Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oh my god," said Astrid, spinning her office chair around several times in her excitement. There wasn't really a desk here, just a counter, and it was currently half-covered with what looked like incredibly boring paperwork. She stuck her pen behind her ear and made gimme hands at what she assumed was her lunch. "Please, please, let it be full of carbs, whatever it is. It's a good think you brought this to me instead of leaving it out, people grab whatever isn't nailed down around here."

"Well there's bread," she chuckled, handing the bag over. "So there's some carbs, at least." The sandwich in question was a grilled cheese, and she'd also include a single serving bag of chips and a soda. It was highly reminiscent of the bag lunches she used to make for Astrid for school before they'd subbed brown paper for school lunches.

"And don't I know it." Nothing was sacred here, it was a lesson learned quick. "How's it going, baby?"

The grin she was wearing faltered just a touch at the voice, and and likely would have sent a withering look his way of not for that pleasant tone and the presence of her sister. His a initial was still on her ribs, a thin, white scar that didn't seem likely to fade anytime soon. It wasn't nearly as bad as her foot, but the latter didn't seem to bother her much.

But she could be cordial, even sweet. "Hey Jack." This was inevitable, she smiled as she gestured to the smaller blonde. "This is the sister I was telling you about, Astrid."

"You could say I strike something of a noticeable figure wherever I go," he agreed with a chuckle as he took her hand and gave it a firm, cold-handed shake. "Jack Hawthorn. The pleasure is all mine, Astrid. I've been waiting to meet you since Peyton mentioned you woke up. Welcome to the Life division. Always nice to meet someone with manners," he added with a grin.

He spared a glance at Peyton. "Have you shown her around yet? I remember you mentioned she was stationed somewhere else for quite a while."

"I haven't gotten lost all week," she informed him, and it was joking but, equally, it was relieved. "What're you studying around here? I think they've decided that my area of expertise is sorting spreadsheets," she added, making a face.

To the elder Creedy's credit she managed not to shoot a glare at the giant as the topic of research narrowed down into specifics, if only because she was prepared for it. The red eye was something that Astrid would hear about eventually, Peyton had no hope of keeping it from her, not when more and more hunters were falling victim to it. She rolled her eyes up to jack, meeting those emerald greens for handful of seconds. "To which I am very grateful." Lips twitched, tugging up in a smile, and she looked away, back down to her sister.

"Either they'll stick you on a project that needs more man power, or you'll come up with your own to work on." She recalled Noah and his plants, the effects of Fear exposure of edible crops.

"Or," she added after a short, thoughtful pause. "They'll shuffle you into the infirmary." Or possibly the library. There seemed to be no shortage of tasks to keep Lifers busy.

"Infirmary work is technically under the tenure of Moon and some Mist mainly, but some of us do end up being tasked with the work. As for how long it took, I don't remember exactly," he replied. "A while. There's a lot to digest here even if you have a strong background in research. But I do know you won't get any good stuff until at least the intermediate trainee level, and even then it's a bit of a bureaucratic nightmare to both prove you're capable of handling whatever it is you want, get the permission to do so, and then getting ahold of the information you need to even begin. Helps if you're on the good side of the cataloguing specialist like I am, but still."

He started to perk and even smile. "However, the nature of Fear is unlike anything else in the natural world and is well worth the study, even if it does sometimes require that you throw out everything you know. For instance, I've found a species of minipets that reproduce quickly and have been attempting to monitor inheritance patterns across generations, which I will say is something else as Halloween reproduction itself is--"

He decided to stop himself there and cleared his throat.

"Patience and hard work," Jack continued. "And of course, a pair of steady hands. You're welcome to shadow me sometime, Astrid, if that interests you."

She caught Peyton's eye again, but not long enough to catch her sister's discomfort. She was too swept up in her own obvious triumph, a little bit of bashful pride. She assumed, after all, that Jack was her friend, and here he was inviting her along on what sounded like work he found very interesting.

"Right now," she said, "everything is interesting. I'm trying to get my hands in as much as I can, to be honest, before I settle down somewhere. I promise they're steady. If you'd like to have me," she finished shyly, twisting her sleeve in her fingers, "I'd be super happy to tag along one day. Maybe I can talk Peyton into bringing you lunch too," she added, nudging her sister with her toe playfully.