew that his hand should be doing rather well. Alien technology far surpassed humans' in its ability to heal injuries quickly. Still, regardless of just how well and how quickly the man's broken knuckles were healing, Plagarius still wanted him to be careful with his hand. Even though there was a low risk of doing any further damage, the doctor wanted to make sure that his companion's hand had the chance to recover fully before the athlete returned to his usual activities.

The nurse remained quiet, then, curious as to how his supposed brother and his new friend would interact. He saw no reason for them to dislike one another, but Plagarius was still the tiniest bit worried, anyways. This was common amongst Corvonians, for they always wanted all of their friends and family members to be on good terms with one another. To see two of their friends upset or angry with each other would be devastating, so while the bird-like aliens were generally very accepting of just about everyone, there was always a touch of worry at first when introducing two people for the first time. That wasn't the only concern, however. Plagarius did not claim to know much about Valdar, but he knew that he had apparently been treated very poorly by others in the past. While the doctor knew that Ferdinand would never act so cruelly, he wondered if Valdar would be able to tell that this human wasn't a threat. Would he be overly cautious of the man, fearful that he was another who would treat him with ill regard? The doctor didn't think so, for Valdar had warmed up to the other Brotherhood members quite well. Still, this was a rather different scenario, for Ferdinand wasn't another member of their faction, but a complete stranger, in Valdar's eyes. Plagarius could only hope that the two of them got along well, and that his alien companion wasn't unsettled by the human in any way.

Dax grinned at her Stink Eye. Part of the fun of teasing her was to see her be seemingly mad at him, only to fail at actually being at all "mean" or even keeping up the charade for long. The girl was about as scary as a kitten, and knowing this, Dax found it fun to test the waters to see what kind of reaction he would get out of her. He doubted there would ever be any real repercussions for his actions, so he felt safe in pursuing his little game. Besides, he figured that Rachel's inability to stay upset with him for very long had to mean that she was a little amused with him on some level. Dax couldn't understand how she wouldn't find this game fun. It was definitely better than focusing on school work.

The boy took note of the book she was waving. He sighed, his grin fading. Getting the message, he began searching through his jacket to see if he had a book of any kind on him. He failed to find any. Dax looked back at her with a more playful smile and shrugged. Oh well, guess I can't do the assignment then. He clearly wasn't bothered by this discovery at all, proven by the fact that his head immediately hit his desk. He didn't close his eyes, though, instead keeping them on Rachel. He knew she'd have a response to that, and while he pretty much knew what that would be, he still kind of wanted to see it.



Syndral remained in her protective shell, her face concealed and arms crossed, while Ms. Espinoza went over the rules of the classroom. She had tuned the teacher out by this point, not even bothering to listen to her. She didn't care about anything she had to say. The class didn't matter. She didn't need to learn anything here. Heck, she could teach the class if she wanted to. So there was certainly no reason to pay attention. Instead, the Zvarranik decided to focus her mind on other things.

She closed her eyes and began reciting the periodic table of elements by memory in her mind. It was a tactic she had taught herself to do over the years to calm the mind whenever she was particularly stressed or upset. The list of facts in her mind were soothing to her, as it was something concrete, easy to understand, and not likely at all to change. Syndral found that repeating something like that from memory gave her mind something else to focus on that was healthier for her sanity. She couldn't always afford to distract herself in this manner, but it was always a comfort when she could. The Zvarranik in particular liked using the periodic table due to how easy it was to just repeat the elements from memory, and also due to the number of elements that could be used. Just doing something, like counting to ten, often wasn't enough for her. However, by the time she finished the periodic table, her mind was more at ease. Sometimes Syndral didn't even need to finish it, although she normally still would just for the sake of completion. Rarely did completing the table do nothing for her, but when it did, she normally moved on to naming her robots.

Pausing for a moment, I reach out and take the strangers hand, warily but still trying to be welcoming. I may be cautious and wary of most people, but I am as courteous and friendly as I can be as to not offend anyone. My eyes sparkle as I take his hand in mine and shake hands. There is something about this person that makes me feel not so afraid. I believe I can trust him despite whatever my past tries to tell me. A small smile form on my face as I speak to him. Behind me the students are warming up for the next round of lacrosse, you can hear laughter and see them enjoying the warmth of the sun as well as this class. I do my best to make all feel welcome and enjoy my classes. It really helps that I am a very understanding and compassionate teacher, who is willing to listen and even help my students overcome their difficulties. Whether it be a personal or a physical one, I am always there will to help, with the assistance of others if necessary. Despite all this however, an great emptiness remains within. I am the last of a race, only known through lore and nothing else. With a sight but polite bow, I speak.

"Nice to meet you as well. It's good to see that my brother, is making friends here. Would you two care to join in," I saying motioning toward the game of lacrosse behind me.

Ms. Espinoza moved on to grade distribution, which Morph didn't care to hear about either. By then, he started second guessing himself. "I didn't have to tell her that they were talking about her. I could have just said me, but I don't want to look like I can't handle being talked about-- and I can, I don't care about what those idiot children say. I just hate myself for getting so violent and screwing up so much yesterday-- GOD, why did I have to act up THEN of all the possible days, on all the possible missions?!--"

He squeezed his hands and forced himself to cease those thoughts. If he had learned anything, it was to not let past mistakes rule his mind and actions. While it was good to recognize when he was in the wrong, and how to prevent the wrong from happening again, it was terribly unhealthy to focus on it and let them dictate his mood. And he had learned that the hard way.

Everything was back to normal and everyone else had moved on, so he instead refocused his train of thought on other subjects. "... Did I smile too wide? Oh god, I smiled too wide, didn't I? It looked weird and she's going to think I'm weird, DAMN IT--"

"... Now get your parents to sign this, because that's something teachers are supposed to do, apparently. I'll know when you haven't payed attention to the syllabus, because you're grades will shoot underground and fly up into China, but whatever, I don't make the rules," the teacher chimed with a shrug. "So, ANYWAY," she sighed loudly, "now that that's out of the way, let's start with the first chapter."

//I have to get back into this quick because I know if I get back into this in the mood ill feel more inclined to stay but if I don't take this rare opportunity where I'm back in the rp mood I might lose it again. Is there anyway I can get a tl;dr so i can hop right in? PM is fine if you dont wanna flood this with replies to me ooc
I feel awful i let you guys down and kept coming back saying I was staying and i was gonna open up outcast camp again but I mean it this time. I'm back and I'll open Outcast camp and post here fairly frequently soon but uh.....tl;dr?//

Okay, I'll give you the gist.
Before class: Rachel meets up with Diane and Mort after detention, and the two girls have a sort of socially awkward conversation.
First Period: In Mr. White's class, Rachel, Jax, Vester, and Telai are mildly reprimanded for being late (only Telai was truly late: Elim had set the clock a few minutes late to trick the students as part of his "study".) Jax refuses to work until Mr. White deprives him of a way to sleep through class. This was the introduction of three new characters.
In Mr. Normandy's class, Mort and Diane find out that Ardunayne is with them, Mort having recognized her. They both happened to have history with her. They talk after class and make arrangements to meet at Syndral's after school. This was the introduction of Ardunayne.
Second Period: In Mr. White's class, Anahita (Ardunayne) and Elim recognize each other. She flirtatiously taunts him, which pisses him off.
In Mr. Normandy's class, Rachel meets Vester and has a conversation before class begins. She then tries to get Jax to stop sleeping.
In Ms. Espinoza's class, Diane and Mort keep their guard up to avoid further harassment from the teacher. Mort overhears a hushed conversation about how weird him and Diane are. This pisses him off (and considering the context, sort of embarrasses him), and he tells Diane. She feels bad about not fitting in, and he insists that she will eventually.
The bell had only just rung a few minutes ago, so class had just begun.

While the day has been passing, Mr. Beake (Plagarus) and Mr. Valentine (the school psychologist) have a conversation. Right now, Mr. Beake is introducing him to Markus (Valdar) in the school gym (or in the field? I couldn't tell).

To save you time, we assumed that Zurgon was distracted by other people for the day so far, but you be the judge of that. Based on his schedule, he could have seen Rachel, Diane, and Mort talk before class, and Anahita, Diane, and Mort meet after first period. He probably saw Anahita tease Mr. White, since that's his second period class.

That's basically it, I think. Anyone else, feel free to add any more details you deem important.

((OOC: That about sums everything up. The only thing I can think of to add is that Vuxta and Telai are in History class right now for Second Period.))

//sorry I'm so odd and I come and go. I want you all to like me ;-;
so many new characters ahhhh. I'm gonna be so rusty for a page probably, forgive me.
Also I'm changing Zurgon. I don't remember some things about his backstory and the things I do remember I might change. Just assume that everything I say now that contradicts Zurgon's past background and personality is canon and previous pages which state otherwise are not.//

Zurgon had been spaced out for most of the day, it wasn't unlike him to check out from his surroundings every once in a while in favor of taking himself rather to fantasy than the dull reality that was English and Math class. He was absolutely not looking forward to today, Mr. White had promised Zurgon another pretest which would surmise his true intelligence in the subject, and that, in turn, would determine his placement into a more advanced math class. As the hands on the clock slowly ticked by, Zurgon fluttered off deeper into his false reality, daydreaming of the wonders of the human world which he'd still yet to discover to his discontent as he had been much too busy since his arrival due to studying the humans before even being allowed to meet them and explore their world. He hoped that his odd personality would not turn others away from him as it had on his home planet, instead hoping he would be able to go out and explore the world with friends he'd make, and while it was true he'd met a few people he liked: Rachel and Mort, Zurgon still knew they didn't truly consider him their friend, at least, not yet.

As Mr. White handed out the papers Zurgon snapped back into reality, noticing the handouts and, once again, their ease. Mr. White had made it evident that Zurgon would be receiving another pretest to see if he was truly ready for an advanced class, but it seemed he'd gotten the same sheet as everyone else, maybe this was what Mr. White had been talking about? Hesitation set in, Zurgon wasn't sure if he should answer all the questions correctly or if he should feign incompetence in at least a couple of questions, he instead opted for the former, he was aware that even humans could be exceptional in brainpower and he'd pretend that that was what he was: an exceptionally smart human. Zurgon did, however, take his time, not wanting to seem too smart.

//Short post I know, but I can't write much cuz I'm not sure everything that's going on 100% oop//

((OOC: Oh sweetheart, you're fine! We all love you! You don't have to worry about a thing!))

As he went about grading papers, Mr. White would glance up every so often to observe his subjects of study. Some seemed to be writing things down in their assignment, others had a mix of confusion and frustration written on their features as they read their papers over and over again. Others still simply didn't seem to care, either pretending to be engrossed in their work or not even bothering, staring out the window or dozing lightly with their head propped on one fist. Not much could be discerned by merely watching them, really. He'd get the results he needed once class was over and he graded their assignments, seeing just how well - or poorly - they all did. Still, he wasn't about to neglect taking this time to study them, even if he was trying to avoid looking one particular "student" in the eye.

He was just about to lower his gaze and return to grading papers when something caught his eye. Or rather, someone. Peering discreetly over the rim of his glasses, he took a closer look. Ah yes, it was Mr. Blair. He had nearly forgotten about him, as regrettable and unprofessional as that sounded. Ms. Undefinedo must have thrown him off more than he would have liked to admit if she had nearly distracted him from what was a very interesting subject of study. As he had demonstrated yesterday, Mr. Blair was quite different from his other classmates. His intellect was remarkable in comparison. On the first day of school, he had considered the possibility that the young man was merely overconfident in his own abilities, but having long since graded his pretest from the previous day, it was quite apparent that it was not a matter of arrogance or pride, but legitimate intelligence on Mr. Blair's part. That made him a worthy creature to study by all means. And that was what Elim intended to do.

Rising from his seat and stepping soundlessly across the room, Mr. White approached the young man's desk. Once he was there, he made sure that he had the desk's occupant's attention before saying softly, as not to disturb the other students - and to seem less threatening than he usually did - "I believe we had arranged for another pretest for you to take, Mr. Blair?" It was posed as a question, perhaps to make the message seem gentler in a sense, when in reality Shane really didn't have a choice about this. Elim was going to test this child's intelligence with or without his consent, but he felt it beneficial to take a different approach from his usual methods. He was going to need to keep Mr. Blair within his reach if he was going to study him properly, and if he was going to manage that, he couldn't have the young man fear him the same way the other students might. He needed some degree of trust, or at the very least, something, anything to keep from scaring the boy off before he had a chance to properly analyze his behavior and just what made him tick. He had to be... nice, for the lack of a better word, something that Elim... Well, this would be an interesting experiment, to say the least.

//So Outcast Camp got closed cuz inactivity, dumb imo but whatever, I'll re-open it if people are still interested and we can continue from the new topic.
Also i'm changing Zurgon to not be as obnoxious, I don't like that he was mentally 12 and incompetent at everything and severely adhd, I just can't handle how obnoxious he used to be. So he'll change p drastically probably. Zurgon tends to change as I change, when i first started I was immature, hyper and hormonal, then he became depressed as I became depressed, and now he's gonna be a bit more mature and mellow, but he'll still be Zurgon-y//

In all honesty Zurgon had fully expected Mr. White to have forgotten about him, he seemed the type not to focus on those lesser than he was, and yet lo and behold here he was, the menacing bespectacled man hovering about the youth. As the words crept out of the man's mouth time seemed to stop in its tracks for a moment before moving again slowly, every word escaping his mouth ringing through Zurgon's head as it traveled through one ear and then through the next. He'd hoped that the pretest was all but forgotten but seemingly, or rather, obviously, it was not. He thought it best not to delay in response, and he also thought it best not to mope, he was here to learn after all, at all costs, and this would be a unique experience that he could relay to his superiors, and besides, Zurgon had been rather depressing the past day of school, and that was in the past. "Yes sir." He tried to keep his voice down so as not to disrupt the other students, although as it was obvious even to Zurgon, no one had any idea what the hell they were doing. "We did, If I'm being honest I'm a bit worried it won't be a challenge, even in the advanced class, but I'm willing to try."

------

If the school had been a jungle, he would be the highest of predators: the almighty tiger, stalking its prey, and that was exactly what he was doing. His footsteps formed waves of bursting sound throughout the otherwise silent hallway, or at least they would if he didn't step so silently that only the smallest of bugs could even feel the stealthy vibrations, a wonder as he was so large in stature. Locker, locker, classroom, locker, locker, locker, classroom, bathroom, locker, locker, Ms. Espinoza's classroom. Finally he'd reached his destination, he knew exactly what lay beyond that door, a menacing grin overtook his face, the grin that was the last thing his prey ever saw, but it would be the first that she saw. Slowly he cracked open the door, creaking as he did so, and once again as he closed it behind himself, and just like that, he was Rexar no more.
"Sorry, is this Mrs. Espinoza's classroom?" The man said as he fumbled to open up a crinkled piece of paper that he retrieved from his pocket. "I'm supposed to meet with Mr.s Bridgett Espinoza, I'm her Teacher's Aide." His eyes scanned the classroom in his peripherals, and there he sat, his object of desire: his prey, Morph Mitosm.

OOC: Ah shoot, I had a feeling I was missing something. Thanks!
I'm excited to see how Zurgon has changed!


Mort gave an uninterested glance up at the sound of the door cracking. He thought nothing more of the man who entered, other than he must have been a dean intent on whatever business he needed to attend to regarding Ms. E. That is, until he spoke. He instantly recognized that voice. He tensed and froze over, his mind racing.

"Oh for the love of ****, it's Rexar! Damn it, what is he doing here?!"

That internal question was moot to answer. For one, Rexar had just explained why he was there. But also, he knew why he had chosen this class, of all the others, to apply for the role of teacher's aide. Morph and Syndral were there, away from the safety of the other agents, free for the picking. Rexar just wanted a chance where he could taunt and frustrate the two, who were the most responsive to his behavior so far, without them being able to retaliate as they wished. Not that Morph would have retaliated much. He knew what would happen if he made him angry.

"Just fan-****ing-tastic. Now not only do I have to deal with Ms. E's bullcrap, I have to deal with Rexar, of all people, too?! In THIS class?! Why did it have to be THIS CLASS, of all of them?!"

While Morph was having his silent freak out, Ms. E had responded in her usual cheery fashion. "Oh, that would be me! I was wondering when you'd pop in, come on inside!" she ushered the man in. "Mr. Turner, right?" By now she had eyed him up and down with intrigue and tilted her head. "Well, you're a tall one, aren't you? I only saw your face in the picture, but I wasn't quite expecting this." With a facetious chuckle, she then abruptly turned towards the class again. "And good thing, too, because we got a rough looking bunch around here!" She gestured to the class, some members laughing quietly, and made eye contact between Diane and Mort specifically. Mort scowled and averted his gaze down.

"Anyway," she continued, turning back to Mr. Turner, "We were just about to begin the first chapter, so feel free to take up a seat and get an idea of how we do things here," she gestured at the chair behind her desk. "When I get them working, I'll elaborate on things. Oh, and, it's Ms. Espinoza," she added casually with a shrewd, mildly sarcastic smile, before finally continuing her lecture. "Okay, get out your notes, class! We'll be listing down all the things that makes life 'life', and how to tell biotic and abiotic factors apart..."

((OOC: How did Outcast Camp get closed while High School vs. Aliens somehow managed to stay alive during my long periods of absence? I don't pretend to understand.
Zurgon was never obnoxious, Lunarz. I do think all of our characters have changed over the years as we the roleplayers have changed. But like Waaksian said, I'm excited to see how Zurgon's changed! ))


Elim blinked habitually in approval at Shane's cooperation - something which, realizing he'd done it, was probably something he should learn not to do. He doubted any of the humans would find it suspicious, and even if there was a Brotherhood agent out and about, he doubted that they would pick up on his alien expressions. Targibbons were practically an unknown species even to other aliens, so he doubted that even Brotherhood agents would be able to pick up on and recognize Targibbon attributes. Still, he wasn't about to rely on his enemies' ignorance. There were some things he needed to change in his own behavior if he was going to blend in more with the humans.

As Shane went on, expressing his concerns that even advanced math may still not prove challenging enough for him, Mr. White murmured, "If that is indeed the case, we will simply continue searching for material that does challenge you." And Elim meant that. Mr. Blair's intelligence was something he intended to explore fully. If that meant that he would have to bring out material that wasn't even part of this year's designated coursework, then he would, even if that wasn't what a math teacher was really "supposed" to do. If Shane required something above 12th grade math in order to test his knowledge, then Mr. White would find it and procure it without hesitation.

Setting a packet of paper on the boy's desk, Elim told him simply, "Complete this to the best of your ability." As he rose to his full height to walk back to his desk, he added, "I anticipate seeing just what you are capable of." With that, he made his way back to his desk - giving Ardunayne a wide berth, as usual - before settling down and resuming grading papers as if his conversation with Mr. Blair hadn't happened.


((OOC: Hey Lunarz, this is something I've been meaning to do for a while and I'm just now finally getting around to it: I'm going to be editing past posts of mine where Elim is reacting to Rexar's arrival. As I look back on it now, Elim didn't react the way I feel he should have, so I'll be editing my posts there. I may edit other past posts fixing minor details about Elim's thoughts or actions, but I'll give you guys the specific post number if/when I do that.
EDIT: I've finished editing my posts regarding Elim reacting to Rexar's arrival. I still have to skim through the roleplay and check to see if there's any other little thing I want to tweak slightly.))

Syndral finished reciting the periodic table in her mind and took a deep breath. More at ease now, she lowered her hood. She hadn't been paying any attention to her surroundings, until she heard a new yet familiar voice. Her eyes shot open and darted to the front of the room. Her gaze narrowed on the large man that had entered. She quickly raised her hood back up. She tensed up and her grip tightened on her folded arms.

Of course Rexar would be here of all classes. Ms. Espinoza was bad enough, but now there was another enemy to deal with. Syndral was in no mood to deal with him, especially not now. There was no reason for this puwit to be here. If he thought the school setting would give him authority and power over her, then he was sorely mistaken.

Syndral observed the two interact with a piercing glare. She listened intently to every word. She gave a subtle hiss to the laughter and the eye contact directed towards her and Morph. When Ms. Espinoza told the class to get out their notes, Syndral didn't budge an inch. She was too tense to take notes right now, not that she even needed to. The class wasn't her concern, but the ones in charge of it were.

//tmw you just get back into rp and you're still rusty as all hell and tryna find your groove//

Mr White's class was, in the most delicate way possible: boring. However, Zurgon knew this was his mission, he had to take this opportunity, he could learn a lot from how the humans think, how far along their math has come, how far they still need to go before perfecting space travel and if they'd really figured out what two plus two was yet. He knew that this mission wouldn't be all fun and games, and Mr. White truly personified that aspect, of course this was what he wanted; he wanted the human experience handed to him on a silver platter, and boy was the platter silver, if only the alien knew what he was getting himself into.

Right, easy, easy, easy, ooh this one's actually hard, oh wait no it's not. Well that's a typo, easy, easy, done.

Allowing himself a bit of time to think, Zurgon looked around the room scoping out the others students, seeing how quickly and efficiently they were doing their quizzes, he hoped that the fact that he'd done the test with such ease in such a short amount of time didn't give away anything. Zurgon calmed himself, it was foolish for anyone to infer that just because someone was good at math meant that they were extraterrestrial, E.T. wasn't good at math, so why would that be the implication through any means that someone was an otherworldly being? A deep breath of air found itself absorbing through Zurgon's skin and slowly being pushed back out. The Zarn cringed at the thought of having to be in a conversation with Mr. White for more than a millisecond, something was off about him, or maybe Zurgon's hope and desire of what he aspired the human race to be like was what was getting in the way, he'd hoped humans would be different from his people, more righteous and courteous, so far he didn't have enough evidence to conclude either. Softly Zurgon placed the piece of paper on Mr. White's desk, he could feel his blood turn hot from its usual ice cold just being near Mr. White, he just didn't understand how someone could come off as so....Hateful? No, not hateful....He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but Mr. White seemed to have his own agenda, although it was also possible Zurgon was judging him incorrectly, maybe he was just different in school, scarier so as to make the children want to do their work, inspire them through fear, whatever it was, Zurgon headed back to his desk and awaited whatever came next.

------

Enjoyment, contentment, joy, oh there were just far too many words to describe Rexar's emotions as he peered through the corner of his eyes at Morph Mitosm silently squirming in his seat. Finally. He thought. Finally I will h- Rexar's train of thought immediately hit the brakes. Oh....Oh that's good....I'm a genius. Rexar made great use of his short window of opportunity when Ms. Espinoza decided to avert her gaze from the disguised man and look towards her pupils, making the biggest, most sinister grin possible towards Mort to let him know that he had just come up with an idea.

Rexar, Or: Rex, as he was now known through the pure art of subtlety, took a seat as he was invited to and when the vivacious latina woman corrected her marriage status, Rexar took the opportunity to open his mouth and respond with the most incredibly flirtatious, sarcastic remark. "What a shame." He made sure Mort heard, he made sure Mort knew his intentions, oh he knew that Mort knew what he was up to, and it was good.

Morph barely noticed that Syndral seemed just as frazzled and defensive as he felt, and could only think about how disastrous this scenario would surely turn out. But to his dismay, Rexar's affiliation with the class was hardly the worst of it. His jaw dropped.

"Did he... is he... did he SERIOUSLY just--"

When Mr. Turner retorted with his shamelessly coy response, Ms. Espinoza whirled around to face him, sporting a wide, coquettish grin. "I know, isn't it? He's missing out," she flashed him a quick wink.

"ARE YOU ****ING KIDDING ME?!"

"Ooooooh!" some class members reacted cheekily.

"Yeah, yeah, we teachers gotta have some fun, you know?" she waved her hand dismissively. "Moving on, viruses are an example of things that fit into some of the categories, but not enough to be considered a living thing..."

Morph's skin crawled with disgust. His blood boiled with wrath. He was livid. "Is he SERIOUSLY trying to make moves on the teacher?! We have a job to do, and he's FLIRTING WITH THE ENEMY?!?" And that wasn't all. Ms. E had actually responded to his advances. Positively. He could not believe that this was happening. Rexar had the gaul to behave so unprofessionally in front of his comrades, in front of EVERYONE, and this idiot woman was EGGING HIM ON?!

At this point, Mort was nearly seething with rage, teeth bared and fingers clawed into the desk. Had anyone been able to see, his fur was standing on end, and his skin was flushed indigo. He couldn't believe that this lady reacted in any way other than complete disapproval. It pissed him off beyond anything that had since the beginning of the mission. "Yeah, we get it, Rexar! We get it! You're a ****ing flirt, we GET IT! STOP SHOVING IT DOWN OUT THROATS LIKE IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HERE!!"

Ms. Espinoza halted with a start. "Oh! What am I doing?" she laughed. "I should at least let you introduce yourself first!" She gestured for Mr. Turner to stand in the front of the class.

"Oh **** no, don't let him talk, ****!!"

//quick character change: rexar wears a tie now, that is all.//

Rex formed a genuine smile at the offer from who was starting to look like the only thing he'd like on this planet, if this woman kept giving him these opportunities to screw with Mort he might just have to mount and mate with her on the spot. The muscular man slowly rose from his seat, he wasn't sure if it was a hallucination from his joy of this current situation, or if it was real but he swore he could smell the sweetest scent, like a lilac drenched in sweet sweet honey, and the sound of angels, strumming their harps as he took to the front of the class, eager to commence with Operation: Devastate Morph.

"Ahem."

"I remember when I was young and in school...So many possibilities ahead of me, I suppose we all come full circle in the end because look at where I am now, back in school, a place that taught me a great many things: how to tie a knot, how to read, how to make a friend." He directed his eyes at Mort. "I'm sure I know what you're thinking: "How could I possibly relate to this guy." Well, let me assure you, I am most certainly not like any other Teacher's Aide you've met before." Something Mort knew all too well. "I want to inspire, to help, to learn. So, if you guys ever need help or just want someone to chill with during a spare, feel free to ask me....I suppose a little about myself, ah, I'm fairly young as you can obviously tell by my dashing looks" He gave a chuckle. "But I'm a big fan of old space movies, when Luke fires that shot into the ventilation shaft of the Death Star and the Rebels win the day" Rexar began to mimic flying a ship, tilting back and forth, firing lasers at the imaginary enemy. It was clear he'd done his research on humans, in fact, Rexar found it pertinent to study every race possible in his free time if ever he should need to blend. "Now, I'd like to know a bit about you if that's alright with Bridgett, I mean, Ms. Espinoza...." Rexar began to ask students of their interests, after about three or four he turned all his attentions to Mort. "How about you? You look like a smart guy, I bet you're a real babe magnet with that fiery hair of yours, c'mon, tell me a little bit about yourself, I'm sure everyone's dyyying to know."

The class was now oddly attentive, no doubt because of the unorthodox event that had just occurred. This man had proven to be more interesting than the bulk of teachers by a long shot. And despite his intimidating, militaristic appearance, he seemed to blend right into the school environment, as friendly and approachable as he was coming off. Morph knew better, however. It was nothing more than a ploy, which was very much necessary-- required, in fact-- due to the nature of their mission. Regardless, that didn't meant that he was happy about it.

Mort sat there stewing, glaring hard at the top of his desk, forgoing any glance up as if a second longer of seeing Mr. Turner would have made a blood vessel burst in his head. With crushing dread, he could no longer avoid acknowledgement of the man, as he was now towering over him, metaphorically poking and prodding him in ways that alarmed him. Morph knew that he had a reason for coming to "greet" him at his desk, and every single word he said had some point behind it.

"'Babe magnet??' What is he-- WH-- WHAT-- HE DOESN'T THINK--- ****!!"

Mort's face would have been almost as red as his hair, had his disguise been programmed to register the vibrant flush his hidden skin was obtaining. Rexar couldn't POSSIBLY think that he was-- no, of course not. It was just part of the act. Shane thought that he had a crush on Diane, which was NOT true, it only seemed that way because he was hanging around her so much. It pissed him off when he was questioned, and Rexar had made it clear last night that he was watching them, so that's where it was coming from. It meant nothing more than that. Morph didn't have actual feelings for Syndral; the inference that he did just angered him. Yes, that was what it was. Rexar just wanted to tap into that and harass him.

With that self-assurance, he managed to calm himself and cool down. His mind now clearing somewhat from the permeate fog of strong emotions, he racked his thoughts for some sort of witty response, a way to distill the tension. He got it. "Gingers have no soul, sir. All the girls in this school know that," he said in a low tone, not looking up from his desk. A few of the students laughed, which relieved more of his stress.

When he heard the shifting of a chair across the floor, no doubt caused by someone getting up from their seat, Mr. White flicked his eyes up to see who it was. His eyes - which had been hardened, prepared to deal with any student who might be up and about for no other reason than to cause trouble - softened ever so slightly when he saw it was Mr. Blair. It was hardly a noticeable change in those fake human eyes of his, and "softened" was hardly the best term to describe their transition. It was more accurate to say that they went from stern to slightly less stern, for even in his human disguise, Elim was hardly capable of anything other than stern or nonchalant.

In any case, when he saw that it was Shane, his stare lessened in its intimidation factor, though it was no less intense now than it was before, for now his eyes possessed an almost hawk-like look in them, one that conveyed a keen interest. Well, Mr. Blair had certainly finished up very quickly, not at all unlike the way he had on the first day. When the boy placed the paper on his desk, Mr. White said nothing to him, but he did take the packet to assess just how well this... particular student of interest had done. The math teacher kept his eyes on Shane until he returned to his seat, almost as if watching his very movements would help in discerning just what he was. Only when he settled back into his seat did Elim finally divert his gaze and settle his eyes on Shane's second pretest, which he began to grade right then and there. His red pen hovered over the problems as he went, but never did he make a single mark. He hadn't expected to, really.

When he finished grading the second pretest - never once using that red pen - he contemplated the implications of the boy's test results. Well, he was indeed intelligent. This particular pretest had covered all the mathematics encompassing this entire year's worth of work, also including much harder questions that were aimed at more exceptional students. Well, Mr. Blair certainly applied in that regard. Compared to his other human classmates, he might as well have been a savant. But just how far did this boy's intelligence go? Just what math problem would finally be enough to make him pause? And did he excel in math alone? Were there other areas of study in which he performed exceptionally? It was hardly his place as a mere math teacher to ponder the boy's skills outside of this particular classroom, but Elim was hardly a simple math teacher. He would uncover just how intelligent - and in what areas - Mr. Blair was, even if he had to use rather... unorthodox methods.

For now, however, Shane would be safe from any further testing. Mr. White hardly had the material on hand needed to delve deeper into this young man's mind. Still, that didn't mean that Elim wouldn't continue to watch him today, very closely, at that.


Jax grinning at her Stink Eye made her want to give him The Stink Eye 2.0, but she didn't. Any attempts at seeming more fearsome than she actually was would surely only make herself look sillier than before, and no doubt make Jax more amused than ever. Besides, they couldn't go trading weird looks and silly faces all day. Rachel had work to do, and while she took it upon herself to try to get Jax to at least pretend he was doing his work, she wasn't about to mess around and waste her own time when she had work of her own that needed to get done. All she really wanted was to be reading her book like she was supposed to be doing, but her conscience or some little person perched on her shoulder or whatever wouldn't allow her to simply let Jax snooze through the entire class. She wanted him to do well, darn it! And if that meant tossing erasers at his head or giving him Stink Eyes, then so be it.

When he made a show of searching for the book and ultimately neglecting to find it, his head hitting the desk in a resigned, Oh well, so much for that, Rachel gave him a deadpan look that seemed to say, Really? She waved her own book at him again, giving him a look that basically said, Find it. Actually look for it and find it.

OOC: Wyrlin, don't forget about Mr. Bleake and his friend with me, Valdar, human alias, Markus, outside in the warm afternoon sun, with his class, prepping for a lacrosse game.

((OOC: I'm pretty sure we're waiting for Cipher to post with Ferdinand. I'll have to contact her and see if she's still alive. X3))

Dax sighed, banishing the amusement from his face. He sat up and continued his search through his jacket. He pulled out his schedule, and held it out so Rachel could see, before placing it on the desk. He did the same with his lunch money as well. Then he pulled out the broken ruler pieces, which he still needed to throw away, and placed them on the desk. He took a moment to search his jacket thoroughly, turning the pockets inside out. Dax even took his jacket off, held it out, and shook it a few times to see if anything would fall out. Nothing did. He folded his jacket on the back of the chair. The shirt he was wearing could plainly be seen now. It was a grey shirt, with a picture of Garfield on it, that said "I'm only lazy when I'm awake."

After all that, Dax looked at the girl and gave a shrug. I don't know what you want from me, Rach, I don't have the book. He even took a moment to look around his desk for a backpack. Not finding one, as he almost never carried one, he pretended to search through an invisible backpack. Dax gave another shrug that seemed a bit sassy this time. Can't find what I don't have, Rach, sorry. What, did they hand them out on the first day or something?



Syndral listened intently as Rexar rambled on, studying him very closely. While she didn't actually care about anything he had to say, she was learning about him by focusing her attention on him. She took note of how easily he seemed to blend in as a human. She had noticed that movie reference, and even though she didn't get it herself she did see that Rexar had clearly done his research. She hated to admit it to herself, but he was doing a better job of fitting in as a human. The Zvarranik knew that she could never blend in with another race like that.

Her glare intensified with a hardly subtle hiss as Rexar made his way over to Morph's desk. Syndral watched him like a predator eyeing a rival predator that was about to steal some meat. It didn't even register to her what Rexar was saying exactly, she was too busy thinking of a way to get him to back off. After a moment, she thought she had come up with a subtle way of sending the message.

In one, quick swoop, Syndral had sent her books flying off her desk. Some had gotten enough range that she would have to get up from her seat to retrieve them. "Oh, how clumsy of me," she said in a dry tone. Without hesitation or even permission, she rose from her seat to get them. "Just give me a moment to clean this up." After retrieving a book that had landed by Rexar, she rose and gave him a glare. "After all, they were placed in my care. They are my responsibility. I should be the one to clean up after them, and I do not require any assistance." She gave a more subtle hiss.

//Okay I'm making a list of strengths, weaknesses, backstory and facts about Zurgon and the Zarn and Rexar and the Skargoran's. I might share it at some point. I've struck a few things said by Zurgon about him and his race away because I don't some of the stuff I decided prior to recently. For one, I think it was said Zarn are more cold and mean and emotionless and they don't really care about love as they have mating rituals every few years and mating isn't love it's purely for breeding but I didn't like that, so now Zarn are actually p cool and approachable and some have big personalities and are p chill, and they mate for life and they use more conventional ways to find love like humans do//

It was easy to tell that Syndral would be the hardest of the Order members to extort, of course that didn't mean she was without weakness, she had already made it abundantly clear that she cared for too much about how Rexar interacted and treated her fellow teammates, even going so far as to threaten him with such an adorable metaphor, of course this pleased Rexar as now he knew where to hit her hardest if ever the time came to do so.

Rexar, now Mr. Turner, shot an overly friendly smile at Diane as she spoke to him with such courage, he was surprised she had the gall to do such a thing to him when he could so easily crush her and mold her into a small sphere with his four large hands. "You really should be careful with your things, someone may end up stepping on them, and I really don't think you'd want that would you?" He turned his attention back to Ms. E, it was becoming clear that the humans were a fan of the "Cool Dude Uncle" persona, so he felt that he should continue to use it, although he felt that the "Suave Gentleman" persona worked far more well on Ms. E, so he'd have to alternate between the two depending on the situation. Rexar was adept at portraying multiple forms of personality as he'd learned many from all the different species and cultures he'd had to blend in with and, sometimes, destroy. "Ah, my apologies Bridgett, I took much more of your classes time than I should've, I sure hope these incredibly intelligent and attractive students of yours didn't mind."

//Rexar as a human isn't going to have just one defining personality, there's a reason but I can't really reveal it, just know if Rexar is acting different as a human than he did in the last few posts, it's intentional.//

The short laughter had abruptly quieted, as Diane had so swiftly swiped her belongings on the floor. The class was taken aback. Mort had frozen up in shock, and couldn't take his eyes off the spectacle. Yet, he couldn't seem to decide what part of the spectacle he should focus on, as his attention darted from Diane, to the books, and to Mr. Turner repeatedly. He had no idea that Syndral would respond with such... violence. Not that he'd never seen the Zvarranik in action-- he had seen that many times before this mission-- but when she had it made sense. But now, in this supposedly "safe" environment? In front of all these students? It left him frazzled, as well as the way she verbally retaliated.

"Syndral, is this your idea of subtlety?? I know he's trying to upstage you, and you want to stand your ground, but we can't let anyone see that we know each other! Not like THIS!"

At Mr. Turner's dangerously calm reply, Mort's gaze became trapped on Diane, with worried anticipation. This man was treading on dangerous waters now. He should know better than to threaten Syndral's belongings. Morph assumed he was insinuating that he would break her electronics and other personal items, which was a very bad move. Never mess with a Zvarranik's toys.

"Oh, no, don't you worry!" Ms. E chimed, her demeanor unfazed by the sudden change in atmosphere. Although, her gaze flicked to Diane in the likeness of a bird of prey perched upon a branch, honing in on a small rustle in the bushes underneath. Whatever was crossing through her mind never made itself heard, however. "Believe me, they don't mind. They'd love any chance they can get to not hear me squawking away about lectures, right class?" They laughed, although a little more tensely than before.

Ardunayne found minimal trouble in the assignment that Mr. White had handed out to the class. She was moderately used to these sorts of challenges, and found few troubles in the area of mathematics. Admittedly, Ardunayne wasn't majorly concerned about the grade she received on the test. She wasn't here for that; she didn't care for that. She knew she had likely gotten at least a couple wrong, hadn't worried about doing so. Besides, if she knew anything about Elim, she knew he would purposely put the most challenging material for the class on the test, and that he likely wasn't expecting most of the students to get the questions correct. She gazed up at him, smiling to think he might be getting some degree of entertainment out of that knowledge. She spent a while staring at the teacher upon completing her assignment, in fact, considering which method she should use to further approach him. She doubted he would take much interest in the small hearts she had doodled all over her paper. Oh, he would certainly notice them - that much wasn't even up for debate - the point more so was that he wouldn't necessarily care about them. She took a few more seconds to gaze upon him before finally looking back down at her desk, if for no other reason than to search for a specific object.

As she ruffled through the many objects sitting on her desk, she easily managed to knock at least a couple over. Obnoxious clatters rang across the room as a couple different pencils were knocked to the ground, pencils she made zero effort to pick back up. It was a short time before she managed to find a spare sheet of paper. As she rose, sitting the paper upon the desk, she quickly came to realize she now needed the pencils she had knocked over. Ardunayne swiftly bent back over, stretching out her arm to pick the pencil back up. Then, she began writing upon the paper, scribbling with beautiful curls and many hearts her message. She wrote "Looking forward to speaking to you after class, darling". It wasn't too aggressive of a message, but it made it's point clearly. The most important aspect was simply getting his attention again, turning his gaze to her for even half a second.

Once she finished drawing a couple more hearts upon the note, she rose from her seat, taking both the test and the scrap of paper with her. Placing the test clearly upon his desk, she declared, "There you go, honey." She placed the note separately on the desk, pushing it towards him so there was no way he could act as though he didn't see it. "And a little something extra for you." She turned around with a wide swing, heading back to her seat.



Ferdinand was surprised to see Markus inviting him to join a game of sports. He had several times watched his own children try to play sports, but had never himself partaken. Admittedly, he did very much like lacrosse. It was a unique and interesting sport in his eyes, and one he was glad to see schools were beginning to offer programs for. "I'm not sure I'd be any good at a game such as that," Ferdinand admitted with a shy laugh, waving his hand in an attempt to dismiss his own actions. "The kids would likely perform far superior to myself." He was tempted to mention his own kids and the fact that they were more into sports than he, but he always took a moment to consider the cautions of speaking about his children too often. It was a thrilling subject to him by all means - most parents did like speaking of their own children - but not everyone else felt the same way. The years had firmly taught him that some people lived to hear about all the things your children did and others did everything in their power to avoid that subject matter. He decided to test the waters and move from there. "My children are better at lacrosse than I am."

//Maybe we should end slot 2 and move to slot 3? Unless there are things others want to keep doing in their classes.
Also, early on I made Zurgon be incredibly different from the rest of his species. Consider this Non-canon from now on. Zarn are personable and kind now, just advanced. I can answer any question about them if you guys wanna PM me cuz I've been working on the species background and stuff lately. But also, I made it clear early on Zurgon didn't have any friends, i'm changing this because the Zarn are no longer cold and loveless and mean. I'd love to get PM's if you guys have questions about him or his species, Rexar's species I haven't thought about too much yet however.//

((Sorry that I've been gone for a few days! I've finally been offered a job (!!!) and that's been taking up a lot of my attention. I still have "homework" to do on it: online courses I need to take in preparation for the job and the like. So I might not be on as much for the next week or two, but that's why.
And yeah, if everyone's alright with it, we can head on to the next class. :3))


Mr. White had been entirely engrossed in grading papers - or rather, making it seem as though he was grading papers when really he was processing what he has learned so far about Mr. Blair and the rest of the students here. It was his obligation to think over what he has observed thus far in this human setting, though there was no doubt that part of the reason his eyes were trained so intently on some piece of paper on his desk was so he could avoid meeting the eyes of a certain "student". At the clattering noise that sounded somewhere toward the front of the room, however, he couldn't simply ignore the incident without at least seeing what the disruption was about. Flicking his eyes up to meet the source of the sound, he determined - unsurprisingly - that it was the work of Ardunayne, which had undoubtedly been intentional. With a barely audible sigh, he lowered his gaze back to his desk, not in any mood to entertain her by playing her games. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on in that head of hers, but he didn't need to. He already knew that he wouldn't like it.

When he heard someone rising from their desk not long after, he didn't even need to look up to see who it was. He didn't raise his eyes to properly take note of her presence. He didn't move at all. He simply went about his business as if he hadn't heard a thing. Ardunayne, naturally, wasn't going to make it so easy to ignore her, however, for her assignment - as well as a piece of paper which was most certainly not her assignment - was placed in front of him on his desk, directly in his line of sight. Well, he wasn't going to be able to ignore her, but that didn't mean he had to acknowledge her, either. So as she spoke to him - using some ridiculous term of endearment as usual - he didn't say anything in reply, or even make a gesture to suggest that he'd heard her. He knew that the silent treatment wouldn't deter her in the slightest - and that it was by her own choosing to return to her seat, not that he had done anything to successfully drive her away - but he wasn't about to speak with her unless it pertained to the mission, which he hardly doubted it did.

Still, he could not neglect the possibility that she was sending him a professional message of sorts, so he reluctantly went over the contents of the "little something extra". It was written in her usual elegant cursive - though it went largely unnoticed by Elim, who lacked an appreciation for aesthetics such as this - and of course, was littered with little symbols of hearts. The Targibbon wasn't sure if she did this intentionally to make up for his anatomical - and metaphorical - lack of a heart, or if it simply added to her flirtatious demeanor towards him. It hardly mattered, for Elim focused more on the words themselves rather than the note's artistic appeal. It wasn't any shock that Ardunayne was going to hang around after class, though that didn't mean he was particularly thrilled by the confirmation of it. He only hoped that he could keep their interaction as professional as possible, though he somehow doubted he'd succeed in that regard.


After Jax couldn't find the book for the second time, a sudden realization came to her, and Rachel wanted to smack her forehead out of her own stupidity. Of course he didn't have the book! They'd been handed out yesterday! She sighed. Either the events of math class had her mind more scattered than she thought, or she was just plain stupid. Either thought wasn't very comforting to her. Looking around the classroom, she found where extra copies of the book were stacked. Turning back to Jax, she looked at him pointedly and then gestured to where the extra books laid on their shelf. She then gave him a glare that said something along the lines of, And don't pull that, "I'm too lazy to get up," crap on me! Math had been stressful, she was supposed to be doing her own work and not babysitting Jax right now, and she'd just had a moment where she was doubting her own intelligence. Anyone else might have shrugged these things off, but Rachel was the sort who got very upset if little things like this went wrong.

Her schoolwork, her grades, and her own mind was her own little sphere of existence. They were all that really mattered to her, aside from things like family and the like. Anything that even slightly disturbed her own little realm might as well have been like a bomb going off in her brain. She needed to excel in her schoolwork, her overall performance in school. If she couldn't maintain order in such important areas in her life, everything seemed to become engulfed by chaos, and that drove Rachel to madness. What she needed was to calm herself down, to tell herself that being a little late for math hadn't been a big deal, that not quite finishing that pretest wasn't a big deal, that not having her nose in her book right now wasn't a big deal.... But it was a big deal, to her. And all she wanted to do was get to her own work instead of fighting with Jax to get him to at least pretend to do the same.


At Markus's offer for them to join the game of lacrosse, Corbin was most certainly enthusiastic about it, nevermind the fact that he knew nothing of lacrosse or how to play it. While hardly the athletic sort, Plagarius quite liked playing games, whatever they may be. The factor of his ignorance pertaining to this particular human game was but a minor detail to him. He would enjoy practically any sort of game, even if he made a complete fool of himself in the process.

At Ferdinand's uncertainty, he told him encouragingly, "Oh, I am certain you would do most splendidly! Probably far better than I would do, no doubt." The psychologist at least seemed to know what the game was, which was an improvement from what Plagarius knew of the sport, so he probably would perform better to some degree, even if not by much. His human companion's mention of children almost made the Corvonian explode in a tirade of excited questions again, but he managed to restrain himself. Barely.

To keep himself distracted from his new friend's mention of children, he went on trying to give the man more confidence in his skill in the sport. "I am sure you would do better than you'd think, my good man. And think of what fun it would be!"

Picking up a lacrosse stick and studying it thoroughly, he asked Markus conversationally, "So just what is the object of this game?" Eyeing the net-like mesh at the end of the crosse, as well as a nearby ball, he inquired innocently, "Do you take turns rolling the ball until it reaches the hole?" That about summed up Plagarius's knowledge of lacrosse.

While he was waiting for a response from Rachel, Dax took a moment to put his things back in his jacket and put his jacket back on. After that, he looked back at the girl, only to be immediately directed to a shelf of books. Ah, spare books. Okay, got it. At the glare, he put his hands up in defense. Alright, don't bite my head off now, I'm going.

Dax got up from his seat and took a moment to stretch. Instead of immediately heading straight for the books, he pulled the broken ruler pieces back out and tossed them in the trash can. He went by the shelf, quickly grabbed a book, and walked off. He swung by Rachel's desk and left the eraser she had tossed at him earlier sitting on top of it. Jax quickly flashed her the cover of the book to prove that he had grabbed the right one. You see? I have book now. I'm a good little boy today. With that, he headed off to his desk and plopped down in the seat. He laid his head down and opened up the book to at least appear as if he was actually reading.



Syndral stared him down. "Believe me, I protect what belongs to me. If anyone happened to break something of mine, I would see to it that it never happened again." She hissed again as she glared at Rexar, as if daring him to make such a mistake.

The Zvarranik's gaze didn't tear away from Rexar for even a second, not even to blink. Her unending stare was locked onto him, as if waiting for an enemy to pounce at any given second. While her focus seemed to only be on Rexar, she did catch what Ms. Espinoza had said. Although she hadn't noticed that the science teacher's gaze had flicked to her in such an interesting manner.


ooc: Yeah, I'm good to switch classes now. It seems like a good time to do that.

It was always a wave of relief whenever the bell rang in Mr. White's class, albeit it had only happened once prior but Shane was sure that he would be feeling of ecstasy for the months to come, and just as all the other kids let out their sighs so did Shane as he accompanied the slowly growing crowd that formed as the students got out of their seats and grabbed their things for the next class. Shane's mind, however, was not on the next class, but instead on finding his locker; he'd managed to hide a bunch of snacks inside of it before the previous school day ended, so just as a moth would fly to a burning candle so did Shane to his secret stash of cookies and bubblegum. He'd paid no attention to Mr. White as he jumped out of his desk, grabbing his backpack and running for the door, not even so much as a sneaky glance, he averted all form of visual contact, the less he saw of Mr. White the better, he didn't like him, maybe because he kept throwing math in his face, or maybe his complete lack of personality which would be contrasted and cancelled out by the utmost complete explosion that was Ms. E. Zurgon knew it was his mission but he wished so badly that the humans were like the Zarn in this instance, if they were as smart as his species then they'd have no need for math at such an old age, they'd be 'Good Will Hunting' by the age of seven. Shane had made it out of the classroom and towards his locker, or at least he would've if he hadn't completely forgotten just where his locker was. With a sigh Shane slunk his way towards Ms. E's class....Or at least he would've if he hadn't forgotten where her class was, instead he waited to see if he could spot anyone he recognized so he could get directions.

Cryktin lifted his head at the sound of the bell ringing. He felt both surprised and relieved at the same time. He had managed to make it through yet another class, and without incident too - that inwardly made him feel proud. He could hear students bustling to move around him, but he stuck back for a few moments. He took his sweet time closing the book and finding a place he could nestle it. He disliked the idea of so many students crowding around the classroom, almost battling to escape its confines. As he waited, he kept his hands flat upon the desk. Soon the sounds around him lessened, indicating that a good number of students were now outside the room. It was at this point he began to make his way out. He located the wall of the classroom with much ease. For a couple moments he pressed his hand against it, then, confident he could find his way, moved his hand away from the wall and carefully made his way across the room. He rubbed his hand against the door frame as he exited the room, simply to confirm to himself that this was most definitely the exit.

The chaos of the hallway was avidly clear. He could easily hear all the different noises, the footsteps, the kids chatting, the banging of lockers. It was almost imposing, but he reminded himself that this kind of noise would be something he would have to learn to adapt to. It wasn't a threat. It was just the humans going about their days, doing what they had to do. It was, in a way, not much different from what he was doing. He was doing what he had to - so were they. Still, it was a little unnerving, so he stuck close to the wall as he made his way towards the next class. Science. He remembered it well. This was a little more up his alley, certainly more then math or English.



The bell was joy to Ardunayne's ears. She had almost grown bored of waiting for that moment to occur, that beautiful instance where she could finally approach Elim without class getting in her way. She knew there was a grace period between classes, and she was confident she could abuse every moment of that time to speak with him, and not be too late to her next class. Maybe only a little. Still, she didn't want to draw the attention of the other students too much, so she knew she had to wait to approach him, wait until the room had cleared out. It was less than subtle as she waited. She didn't pretend to organize objects or finish cleaning off her desk; instead she simply leaned back in the chair and observed as student after student shuffled out of the room. Some students were quick to leave the room, rushing out as though they had just been told their greatest desire lurked on the other side of the door. That wasn't entirely shocking. She knew a thing or two about him as a person, and she couldn't imagine he was a very popular teacher around the school. Humans would likely be intimidated by his personality, as clear cut as it was. While patiently waiting, her eyes constantly trailed to Elim, eyes locked to his figure as she waited each painful second for the last few students to stop hanging around. For the time being, he didn't seem to be looking at her, whether he was simply unaware of her gaze or purposely choosing to ignore her was unclear.

She tilted her head to look upon the last couple students in the room, two females hovering near the door. She almost wanted to get out of her seat and push them out into the hallway, and had she not been trying to be quiet about her waiting behind - surprising as that sounded - she likely would have done so. Finally, though, the two females waved to each other and made their way into the hallway, leaving an eerily silent classroom behind. It was just her and Elim, and she had been waiting for this moment to come, a chance to get close to him and not have to worry about other students, not give Elim a chance to use class as an excuse.

Ardunayne rose from her seat and crossed the small bit of space between her desk and Elim's. She was waiting for him to lift his eyes and look upon her, to see the likely lack of expression upon seeing her near him. She placed her hands clearly upon the desk, caring not if she stirred up any objects that may be sitting upon it. Leaning her weight slightly upon the desk, she purred, "It's a pleasure to see you here, darling."



The moral support was admittedly convincing, especially coming from someone he came to like as much as Corbin. Ferdinand had taken a few moments to consider his response to the prior comment, when Corbin spoke up again, attempting to discern the rules of lacrosse. It was immediately obvious the nurse had little - if not no - experience with the game itself. The obvious uncertainty, the glaring question about how the game was played, it was enough to distract the psychologist from his previous thoughts. The rules flooded back into his head, and he felt obligated to speak them.

"Oh, not like that," Ferdinand began, stepping forward and hefting up one of the lacrosse sticks. "The goal of the game is to get the ball to the goal, but you may only use the stick to do so, as only the goalie may touch the ball with his hands. You may use the stick to work alongside your team to pass, carry, shoot or catch the ball." More rules flooded into his head, fondly reminding him of the first time he had explained the game to someone. He almost went off into a long spiel, a deep explanation of every single rule, regulation, and action that occurred in the game. He stopped himself, though. Too much information may be imposing, and as it was made clear that Corbin did not understand the game well, he didn't want to throw too much information upon him. Besides, Markus should be the one to explain the game in vast depth, given this was his class, after all.

As he held the stick in his hand, he shifted the weight from the left hand to the right hand, feeling just exactly how much the stick weighed. It had been a long time since he last held one, and it felt nice in a way.

The tension and hostility between the two disguised reptilians was so thick, it almost felt tangible. Morph was awestruck at how undaunted his comrade was, and how she had the gall to threaten, however vaguely, this terrifying man. She knew how to handle herself, and she knew what she was getting herself into-- he didn't dare think otherwise-- and trying to quell that tension between them would be akin to shoving his hand between two fighting dogs. He knew it wasn't his place to get involved, so he instead sat in silence, eyes locked on them and hands twitching.

"Oh! I guess that's all we'll be covering today, then. Consider yourselves lucky, class!" Ms. E said facetiously at the ring of the bell. As the students were hurriedly assembling their belongings to leave, she continued, "No assignment tonight, but be prepared for some homework after we finish the first section tomorrow."

At this development, Mort allowed himself one way to distract the two from each other, although it took a considerable amount of courage to keep from clamming up. "We should just go, Diane," he said barely above a whisper, his tone hoarse yet soft. He didn't wait for her, though. He shoved everything in his book bag and scurried out of the classroom as quickly as possible, glancing at Diane at least twice to make sure she was okay before leaving entirely.

Morph wasn't one to leave a comrade for fend for themselves, but he was conflicted with how to deal with this particular situation. Syndral showed definite signs of not liking to be... coddled, for lack of a better term. From Rexar, at least. She made it very clear that she could take care of the matters she knew how to handle alone, so he figured that she'd appreciate him respecting that. Still, it didn't stop him from worrying about her as he walked down the hallway to his next class.

He almost stopped and turned around just to check up on her, but reasoned against that. There were other factors that played into this scenario, too. Diane's behavior could have been considered suspicious by anyone in that classroom who happened to be an enemy spy, due to how oddly specific her words were, and her behavior could have implied that she knew this "Mr. Turner". They'd have to discuss a plausible story for that later on. Until then, it would do them well to split up. It was usually a telltale sign of something under the radar commencing when certain fellows frequented each other too much.

He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice that any of his other "friends" could have been in that very hallway. And despite how much he tried to reason with himself, he couldn't shake off the worry. "Stop it, man, this isn't like on Lama Yaqaan; she isn't incapacitated, and she doesn't need your constant attention! Just calm down, there's only one class until you get to see her again. Wait until then to check up on her." He rounded into Mr. White's classroom. "Besides, she knows what she's doing. It's not like--"

His thoughts abruptly halted at the sight of Anahita at the teachers desk. Oh good, they must have figured out who each other were. With a quiet "hey" and a simple nod of acknowledgement, Mort made haste to his seat, quickly realizing that he was the first student to have arrived. Unless Anahita had this class too. He didn't know if she was here last class, or if she just randomly popped in between classes to exchange information. Regardless of those particularities, he felt much safer with two trusted colleagues, rather than one along with a very untrustworthy colleague. He set up his desk for the start of class, currently unaware of what sort of "information exchange" Ardunayne was relaying to Elim.

Just as he had expected - and just as she had promised in her note to him - Ardunayne stuck around after the bell rang, approaching his desk after everyone had left the classroom. It was just the two of them now, and as such, Elim knew that interacting with her would be unavoidable. So as she positioned herself in front of his desk - almost casting a shadow over him due to the combination of her closeness and his sitting position - he didn't try to pretend as though she didn't exist, but instead raised his eyes to meet hers. At her simple greeting, had the Targibbon been the sort to engage in verbal sparring, he might have said something along the lines of, I wish I could say the same. As it was, Elim cared little for such lines that would no doubt prompt a retaliation of some sort, and thus keep the conversation going back and forth without ever once mentioning something of actual importance. He didn't play games unless it served some sort of benefit to his work. And unless Ardunayne was actually here in front of his desk right now because she had something to say of relevance to the mission, then this was not one of those games.

He was about to respond to her when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking to the door, he saw that it was Morph's human alias. He wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or disappointed. One one hand, had it been an actual human student entering the room, Ardunayne and he might have had to postpone this conversation for another time, something he would not look forward to, but at least he wouldn't have to deal with it right now. But that also meant that if the Foveat actually had something of importance to say, she wouldn't be able to say it, and a lack of communication between agents on missions such as these could be dangerous. Besides, even if it had been a human student entering the room, he doubted that he could have avoided Ardunayne entirely, even if she wouldn't have been able to talk to him more as Elim than Mr. White.

Deciding that it was for the best that it was Morph who had entered the room - and that he should at least verify that the female agent didn't have some sort of serious news to give him - Elim looked at her with a serious expression, ignoring her more familiar greeting as he responded more professionally, "I trust you have had no issues fitting in here?" Though nothing he said was particularly revealing, he still kept his voice quiet as not to be overhead by whoever might be out roaming the halls. Even if they did overhear, however, it might have sounded more like a concerned teacher asking if their student was fitting in and making new friends in school or whatnot. If Mr. White could ever be considered "concerned".


When the bell rang, Rachel was torn between wanting to cry and wanting to pull her hair out. It was time for the next class already?! She hadn't even touched her book! She'd been so focused on making sure Vester was handling himself alright in this no doubt chaotic environment and trying to get Jax to at least pretend to do his work that she hadn't gotten anything done! Biting her lip a bit too hard and clenching her hands as if she was literally trying to keep herself from tearing her hair out, she simply started gathering up her things, putting them in their respective places with a bit too much force than was necessary. Her mouth was set in a fine line and her jaw seemed set as though she was clenching her teeth behind her lips. Her eyes were narrowed and her gaze was a sad mix of frustration and misery. Every now and then she would blink her eyes, though whether it was to get the red out of her vision or to keep tears from escaping them was uncertain.

Her belongings gathered up, she pushed herself out of her chair and made her way out of the classroom. Had she been in her right mind, she would no doubt have wanted to make sure Vester was alright in getting around or maybe see how Jax or Shane were doing, but right now, all she wanted was to get out. Get out of that classroom where she had gotten absolutely nothing done. She spoke to no one in the halls, didn't even avert her gaze from her destination. She was completely silent as she dug through her locker for her books and other materials, practically oblivious to the massive crowd in the hallways as she was so honed in on her own destructive thoughts. How could she have let that happen? How could she have been so negligent? Why couldn't she even read a book right?

Ducking out of the hallway and into the history classroom, she almost slumped down into her desk, resting her chin on her stack of books and wrapping her arms in such a manner that practically concealed her face.


((OOC: I feel like Rachel is the fusion of Syndral and Morph. She's totally OCD about her work, and she has self-accusation problems. Someone get her help.))

Loads of students filled the halls almost instantly as if trying to escape and yet what they were doing was the opposite, flocking to their next classes so they could leave, the students would grab their things and go to their homes, maybe lie in their bed and watch some tv, but Zurgon couldn't do that, he had to stay here on Earth, it would be a long time before he got to go home and he wasn't too upset but inevitably he was slightly homesick, he did miss his bed even though it was surrounded by a giant boring white room, the Zarn were creative people but they didn't use much color in their designs, it meant less time working on things, using the simplest colors meant never having to take time to decide and switch and stare.

It wasn't easy navigating the halls after the bell had rung, especially if one didn't know just exactly where they were going of which was a group Zurgon definitely belonged to, he hadn't even been able to remember where his locker was and so with that his precious snacks, he wondered why lunch was so late in the day and why an eating period wasn't after every class or better yet, during. His eyes scanned the children flocking like uncoordinated sheep through the halls, and if anyone could see under his elusive disguise they would see his reptilian pupils flicking left and right at incredibly speeds, examining every student that shoved by until he found one he recognized....But unfortunately he didn't so he decided he had to settle for someone he had no prior relationship with; a stranger. Reeeeeally hope I don't fudge this up, just ask where Science is. Hello, where is the science. Yea, just like that. He'd picked his prey and like a cheetah crouching in the grass inching slowly through the tall grass he got ready to pounce on a specific boy, metaphorically of course, he wouldn't make that mistake again.....for a fourth time. The boy he'd approached was fairly blended in, didn't really stand out much with his clothes, but he was the one Zurgon had decided upon.

"Hey....Bro. Do you know the science location? I need to go make elements and stuff, it's complicated you wouldn't understand, anyways yea um, the science, do you know where it is?"
Nailed it. What he didn't realize however was that the boy was Cryktin, and he did indeed know him

//kill me why are my posts so short lately//

I chuckle a bit as the newcomer suddenly starts explaining the rules to my "brother". As the bell rings the children put all their equipment away and wave as they say goodbye to me. I smile and wave back at the them, saying to them to have a nice day. Then as soon as we are alone, I join the two. Zipping up the lacrosse bag of supplies, I hoist it up and carry it on my shoulders. I motion for the others to follow me, actually speaking briefly to my "brother", Bleake, well that is his undercover name, his real name is Plagarius. If the two want to do something else, other than lacrosse, I am sure I can find something for us to do, I have quite a variety of games available. As soon as I had chosen to go and teach P.E., the teachers with the same interest as myself started to become close friends, in fact until I met my "family", those three teachers were the one friends I had. Those teachers got me everything of just about every sport that they could think of, well except for some unique ones, but they were working on those.

Ardunayne couldn't help but glance fleetingly when Elim did so as well. She was inwardly satisfied to see someone she recognized entering the classroom, someone who would be not the slightest bit suspicious of her momentary conversation with this particular teacher. Had a human student entered the room, this would has put en effective dent into many of the things she could have possibly said to him, and there was a chance that a human student might question her simply for stopping to have a friendly chat with a teacher who was so clearly not a fan of such a concept. It wouldn't have made her leave instantly, of course, but would have made her much more wary, alert. She was determined to at least have a couple fleeting words with Elim, though she had every intent on pursing further words with him after school was finished altogether. No student, human or otherwise, would be able to stop her from at least greeting him. She was partially surprised to see Morph had already arrived to his next class, given nobody else had done so yet. He was moving oddly quickly, and that made her think. Perhaps he was bothered and attempting to be away from something. It was unlikely excitement for this class. She had been through it. It was nothing special. She threw Morph a very quick wave, one that she did not wait to see if he could return. If he returned it, that was lovely for him, but if he chose not to, she couldn't say she would be too astonished or bothered by such a thing.

She leaned forward a little towards Elim as he threw her a very simple and straightforward question. The simplicity was expected. She knew he would try to avoid lengthening the conversation. She had been expecting him to do so, in fact. "Oh, I'm doing very well, my dear. You'll find interaction and socialization are my strong suit." She lifted a hand as she spoke, waving casually as though she were dismissing the possibility that fitting in would be difficult. "I am not the one you should be concerned for, darling. If anything, I worry to think how you're doing. The people here are a mixed bag of personalities, after all."

While the commentary towards him and how he was fitting in was mostly casual, an excuse to lengthen the conversation without making it obvious she was trying to do so, there was some genuine concern behind such words. True, she was trying to get him to keep speaking by keeping her commentary professional sounding. She enjoyed getting any opportunity to be within his space and speak to him. However, she was slightly worried that he might be finding minor trouble in such environment. She had spent enough time around him to know he definitely did not qualify as a people person, and a school was an awfully loud and obnoxious environment to be within. It didn't bother Ardunayne in the slightest. If anything, she liked the noise and the occasional chaotic encounter, but she knew that wasn't Elim's encounter of choice. She had gotten a small taste of how he ran his classroom, and she had gotten the impression he was going to pile as much work as possible upon the students. Maybe - likely even - it was to keep interactions between the students minimal, keeping them busy with work so that he wouldn't have to speak with them. Mayhap he was hoping he'd find a bright student within the bunch. Whatever the case, he wasn't a sociable teacher, and definitely wouldn't be most kid's teacher of choice. He was hers, but for reasons different than anyone else would like a teacher.



Cryktin moved through the hallway at his own speed, attempting to keep a strong focus on how many doors he had passed by as not to get lost or confused. He had been so entirely focused on his own affairs that when another student started speaking with him, he hadn't entirely expected it at first. He paused, the tips of his fingers still placed upon the surface of the wall. Missing the beginning of the sentence, he did hear a short ramble that ended up being more baffling than anything. As the student repeated his question at the end, though, he fully understand the long and the short of what this stranger wanted. He was surprised, though, to think that of all people to ask for directions, this person opted for the kid feeling the wall to find his way. He attempted to turn to face the stranger, despite being unable to see them. He presumed the voice to have come from behind him, and turned based on that information. As he released one hand from the wall's surface, he quickly placed the other one upon it, as though he would never find the wall again should he not touch it for a while. There was a pretty good chance he wasn't entirely looking in the correct direction, and it was almost guaranteed he was looking too high or too low, but there was naturally no way for him to know this.

He sort of liked the ramble, despite how little sense any of it made. It was true, he didn't understand what the kid was talking about, but it didn't particularly bother him either. It was appealing in a way, to think he could so casually approach a stranger, say something out in left field, and seemingly be satisfied with what was said. "I don't understand at all, but I know where the science room is. That's where I was heading, in fact." With a small exhale, he said, "If you don't mind going slow, I can be your guide."

Syndral kept her gaze locked on Rexar. She waited to see what his next move would be, as still as a statue. She didn't react to the sound of the bell, or even Ms. Espinoza's voice. She kept her focus until Morph spoke up. She blinked and gave him a glance out of the corner of her eye. Syndral took a moment to watch him hurry out of the classroom. She didn't budge an inch until he was gone. She collected the rest of her things and slowly made her way to the door, periodically glancing back at Rexar with a watchful glare. Once outside the room, she glanced around to see if Morph was still there. Not seeing him, she figured he went on to his next class already. Syndral thought nothing more of it as she headed down the hallway.

The Zvarranik headed towards her next destination at a brisk pace, her steps seemingly heavier as she nearly stomped through the halls. She had a tight grip on her books, her attention strongly focused on her destination. She gave meaningful glares to anyone who even so much as paused in front of her for a moment. If they failed to move out of the way quickly enough, she stepped around them with a hiss. Syndral was not about to be late to history class because of them. While she was not in danger of actually being late, she was in a hurry to find a distraction from this awful day. She wanted to put past events behind her and move on.

Syndral sighed as she saw her destination nearly within her grasp. Maybe now she could relax and have a more uneventful class. Just as she was about to step through the door, someone rushed up from behind her and slammed into her. Her books soared across the room, while she collided with the floor. She noticed that the other student had sat down at a desk without a care in the world, apparently oblivious to what had just transpired. Syndral hissed and jumped to her feet. With her eyes locked onto her new target, she marched towards their desk. She abruptly halted, when someone stepped in front of her.

"Mari, right?" Mrs. Moore asked, sweetly, with a slight tilt of her head. She held up a couple of books and things. "These are yours, yes? Try to take better care of them." Her big, watchful eyes and acute hearing hadn't missed the earlier collision. While her student appeared to have recovered quickly, she took the time to retrieve the books.

Syndral blinked and stared blankly at her for a moment. She quietly took back her books. She sighed and peeked around the teacher at the student that had bumped into her. This teacher was in her way and she didn't want to waste time dealing with her right now.

Mrs. Moore noticed the peek and glanced behind her at the student. "Ah, of course. Kevin, could you come here for a moment, please?"

The student got up and casually walked over to them. "What's up?"

"I believe Mari here would like an apology. You ran into her yesterday and today."

"Oh... Sorry, guess I didn't see you."

Syndral huffed and glared at him. "Then get glasses and learn to be observant of your surroundings. I would also suggest not running through the hallway."

The history teacher frowned slightly. "While that could have been stated more politely, she does have a point. Being careful would prevent accidents like this from happening. Please don't run in the halls anymore, okay?"

"Okay, Mrs. Moore."

She smiled. "Alright, good. You may take your seat now." She watched as the student returned to their desk. She turned her attention back to Syndral. "Is there anything else I can help you with, dear?"

The Zvarranik sighed. "No," she muttered.

Mrs. Moore tilted her head with a slight frown. "Well, alright. Do let me know if there's anything I can do for you, though." A small smile returned. "I'm here for you, if you need me. If not, though, then please go sit down."

Syndral gave a slight nod before heading to her desk. She nearly slammed her books down on top. With a heavy sigh, she was about to sit down, when she noticed a familiar figure sitting beside her. She paused to inspect this person. It looked like Rachel, but her face was concealed. Syndral sat down at her desk and turned to fully face her. "Are you alright? You appear as if your day so far has been equally as awful as mine has been."

Mort rummaged in his pencil pouch, looking for his calculator, until he heard Ardunayne's last remark. As lacking in details the comment was, the context was glaringly clear. Could it be that she happened to know Elim too? How else would she have known that the eccentric nature of the place could have put the reserved man off? What were the odds of every agent here having some sort of history with each other? Well, he still had yet to know if the Foveat knew Rexar too.

He scowled and glared down at his desk. "Face it, Morph, you're a coward. You only wanted to leave because Rexar was there, not because of Syndral, or any of those other pathetic excuses. You should have stayed with her to make sure she was okay, and now she probably thinks that you're flaking on her. Some friend you're turning out to be; at this rate, she'll start hating you again--" he gave a barely audible growl, "Oh, shut up already! Don't make a big deal about this, she's fine! She doesn't need you to coddle her! Just move on, and things will be back to normal eventually." He realized that he left the misplaced article in one of his backpack pockets and retrieved it from there.


OOC: Rachel's predicament stings from how relatable it is for me. This was a large portion of my high school experience: freaking out when things didn't go perfectly right.

At Ardunayne's assurance that she was doing quite well here due to her talent of effortlessly mingling with just about any crowd, he nodded, saying, "Yes, I am well aware." He didn't require his memories of past interactions with her to know that she was the sort who excelled in easily adapting to new people and environments. One could tell the moment they met her. It was in the way she spoke with confidence, in a manner that demanded her listeners' attention. It was in the way she walked with purpose, almost like a cat with its tail straight up and head held high. It was in every little gesture and movement, which she performed with a practiced fluidity without any sort of hesitance or uncertainty. She owned the place the very moment she set foot there, like a queen walking amongst her subjects. Of course she would fit in well here. She could fit in well anywhere. Still, it was good to confirm that she had not had any trouble assuming her disguise. While he couldn't say he was happy to see her, he didn't want any harm to come to her, either, especially on a mission such as this.

So while he had expected her answer in that regard, her second statement gave him pause. She was worried about him? Well, that was hardly unwarranted. It was natural for agents to feel some degree of concern for one another on missions, especially on ones like this where every agent was not in constant contact, but instead left on their own in a hostile environment. But he knew this concern didn't just stem from the need for one agent to check on another, this was Ardunayne checking on Elim specifically. Unlike the Foveat, the Targibbon was hardly such an individual who could so effortlessly adapt to any environment. Had it been a wilderness of some sort - hot or cold, dense with foliage or sparse and barren - it would have been another matter entirely. Aside from dry conditions, Elim excelled in surviving in and navigating any outdoor habitat. When he was very young and still a relatively new member of the Order, it was what he specialized in. He was a guide of sorts, leading and looking after research teams whose work required them to delve deep into the uninhabited - and sometimes largely uncharted - expanse of wilderness. These places had been remote areas, far from civilization and difficult to navigate. Even with all the galaxy's advancements in technology, some places still remained largely unexplored, their secrets still hidden. Sometimes the land itself was treacherous, other times it was filled with dangerous creatures. Whatever the danger, it had been Elim's job to get them through safely.

This mission on Earth, while one of research, wasn't quite like that. They weren't delving into jungles or facing enormous creatures that could swallow them whole. This was an urban jungle, the one environment that the Targibbon still didn't seem to be able to completely adapt to. Fields of grass were asphalt here, trees were telephone poles with vines of telephone wires. The creatures here were made of metal and exhaled fumes. This was a place where his knowledge and skills of survival in the wilderness did not apply. This was civilization, where it was more practical to know how to use technology than how to find paths in the undergrowth and detect nearby wildlife. Here, he was required to interact with people and not plants or animals, and quite simply, that was not his strong suit. Though he has expanded his knowledge and has broadened his horizons outside of expeditions into the wild, he was still a Targibbon, not nearly as used to life in the city as he was to the great outdoors. So while he has learned enough to function adequately in these environments - for the Order would not have sent him on this mission if he hadn't - it was not the sort of environment he was best suited for. That, combined with his dislike of the drier surroundings and his need to avoid salt - which was abundant in this place - gave him challenges that he was quite certain that the other Order agents on this mission would not have to face.

Ardunayne knew this from working with him in the past. If he had been anyone else, he might have been touched that she was making sure he was alright. He merely saw it as an excuse for the Foveat to poke and prod at him, however. Still, it was a legitimate concern for her to bring up, so he replied, "I have managed." He tapped the water bottle on his desk to indicate that he was having to deal with certain problems, but was finding solutions to them as well.


Had Rachel been in a better mood, she probably would have been looking for Diane to enter the room. As it was, she was feeling rather miserable right now, so instead of keeping watch for her new friend, she seemed determined to shut out her surroundings entirely. All she wanted was for class to start so that she could actually get some work done today. Maybe if she had an assignment to work on, her mind would be too focused on that so that she would stop belittling herself. She knew logically that today's events had been no big deal. So she'd been a little late to math, but at least she'd shown up. So she didn't get to read her book as assigned, but she had it with her and could easily read it at home. But no matter how she reasoned with herself, she couldn't stop beating herself up over it. And that only made it worse. She was beating herself up about beating herself up. Why do I have to get so upset about everything? she thought, a tad bit angry at her own mentality.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of books slamming down next to her. While the entire conversation among Diane, Kevin, and Mrs. Moore had gone completely unnoticed by her, the sudden sound so close to her managed to snap her out of it. The girl warily uncovered her face, only to see that it was Diane. She felt relief at this knowledge, though the other girl's words brought back her troubled thoughts. She shouldn't even be upset in the first place, and now she was burdening the people around her with her sour mood. Diane was already having a bad day too, apparently, and Rachel felt it would be terrible to add on to that with her own trivial matters.

Forcing her face to adopt a more pleasant expression - or at least, get rid of whatever frown or scowl was probably adorning it - Rachel waved off her own distress, saying, "It's nothing." It should be nothing. Why do I always have to make everything seem ten times worse than it already is? Aloud, she continued, "What's going on with you?" She was concerned for her new friend's well-being, and was also grateful for any opportunity to stop wallowing in her own thoughts and distract herself with something else.

Anyone else might have felt a bit embarrassed or silly at the realization that they'd been so terribly wrong about something, but Corbin didn't seem affected in such a manner at all. He simply watched Ferdinand with an obvious look of interest in his eye as the human explained how the game should be played. While Plagarius didn't pretend to now know every specific detail about the game from the other man's brief description, he was getting a better idea in his head of what this game was all about. Tilting his head a certain way as he watched Ferdinand examine one of the lacrosse sticks, he commended, "Well, you certainly have far more expertise in the subject than I, my good fellow. I still would be willing to give the game a try, however. I must warn you, though, I may not perform well at all. Prepare yourself for a great deal of cringing as I will likely butcher my attempts."

He laughed softly at his own likelihood of ineptitude at this game before suggesting, "Perhaps a demonstration of sorts will have to be arranged? I find that I learn more quickly watching something than being told something." And that was most certainly true. Plagarius was more of a hands-on learner. While he could understand something if it is presented to him verbally or in written form, he far more quickly and effectively grasped something when he could watch it being done. While books and such had done wonders for memorizing medical terminology when he was younger, everything else, such as medical practices, he had learned from watching and actually doing. He wanted to get out and actively participate in what he was learning instead of being cooped up with a pile of books, and that was how he learned best. So while Ferdinand could have gone on and on about the rules of lacrosse in exquisite detail, Plagarius still probably would have better understood with an actual demonstration instead.

So as Markus gestured for them to follow, Corbin did so immediately, though he glanced back to make sure Ferdinand was still following. He was not sure just what Valdar had in store for them, but he was eager to find out.


((OOC: Rachel freaking out about everything was pretty much my entire experience in school, too.))

Syndral raised a skeptical eyebrow, when Rachel told her that it was nothing. She didn't quite believe that, as clearly something had gone wrong in order for the human girl to be concealing her face in such a manner. The Zvarranik didn't claim to know her very well at all, but from her assessment of the girl so far, it seemed like an unlikely occurrence, perhaps even out of character. Of course, she didn't know for sure. This very well could be normal for the human. Syndral filed away this new piece of information, and made a mental note to further analyze her behavior. She also made a note that Rachel apparently made an effort to conceal such issues and possible distress.

The Zvarranik wondered if this attempt to hide such problems was because of their newly formed relationship, or if this was a common occurrence with everyone. She would have to observe her interactions with other students to get an idea, although she may not risk revealing anything to the public eye. Being a private individual herself, Syndral understood the desire to want to keep secrets from other people. If Rachel didn't want to share anything with her just yet, then she would refrain from prying.

Although she wished the human girl would just tell her that, instead of pretending that it was nothing. Syndral wondered if she should explain that, or if it was considered strange for a human to request such a thing. She just wanted the truth from her, regardless of what that was. Still, she wasn't sure if it would be normal for a human or not, or if it was even acceptable to request that so early on in the relationship. There were so many things she was unsure of, and that uncertainty caused her to remain silent on the matter.

At her question, Syndral gave a sigh and averted her gaze. She took a moment to consider her words carefully. She didn't want to say too much, or say the wrong thing. However, she had already made it apparent that she was having another rough day, so she would have to elaborate to some degree. "Oh, just the usual dilemma of failing to be normal." She figured it was a safe enough statement, considering she had mentioned some difficulties she was having yesterday. Although, Syndral hesitated to explain further, as she didn't want to bring up any red flags with Rachel.

However, the Zvarranik also had a lot of concerns involving her behavior so far on this mission. She just felt like she was doing everything wrong, and that every mistake was a glaring sign that she wasn't human. She wanted to talk it over with someone, critique her performance, and get advice on how to do better. However, the only person she had an option to talk to right now was Rachel, and she knew she had to be careful with what she said around her. Still, Syndral wanted to clarify some things.

Slowly looking back at the human girl, with a certain look of nervousness in her eyes, she began quietly, "I hope this is an appropriate inquiry, but I simply must know... Have I been too formal?" She figured it would be a safe place to start, since it should be something that is an obvious difference to Rachel, while hopefully not being too much of a warning sign.

((OOC: Going to post here soon (hopefully). Irrational fear of thread closing before I can. Posting this to alleviate stress.))

With all the games that I have available I believe that my "brother and his friend should be able to find one that they want to do. Not having anymore classes for today I have all the free time I could want with them. Still even as I try my best to relax, sweat can be seen falling down the right side of my face. What would this friend, think of my true form? I dare not think.

Meanwhile Telai listens intently as Vuxta teaches. It is hard to find something that Telai, does not like. He is a curious and fun individual that just loves to learn. No amount of work will change that, as he finds the work is part of the whole experience. His blindness will do nothing to stop him from trying to do anything that he would like to.