Welcome to Gaia! ::

Somewhere outside their dorm an owl hooted, the sound echoing eerily around the open fields. Night had fallen, dinner was eaten, and the residents of Dorm Luchse were currently cooling their heels before sleep. The dorm was sparse, but to Preacher is seemed nearly opulent. Humming softly, she sat cross-legged in her bed, blankets pooled across her legs. A sketchbook lay open in her lap, half-formed doodles of her dorm mates decorating the open pages. Preacher liked the relatively quiet moments like these, when she could simply draw or people watch or try to quiet her noisy mind.

She still didn't know any of them too well. There was Shakuntala, the girl from that spicy curry stand. No one knew exactly how or why she had joined, but the quiet girl loved horses with a deep passion. Which reminded Preacher that she still needed to apologize to for that weird blow-up in the stables. Somehow, she just hadn't been able to: it was so embarrassing. Preacher felt her cheeks heat a little even thinking about it. Deliberately, she set her mind back on track. Lloren - the cheerful girl from the parade who loved puns and had halped Saga. But who also thought that she and Axel were in some sort of strange relationship. Preacher frowned; there was nothing strange or mysterious about pure, clean hate. And lastly, there was Galacie. Preacher had actually never talked to her at all... huh.

Clearing her throat, she spoke. "So, Tala.... why'd ya join up anyway? Why'd any of ya join up?" She looked curiously at each of them. No one of them seemed as though they had been slum brats, but the military changed people. For one thing, Preacher was now a lot cleaner than she'd ever been.

((Ohhh are we imageRPing 8D ....WHERE DID ALL THIS TEXT COME FROM?! I'm sorry! Really! Gah!! Next one will be shorter!))

Lloren hooted in quiet imitation of the owl outside, more out of reflex than any conscious effort. She would often mirror strange ambient noises without so much as a thought while focused on something else- the object of her attention was presently the small booklet which she seemed to carry everywhere. The text she scrawled within was too small to read except up close and pages were filled to the edges with words, numbers and doodles, not a single space wasted. Who knew how many years of ponderings were crammed into that thing. Her subject matter, however, differed from Preacher's. Mainly it was poetry, full of barred verses and rewordings on works of sudden inspiration and long planned-out projects alike. Other than that, it contained hand-drawn maps of places as well as blueprints for random inventions, both real and imagined, with the occasional sketch of flora and fauna. Some pages came in clumps, clipped together- these were full of observations and calculations. Thusly absorbed in jotting down more thoughts, the frizzy-haired trainee lay belly-down over the blanket of her bunk.

The click of the door following Galacie's entry and Preacher's conversation starter drew her attention back to reality. Happy to bask in the presence of her bunkmates, Lloren immediately repositioned herself into a sit on the bed, questioning whether or not the joy of their company should be allowed in this world. Bunking alone had been nice, but bunking with these three was privilege. Tala was so adorable that Lloren would adopt her in a heartbeat. Preacher had actually been adopted in spirit by another individual, Saga, which never stopped being hilarious whenever she thought about it. For the longest time, she hadn't known that the blue-haired ruffian was a girl- but there was no questioning it now, she was definitely a bandit queen. She didn't actually believe Preacher was -a- bandit queen, per se, but she was -Lloren's fantasy bandit queen-, all right? With that swashbuckling attitude, manner of speech and awesome physique combined how could it be any other way? Scary reports of the bandit queen's violent and antagonizing behaviour with others aside, an immature, battlethirsty part of Lloren wished to test herself against Preacher in a spar. And form an adventure-fiction-worthy a**-kicking duo with her. She doubted they could every be friends as their very natures would probably drive them apart, but as if that'd keep her from a happy fascination with such a strong character.

Finally, Galacie was... headed for her own bed, a bed in the same bunk, maximal distance between the walls three meters, beds approximately 80 cm wide, therefore distance between the beds 120 cm, the measure of proximity to the personification of grace. Hallelujah room reshufflings. Thank you new arrivals for this day. The taller trainee sat down and swept aside her wet bangs with unmatched elegance and followed up Preacher's inquiry, prompting Lloren to glance back to Tala with an expectant smile as they awaited her answer.

Like Galacie, she had been on the training grounds since before this latest arrival. It was nothing out of the ordinary that she'd had the time to take to the military facility like a second home. What the others didn't know, however, was the unusual speed with which this had occurred. Her first few days on the grounds had been spent exploring every corner of the compound, sneaking out at night, sliding shoeless on every floor and rolling herself across the walls of the dorm when nobody was looking. It wasn't exactly marking the place with one's scent, but it was a comparable process, leaving only the hardest to access buildings untouched. Either way, the speed at which Lloren could get comfortable in a new place was very much curiosity-driven.

That same curiosity was back in action now that new room mates had graced her with their presence. She had lots of questions for them and hoped to be able to learn more! For instance, she didn't know much about Tala except that she was really adorably shy... uh. Wait. Wasn't it terrible for her to have been singled out first? Maybe she should relieve the pressure with a joke? Yeah! That'd work. She put on a mystified expression, hand half-folded over her forehead, and spoke as if having just realized her mistake.

"Wait, so you mean... we need a reason to attend the slumber party even when it's held in our own room? Dang Preacher, I'm so sorry. I'll leave right away."

Preacher's eyebrow cocked. She wasn't sure Galacie really sounded that interested; her voice seemed carefully schooled. Well, the pale girl could simply be shy. She'd met people like that before, who hid behind misdirection and politely thought-out words. They were interesting. Preacher peered at Galacie until Lloren's... interesting words popped out of her mouth.

What? Preacher grinned, playing along, and slid open the window next to her bed. "Yea, yea, out ya go then, Lloren. I guess ya kin sleep with the horses - entertain 'em with your frightenin' wit. Pfft." Lloren was a strange character, that was for sure. A muggy, damp breeze flew into the room and she wrinkled her nose. Thankfully, they had not gotten the dorm near the barn. Lusche was a strange dorm, unevenly balanced for the moment. Elliot must feel lonely, she mused.

Tala moved slowly, softly, like a mouse. She was obviously a little nervous; it seemed like she always was. Her reason was unexpected and Preacher felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. "I ain't got a home anymore either, Tala. Though I never had parents. I'mma sure ya could bring her 'round eventually. She's a lil... overbearing, though. at leas' here ya get to be 'round tha horses. You're prolly tha only trainee they really love. Oh, and sorry about the whole.... um, horse... argument... thing." As far as apologies went, that one was pretty lame and Preacher flushed slightly. The urge to pry more about Tala's circumstances rose up, but she ignored it. Tala seemed the type to tell things when she was good and ready. Preacher smiled at her and shifted, drawing her knees up to her chest. Her toes tapped against the mattress. Bright yellow eyes rose again to scan the room. The corner of her mouth cocked ever higher up and she slid the window shut.

"Since ya ain't actually leavin', Lloren, did ya join jus' ta meet glorious people like Saga?" Her voice was wry. Once you met Saga Somnis, officer of the military police, you never forgot him.

The pale trainee listened as introductions were made. The darker, stuttering girl seemed like she was quite brave, considering her proposed backstory. "To be fair, the military is as good a place as any other to learn what one likes and dislikes. You could always pick up some side jobs as well, if you've looked into those already. Perhaps we can do one together sometime? Ah.. I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name?"

Her attention was pulled when the other two women seemed to call one another out. Oblivious to the obviously cheery atomosphere, Galacie stiffened as she observed Lloren and Preacher approach the window. Were they going to fight? She didn't know the Preacher girl that well, but Lloren? She had met her often enough throughout the past year that she had formed a particular fondness for the black haired girl's exuberance and positive attitude. Of course Lloren wasn't the type to pick a fight, but what if this was that one time? Perhaps the accented trainee misunderstood her intentions? No no, of course they weren't like that; she had more faith in the goodness of humans than that.

She shifted closer to the edge of the bed, ready to pull them apart should-- oh, no wait, was that a pun? Does one pun before a fight? She suspected that Lloren just might, but the pun was enough for her to realize the situation was not quite as dire as she had feared. A-hem. A simple misunderstanding that anyone could make.

Eager to ensure the continued talks without chucking people out the window, Galacie tipped her head up towards Preacher, "Who is this individual.. Saga?" Clearly she had been deprived of greatness.

Lloren's sudden speech tugged at Galacie's attention once more, and she was instantly pulled into the allure of information, "But creatures such as lizards have lost and regrown limbs, yet there is no such science to emulate this. If a titan is a species separate from a human, perhaps there would be little cross over involved. How alike would their anatomies and structures be, I wonder?"

Of course she had taken a class or two on titans already, but it was generally at a basic level, not a purely scientific one. Survival. Where to strike. Movement. Blood and steam. What did this say about the innermost makeup of a titan? What made them so different from humans? Was cognitive function impossible? Did this have any impact on regeneration? All questions that the local town library would never be able to answer.

Preacher groaned at Lloren's walls-awful pun and leaned back on her bed, picking up her titan doll and tossing from hand to hand. The doll was the one she had won from Axel's booth during the festival. ...it all seemed so long ago. The pale trainee, Galacie, seemed oddly on edge. Preacher could see that there was some sort of bond between ehr and Lloren, probably just because they'd been togther longer in the military. None of her business.

"So ya joined for titans-" she pointed at Lloren. "Escape-" Tala. "N' you... more titan interest? Or jus' figurin' out ya life?" Preacher shrugged. For herself, it was the military or die. When your life had no worth, it was a luxury that she had some measure of control over her way of death. And Preacher held no doubt. She would die in the military. Probably in the scouting legion. For a useless gutter b***h, the idea of finally being of some use spurred her on, made Preacher train hard and soak up information like a sponge.

"Ah, that one's Tala. I see ya seem to already know Lloren. I'm Preacher, in case ya didn't catch it. I dun remember your name, though," she said, unapologetically. Galacie tended to keep to herself mainly, spending freetime elsewhere and simply floating in like a pale ghost at night. "I dunno. I dun think I'm terribly interested in how titans works. I'll leave that to the enthused like ya girls. I'm jus' here ta kill n' earn m'keep." She set down the doll carefully and picked up her drawing notebook.

"Horses?" The pale trainee blinked at the specific interest, but gave a warm smile, "I imagine they would get along with you well then. I've had a class on riding, but I'm not terribly skilled.." She winced at the memory.

Pleased to have finally learned names, Galacie nodded a secondary greeting to Tala and Preacher. It took but seconds for Lloren to grasp her complete attention as she discussed the theories. While science wasn't exactly Galacie's forte, she enjoyed learning a bit of something from a bit of everywhere and was never one to deny new information.

"I suppose them being human shape is pause for hope at least," The trainee mused, "I wish they'd publish more of their titan research. Classes barely cover the basics and there's nothing in the study rooms."

At Lloren's comment of rambling and Preacher's note of disinterest, Galacie flushed, realizing that she should be more considerate of her new roommates and turn the topic back to them. "Ah, er, yes, my apologies." A pause as she looked between them, "You've met before then? How did this happen?"