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Luciano was still pretty new to this whole school thing. It wasn't like their first day where the were completely lost----but it wasn't like he was a star either. School was hard! There were classes, passing periods, caretakers.....The information and all the events were mind boggling. Who knew that he'd be having dinner with other freshlings! He didn't. It was a nice addition though! He loved it! There were so many new friends, so many people to meet...it had been more than a week and Luciano was still vibrating with excitement.

The best part of the academy though? Was meeting all of the new nightmares! His friend Perry was the best, petting his wings was great. Luciano wasn't around him all the time though.

So when he saw another freshling, with different wings in the cafeteria...he couldn't just pass it by now could he?! An opportunity to make a new friend didn't come around every day! "Hi there!" Luciano dropped the tray with a clatter and jumped into the seat next to the hallowed freshling. "I'm Luciano, and I really really really like your wings!" He moved to touch the smaller set.They felt so weird. So---"Coooool." His eyes widened as he glanced up at the freshling. "What's your name?"

Luciano watched the wings fold back in on themselves in fascination. "And they can move?!" he sucked in a breath absolutely amazed. Whoa. Did that mean that there were bones inside? So weird. They were nothing like the fallen wings that he touched. Much..harder. "Do fallen wings have bones?" they wondered out loud, mainly to himself as his lips pursed to the side. Hm. Weird.

Oh, the nightmare was talking! His head popped back over to look at Sanlen. Why? That was easy! "What's not to like about them?!" they beamed, jabbing an elbow in his side. "They're different! You stand out from the rest of the people. And...they're cute!" Luciano clutched his fingers in between his hands to resist the urge to take another feel. "I wish I had wings like yours." Or wings in general. All he had were geist tendrils.

Speaking of wants. He was pretty dang hungry. "Hey, does that taste good?" he peered over. Maybe he should dip his finger in to have a taste...

Luciano listened intensely, his eyes growing wide at the use of a big word like "cartilage" "What's that?" he blurted out, scooting closer to the other freshling, as if that was even possible. Enraptured by the idea of something like "cartilage". Was it in bone? Was that the spongy stuff that sometimes people ate? They wiggled in their seat excitedly.

Sanlen did bring up a good point though. Could all wings move? He placed a finger to his mouth in thought. Maybe....But. "What about the fake wings that you can get in costume shops?" they blurted out. He was pretty sure they didn't move. He hadn't seen one that did move like that. But then...had he ever seen someone wear wings that were fake? He pondered some more....Honestly, he hadn't even asked.

He should ask more often!

"I--well---they're pretty!" he enthused, impulsively stroking Sanlen's wings quickly before clasping his hands in his lap. "They look warm, and fun!" he paused, his brain attempting to dig further into as to why he liked them. There was just something so appealing, so majestic. "Why do you like them?" he tilted his head quizzically. Maybe if Sanlen told him why...he would better understand why he liked them too! That sounded like a solid plan.

His round eyes went from the other freshling and down to the soup that the other was slowly mixing. "What's it like having an auntie?" he murmured, curiously, as one of his fingers reached out to take a dip in the liquid before sticking it in his mouth. He let out a low but loud moan as soon as the flavor hit. "So gooff-" he took out his finger with a plop. "I wish I had an auntie."

Luciano's mouth widened into an "O" shape" and he immediately squeezed his own nose, followed by both of his ears, amazed. "Cartilage..." It just felt like skin to him, much like his cheeks and fingers. There weren't any bones in his nose? Only the C-stuff? "Cool." The body was so interesting. He might not be good at science, but he could still be amazed by all that it could do and the different attachments each nightmare had. "Is everyone part shark then?" he tilted his head curiously. If they all had cartilage...and if sharks had cartilage...well, it was the only thing that made sense. But he wasn't good at school. Other nightmares were apt to remind him of that fact. He needed someone else to agree in order to make sure he got his facts completely straight.

Wings from the store weren't living. Huh. Well, he never thought it like that. "So buying cool wings from the store like yours wouldn't be the same.." his lips pursed in thought before he gave Sanlen a wide smile. "You really are special and one of a kind!" Luciano nodded for emphasis, the corners of his eyes crinkling. That was pretty stinking cool! He didn't understand why people prodded and made fun of mutants, they were so special. It had to be some sort of jealousy.

"Oh no, did I hurt you?!"The freshling retracted their hands as if they had just touched a hot oven, clasping them in their lap. "If they aren't warm then how do you keep warm? Do you have wing covers?" they tried not to laugh at the image that was conjured up in their mind. That would make it so hard to move.

"They're really cool!" he enthused, letting out a sigh. Man, he wanted to be like Sanlen so bad. She had unique wings and an auntie. So lucky.

Luciano shook his head. "Nope, I don't! I only gots a brother!" he pointed towards himself. Sure, he had wished he had a momma and poppa, to have aunts, uncles, grandparents. But that was for other kids. He was born with a pretty unique brother, and that was good enough for him! Unless they got adopted.

But feh, like that would happen anytime soon! Luciano wasn't going to hold his breath when there were plenty of other kids that also didn't have families and they were doing fine. So would he and his brother! He just couldn't give up hope!

"Does she bake cookies for you too?!" That's what aunties did right? Or was that grandparents...he wasn't too sure.

"Ohh, lace." Luciano's eyes went wide once again. They've never had anything of lace! In fact, they've never been able to touch anything that was made of lace. But--from what they were able to tell from tv, only fancy people wore lace. Sanlen had to be fancy! It was slightly surprising but made sense, after all, they did have an aunt. "That's fancy!" he leaned in. "Hey, hey, when you wear it can I touch?!" Usually, he wouldn't think to ask. But if he didn't ask then how would they meet up again so that he could touch it! Even if they didn't give off warmth they still seemed something new and exciting. Luciano wanted to experience it all.

"Phew!" Luciano let out a huge exhale of relief, slumping in his seat. "I didn't want to hurt you!" That would have been bad. Causing other people pain wasn't a nice thing to do. And sometimes--people hated others for hurting them, even if it was an accident! Luciano couldn't have that happen, no way, no how. Sanlen was a nice friend!

"I bet her cookies taste the best!" he enthused, once again amazed. His stomach rumbled, also liking the idea of biting into a chocolate chip cookie. Oh right, they were there to eat lunch weren't they? He shoved a bit into his mouth and thought hard. What...was his brother like? It wasn't like they hung out too much. Luciano was always away doing a bunch of little things. "He's nice, and tells great stories! He also cares about me a lot." he nodded to himself. "And he looks almost like me!" He always found that really cool. Even if other siblings might also look nearly identical it was still really...cool!