Welcome to Gaia! ::

Landon hopped eagerly off of the plane with two large luggage cases in tow. One of these cases had mesh sides and a large pocket modeled after a pet door. It had taken a lot of charisma to finagle Gran onboard with him instead of in the cargo bay, where he would surely cause mischief, but the Californian had done it. There would be no train-riding for him or his grizzly, despite the fact that this ‘Axis High’ had offered him a student ticket for free; the Californian preferred commuting his way--in style. He flashed a bright smile at the flight attendant, thanking her for everything she had done for him—which wasn’t much, really—and she swooned, collapsing onto the carpet with a thud. Landon smiled. It was easy, really, to charm people into doing anything he wanted. All he had to do was smile and brag a little. But he much preferred to call the latter exaggerating.

The Californian strode into the large campus, finding his way easily despite the lack of sun in the sky. He admired its intricate European façade as he went, but his attention was focused on his new domicile. Or, more precisely, his dorm-mates. Who would he be sharing his quarters with? Was he swag? Was she cute? Were both good listeners? The Californian had so many tales to tell, and he was itching to know. After all, if one or the other did not meet this minimal criteria, his stay here would be very dreary indeed.

Landon found the door he sought and fumbled for his key. The smaller of his two luggage cases started to squirm and make low snuffling sounds. Gran was getting hungry. He paused to let the hungry baby grizzly bear out and rummaged in another pocket on the same case for a packet of dried salmon. This he opened, selecting one fillet to give to the bear. Gran chowed down with gusto, and Landon finally found his key.

Unlocking the room, he stepped inside. Two of three beds were already occupied, and upon seeing which bed was his, he wrinkled his nose. Judging from the miscellanea littering both beds, his dorm-mates were girls, and boring girls at that. Even worse, they had left him the bed closest to the bathroom! The divan nearest the window was strewn with stuffy-looking clothes, a watermelon-scented lotion, textbooks, … and owl feed. From the stuffiness of the clothes, he guessed that this girl was from Central Europe. The other had a depression in it that was currently occupied by one of Landon’s Southern sisters, the pink-haired Arkansas girl, Olivia. The country girl was sketching her kitten—Lunae, was it? Landon had never quite remembered—as it slept peaceably in a basket. Thankfully, Gran knew better than to eat other students’ pets.

It was too dark to go swim, so Landon supposed he had to stay put in this room. He might as well make the best of things while he was here, so he attempted to strike up a conversation with his sister. “Hi, Olivia!” he said brightly, sitting down next to her. “Long time, no see! How are things in Arkansas?”

Hopefully, he could embellish this little chat with one of his fantastic tales. But he needed an opening to do so. And so Landon waited for Olivia to look up from her meticulous sketch and answer.

||~You wish You were the Golden State~||

Landon jumped at the female voice coming from a strange direction. Had Olivia learned how to throw her voice? But when he looked up, he found that it was his other dorm mate, the stuffy central European. She had brown hair that fell to the middle of her back, wire-rimmed glasses, and a small owl perched atop her head. Landon was pleased to note that she hadn’t actually dressed as stuffily as the clothes he’d seen on her bed would presume her to be—she was actually dressed much like any high-schooler he had seen around his state.

She greeted him in her native language. Or at least he presumed it was a greeting. Of course, the tongue was one that the Californian had never heard before. Then she switched to English, introducing herself as Sophie and asking him and Olivia if they were her dorm-mates, and answered the question herself, once again in her own tongue. Her accent was thick, but at least it was understandable; and Landon now had the girl’s name and nationality.

Croatian, hmm? He’d have to check his map again, because he’d plumb forgot where that country was…

“Yup! We’re all dorm-mates Isn’t it odd how this school doesn’t separate by gender? I know most of our schools do,” Landon answered, not really minding Axis High’s lack of gender segregation. The fad was growing popular in his state anyways; maybe this was where they got the idea from. But before the Californian could continue with his tale, he felt something light and feathery brush his ankle and jolted, looking down as he did. Sophie’s owl had departed her head and was now circling about his ankles, which he had extended from the bed in an effort to stretch them.

The Croatian laughed airily at his discomfiture. “That is Reznov,” she said, “and I think I can speak for the both of us when I ask who you two are.”

Gran chose that moment to stare up at her. He held her suddenly frightened gaze for a solid minute, sizing her up, before grunting and turning hungrily towards the little owl.

Landon had to laugh at that, even as he scolded the baby grizzly between chuckles. “No, Gran; the owl is not for eating. Neither is the cat.” With an effort, Landon ignored the inquisitive avian and turned his sunniest smile on Sophie. “Certainly! I’m Landon Blackwell Jones, from California, and that is my sister from the Heartland, Olivia. How did you come to Axis High?” he asked. “It didn’t take me long at all.” He had already noted that Sophie’s cheeks were rosy for a reason he suspected was not at all related to physical exertion. Perhaps she would be more willing to listen to his wonderful tales than his recalcitrant sister. This he thought with a frown at the country girl, who was still focused on her meticulous sketch of Lunae. If she continues like that, it won’t be a sketch anymore…

||~You wish You were the Golden State~||