Welcome to Gaia! ::

Alyssum sat in the Eldritch common room, flipping idly through a book about swimming. Her class had been on a field trip to the ocean just recently, a trip which had mildly terrified her. It wasn't so much the vastness, because she'd grown up by Swirling Storms and that was pretty vast. It was just the fact that it was all water. Alyssum had never seen so much water in her entire life. In fact, she didn't even know how to swim. While all the other kids had splashed about in the shallows or chased after waves, she had stayed far, far back and just dug around in the sand for the pretty shells everyone was finding.

She was mildly uncomfortable in the common room, as opposed to the privacy of her dorm room. But she had been here long enough that she had started to adjust, and it struck her that she didn't really know anyway. Not that it particularly bothered Alyssum, who was perfectly fine doing her own thing and always had been. Even at home though, she had at least recognized people and the buzz of daily activity. So she decided it was about time she immerse herself a bit more in the energy of this place, and reading in the common room seemed like a good start.

It was pretty easy for her to people watch. Not only was it a natural talent, she just couldn't get absorbed in the book. She'd picked it up thinking it might be a good thing to know, since she was more likely to encounter water around this place, but the more she read the more the idea kind of freaked her out. She was actually glad she was here in the common room, since Dragon and Kraken were very sensitive to her moods and would have felt her distress and responded. It was nice to take a break and people watch, a very healthy distraction.

Alyssum started when someone loudly called out a greeting very close to her, her ears flattening slightly while her fur poofed up, though since her fur was of a sleeker variety to begin with the effect was super noticeable. She'd turned her attention back to the book, and hadn't heard anyone approaching her. She looked up to see a very...

She tilted her head, examining the newcomer. They appeared to be quite bouncy. It wasn't that they were literally bouncing, but that was just the impression she got from their energy. She was almost certain he was an Imp (the large ears were unmistakable), but she'd none of the Imps she'd seen had tails like that. It was too short to be shaved, though she couldn't fathom why an Imp might shave their tail. Fashion statement? Ah, her trail of thought was getting muddled.

That was about when Alyssum realized the probably-an-Imp was speaking to her and asking questions, so she did her best to focus and pay attention. She peered at the cover of her book. The picture did make the subject matter seem pretty obvious. It didn't seem like they required an answer though, for they kept talking. Ah, this person liked swimming. She wasn't sure if they'd been on the science field trip, but if so he probably would have enjoyed himself. He then proceeded to introduce himself, and ask for her name in return.

Alyssum sat there for a moment, fur smoothing back down now that her surprise was over and ears flicking back up, making sure Korvau wasn't going to add anything else. After an appropriate pause she said, in a very quiet voice, "Alyssum."

Alyssum blinked a few times in response, though with half her face hidden behind her bangs the gesture likely went unnoticed. She was starting to feel the twinges of social anxiety she got when absolutely bombarded. Even if she'd been used to socializing normally, she was pretty sure Korvau would have been a handful.

She reached a hand up and gently bit one of her fingers, a comfort and a distraction in one. Okay, take it slowly. She been practicing socializing. Never mind that her practicing was just her having imaginary conversations with her salamanders. She could do this!

Or not. Her anxiety and feeling of being put on the spot had dried her mouth up something terribly and she just couldn't find her voice to emit more than a squeak. Okay, think. The questions Korvau had asked were simple enough, just a yes or no answer should suffice.

She gave her head three nods in answer to the first three of his questions, then one very emphatic shake for the last question. And by emphatic, that meant she shook her head twice.

Alyssum was a bit puzzled when Korvau bit his own finger. She did it as a coping mechanism when her plushie wasn't around, but he didn't seem the least bit shy. His following squeak of pain confirmed it didn't seem like something he usually did. Perhaps a mimic?

She followed him with her gaze as he settled into the nearest chair, body turned towards her and still looking quite animated even when seated. It was an impressive feat. She gave her head a quizzical tilt at the questions of swimming. She'd hoped her head shake had been emphatic enough to give the impression that it wasn't an activity she had any skill at, but perhaps she'd been hoping too much for such a simple gesture to convey so much meaning.

Alyssum looked down at her finger at Korvau's next question. Ah, so he really had been mimicking. Interesting. It didn't hurt of course, she barely nibbled. She couldn't really explain why she'd done it since that would require way more words than she currently had available. Instead she gave a very soft, "No," in response to whether it had hurt or not.

Alyssum wasn't too shocked, to be honest. This was a natural reaction to her, and something she'd dealt with pretty much all her life. Admittedly since she was a kid that probably wasn't very long, but still. People seemed to take her quietness as extreme shyness, antisocialism, or sometimes even snobbery. It was true she was a little shy, but it was more that she didn't like surprises; the risk of an unpleasant one was too great for her to even like the good ones. Her loner persona was mostly because she liked to observe rather than interact. That didn't mean she didn't want to be around people, but that's how they seemed to take it.

She shook her head no. She didn't mind Korvau being around. And then, because he seemed to be so very droopy and sad that she worried, Alyssum reached over and carefully pat him on the head. Her parents would do that when she was upset, and she'd always found it soothing.

Alyssum thought Korvau's reaction to the head patting was pretty positive, if Imp ear positioning was anything like the Bakeneko. She saw no reason why it wouldn't be, since the language of ears was pretty universal. Imp ears were so large and fluffy-looking compared to her own. Perked up like that, all the way, they were quite cute. She wondered if that was something Korvau would take offense to. Most boys her own age preferred cool over cute.

Out of curiosity Alyssum perked her own ears up at Korvau and gave them a curious twitch, while also adding a slight tilt to the angle of her head. Not exactly a master conversationalist, she wasn't sure what to do at this point and hoped to communicate as much to Korvau with body language. It was one of the first times she'd done so directly in a one-on-one interaction, as opposed to group settings such as classrooms where few people paid her much attention anyway. Should she try to find something interesting in her book to start conversation? She just wasn't sure...