Jaden lay on his bed, his wings spread out carefully to either side of him as he stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought. He could hear the soft breathing of his familiars, tucked into their beds closer to the ground. Had he not been in a bunk bed they might have been up with him.
Jaden's mind kept drifting back to the nice Fallen lady he'd met at Hunter's Jubilee. She had apparently been returning from a supply run, had seen him wandering and shivering a little, and had brought him back to her stall. She'd been polite about it, but quite insistent, even as Jaden himself hesitated. He was glad he had gone though. The stall seemed to be run by the lady and some family members, all making tea and little treats to go with it. He'd been sat in an out-of-the-way corner and given something to eat and drink while he warmed up. The lady had even given him a plushie. The whole family had been nice, chatting with each other as they worked and giving Jaden friendly smiles. He'd even gotten to help out a little, because he'd been curious about what they were doing. They didn't seem to care at all that he was a hybrid.
He brought one of his wings over and ran his claws delicately through the feathers, grooming his wing. It was relaxing and helped him think. He'd really liked that stall with its feelings of friendliness, warmth, and acceptance. It was a shame the family had come in special for the festival. If they'd had a shop around here, Jaden would have liked to visit it. He continued to sift through his feathers, thinking. He'd been lucky, really. When he was super little there'd been a few people who would give him funny looks, or act strange cause they weren't sure how to treat him. He'd been sure when he got to the Academy it would be more of the same, or worse, but he'd found other hybrids who were quite similar and understood some of the difficulties he went through. They'd been very accepting, and Jaden had slowly begun to make friends.
What about the kids who would come after Jaden? Would they have such accepting friends? Or even the people who'd been there before him. Did they have to struggle, or did they struggle still? It would be nice if everyone could have a safe place to be comfortable and not have to worry.
Could he make such a place? How would he do that? He probably couldn't make a cafe or something like that, since he was certainly no cook, but there was still a sense of bonding when there was food around. Maybe he could learn. Arinas baked, and the Academy offered cooking classes. If he looked around maybe he could find other friends who could help him learn. He could probably ask some of his teachers as well, and they could help him. It would probably take a lot of work, and hard work at that, but if Jaden could do something that made other people feel happy and connected, then it would be worth it.
