Welcome to Gaia! ::

Once the teen had been shown to her room she had not left it. A few hours had passed since the arrival to her dorm (Room 174, what a glorious number! It matched the strange little accumulation of '7's in her life), but Abbi was satisfied with what she had managed. The coat left on her bed had immediately been put on and she had worn it the entire time she had rearranged the room. While the bedding was nice, the ones she had brought for herself were much better (they were purple! That was way more awesome), the desk provided had been painstakingly pushed to a more favorable position and all the new clothes she'd bought for herself put into the closet. When the last new sock was carefully folded into its new drawer, Abbi sighed happily, glad to scratch off the last point on her little checklist. Satisfaction and well earned weariness coursed through her as she stood, hugging her new jacket close to her body, not even bothered by the fact that Viveca had not stopped talking the entire time. Her accent may have been funny, but Abbi adored her already. The weapon, now just a pink crystal ring, was precious since their meeting at the Cove and would never be anything but just that.

But time had worn on, the day had been terribly long and the lack of light in the dorm rooms had worn on the girl. That pod had housed her for who knew how long and she was in real want of a shower. Maybe the lack of electricity would mean she couldn't have a hot one, but at this point she would take a cold one if it meant she could just wash off her old life.
So with a small hum of the song Stormy had sung to her earlier, Abbi grabbed her little shower caddy of shampoo and conditioner and fragrant soap and left her room. Only to walk into the hallway and, after she closed her door and turned to head down the hall to the showers, notice a boy in the attempt to get into the room diagonal from her own.

A very awful shriek escaped her mouth before she could stop it, a terrible announcement that here was a girl who had never lived with a boy who was not related to her. Welcome to Deus, Little Abbi.

"Oh my gossshhhh!" The teen clutched a hand close to her heart, her lilac eyes wide (ha ha, those were totally contacts she would take out before her shower, a conveniently placed contact case placed in her shower caddy). "You startled me!" That much was painfully obvious, but Abbi still said it. Conversation was still a convention she was not used to as no one had really indulged her before. And even if this dashing man would refuse her in her attempt, she still crossed the hall toward him.
This dorm was really co-ed?! How strange! Who had ever thought that it was a good idea to stick newly unpodded kids in the same building was good idea was sorely mistaken because they had not taken into account the lengths Abigail Killian would go to strike up conversation with the boy across the hall. Even if she felt all sorts of wanton talking to a grown man, she still looked up at him with an eager expression.

"Did you know that the first real attempt at lock security was made by Robert Barron in 1778?" She actually laughed and stuck one finger to her chin. "Not to be confused with Robert Baratheon, who didn't do much at all!"
{ Oi lass, is that true? Humans are an odd lot, why do you need keys so much? }
Still getting used to the voice in her head, Abbi's eyes rolled up toward the ceiling for a moment before she looked back at the man before her. He would totally understand, right?!

More to the point, it was the fact that he was a he that had startled her.
And of course she was staring at him like he was a novelty; He totally was! A grown man that was not related to her and staying in the same building as her and those were nice shoes and he was talking to her! Best. Day. Ever.
"Yeah! Kinda cool, right?" The teen asked with a mildly dopey smile up at him. There may or may not have been some attempt at preening going on, but there definitely was some eye fluttering going on.
But the fluttering stopped at his questions and Abbi, having realized that she had been leaning just a little bit forward, stood back up straight.
"Oh uh... You mean the whole... Lock security thing? Well, uh, I don't really know. I mean I guess it went well since you can't get into your own room with a key." She gave him a shrug.

Unless this wasn't his room. Which might explain why he was trying to get past a door that seemed bent on refusing him entry. But if it wasn't his room then why was he trying to get into it? Was he lost? Maybe Abbi could help, maybe they could be friend-- Ok just kidding she could not help anyone because she was so green around this place it wasn't even funny.

As evidenced by the fact that when he guessed about the voice she heard. With a happy gasp she pointed at him.
"YEAH! I mean she's not really annoying, her accent is really funny and kinda weird--" A wince, "--But yeah! Definitely not there before today. Its totally weird but AH! You must have one too!" Abbi was really, really excited to know she was not alone.

He called her clever.
{ Still called you girl. }
Shut up!
Thankfully there was no response from Viveca at that so Abbi was free to stare up at the man with all the adoration of one who works very hard at being something finally getting the chance to actually be that thing. Having not yet mastered the art of actual proper social interaction she continued to bask in the compliment (her first compliment at Deus! AND from a Real Live Grown Man!) for far longer than might have been necessary. Thankfully he posed another question to her and the teen blinked her adoration away for the moment.
"Hmm, well... I guess she kind of sounds from the North Britain?"
{ Lots of places have Norths. }
"But she uh... Heh, well... She says this one phrase a lot that's probably the best way for me to describe her accent but um... Its..." A bad word she hadn't ever said before but she wasn't a little kid anymore. She was an adult! Almost. She was doing adult things! Or she soon would be. But she was totally grown up enough to impress this dude! Yeah!

So with a careful clearing of her throat and a conspiratorial lean in, Abbi whispered a sneaky, "She likes to call people 'cheeky fookers' because they can't hear her." A silly giggle popped out after that, the noise making her cheeks turn red as she straightened back up. Quick to divert the conversation she waved at the man's face.
"Hi Wilhelm! I'm sorry you're a stick in the mud. Viveca says hi and to take the stick from your arse." Oops, there went another giggle.
As for introductions, Abbi blinked at the hand then up at the man. Gloves! How interesting! Maybe she should wear gloves too!

In any event she gladly took the offered hand with one of her own, shaking it excitedly.
"Wow that's such a cool name! Its so nice to meet you Ripley Crowell! I'm Abigail--" Here she flushed again and let go of his hand to flail a little. "Ah! Abbi! I'm Abbi Killian! Sorry your name is just so awesome and all fancy that I thought mine was too but please don't call me Abigail only my dad does that when I'm in trouble and teachers in school did too."

A pause and another quiet blink.
"Not that I'm in school anymore of course. That would be childish and silly."
Smooth save, baby face.

Most of the time when people laughed often while speaking to Abbi it was because she had said or done something terribly stupid. While that was impossible to rule out just at this moment, she didn't immediately get the sense that Ripley was laughing at her, so much as just kind of glad to have someone to talk to.
Then again, Abbi was also not used to talking much so maybe he was laughing at her?
"Viveca thanks him kindly. She's not really the stick in the mud type. More like play in the mud and get her clothes all dirty type." There was a bit of silence at that, the creature obviously a little caught off guard by that assessment but not in outright opposition of it either. Huh...

Having not missed the wince, Abbi mimicked the motion in a show of camaraderie, but also because she knew that feel, bro.
"Woooow, middle name treatment already. Sheesh! He really is a stick in the mud... But hey! Middle names can be fun! Is your middle name as awesome as your first and last names?" Talking and asking questions was very good. Yes, good excellent! She was totally getting the hang of this!
And look! He was being so nice and friendly and chatting with her and not immediately turning her away or calling her girl anymore!
{ Oh ya. Vast improvement. }
The additional commentary, however, was not so well received.
With a quick frown up at her forehead, the teen turned back and tried her best flirty laugh. Or maybe it was just a regular laugh.
"I hope Mr. Wilhelm doesn't mentally slap you. That would probably hurt a whole, whole lot and oh! Is there like... An nurse's office around here?"

Whatever little tirade of questions she had planned to ask next faded away at Ripley's next question, for that was something that could not so easily be lied about. Maybe, if Abbi perhaps had a better poker face, she could have fibbed and pretended to be in college. But given that she hadn't actually gotten to that point she instead wilted slightly, her free hand tucking one pigtail behind her shoulder before it dropped down to hold her shower caddy.
"Uhhh... AP Literature?"
And there it would remain forever marked on her person: A big, fat, bright red stamp that said 'Underage Girl: Handle With Care'.
"And AP Science."
Because that totally made a difference.

A happy chirp from Viveca sounded in the girl's mind, but Abbi scrunched up her nose at the idea of playing in the mud. Mud was too difficult a substance to get out of clothing, especially white clothing, and while maybe if she had the right person to play with it would be a different story she wasn't quite convinced.
She did stand at attention when he squinted at her, her mouth drawn into a quivering line to show that she was a worthy candidate of knowing his middle name. The straight face was too hard to hold and a smile curled the edges of her mouth until she blinked down at the pinkie offered her.
A funny thing, that. It was silly and meant to be funny, but such a small gesture lit the girl from the inside and she smiled widely up at Ripley.
"I solemnly swear to never use your middle name against you, even if I am really, stupid mad at you." So it was with a bright, excited smile that she stuck out her own pinkie and wrapped it around the man's.

But whatever joy at making a friend had been experienced a moment ago, it was instantly leeched from Abbi when she looked up to see Ripley no longer even looking at her. Something nasty curled in her stomach and she fought the urge to throw her shampoo bottle at him in an epic temper tantrum.
"I graduated high school." She pointed out with her smile turned down almost into a frown. The ceremony had been months ago, that had to count for something, didn't it? Why was he being so... Detached suddenly?
At his question she huffed and looked down at her feet, discouraged immediately. Maybe she shouldn't tell anyone that. The girls that had unpodded her had looked young, but they hadn't looked as young as she. Maybe she could just... Pretend like she wasn't that young. Like this hadn't been a desperate attempt at making her life finally line up in the right direction. Maybe if she pretended to be older, people wouldn't dismiss her as a useless child.

"They listened to me. When the Recruiter asked if I saw things... And I said yes... They believed me. They didn't judge me." Her eyes flicked up to look at Ripley once before they darted back to the floor. "And if I could make a difference... Even in a small way... If I could... Find people like me, who were tired of being scared... People who didn't..." That answer has to be cliched, it just has to be. But its the only one she's got so Abbi sucks in a breath to quickly finish her point.
"I want to be important. I want to do something good."

A long moment passed between them, one where the teen stared at her feet and pouted and wondered how much longer she would stand here before she just huffed off to take her shower. Already trying to map out her future, she began to wonder if she could move down the hall so that she wouldn't accidentally run into him. Maybe if Abbi worked really, really hard she could get a transfer or something. They had other islands out there she could train on right?
So caught up in her imaginings of social failure, the teen jumped when Ripley laughed, eyebrows scrunched up in further hurt as she cast wide eyes up at him. The words that followed had the eyebrows loosening, but Abbi was not fully convinced. His words sounded nearly patronizing, something someone said when they realized how terrible an answer it really was but trying to be the bigger person about it.
{ He's bein' honest, lassie. }

Purple eyes darted down to one side, the teen clearly rebuking Viveca in her mind with an outward frown. A small internal argument ensued, only ceasing when a weight fell upon Abbi's head. The affection, however much it did remind her that she was still very much a child, did warm her a tiny bit and began to unwind some of that bitterness that had settled in her stomach. Her cheeks flushed and though a smile tried to peek out, Abbi puffed out her cheeks at Ripley.
"Its not that noble." She argued halfheartedly, honestly glad to have someone at least be kind enough to say as such.
But in an effort to be as absolutely cute as possible the girl gave him one last hopefully adorable look before she squeezed her eyes shut, one clenched hand raising in mimic of a determined stance.
"But I'll do my best not to forget!"

When she opened her eyes again, feeling a little warm in her coat and scarf in the hallway, she tilted her head to one side and once again looked up at Ripley.
"So why did you come here?"
It was only fair to be curious.