Welcome to Gaia! ::

Roshan was actually really excited to be going to the playground again. It had been weeks since they had had a chance to play there thanks to the trip to the Swirling Storms Desert. Maybe this time Roshan might actually make a friend. Their trip to the desert had been a bit of a bust in that department. (Though Roshan did come home with a few new familiars that were friends of a sort.) Still, their mom was optimistic so Roshan tried to be too.

Roshan arrived at the playground just at the start of the break time and took a quick look around to decide where to go.

Movement near the edge of the park caught Roshan's eyes. A bakeneko (like Lawven) was crouching at the ground here and there. It seemed like the freshling was picking something up from the floor. Did they drop something? Roshan was instantly curious as to what the bakenko was doing. They made a B-line to the other freshling as the bakeneko stood up once again.

"What are you doing?" Roshan asked with obvious curiosity in their voice. While looking at them Roshan noticed the bakeneko clutching their hands tight. "You got something in your hands?" If you wanted to make friends, sometimes it was best to be direct. Hopefully the bakeneko wasn't going to be annoyed.

Roshan felt bad about startling the other as they saw the rock tumble to the ground. Having been invited to look at the rocks still left in the bakeneko's hands, Roshan stepped closer. There were truly some pretty samples in her grasp. "Mhm, pretty," Roshan said.

Roshan frowned at being asked what they were. It sort of felt rude, but also reminded them again of Lawven. Is it a bakeneko thing? Roshan made a note to themselves to find other bakenekos to sess out their personalities. It wouldn't be a bad thing. Just something to keep in mind.

"I'm a nixie..." Roshan stalled as they pondered their options. If this bakeneko knew anything of nixies or geists, she would know they weren't pure. However, what if she didn't like geists like Roshan's grandmas? Mama did say to be honest, Roshan thought reluctantly.

With a steadying breath, Roshan owned up to the other side of their identity. "I'm also part geist."

x
c
Roshan was glad to see that she wasn't upset with them being part Geist. It was nice to know that they wouldn't be automatically disliked for something they couldn't control. They normally didn't like admitting what they were even though they knew that it was obvious they had Geist blood thanks to their dark skin, eyes, and tendrils. Still, most kids seemed to like the tendrils because they sometimes changed color with their mood.

Roshan nodded at the idea of this Bakaneko having Naga relatives. "I'd believe that cause Naga and Bakaneko are from the same dessert place, right? Did you live there before?" Roshan remembered hearing that during their trip to said dessert. They weren't sure how many of their Bakaneko and Naga classmates might have actually lived there before coming to the Academy or if their families might have awakened them away from the dessert. Roshan had been pretty uncomfortable there with it being so dry, but surely the people that came from that land were designed to live there by the Nine.

"My name's Roshan," Roshan answered quickly. They felt bad about not introducing themselves first, but these things happen. They then remembered what Msuku had been doing before Roshan interrupted her. "Were you looking for pretty rocks for a reason or just cause?" Roshan asked being honestly curious.

x
c
"That's cool," Roshan said honestly. They didn't realize the full implications of what Msuku had said. "I went on the trip the school had to the Swirling Storm and got to see lots of things. I really liked the pyramids. It's a long way away from here, though." Roshan couldn't say, sadly, whether or not they knew where Auster was exactly. Was that where they had stayed? No, that didn't sound familiar... Roshan would see about looking the place up once they had the chance.

"Um," Roshan hesitated at the offer of taking a rock. They wanted to say yes but would their mom be mad? It wasn't stealing, though. It was offered. Then Msuku offered the idea of finding more together. That sounded much better.

"Sure!" Roshan immediately crouched down to scan the ground for a rock pretty enough to be part of a collection. They picked up one to look closer at but it turned out to just be a clump of dirt when they squeezed it too hard by accident. "Whoops," Roshan said with a small laugh. They wiped the dirt off on their pants before continuing the search.

x
x
Roshan quickly came to realize they were not very good at finding interesting rocks. Most of the ones they picked up were run of the mill tan ones that seemed nothing special. Still, they were having fun looking closely at the ground for once. They also took to tossing the rock as far as they could without gaining a teacher's attention. Roshan was pretty sure they'd be warned about hitting other students but they were being careful not to aim at anyone. But better safe than sorry.

When Msuku offered up her discovery for inspection, Roshan quickly moved closer. "Oh, yeah, it's got layers!" They looked up at Msuku with a bright smile to show their enthusiasm. "You're very good at this. You must have special eyes or something." In that moment Roshan realized they were both happy for Msuku and a little jealous. It was a confusing combination of emotions but they tried to stay focused on the happy side as it felt better.