Welcome to Gaia! ::

Zigari kept their gaze towards the floor as they were lead along the hallways of the dorm rooms. So much had happened in the little naga’s life — this just seemed like one more step in a vast sea of problems. Zigi inwardly sighed as the caretaker began talking again, telling Zigi about their roommate and how they’d ‘just love being roomed with someone’. Zigi huffed at that, muttering to themselves as they lugged a small suitcase along (there wasn’t much in it...a stuffed animal and a few shirts). They very much doubted that having a roommate would be as good of a thing as the caretaker let on. Zigi would have much rather preferred to be alone while at school. Other people just made life more complicated — as far as the Naga had learned. Every one that had ever come into their life had let them down. This roommate was going to be no different. Zigi was sure of it.

Zigi blinked as the caretaker came to a stop and they almost knocked into them. They glanced around, eyes focusing on the door as the caretaker began to talk more. Zigiari wasn’t listening, though. Their heart beat was speeding up and their scales were beginning to itch — a nervous tick they had seemed to pick up early on in their life. Zigi wanted nothing more than to turn tail and slither away as fast as they could. They forced themselves back into the present when the caretaker said his name — for what sound like the tenth time, Zigi was sure.

“Zigari? Come on now, focus. Your new roommate is waiting on the other side of this door. You’ll be fine, hm?”

Zigari just looked at the grimm, a small pout on their lips. They chose not to say anything, though, and instead glanced back to the door. Zigi heard a small, quiet sigh escape the caretaker’s lips as she knocked gently on the door and waited for an answer.

“Good evening, Callie dear,” The grimm said as she smiled warmly at the freshling that was only just peeking out the door. “I’m terribly sorry to be intruding so late.” She kept her voice soft and unassuming — she knew that the small neko was a nervous sort (thanks to information from the little one’s caretaker) and she didn’t wish to frighten her in any way. “We’ve had a new enrollment today and headmistress Ava was adamant that they be placed in a room tonight. So you’ve gained a roommate.” The grimm stepped aside, revealing Zigari to Callie. “Callie this is Zigari. Zigari, Callie.” The grimm placed her hand on Zigi’s back, urging them forward as she nodded towards the neko.

Zigari grunted, a small frown marring their face as they were introduced to their new roommate. They still would have preferred to have been alone. Zigi glanced up to the grimm, another small pout to their face. One look from the older woman, however, had Zigari quickly looking away and back at the neko almost hiding behind the door. They mumbled a quick and quiet hello as they gripped at their suitcase tighter.

Sighing, the grimm shook her head and looked back up at Callie. “I’m so sorry it’s such short notice but it can’t be helped, hm?” She paused for a moment before moving to usher Zigari in. “Come on, now. It’s late and you two have classes tomorrow. Best get settled in, Zigiari, and get some sleep.”

“Thank you for being so understanding, Callie.” The grimm gave the neko a small smile when she sneezed and blessed her. “If you two need anything, at all, you’re more than welcome to seek me out. I’d be more than happy to help you out. Good night, you two.” And with that, the soft spoken grimm was turning and leaving. Zigari glanced back, watching her move out of sight. Sighing they turned and glanced towards the neko before heading into the room and making a beeline straight for the obviously unoccupied bed.

They dropped their suitcase next to the bed, not even bothering to open it or unpack anything, and climbed up into bed. The last thing Zigi wanted to do that night was deal with unpacking their few belongings or talk to their now roommate. They wished they could just curl up and forget everything that had happened in the past week — or their whole life, if they were being honest with themselves. Zigiari pulled their covers up to their neck and turned to face the wall and pretended to fall asleep instantly — though in reality they laid there, staring at the wall and wished that sleep were that easy for them.

Much to Zigari’s surprise, it hadn’t taken them nearly as long as they expected to fall asleep. The day’s events must have been more tiring than they had thought. And, for the first time in a long time, Zigari slept through the night. They stirred the next morning, unsure of why they felt so warm. Their tail twitched, curling around something soft and snuggling closer to whatever it was. As Zigari slowly awoke, they became more aware of their surroundings — a new bed, a new room, a new...roommate. Zigi’s brows furrowed together as they forced their eyes open and came face to face with something fuzzy. When realization dawned on them, they hissed and instantly jerked their tail away from the neko from the night before.

“Get off of me,” Zigi said as they pushed at the neko and moved away, tucking as much against the wall as they could. Why on earth had the neko ended up in their bed, snuggled up against them? And why on earth hadn’t they woken up when they’d climbed into bed? The thought of their guard being down so much made Zigari shudder and recoil even more. Having someone so close to them was not what they wanted. Not after so many they’d let get close had hurt them. “What are you doing in my bed?”

Zigari blinked, startled slightly at the tremble in the neko’s voice. Why did it seem like she was about to cry? It was her fault anyway. She shouldn’t have been in their bed. Grunting, Zigari moved away from the wall and muttered an ‘it’s ok’ before letting their tail hang over the edge of the bed. They wouldn’t apologize for knocking them out, though. She really shouldn’t have been in their bed. Zigari rubbed their face, sighing and glancing towards the suitcase they’d just tossed down the night before. They didn’t have much to their name, so unpacking was something that would be super quick. But would it be worth it? It seemed like every time they unpacked, they were scooped up again and dragged somewhere else.

Headmistress Ava had promised Zigari would be allowed to stay as long as they wished, though. They wondered if those words would hold true or not. In their past, they’d had that same promise repeated to them several times and not once had it been kept. Sighing, Zigari ignored the neko, for now, and slid off of the bed and hefted the suitcase up onto it instead and began sifting through their belongings and putting things away into the dresser that they assumed was theirs

Zigari tried to ignore the neko as she spoke but the mention of food made the naga’s stomach rumble quite audibly. Their cheeks reddened and Zigi couldn’t help but reach up and rub at them — the stupid things. They weren’t sure how eating at the academy worked, though, and with no money, Zigi wasn’t sure if they’d get to eat or not. Not that it would be much different than where they’d come from. There had been days when they’d gone without food completely. Zigi jumped when the neko sneezed and turned to look at her, facial features pinched in confusion. She seemed to sneeze a lot. Did she have allergies? Sighing, Zigi shook their head and looked away. “I don’t have money.”

Zigari’s cheeks flushed again but they instantly perked up when the neko — they really should remember their name — mentioned that Zigari wouldn’t have to pay for food while rooming at the academy. Was that true? Would they actually be able to eat whenever they pleased or whenever they were hungry. Their tail twitched slightly, rattler making a small clicking sound. Zigi quickly controlled the movement, however, and curled their tail around themselves. “Waffles…?” It had been ages since they’d had waffles. So long, in fact, that the memory was very distant and involved his actual parents. Zigi closed their eyes, took a deep breath and shoved those memories far back into their mind. It wouldn’t do well to start crying in front of their new roommate. “I...I like waffles. A lot. Are you sure it’s alright?”