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Being given the go ahead, Nashira settled into the seat beside Nadinia. She listened to the other speak, then shook her head. "I don't believe so. There weren't as many people on the bus when you greeted everyone, correct? I think if I tried to introduce myself to everyone, I would simply retreat to a seat and hide for the duration of the trip." well, she knew that wouldn't happen.

"No, I have never been to the above." She regarded the dryad a moment. "Have you?" Nashira didn't read body language ... at all. She didn't pick up on Nadinia's embarrassment, or her attempts to calm down from what had upset her before Nashira sat beside her. "I am very interested in seeing what the above is like, and venturing into a forest no one has explored." She wouldn't say she was excited, not yet. But she was eager.

Bebe listened hungrily to the nightmare's words, eager to take in every bit of information he might let slip. The neko had found that the best way to please someone was to know as much about them as possible, and most people aren't even aware of how much information they're giving away with throw-away comments. The hesitance in the boy's voice suggested the mask he wore meant something more to him than perhaps Bebe's did to her, so she decided against bringing up the topic again unless he expressed interest. She nodded happily as he agreed with her about the forest, a seemingly permanent smile on her face.

"I hope it isn't too spooky, though," she said, her smile flickering a bit, "I like a little bit of spooky, don't get me wrong, but well... in the books you know, the pretty young girls always die first! But that's ok, you'll protect me, right Sam?" While she addressed Samhain, it was clear she was mostly talking to herself at this point.

Her ears perked as she heard someone behind her mention 'pictures'. Being the vain lass she was, Bebe turned around immediately and waved eagerly to Callixtus. "Hey, you! Did you just say pictures? Ooh take my picture! Ooh ooh take a picture of me with Sammy!" She turned back to Samhain with an eager grin on her face, not even caring for a second that he might not appreciate these nicknames thrown at him by a stranger.

Tambre couldn't help but tilt her head slightly to the side as she watched everyone pair up. She sighed inwardly, knowing that her gruff nature tended to put people off. She turned her head, looking out the window when she heard a voice close to her seat. She looked up, a small smile on her face as she gestured toward the empty space beside her. The other female did look perhaps more unapproachable than even she did, but it seemed she might actually be sweeter than Tambre was, as it was usually Tambre's matter-of-fact attitude that made people flee from her.

"The seat is free, no need to worry about offending me." She wanted to add something about not owning the seat, but she bit back her comment knowing that scaring away the only person who had tried to talk to her wasn't in her best interest. "It's nice to meet you. Your name is Bridgette?" She had only been half listening when the introduction came, as she wasn't sure she'd actually meet the person, but Tambre was a detective and picking up random bits of information when people were talking was part of her job and came naturally, it was trying to draw up small talk that had her worried since that wasn't her strong point.

T’kani waited as patiently as she could while her best friend realized who it was that had bothered her, ears folding back slightly at the squeal, but a huge grin on her face at the reaction nonetheless. She likewise enveloped the older female in a hug, keeping her various sharp parts away from delicate parts that they might damage, but still managing to squish her friend in a tight hug.

Slipping out of her grasp after a moment, she turned to look at Noelan with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the hand clinging to her shirt as she signed a quick introduction to him. Her hands moved a bit slower for him, and emphasized the finger-spelling of her name.
”Noelan, this is my best friend, Naosu. She’s studying medicine at Leviathan.”

Turning slightly, she pulled away from her friend enough so that she could sign to her as well, signing about as slowly as she did for Noelan. She was almost certain that Naosu could keep up with a conversational speed, but the emphasis on the spelling was important to her, and she didn’t want to make Noelan feel bad. He already looked in need of cuddling as it were.
”Naosu, this is my boyfriend, Noelan. He’s a senior like I am.”

Once she had briefly introduced the two, she set her bag by the window behind her boy and carefully sat across his lap, nuzzling him lightly in the hopes that he wouldn’t feel neglected. They were dating after all, though it would be a new challenge to try and balance attention between the two during the trip.

Index didn't like field trips, in fact he didn't like any sort of trips, normally resident staunchly in the library. Learning was safe and reassuring, it was building a foundation upon which he could build upon and one day be both powerful and wise in equal measure. Medicine had gone beyond a hobby and into an obsession, finding no end of variety amongst the races to study.

Yet there he was, after a lot of insistence from one of his more eager tutors he'd agreed to go on just this one and could only hope that in doing so it wasn't his last. He'd packed the things he'd hoped he'd need and was also in possession of a book, gripped like a shield in one hand, it seemed to be full of complex medical diagrams and labels, this was where his attention was staunchly focused when they got onto the bus, and though other people were sparking up conversations around him, he was having none of it.

Social events were both intimidating and frivolous, he didn't need anyone, he didn't need friends, he barely needed family, he just needed his books.

The seats were uncomfortable against his wings and he hunched forward almost sulkily.

This was going to be awful.

As Tambre listened to the girl talk, she couldn't help but muse. "You shouldn't sell yourself so short." She stated it like it was a truth rather than a compliment. "Be confident." She glanced around at the every growing crowd in the bus, "It's not like there are many free seats at this point, and anyone who would deny you sitting next to them is just trying to be a jerk, waiting on a friend or not." She let out a breath when she realized that she was probably being too forward, but it was obvious that the girl had been targeted because of her looks before and that had actually made Tambre kind of mad. She hated people who would judge based on appearance rather than hearing the girl out. Seriously, at least Tambre deserved to be shunned because of her attitude, but this girl didn't seem near as bad as she was.

Tambre shifted further toward the window, trying to make as much room as she could for the other person. She could tell that she was nervous and being that close to someone you didn't know could make you extremely uncomfortable, so she tried her best to be as accommodating as possible. "Yeah." She stated in reference to her name. "Honestly, I came to try to get out and meet people, but as you can tell... I'm not very good at that. I'm sorry if I'm already too blunt." It really wasn't like her to apologize, but she was completely out of her element and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to act. "What about you?"

Aurora smiled and said "Thank you" Then she took her seat next to Clyde and said "I'm Aurora, I graduated from the academy and then the university a few years ago." She said warmly "I run a small bookstore and write books in my spare time." Aurora smiled brightly and said "I'm looking forward to this trip, I was so excited when I learned my application had been accepted, I hope to write a book on our adventure if they don't make us sign a non-disclosure agreement or something. I imagine this will be an amazing chance to learn about the Above and this uncharted forest, who knows what we might discover there. Have you decided what career you want to go into??" Aurora asked curiously.