[Lily Finnian]

Lily had been enjoying a few days without classes. It was her first official weekend at school, and she had burned through her Saturday in the training rooms getting to know their unique functions. To date, it was the most interesting technology she'd come across. She had nearly kept to the original goal of only giving each room a quick glance before moving on to the next, but the combat terrain simulation room was too much for her, and she spent hours dextrously swinging through the dull grey 'trees'. Enjoying the practice with her weapon and getting a great workout in as well. She had gone home to her dorm that night and enjoyed the sleep of the dead.

The morning after was a nice little bit of catching up with her mom and dad. .She couldn't call them that to their faces, sticking with Verne and Xanthe instead. Unfortunately though, they had just finished breakfast and left none for her. She spent the morning hungry, and left around lunch to go find something to sate her hunger. Xanthe was more than happy to give her a bit of lunchmoney. She had just completed a new weapons order, and currently had a little money to throw around. Honestly, Lily had no idea how they managed to spend every lien that made its way into their pocket, but she had a feeling Xanthe would be broke again by morning.

Lily had never felt comfortable asking her adoptive parents for much, and had only gotten to get out and eat on her own a few times while with them. Now though, she wanted to eat all kinds of interesting food. She'd not ever realized how much flavor was out there until she'd visited a bakery and found herself totally swept away. She'd tried a few new dishes here and there, but didn't get out too much to explore. But today was the weekend and she had overtrained herself the day before. She needed to give herself proper rest if her training was to continue being effective. She spent some time jogging around the city. She had beat such a familiar path through these streets that she could run them with her eyes closed. That was something that would be a problem if she was in pursuit of new cuisine. She'd never made friends easily, so she never really learned which restaurants were the best via word of mouth. She knew which bars were Vernes favorites, and about Xanthe's favorite bistro, but had never genuinely taken the time to figure out what her favorite could be.

She resolved to take streets she'd never had any reason to go down before, and despite several tantalizing new aromas, the place that stood out most was one small diner on Love street. She stood a moment examining the sign outside the street when the door to the establishment opened and left her awash with aroma. She was inside before she realized it, and pulled her scroll out to see if she could find a menu online or something when a booming voice pulled her attention away. She had been on the cusp of turning around because the place was so incredibly busy, but she had been spotted by the front end staff and was now snared.

"That a haven scroll? Perfect we're full up on tables so just sit yourself down with your classmate."

Lily had purposefully gone out in her comfortable clothes because wearing her uniform outside of school seemed a bit strange to her, but she had been found out anyway thanks to the special scrolls they give the haven kids. The protest was barely beginning to pass her lips when she was suddenly yanked and led to a small booth occupied by a man who looked to be a smaller version of the avian faunus who had pulled her in.

"I'll leave ya a menu here, and be back with some water quicker'n you know."

And with that he was gone. Lily wasn't entirely sure how she'd been pulled in, and looking around she was made intensely uncomfortable by the claustrophibic press of people around her. Her ears lay flat against her head to help block out the unending chatter of the people seated all around her was almost deafening to her, and she quickly launched into a short breathing exercise to calm herself down. She looked up at the boy she was seated across from brieftly, before quickly turning her eyes down toward the menu. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of this situation, but the food smelled really good at least, even if there would likely be a substantial wait due to the busyness of the establishment. She spent a little time watching the charismatic giant of a faunus who had pulled her in flit from table to table for a short time after that. Affable and friendly with everyone, who in turn largely returned those pleasantries genuinely. It seemed nice, but she had difficulty imagining herself being able to do what he was doing. The more she tried, the more frustrated she got, so she buried her nose once again in the menu after a furtive glance at her table partner. She felt like she was supposed to say something, but was drawing blanks.

[Jack Dawson Jr.]

●●●

Scorpion sting, I don't wanna

bleed

tell me that I'm not

lost

While the weekends were a time for many students to enjoy themselves with friends, or catch up on training missed during the week, Jack's weekends went about the same way most weeks; He finished classes on Fridays, and got that evening off, but Saturday morning, he would wake up at six, get dressed, and head downstairs to the family restaurant to begin getting things ready for the day. Nothing too complex, he'd prep ingredients needed for the breakfast rush, throw on a few pots of coffee, start baking the bread for the day, and tidy up before the 7 AM regulars started shuffling in. At that point, he'd start waiting tables, and keep going like that until his lunch break, a bit before the 1 PM lunch rush. From then, he'd go back to serving, until later in the evening, when he traded spots with one of the evening servers, heading into the kitchen to cook with his dad. He mostly stuck to prep and small things like sides and apps, but every now and then, they got an order for a pie, and while Jack Sr. was an incredible chef, he knew his limits, and he knew his son's strengths- pies and souffles were always his job.

And of course, he cleaned up around eight, after the place closed for the night. Ate dinner with his family, and spent the next few hours training, or practicing, or just relaxing somewhere quiet, with a nice book. And Sunday morning, the cycle repeated.

It was a nice bit of structure that Junior was fond of, to be honest. Felt good keeping busy, and this way, he was paying for his own Haven tuition, which was not an easy task for many. But, in spite of his status as a faunus in a city that was not too kind to them at times, he did make pretty good tips from the regular crowd, and the occasional drop-ins and tourists. Love Street was known for its Bistro- it had been around ever since Jack Sr. found his way to Mistral, all the way from Vale, during the Great War. And it had a reputation among Mistral faunus- the Dawson family did its best to look out for those who might not have been so fortunate as to run a successful business in a place where "Human Only" signs still popped up from time to time. It certainly wasn't easy. But they managed well enough.

It was exactly that kind of Sunday, though, where Junior found himself sitting down at a table for two, with a hot cup of tea and a solidly thick tome on mammalian faunus anatomy. A lunch break for many would be a time to relax, and take a breather, but for Jack, it was perfect time for a study session. He took a sip of his ginger and tangerine tea, smiling slightly to himself as he flipped to the next page, detailing the bone structures of different types of tails. It was fascinating stuff, really. Who knew there could be so much variety amongst one species?

Glancing up, he watched with a bit more than a little discomfort as his dad- bless the blustery jovial man- decided to shove some hapless girl his way, for no good reason. She looked vaguely familiar, but not in any recognizable way. He was sure he'd seen her around the Academy, and he'd probably spotted her around town before, once or twice, but he couldn't place a name to her face. It was nice seeing another faunus, though- there weren't a whole lot of them at the Academy, so at least he could make the best of this and maybe meet a newer transfer like himself.

"Dad, you've gotta stop dragging people around like th-"

"What? Can't hear ya over the sound'a all these hungry customers, you kids have fun, now, y'hear!"

Ugh. He let out a deep sigh, staring down into his book, eyebrows scrunched in annoyance. That man was so difficult sometimes. This was the third time this month! The elder of the jackdaw faunus had no sense of personal space at all... He glanced up at the girl who he now had a better view of. She was quite a bit shorter than him, with dark black hair, a pair of cat-like ears, and an expression of complete and utter anxiety. It seemed she was, like most people, decidedly not accustomed to being manhandled around by a hulking bird man. Huh. Who would have thought?

She glanced quickly up at him, which of course, threw Jack offguard as well, and he turned his head away as she did the same, thinking quickly about what he could possibly say to her, to make the entire situation less awkward for the both of them. She seemed intent on analyzing every letter of the menu, at this point, and he could hardly blame her- he wasn't one for this level of social interaction either. But who knew? Maybe this wouldn't be the worst conversation that was ever thrust on the poor girl.

With another sigh, this one lighter and less annoyed, he glanced back in the girl's direction and took a moment to gather his words before speaking again. "S-sorry. For uh, my dad. H-he's eh... Different. Great cook, though, so I um. I guess he makes up for it." He offered a small smile, as he reached for his tea again, taking a sip before introducing himself properly.

"I'm uh. Jack. Jack Jr., t-technically, I guess. Most people call me Junior. E-either's fine, though." He paused again, taking another sip of tea, to disguise what was otherwise another awkwardly lengthy silence. Truth be told, he kind of hoped she would shut him up- he was starting to just ramble, and nobody wanted that. Certainly not him. "You're a um. Also a student, right? At Haven?"

Ahhh, yes. He truly was a master of small talk. Jack Sr. would be proud.

@lily ● WC: 1004 ● TWC: 1004 ● And so begins the most awkward conversation in history.

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Lily Finnian]

To say Lily had anxiety in social situations like this was akin to saying the moon was a little bit damaged. She was uncomfortable, but by focusing on her breathing instead of the noisy din of the restaurant around her, she was able to somewhat lessen the impact the crowd had on her. Though she had lived in the city for some time, her parents lived in a sleepy little corner of it. Crowds like this were rare there, and she had tended to avoid them whenever possible. She had always gotten like this when Xanthe and Verne would drag her out to some event, but she'd often had trouble enjoying herself because of the anxiety she'd suffer. Perhaps the anxiety was a result of her time alone in the forest, when threats could come from any direction, or perhaps she was uncomfortable around people because of the hatred towards faunus she had witnessed in the 'civilized' world. It had only rarely escalated to the point of violence, but that it had happened even once was enough to make her wary of people she didn't know. Afterall, there was no way of knowing the hatred in a man's heart simply by looking at their face.

She had spent quite a bit of time with her nose in her menu, but her eye's had barely taken in a word.

This is starting to get bad. The young faunus thought to herself, knowing her awkwardness would make it difficult to engage people at school, but also knowing that was a hurdle that had to be overcome.

Right. Treat this as training. Social training. The goal of this training exercise is make a friend. Secondary objectives include gaining valuable intel from another aspiring warrior.

She could practically hear both of her mother's voices as she thought to herself. Her birth mother in the strict training theme she had given the thought to bring this exercise down to a level she could understand, and Xanthe's voice, urging her to come out of her shell and meet new people. She could feel determination welling up from within her, and as she began deliberating on what first to say, the boy across from her cracked first. He first apologized for his father before sipping his tea. He seemed somewhat abashed, and perhaps nervous as well. She felt some moticum of relief at that, vindicated that her own nervousness was not unjustified. He then continued to introduce himself and enquire about her connection with haven. She offered a nod of confirmation.

"I just enrolled recently, I was away from town during the first bit of the semester so I didn't get to join until later." She started, before adding "I'm Lily by the way." She said it almost relaxedly, only a hint of nervousness in her voice. A good step up from her introduction to the short girl in the training hall she thought proudly, before trying to figure out if it was her turn to speak or his.

He had introduced himself and asked a question, so maybe she was supposed to ask questions too. She wasn't sure what kind of questions people tended to ask each other, so she decided to go with something relatively safe.

"What uhm.." she hesitated, before catching herself and pushing forward before the pause could turn into a silence.

"What would you recommend?"

She then began immediately double questionioning the chosen line of inquiry. He knew nothing of her palate or what she enjoyed, maybe it was too demanding of her to expect him to have any useful insight. She glanced back down at the menu she still hadn't read and felt a pang of guilt for asking her question without putting forth the basic effort that figuring it out for herself would have taken, and activated her speed reading ability to take in as much of the information as possible to make up for her earlier sloth. For a second the irises of her eyes lit up with a faint white aura, before fading away back to the normal dark grey. After taking in the information she found that she still had no idea what she wanted, the menu was full of wonderful sounding foods, some of which she'd never heard of before. She hadn't yet experienced a large variety of the culinary adventures awaiting her in the city, so even some fairly common dishes from a Mistral native's point of view were still unknown to her.

She looked up from the menu to the youth who was still deliberating on a response expectantly. Though her head was overcrowded with thoughts and anxieties and only a few seconds had passed, she felt the expanse of time between her question and his answer was much greater. Despite her best efforts, her discomfort was likely fairly apparent.

[Jack Dawson Jr.]

●●●

Scorpion sting, I don't wanna

bleed

tell me that I'm not

lost

He listened carefully as his unexpected breakfast companion spoke, nodding along with her words. So she was a new student. Much like him, then- he hadn't quite gotten his paperwork in until relatively recently, so he too was a newer transfer. He smiled as she introduced herself, and almost instinctively thought to introduce himself, before remembering he had already done so. "Mm. Nice to meet you, L-lily." Damn stutter. Some people had an easier time hiding their nerves than others- he was not one of those people. With his professors, it was easier. And when he was more engaged in something he was passionate about, it was like his anxiety melted away. But meeting strangers had never been easy, and clearly wasn't improving, in spite of his daily interactions with them at the restaurant.

Her question next came tumbling out just a little faster than seemed comfortable, as if she had to force it out, but it gave him pause regardless. If there was ever a way to ease his nerves, it was bringing food into the equation. He thought long and hard, eyeing her over as she looked through the menu, raising an eyebrow as he watched her eyes glow and seemingly move significantly faster than eyes ordinarily should.

Hmmm...

He had to do this the right way. It wouldn't do for him to give her a bad recommendation. Not that anything on the menu was bad- his father was an excellent cook, and his mother did as fine a job with her soups as she did with her stitches. And she was notoriously good at applying stitches. But everyone had tastes- hers likely didn't align perfectly with his.

That said, recommendations were always a favorite of his.

If he could help a customer make a choice, he'd done his job very well. He made a point of speaking a little slower, so as not to overwhelm her. "Well... Hm. If you want something savory, I would definitely recommend the roast beef melt with a cup of High Atlesian onion soup, with grated goat cheese. On the sweeter side, you can never go wrong with pancakes. Today's special is baked with fresh blueberries, and drizzled in honey. And for a lighter breakfast, I would definitely suggest a half-loaf of bread with our onion, fennel, and mushroom soup." A thin smile spread across his face, with just a hint of an embarrassed blush. "I just baked a fresh batch a few hours ago." Suddenly back to his ordinarily nervous self, Jack reached for his slowly dwindling tea again, right as his dad bustled by with a couple of waters and a cup of his signature sweet iced tea, which he set in front of Lily with a small wink. "On the house. I'll give you 'nother minute figurin' out what ya want, alright?" And just as quickly as his son could take a sip of his own tea, he was gone.

His dad was definitely a character. That's the word for him. He shook his head with a silent chuckle, before flipping the page of his textbook. On it was a series of detailed drawings of assorted faunus ear types- most prominently displayed, in the middle, was a feline ear, being compared to a vulpine one. Possibly the two most common types of faunus, if anyone ever cared enough about them to take a proper census.

He glanced from his book back to Lily, who he assumed was still in the process of deciding on a meal. Not that he'd never seen a cat faunus's ears before, but it was nice to have a reference while he half-studied, half-conversed.

@lily ● WC: 614 ● TWC: 1618 ● foodi bois

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Lily Finnian]

Lily was glad that the boy didn't seem upset with her choice in question, and was relieved that he seemed to almost enjoy the challenge it provided. He seemed perfectly in his element as he began commiserating over the various menu items. She couldn't help to envy him. He'd found his place in the world, and it suited him.

Or had he? Why would he need to become a hunter if this restaurant life was the one that suited him? She could hardly imagine him with weapon in hand on the field of battle. He just seemed so happily animated while speaking about food. It was nice to focus on that instead of the everpresent and unnerving din all around them. In fact, between this din and her own thoughts regarding the suddenly more relaxed nature of her classmate, she realized she'd not registered a word about what he'd begun to describe. She think she'd heard him mention goat cheese, and her mouth began to water. While briefly staying in a small village she'd been fed a dish comprised of thincut toasted bread and melted goat cheese mixed with mashed tomatoes. The creamy texture of the cheese had been unlike anything she'd experienced before, and her mouth watered simply remembering.

She focused more on what he was saying, and found herself equally tempted by the pancakes he described. Lily knew that she had been often given advice from two sepatate Xanthe's. The one would often give her gentle guidance in her studies, and tender encouragement to branch out and discover herself. However, when the two were alone Xanthe would sometimes get a funny look in her eyes and subject Lily to make-up sessions and shopping trips, each laden with unsolicited advice on boys, makeup, and clothing. It was this Xanthe who insisted that sweet things were a girl's enemy, and made finding a boyfriend much much more difficult. As boys comprised roughly fifty percent of the population, and Lily did earnestly want to make friends, so she took the advice seriously.

Even still, the treat sounded delicious based on his description, and if a boy was suggesting it, than maybe it was an exception to the tabboo.

Is this maybe a test? she thought nervously as he continued to describe the last item.

Bread he had personally baked seemed like an intetesting prospect, but she'd never been too fond of onions or mushrooms, and didn't even know what a fennel was. Those flavors tended to overwhelm her underdeveloped palate, and she'd gotten sick a few too many times while trying to figure out which mushrooms in the valley were edible. Her mother had pointed out the fatally poisonous ones, but left the rest of her survival training to her own trial and error.

She was having trouble deciding between the goat cheese and the pancakes. Any dish he recommended with goat cheese had to be good right? But the pancakes sounded equally tantalizing. In fact, so intense was her deliberation that the panic inducing din all around them had faded into the back of her mind. However, with a surprised squeal at the tea suddenly being sat in front of her she was brought back to reality. She blushed and mumbled a quick apology as she tried to force herself to decide.

"Uh-Uhm, that goat cheese thing sounds pretty good." she said mutedly, embarassed at her small outburst. A-And maybe I could buy a loaf or two of that bread to bring home with me."

She wanted to try the pancakes, but Xanthe's advice kept repeating like a warning in her mind. The occasional sweet treat Verne would sneak her craving more, but it felt somehow indecent to indulge in sweets in front of a stranger. However, the pink in her cheeks darkened as she tasted the sweet tea in front of her. It was decadently sweet, and she let out surprised squeak after quickly swallowing down the first mouthful. She absently touched her lips as the surprising sweetness took her. It was nothing like the warm herbal teas her father had brewed for them after training to help relax their muscles. What she was tasting was a brisk, extravagant sweetness. The type of leaf used was foreign to her, and it melded with the sweetness of the sugar fantastically. Her ears twitched atop her head as she closed her eyes and took a deep draft of the drink, draining half of the cup in one go.

She then looked around in embarrassment before he gaze leveled on jack again.


"It's uhm, very good." she quietly offered in way of embarrassed explanation.

[Jack Dawson Jr.]

●●●

Scorpion sting, I don't wanna

bleed

tell me that I'm not

lost

It was just a little amusing, seeing how anxious Lily seemed, thinking at a hundred miles an hour, as he rattled off options to her. She was definitely a very thoughtful girl- he hadn't met too many people who were so visibly put on the spot by the idea of choosing a meal to order, but it was oddly refreshing to witness. As his dad came over, dropping her tea in front of her, the little noise she made, snapping her out of her confusion brought a smile to his face.

Her face flushed a deeper red as she remembered that she was deciding what to eat with him, and she managed to stutter out a very hesitant and shaky order. He nodded approvingly- the Atlesian onion soup was a favorite of his, which was of course why he'd recommended it. And the sandwich it came with was a big crowd pleaser, even though he personally wasn't fond of meat, in general. Substituting chopped portobello for the roast beef, though, was one of his proudest culinary innovations. So simple, but so effective and delicious.

"S-sounds like a plan, then." He smiled as he returned to his book, waiting for the larger jackdaw faunus to bound by again. Even with the restaurant as busy as it was, he didn't expect a long wait- his parents weren't considered by many to be two of the best restaurateurs in Mistral for nothing, after all. As they waited, he continued studying the illustrations in his textbook. But he couldn't help but notice, as he examined the static drawing of feline ears, Lily's own ears wiggling about a bit as she tasted the sweet tea. It was interesting to him- the way her ears were so expressive. He thought about his own wings, and it made him feel almost a little self-conscious- did they betray his emotions the way feline faunus' ears did? Huh... "I-i'm glad you like it. Family r-recipe."

He didn't have to wonder about that for too long, though, as the jovial Jack Sr. made his way back over, grinning broadly at the seated students. "Y'all kids ready to order, now?" Jack responded easily, taking the pressure off of Lily by reciting what she'd just told him she wanted for her- it seemed like telling him what she wanted had taken a lot of effort, so he'd give her a moment to just enjoy her tea and get a little more acclimated to the lively restaurant environment. "Roast beef melt with the onion soup, shredded goat cheese, and two loaves of today's bread for later. And for me, uh... Just another cup of tea and a half loaf. Thanks, dad." The elder Dawson threw him a smile and a wink, offering the same to Lily, before bounding off again to get their food ready.

He really did hope Lily would enjoy her food as much as she seemed to be enjoying her sweet tea- he had been the one to recommend it after all, and now that he'd already gone ahead and ordered it... Should he have maybe waited and let her think about it some more...? Maybe he should have let her order her own food, even though it definitely seemed like she was a little overwhelmed as it was... Ahhh, too much to think about. He quietly reached for his tea again, draining the last few sips from the cup, and gazing into it with a hint of disappointment- he'd have to wait until his dad came back with more. Ah well. Can't be helped.

In the meantime, he dug his nose back into his book, while doing his best to keep an ear and an eye out for Lily, in case she spoke up again- as much as he needed to tend to his studying, it would be rude to ignore her, especially since, although neither had asked for it, she was his lunch guest.

@lily ● WC: 665 ● TWC: 2283 ● L U N C H

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Lily Finnian]

Lily breathed a sigh of relief after Jack placed her order for her. Shr shrank in her chair and deflated, the silliness of her yoke weighing on her more than any actual embarrassment. After the senior Jackdaw left them alone again, they settled into a somewhat easy quiet. While he had spoken a few pleasantries aside from taking the order, he had said nothing that begged immediate response, and so the pair lapsed into contemplation for a while. She considered in that comfortable silence the school she was now attending and the many other students and faculty who she may be interacting with daily from now on. Xanthe had urged her to branch out and make friends, but she wasn't entirely sure the specifics of how, nor did she know what kind of friends she would want to make. When she'd first been posed the question by Xanthe, she'd responded with a list of combat aptitudes that would compliment her own, which understandably worried the huntress.

She was told that friends aren't just the people you can trust to have your back, but people who make you happy. When asked how she could find friends, Xanthe replied that she'd only figure that out by meeting new people and deciding if she wanted to spend more time with them from there. She had met one or two people that fit those criteria, but it was a pretty broad set of conditions to fall under. She, for instance, wanted to spend more time with the elder Jack because in the very near future he would be bringing her food. Did that count as a friend? Was the friendship over as soon as the food was delivered? She had so many questions, and no answers.

She turned her attention to the younger Jack. What reason did she have to want to spend more time with him? The tips of her ears wiggled inquisitively as she pondered this. She would likely see more of him at school, and may wind up coming to rely on him in one of her classes. It would make sense to build up good rapport early, so that when such a time came they could synergize more easily. Still, that didn't quite seem like what Xanthe meant.

As she studied him, she noticed the book that he was in turn studying. That gave her an idea of how she might be able to open up a line of conversation. She wasn't really sure how conversations with other kids was supposed to go, but for that situation Xanthe had told her 'show interest, and they'll respond to that.' so she though perhaps that was the way to go here.

"So uhm, whatcha reading? Something for class? Or just something for fun?"

She'd never ventured into the fiction section much, knowing there was so much catching up still left for someone in her position to do, but her unique abilities allow her to do said catchup with astounding efficiency.

"Is it any good?" she'd developed a certain fondness for reading shortly after discovering the habit. There was so much that could be told in an object so small, and she'd enjoyed the few fiction books she had indulged in greatly. They possessed a flare for storytelling often sorely missed by their contemporaries in the nonfiction section. It was one of the main reasons she tended to read fiction without the use of her speed reading ability. It was never any fun to suffer through a boring one, which was where her talent really saved her from a lot of pointless frustration.

[Jack Dawson Jr.]

●●●

Scorpion sting, I don't wanna

bleed

tell me that I'm not

lost

Books had a funny way of stealing away his attention, when it really ought to be placed somewhere else. What Lily saw as a comfortable silence, shared between the two, could be more accurately described as Jack forgetting himself and his manners, and getting too caught up in his studies to make conversation. Which, in the end, was probably for the better anyways, as it led Lily to instigate the next subject, which happened to, of course, be the book he was reading.

He was jolted from his thoughts a little by her sudden words, and jumped just a touch, glancing up at her as if awoken from a dream, for just a second or two. "H-hm? Oh, um..." He glanced back down at his book, surprised by the question, before flipping it over so she could see the front cover. "It's um... Dr. Ginger Thornton's 'Treatise on Faunus Anatomy: Volume II," f-focusing on mammalian faunus... It's uh..." He took another nervous sip of tea, but cursed himself for finishing the cup a moment ago- sipping air was much less effective at quelling his nerves, after all. Hopefully his dad would be by with a refill soon...

Her second question came as he was still processing the first, but it did strike him as a little amusing. Well, as far as medical texts could go, it wasn't the driest he'd ever read, but this particular section was a bit of a slog. Ehh... I-it's alright. I um. I guess. I suppose I'm t-technically studying it for a class? And for fun? It's um. Well, I wasn't assigned this text, but I figure I could use any knowledge I can get, y-you know? Part of my training." It made sense to him, intuitively enough- a warrior must study combat and fighting techniques, a tactician, strategies and historic battles. And for him? As a combat medic, he needed to study medicine, obviously. And a good deal more than the warrior or tactician, his studies were often done in books, rather than the field.

In spite of the phrase, "practicing medicine," nobody actually wanted a medic figuring out their craft on the fly. Nobody in the medical tents anyways.

He scratched at his hair, flipping the page to reveal yet more intricate diagrams of feline ears. If the last page was an introduction to the anatomy of a cat-like ear, then these next two were in-depth explorations of each individual part of the ear. Fascinating stuff, but a lot to take in. "It'd be uh. A little easier if it weren't so dense. T-there's just a lot of book, to put it one way, I guess." He offered a slightly awkward smile at his little half-joke, just as his dad thankfully swung by with another mug of hot water and a tea bag, and a pitcher of sweet tea to top Lily's drink off.

"Thanks dad." He tossed the teabag into the mug and set it off on its journey into becoming a proper cup of tea, before turning back to Lily. "It'd be nice if the author could have been a little more concise, maybe. There's uh. A little more filler text than I think it really n-needs, you know?" Ahh, but what could he do about that? Guess he'd just have to keep at it, unless Lily had a brighter idea..

@lily ● WC: 571 ● TWC: 2854 ● when your textbook too fluffy

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Lily Finnian]

Lily had all but drained her tea when a refill materialized, startling her again. It was difficult to keep track of the goings on around her in an environment like this. Her focus was forced onto one or two points max, and in this instance it was the boy's plight. She knew all too well the struggles of clunky educational texts, having forced herself to cram at least two books a day in order to help her catch up to the rest of the student body, sometimes more.

When jack turned the pages of the thick tome her way, she saw the diagrams of ears not dissimilar to her own, and felt a small flux of heat enter her cheeks. She'd caught him stealing a few glances at her ears. It was not a reaction she was unused to getting when meeting new people, she often found the eyes of others drifting there. She often wondered what it was that other people saw when they stole those glances, and found it was a little nice to have that question answered so succinctly. There were few reasons the girl could respect more than honest curiosity, or educational pursuit.

She took another sip of the tea that she'd been brought and felt her shoulders relax involuntarily, as her ears drooped to match. After a moment of bliss she corrected her posture and nodded to herself.

"If you'd like, I could help with that. I happen to have an ability unique to me that let's me knock those frustrating sections out a little more painlessly than most."

As she said that, she produced her small black handbag that Xanthe had given her, which she begrudgingly admitted was useful for carrying small things like her scroll and the little black leatherbound journal she kept her private thoughts stowed away in. Tucked in the binding was a pen, and she pulled it free before opening the small book to the back pages.

"I-I could take you some notes. I've gotten pretty good at it. It probably wouldn't hurt me to know a little more about this sort of anatomy anyway,"

Though she spoke the words cooly, her ears were wiggling a little bit with excitement. She had always enjoyed learning about things like anatomy and the human body. They were one of the limited subjects her mother had taught her about. She'd never seen much about ears like her, but the diagrams and pictures were really well detailed.

[Jack Dawson Jr.]

●●●

Scorpion sting, I don't wanna

bleed

tell me that I'm not

lost

In a rare moment of reprieve from the discomfort Jack always found himself facing in his own mind, between the tea, the focus on his book, and the familiar din of the diner drowning out whatever anxious thoughts he might have otherwise been having. He allowed himself a small smile and another sip of the hot tea, as Lily made her offer. An offer which he was inclined to accept- it wasn't that he wasn't enjoying the process of pushing through the thick, unnecessarily redundant, text. He was; he liked reading, in general, and the act of studying was soothing to him, in a way that few other things were. But if he could study notes instead of the entire book, with all of the important details taken down, that would be significantly more useful to him.

That, and he was now curious to see what this ability of Lily's was. He'd never heard of a Semblance that made someone a fast reader before, so this was going to be very interesting to see in action.

"O-of course, if you'd, um, if you'd like, sure. Th-thank you." He offered her a grateful smile, before turning the book towards her. It was long, and he'd only made it a few chapters in, but if she was as fast as she said, then it shouldn't be much of an obstacle for her. He did wonder, though, how she would fare with some of the denser medical jargon- it wasn't exactly an intro level text. Then again, though, if she needed help with any of the terms, he was right there to help. It was the least he could do if she was willing to help him out this much.

Curiosity shining in his eyes, he took a sip of his tea as he awaited her speed-reading. He couldn't help but be a little excited to see how it worked.

Aura: 100% ● @bookfren ● WC: 320 ● TWC: 3174 ● S P E E D

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Jay]

XP Distribution:

Lily Finnian: 34 - 5% (No TWC) = 32 XP
349 + 32 = 381

Jack Dawson Jr.: 31 XP
45 + 31 = 76