voidtreckerexpress | Getting to Know You [Closed to Roomies or anyone they bring with them!]

Getting to Know You [Closed to Roomies or anyone they bring with them!]

Who: Kumoko, Shen Qingqiu, Silvia Leafe, Kyoko Sakura, aka. the roommates of sleeper L3A! and guests!
Where: Sleeper Lower Three Cabin A, and the adjacent corridor
When: Variable, to be noted in the top levels and backdating expected!
What: With an influx of roommates, all involved need to figure out the best way to cohabitate.
Warnings: PG-13, probably nothing worth noting save for the potential for shouting, flailing, or otherwise. There will be a spider too!

Silvia had gotten used to the semi-quiet of her living situation. Although she tended to limit her time in the sleeper cabin, she was used to a bunk or two being vacant. There was always the prospect of the space being filled but platform after platform it hadn't so she'd been hopeful that it would remain this way. Although she liked companionship, she also still needed time to herself. The solitude had a recharging effect, letting her sort out her thoughts and just feel more secure. There were other times however when that same isolation allowed self-doubt to grow and consume her so it was a double-edged sword. Either way, there had been so many changes in her life that she would have liked for one thing to remain the same...

So when she next entered the space, and found obvious signs that someone or something had been in the room, she froze in the doorway, feeling her heart give a little flip flop. The door shouldn't have allowed anyone through that wasn't supposed to be in here, however there were always exceptions. Her mind couldn't help questioning whether it was the work of someone nefarious, ~~thank you past experience~~, or benign but just seeing things moved out of place was unnerving.

Her pet cat, Saqqara, yawned and stretched leaving the comfort of her roost to twine herself around Silvia's legs as if to help settle her down. The feline was not nearly as excitable as her master and loved the attention of any and all. The affectionate maneuver helped calm the pink-haired girl's nerves since if someone had gotten in here by force surely the cat would have hidden or gotten her hackles up.

Silvia could only hope.. that her new roommates would be compatible and pleasant to be around..

[ooc: This initial prompt is just to give some idea of my character's misgivings. She can be a bit shy. BUT.. she'll warm up to people over time. Feel free to add your own top levels, and set up your own scenarios for how everyone meets or runs into one another! Just make sure to note the time the thread occurs/occurred in the title. Thank you all and have fun mingling!]

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"Hey, quit blockin' the door."

Pleasant to be around, huh? That voice behind Sylvia is feminine but rough around the edges in both tone and accent. The owner of that voice is a teenage girl with long red hair pulled up into a ponytail by a black ribbon with a gold pin attached. Over the top of Purple Team clothes is a red-and-black leather coat.

And... The girl is also chewing gum. She looks at Sylvia with eyebrows raised expectantly and with attitude.

Sylvia refrained from leaning over to pet the cat and turned slightly to peer over her shoulder at the source of the potentially contentious words. "Oh... uh.. so this is your cabin too, huh?" Eventually she did step aside, when she remembered she should and then took a second glance to size the other girl up. Well, at least it was a girl, and maybe she shouldn't read too much into the abrasive request. Being brought to the train was a jarring experience, even moreso if you resisted boarding for an extended duration- tensions would naturally be higher than usual.

"I like your coat." Regretting her own decision to wear something more comfortable, but kinda frumpy. It did have a cute little fox on the front, and jeans had their advantages, but still. It had been a random selection from the on board shop, and she almost felt like she should say so everytime she wore it. Her pink hair, with blue accents was loose today, falling lightly against her back. On her left hand was a handchain with a some would say creepy looking eyeball at the center of it that didn't go with the ensemble.

I like your coat... is that really all you could think of?, she silently chided herself. First impressions were so hard.

Edited 2022-01-27 07:26 (UTC)

Unlike Silvia, Jiu has taken to treating the cabin as his Safe Zone within the train. No men! No boys! No chaos! Just a single quiet room where he can nap in relative peace.

Not that he's napping right now, though--no, he's currently in fox form, sprawled out lazily on his bed....resting his eyes. Yes. Totally not asleep! As proof, one of his ears just twitched!

Really though, make any noise and this fox will be wide awake. Probably.

"Yup." The sentence is punctuated with that particular kinda smack that comes from chewing gum. Kyoko watches this new girl look her over, and the timing is funny, because she's doing the same thing as she passes by her into the room. The attitude doesn't lower even as she takes in that sweater.

But the compliment changes that. Kyoko blinks in surprise, and some of the attitude actually does fade as her shoulders straighten and her chin tips up with pride.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." She tugs on the front to pull it closed a little more as if to show it off better. She even turns a bit to show the back of it, where the same flame symbol as her pin is emblazoned. "Yondu got it for me."

Kyoko has been hanging out in the cabin today, too, kicked back in her bed with a comic book borrowed from the library. She's already gotten some training in and now it's chill time, even if she'll probably end up in the games carriage later.

She likes to think she's more or less immune to the stereotypically cute stuff that other girls coo over. That's not her thing, anyway, to gush over this animal or that animal or whatever. So one of her cabinmates turning into a fox -- and spending a lot of time as a fox -- hasn't phased her much.

But right now? It's just the two of them. And that ear twitch draws Kyoko's attention, caught out of the corner of her eyes. When she glances his way... She doesn't know much about animals, but the fox looks pretty asleep to her. Maybe she could get away with sneaking in a pet? Maybe? He does look fluffy and soft. And if she gets caught... Maybe she can play it off like she thought she saw something on him? Hmmm. Is it worth the risk?

Better to test the waters first before her luck. Leaving her comic book laid open on her mattress, Kyoko sits up and scoots to the edge of her bunk. That gives her the room to do a real big, almost theatrical, stretch, complete with a bit of an exaggerated noise. She's definitely not keeping an eye on the fox's reactions or anything.

Maybe it wasn't the wisest move for a feline to make, but Saqqara like all her kin was drawn to warmth. Without so much as an invitation she hopped up in the bed beside him and curled into a tight ball, much to the concern of one teenage girl, and one Lunja. The former was starting to bite her lip as she tried her best to sneak over quietly to retrieve her cat.

Foxes might look cute, like the one ironically enough on her shirt, but they were still wild animals, and while Sylvia didn't know how one got in here, she also didn't want it to decide to take a chunk out of Saqqara.

Eyes trained on the prize, she looped her arms over to reach for the cat burying her fingers in it's fur. Unfortunately, said cat would not be budged as it flexed it's claws into the bedspread.

The delinquent vibes were moderate with this roommate which didn't bode well, but it was really too soon to tell from the brief exchange. Besides, that bubblegum thing was just a trope common in anime and manga- not reality. Right?

What follows next is reassuring. The compliment had caught this roommate off guard and it was evident. Hey, maybe Sylvia wasn't the only one nervous about meeting new people, this girl just handled it differently. At least, that is what she told herself.

"I totally agree," She said with a nod, her bangs swaying from the motion. It didn't surprise her about Yondu being the source, since she had heard positive things about him, even though she hadn't interacted with him before herself. Maybe someday she would change that. Pleased to have found some territory of mutual interest she felt a little more comfortable asking a follow up. "Is there any significance to that symbol that's on it, and your pin? If not, it's still a great design."

"Yeah, there is. It's the symbol for the group he's a part of -- Ravagers." And it occurs to Kyoko this might be a little harder to explain to someone who seems more... normal. "They're a bunch of crews who fly around together in space. Yondu's a captain, and the colors -- " Here, she tugs on her coat again, showing that she means the red and black. "They're the colors of his crew."

So it's not just the badge that means something. It's the whole coat.

"The Ravagers.." Sylvia repeated thoughtfully already envisioning all the sorts of groups that could be referencing. She eliminated 'book club' almost immediately but was on the fence about a sports team, or pirates. It would have been the perfect name for the latter. Oh- could be a motorcycle gang....

Fortunately, she didn't have long to wonder before the other girl cleared it up for her. "Of course they are." Space pirates. Makes total sense. Nervously she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear to hide her her expression as she tried not to laugh at her own thoughts. One day surely she would cease to be surprised by all the various sorts of people that got drawn here and their backstories but that time was not now.

"Guess that makes you an honorary member. That was nice of him to include you." Genuinely meaning it.

"Not just honorary. I'm part of his new crew. We're family."

And here, she really does sound like she's boasting. Like she has the bestest family ever, even if she doesn't really know the other girl Yondu's taken under his wing. It's got Yondu in it -- Of course she should be proud.

Kyoko stretches her arms high above her head, and eyeballs the bunks available. "Which one'a these is yours?"

Family. The word strikes a deeper chord than Sylvia wants to admit. It's hard to believe it's been over a year since she last spoke to her mother, father, or younger sister. During the trials she had seen the apparition of her older brother but that hadn't exactly been a pleasant experience. The memory makes her smile falter briefly.

With a shake of her head she at least manages something neutral.

"It's this one." Said with a nod, as she walked over to a bottom bunk near the outside wall. She placed a hand to the mattress and smoothed out the bedspread. Not content to be ignored any longer, Saqqara moves over to the new girl and bumps into her legs, following that with a meowal.

"Sorry about her. She's... not the least bit shy and she kinda has been sleeping wherever she wants to. Um, I'll try to see if we can curb that. You aren't allergic to cats are you?"

Jiu's never been one for cute things - or at least he's never really had the opportunity to stop and consider that question - but he's the cute thing in this situation, so that doesn't really matter, does it?

Anyway, he's napping quite comfortably at first, not a thought in his furry little head...but that one ear twitches again at her scoot. Then both ears twitch, when she does the stretch.

Finally, gradually, he lazily cracks open his eyes to glance in her direction, tail giving an equally lazy single swish before.......he goes still again.

Did he fall back asleep? Is he pretending now? What will Kyoko do to find out?

When the strange cat hopped onto Jiu's bed, his first reaction was to raise his head slightly, blinking blearily at it with what was presumably a sleepy look on his little fox face. Not detecting any threat from it, he then transferred his gaze over to the clearly worried girl by the door, yawned (with all his teeth on full display), and flopped back onto the bed again, curling slightly next to the cat.

This probably would have been fine, but when Sylvia's attempts to remove said cat led to claws in his bedspread...well. His ears flicked back, tail swishing slightly as he lifted his head again to glare at...the human. Control your cat! Or leave it alone! Whichever keeps problems out of his space!!

Was he growling? That sound might've been a growl.

If Kyoko notices that falter, she doesn't comment on it. Everybody's got their own story, and whatever Sylvia's is, Kyoko knows better than most than the concept of family can be... well. Not always happy.

The bunks and the cat are easy topics to focus on.

"Nah. It's fine." Kyoko peers down at the cat, but doesn't move to pet her. "She can do what she wants, it doesn't bother me." She points up at the bunk above Sylvia's. "I'll grab that one, then."

Hell, he sleeps pretty lightly, then. Either that, or he wasn't entirely asleep in the first place. It's even possible that he didn't entirely wake up when he looked at her. That little experiment didn't give her enough information.

She's got a top bunk, so she's got two options here. She can either sneak quietly down the ladder and hope he stays asleep, or... She can do another experiment.

It's better to know for sure. Kyoko ignores the ladder and just drops off the top bunk, landing easily on her feet with a thud.

There was no denying the appeal of the creature, with it's red fur and currently docile appearance, however Sylvia didn't really know if it was domesticated or not and those worries wouldn't ebb on their own. Saqqara had achieved what she wanted, and was in no hurry to move. The conflict of interest is what made everything start taking a turn.

Instinctively, when she heard the growling she released her hold on her cat long enough to look at the fox. The feline feeling more settled retracted her claws but even she had taken notice of the change in behavior. The cat's pupils dilated when they caught sight of the tail movement and she watched with interest before raising a tentative paw into the air.

"Saqqara, no!" Sylvia whisper-hissed in desperation temporarily getting Saqqara's attention. "Let's just... leave the nice fox alone?"

There is some relief when the subject changes to the cabin and it's inhabitants, furry or otherwise.

"Oh good. I've always been worried that they would place someone in here that wasn't a cat person, couldn't take cat fur." Breathing out a sigh. "You know... if you want to, it's okay to pet her too. Only if you want to." Shooting a pointed glance floorward since Saqqara is a bit pushy if she doesn't get said pets from the petter of the feline's choice. "That'll be fine."

"I don't like snore or anything.. so I shouldn't keep you up." When the words leave her lips she wishes she could retract them, but.. hey.. it's not the stupidest thing to mention.

The thud! Elicits no reaction! Clearly she's planning to leave the room now, right? Fox is too busy napping to watch.

Seriously though, he didn't even twitch. He can't possibly have fallen so deeply asleep that quickly, right?

He'd keep trying to ignore the two of them, but judging by the way things were going, it seemed like the girl's struggle with her cat would be taking a little longer than he was willing to wait. The fox finally looked up again, and...spoke.

"Have you considered leaving the cat alone? I was trying to sleep...." Ah, but he was fully awake now...and also noticed Saqqara's interest, curling his tail close up to his body again.

They were making it quite difficult to leave things unchallenged between owner and feline. Sylvia was completely taken aback when the fox clearly spoke those few words. She drew back sharply, eyes zeroing in on the curled form of red fur.

"You can talk?!" At least the removal of the fun looking flipping tail settled down one of the two interruptions to his sleep.

Well... Considering Kyoko herself can fall asleep at the drop of a hat...

Yeah. Yeah, he definitely could've. And Kyoko thinks it's worth the risk.

As casually as possible, even though there are no onlookers, Kyoko reaches over to lightly brush her fingers along the very top edge of the fox's fur.

Kyoko follows Sylvia's pointed look at the cat with her own gaze, but hers has a bit of a quirked eyebrow attached. The cat's pretty cute... she guesses. She can't say she's ever spent much time around cats, though. So she'll just have to see what happens.

She grins at the look on Sylvia's face, though, after she mentions the snoring. There's only one response to that. "Sounds like something someone who snores would say."

"Did you think I was somebody's pet?" He was torn between changing to his human form to prove a point, or staying right where he was after having already gotten comfortable...

Ultimately, staying comfortable won. "If you're meant to live in this room then I hope you keep in mind that this bed is already claimed."

The fox.....lets out a tiny foxy noise that might be a contented sigh? Or maybe it's a resigned sigh, if you're the negative type.

Either way! He seems to be cool with it! If she keeps going he might even lean into it.

"Not ...exactly?" Sylvia replied both sheepishly and haltingly. She debated whether this would be more insulting or not, but since she'd already spoken she ultimately opted to clarify. "I ... just thought you might be a wild animal, even though I'm not sure how you could have gotten on the train in the first place if you were." Maybe, it was better not to be thought of as domesticated? One could hope.

That little bit of attitude she perceives, possibly warranted, still rankles her a little. Standing up a bit straighter, she placed a hand to her hip.

"If I'm meant to live here? You say that as if I'm the newcomer, but I've actually been in this cabin for a lot longer than you have." As luck would have it, the fox did manage to choose a previously unoccupied bunk. Then she dialed it back and tried to salvage the situation. "Look, I'm sorry if I might have offended you earlier but I wasn't really sure what to think when I found you here. I was only worried what you might do to my cat if you decided she was a nuisance. ... Can we just start over?"

Edited 2022-02-16 09:58 (UTC)

For Saqqara's part she sits all prim and proper as she raises one paw to wash it. It's not evident whether she will mind Sylvia or not ~~she won't~~. At least for now the feline is not being demanding.

Sylvia faintly blushed at the grin and the accompanying words. "I really don't, I swear." Not that one could actually know that unless they recorded themselves in their sleep to check. "Or at least... no one has ever mentioned it before.. so I'm assuming.. I'm a pretty quiet sleeper."

Then she tried to quickly change the subject. "So.. uh, let me know if there's anything I can do to help you get settled in."

Honestly he wouldn't be entirely surprised if the train decided to pull in a wild animal as a passenger...he also honestly isn't sure whether he should feel better or worse about being considered a wild animal vs a domesticated one, but it's not like he has any experience being compared to either of those (out loud in his presence, anyway).

"Are you so sure about that? It's possible you may simply have overlooked me." Totally possible! You never know!! "If you want to start over though, you can consider introducing yourself." And maybe your animals?

........... Yeah, she'll keep going. The initial positive response is a little too hard to resist.

This time, she properly combs her fingers through the fur. ... Soft. And fluffy. So fluffy. So fluffy.

Definitely worth it, even if the fox wakes up and, like, bites her or something.

Neither would she, really. The train seemed to draw all sorts to the platform. There seemed to be no limits as to who would be allowed to board.

"For months? I don't think I could be that unobservant, besides- that red fur would be hard to miss." Although Sylvia defended herself, she did consider that it could have been days before she noticed the car was occupied. When he accepted her offer of starting over however she was keen on moving on and trying to improve the situation.

Dropping her arms to her sides she gave a nod before stumbling her way through an introduction. "Oh, uh.. right. That would be the best place to start. I'm Sylvia Leafe, I was residing in Domino, Japan before I got here." She debated whether she should add anything additional to that just to try to make it more interesting but out of deference to the fox's desire to nap she kept it short. Then she waved a hand towards the cat. "This is Saqqara, she's a bengal cat, very friendly- as you probably could tell already -and likes to get into things..."

Then she leaned down to scoop up her other animal companion, with the long rabbit like ears and the foxlike tail. "And this is Lunja." The Eevee tilted it's head to one side and studied the fox. "She's a bit more protective, but of an affable nature too."

Edited 2022-02-22 17:13 (UTC)

Congrats Kyoko, you've unlocked fox privileges!

By which I mean the fox lets himself enjoy her petting juuuuuust long enough for her to more fully let down her guard, before suddenly rolling away from her fingers, shaking himself a bit, and leaping off the bed.

And suddenly! There is a teenager instead! A fluffy-eared teenager who nonchalantly brushes some imaginary dust off his clothes before turning to face her.

"...Is there anything to eat in here?"

The fox did not deign to answer her "unobservant" comment, and chose to stare blankly at her (and her pets) as she gave her introduction. Japan? Bengal? And why didn't Lunja get a definition? That clearly wasn't another bengal!

...Not that he cared, surely. "You can call me Jiu." Despite the roster clearly saying his name was Shen Qingqiu. "Despite how it may seem, I am human." A pause. "I was residing on Cangqiong Mountain before this - if you've heard of it."

"Don't act like you didn't just give me a heart attack!!"

Kyoko may or may not actually be clutching her chest. Holy shit.

... Not that she's ignoring the question about food. Don't get her wrong. But she'll get to that in a damn minute! After... After her heartrate has calmed down a bit.

Even through his silence she oddly felt a little judged- ~~and called out~~. Ok, everyone has those moments when they don't notice something they should, right? Sylvia wouldn't be unique in that, if she did indeed not notice a roommate for weeks.

Pokémon would need further clarification, and even Sylvia wasn't sure that she understood everything there was to know about them. There were other trainers she should speak to about it really.. but she didn't want to be a bother..

"Jiu, easy enough." Offering him a smile, the roster could be a source of confusion later. "...... come again?" Looking him over a second time she wondered if he was being serious or making some kind of joke. "I... uh.. I haven't actually."

"You seem quite healthy to me."

Shocked and surprised, sure, but it's not like she hasn't seen him in human form before, right? Don't be such a drama queen!

Still, the teasing(?) only lasts as long as that sentence, before he bows his head with a slight smile. "I apologize for scaring you. Should I have asked permission first before leaving?"

To be fair, after first joining this train Jiu had immediately gotten into the habit of leaving the room the instant he woke up, and had only started spending more time in it now that he was sharing a room with girls...not that he'd bother mentioning that.

What a serious girl, though. Honest. He let out what could possibly be construed as an amused little huff, front paws crossing in an almost businesslike manner: "I didn't expect you would. The large majority of us are unfamiliar with each other's worlds - it's rather silly to bring it up, if you ask me."

Honestly he would have turned back into his human form by now, but with the cat sharing his bed he was actually feeling pretty comfortable where he was for the moment.

It was wise not to mention it, since it would have been difficult to explain when pressed. Maybe not for Jiu, but difficult for Sylvia to process.

Although she did possess a sense of humor, it did take a little warming up to new people to really activate it. At least things seemed to be progressing smoothly enough even if the fox was a little haughty at times. It seemed rather fitting for someone who could take on that form but it didn't detract from how cute he was currently.

...

Wait.

If he was really human, then...

She let out a delayed yelp, before giving him a concentrated but uneasy stare. Lunja tensed in her grasp, and Saqqara just yawned and opened an eye to stare lazily at her master.

....Why did she just yelp.

The fox narrowed its eyes questioningly.

"Is there something wrong?" Hello??

"... You.... uh.." There was no less awkward way to ask this other than to just come out with it. "You implied that you've been rooming here for a while and I just didn't notice... but you're... you're a..... you're a guy?"

Turning a bit pink in the face.

"You have to know what sort of problem that is..." Still trying to be vague and hoping he would just fill in the blanks. "Sometimes, girls need a little privacy.... to do... girl things.... you haven't been... in here... for um.. any.. of that.. right?" Like changing clothes, is what she was trying to ask though she was failing at it miserably.

"I haven't been watching you, if that's what you're asking."

Watching her do what? Private activities? Jiu was admittedly used to seeing girls in various states of undress, but he wasn't into voyeurism, thanks.

The fox looked directly at her, floofy tail swishing and conveniently landing on the cat. "You don't need to worry about any intentional invasions of your privacy from me - though if my presence itself is what bothers you, then I'm afraid you'd have to take that up with the train."

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Getting to Know You [Closed to Roomies or anyone they bring with them!]

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