2nd Floor Common Room, Friday Morning

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie had deemed it too hot to go outside if she didn't have to, today. So, why she'd chosen to spend a chunk of her morning by the stove, which was known for its heat-generating capabilities, was anyone's guess. Sometimes cravings were counterproductive, maybe, or maybe she was just contrary by nature.

In any case, the end result was a hearty stack of pancakes on a plate on the kitchen counter. Natalie herself was curled up on the sofa, balancing her Economics II textbook in her lap while eating some pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream. Having lost the first four days of the term, she had a little bit of catching up to do to get back on schedule with her independent classes. She had considered getting in touch with the teachers whose actual classes she'd missed but, knowing how rare homework was at this school, had decided against it. It could wait.

The textbooks could be all for this week. Textbooks and pancakes.

[ooc: Open!]

Comments

[fewer_explosions]

After class, Liara was still in a bit of a daze. She wandered into the common room because it smelled like food and there was someone reading-- reading was good. Reading made sense. Even if it wasn't quite in the form she was used to.

She sank into a seat opposite Natalie, hunched forward a little, and, well.

Didn't say anything. She wasn't sure how to open a conversation here.

[whenshewasnice]

After a moment – she was in the middle of a chapter, here, and this new person hadn't actually initiated conversation, okay – Natalie's gaze flicked up at the newcomer.

There wasn't even an eyebrow raise at the fact that the new girl was, in fact, blue. This was Fandom.

"The pancakes are free for the taking, if you're hungry."

She wasn't so great at human interaction either.

[fewer_explosions]

"Oh," Liara said. "Ah. Thank you."

She didn't move.

A few moments later she added, awkwardly, "What are you reading?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie held up her book so she'd see the cover. "Economics," she said, without a particular tone to her voice. "Independent course work."

[fewer_explosions]

"Ah," Liara said again. That... was really not her field of interest. "Is it engaging?"

She couldn't see how it could be, but...

[whenshewasnice]

That's okay, Liara, it wasn't Natalie's favourite, either.

"It's potentially useful." But there was that. "And more of a challenge than most classes here."

[fewer_explosions]

'It's useful' was not a particularly moving argument for the girl who had decided that she wanted to be an archaeologist when she was only fifteen years old. "I suppose there is that," Liara said dubiously. "The classes here are very... eccentric."

[whenshewasnice]

"Or batcrap insane," Natalie drawled, setting the book down in her lap for the moment to focus on her pancakes. "Well, no. I'm taking creative writing and philosophy this term, those are probably normal enough."

Of course, she was in those ones half out of genuine interest and half because... well, Wiggins could be fascinating.

[fewer_explosions]

"I thought I was taking a history class," Liara muttered. And she'd been looking forward to it, too. "But my teacher is a madman with seemingly no interest in education at all!"

Beat.

"Sorry. I did not mean to yell."

[whenshewasnice]

"With Warner, the cartoon dog thing?" Natalie checked, dryly. No comment on raised voices. Pretty understandable. "Yeah, he gets that reaction a lot."

[fewer_explosions]

"Have you ever had a class specializing in history or archaeology before?" Liara asked. "One that wasn't led by a cartoondog?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie shrugged a shoulder. "At my old school. Here, nope. I took Warner's class last term, and I'm taking the independent class on American history now."

[fewer_explosions]

"There are independent classes?"

Don't sound so desperate, Liara.

[whenshewasnice]

"Yes." And Natalie wasn't going to be the one to pass judgement on any desperation related to that. "At least American history, economics, Latin, and Euro lit, this time around."

[fewer_explosions]

Liara squinted at her. "What is America?" she asked hesitantly. "I assume it's some tribe or landmass."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie paused, but honestly, she wasn't surprised. Blue girl, you know, probably not from around here.

"The latter," she said. "It's a continent. But it's also a synonym for the country we're in right now, and I'm pretty sure that's what the class is about. United States of America."

[fewer_explosions]

"Is it a prominent country on your world?" Liara asked politely. "Or is it merely a subject because it happens to be the one we are in?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Both," Natalie replied, shrugging, after a pause to consider. "It's kind of a big deal, but I don't think most other countries would bother making it a subject on its own. My old school didn't."

[fewer_explosions]

"Ah," Liara said. She fiddled with her hands. "My own planet is comprised mainly of city-states," she offered. "Each with its own distinguished history."

[whenshewasnice]

"As most things somehow distinguished from each other tend to be." Absently, she swirled around a piece of pancake in some melted ice cream. "Which planet is that, then?"

[fewer_explosions]

"Thessia," Liara shared, "You wouldn't know it."

[whenshewasnice]

"No, but I'm used to that." After almost a year in Fandom, she had to be. "People generally aren't blue anywhere where I come from."

[fewer_explosions]

"People are not usually pink where I come from," Liara pointed out, one of the markings on her forehead rising high.

Beat.

"...Except for some krogan, I suppose."

[whenshewasnice]

"Don't know what that is, either," Natalie volunteered with another shrug that said that didn't bother her much. "And I only meant that as an indication of why it's not that surprising I don't know the place you're from."