Private Finished Lily in the Sky

KirMir were glad that the Academy maintained transportation between the terrestrial campus and the academic districts on the space station. It made travel back and forth even more convenient for students and that meant Lily and them could travel quickly and avoid the more crowded public transportation hub.

They did pause to let security know they intended to carry holstered weapons on their persons once outside the academic districts. They were quite familiar with the rules and did not intend to cause an issue.

KirMir stepped away from the security point and waited for Lily to join them. They were dressed nicely, in what appeared to be a modified version of the clothing they normally wore. They kept the same sleek black, sort of formal style but instead of suits with ties and all that they wore more futuristic clothing that resembled the uniforms worn by the academy students who lived on the station. Specially designed fabrics to keep things functional and clean in space with all the varied inhabitants. Mir still wore a version with a skirt instead of pants though. As was common for them. For the time being they had their student ids clipped to their vests to indicate they were students and allowed in the academic sections. Those could be stowed once in the public portions of the station.

A list of possible things to show to Lily ran through their mind for about the hundredth time that day as they watched her go through security. She looked so happy already- it was great. "Welcome to the station Lily. Are you hungry or would you like to view some of the more interesting sights first?" Kir asked and smiled as he extended a hand to her. They did have a storage locker to visit before the day was done but that could certainly wait for later.

@Zora

Even as Kir was extending a hand towards Lily, Mir had given a little wave in greeting. They were thrilled to be able to spend more time with her.

In fact Mir moved in to put her arm around Lily for a quick side hug. They wanted to show how glad they were to see her and she already had one arm occupied with her hand holding Kir's. Plus she was looking worried about the school ids

As both bodies smiled at Lily, Mir took up the speaking. "Don't worry Lily," she quietly consoled as they began to walk together as a group and Kir gave her hand a little squeeze. It was interesting how Lily had pretty much picked a perfectly complementary style to fit with KirMir. The lack of 'space clothes' wasn't really a big deal. KirMir only had them because they had worn the satellite academy's uniform for a couple years and decided that style was useful and comfortable on the station. "It should be fine. Even if they cannot verify you as a student, you would just be a guest of another student anyway. We aren't going anywhere especially secure."

It was true. They had decided the logical first step to ease her into things might just be a simple walk through some of the school passages to get glimpses of some of the facilities before moving on to the more exciting and diverse marketplaces or entertainment sections.

The trip between the Academy and the Academy portion of the station was always, well, instant. Just like the description of 'instant teleportation pads' suggested. KirMir were fairly used to them, since they were commonly used across the station and they still had some of their upper level science courses on the station itself. Kind of wild to think about how far and quickly they let people travel in an instant though. And especially useful, within the various districts of the station there were more of them to help move around easily.

"We know school isn't the most exciting part of the station but we would like to start by walking you through the hallway by the lab we use for our studies before we exit into the more public districts," Kir explained and looked to Lily to gauge her reaction. They personally thought the technology of the labs and even the basic tech of the station passages and facilities was something to marvel at. Something to enjoy learning about- though they loved to learn about anything and everything.

The almost perfect feeling of the artificial gravity was so familiar to KirMir. Even the months of living mostly planet-side hadn't counteracted the years and years spent living on space stations. They noticed the shift in the surroundings toward high technology and utility, designed to utilize space effectively and appropriately, but it didn't really awe them any more.

Kir led Lily, still gently holding her hand, towards a passage indicating they were headed to Bio Labs 10-20 and additional information indicating which partition, district and level of the station they were on currently. This critical information was always printed on the walls every so often to keep people oriented properly.

Mir smiled happily at Lily's excitement but they could not show her everything at that time. "It is not technically our lab. We share it with the other students and our professor," she began as the trio walked. Mir remaining right by Lily on the other side from Kir. Once more flanking her in a protective but not overly restrictive way.

"We can certainly walk by the labs, and the glass walls will allow us to show you the kinds of technology used but we cannot enter the lab without supervision," she finished with a hint of disappointment. They would have brought her in to get a closer look if it would not have all but guaranteed their dismissal from the biology program.

It wasn't what she wanted to hear, they were pretty sure. But they could at least give more information about the type of things they had been up to recently. "We learn quite quickly so although we are only second year students we have been allowed to assist our professor with some of his research. It involves testing a compound he is developing to fight a nonlethal but resilient parasite found on his home planet. We are primarily taking down readings and helping to ensure the samples are incubating properly," Kir began explaining as they walked slowly through the corridor.

Because it was the weekend there were not as many people in the halls or working in the labs. Just a few here or there to stop in to tend to various experiments. Many with full containment airlocks and protective gear between the hallway and the labs proper. Everything was spotless and well cared for- it was clear the people who worked and studied there were serious about keeping things running smoothly.

Mir and Kir both smiled back at Lily as they felt the soft pressure of Lily's hand in Kir's. Happy that she seemed interested in the trip through the lab hallways even though they could not let her in to get a closer look. They took great pride in what they did. Academics. Learning. Bettering themself.

As Kir took over the conversation he guided Lily out of the way of an approaching woman. Mir nodded in greeting at the pink woman with long green fingers in a labcoat as she headed past them in the opposite direction. Old enough that they were probably a grad student or something along those lines. She didn't smile but nodded back as she passed.

Because she had been paying attention to Kir last KirMir decided to continue speaking through him for the moment. The passages within that district were fairly similar in design with only the location labels and the slight variations in the lab setups to distinguish them. But KirMir knew their way through the halls just as well.

"We used to have a very small apartment here before we transferred. Now we mostly come back up for a few of our more advanced courses and then return to the planet afterwards so continually maintaining an apartment here and down there would be expensive," Kir explained as they walked just a bit further before stopping alongside a large section of glass windows. They of course could arrange for housing again or even a brief hotel stay up there if they needed to spend some time up on the station- and they had a fairly good idea of which places were the best to stay in. With the teleportation pads though it was easy enough to commute between the surface and the station.

The wall of glass they stood before showed off another immaculately kept laboratory space. Not all of the lights were on inside, as no one was working in it at the moment, but there were enough to show off the gleaming equipment. The low light in the lab almost served to accentuate the orange glow from several glass cabinets with trays of samples inside. Like high tech glass refrigerators, except they were keeping things warm. Incubating and growing until they would be ready for further examination.

As they stood there admiring the lab from the hallway Mir slipped forward to drape an arm around Lily. And for a few moments they were just quietly standing there together. Enjoying the company and enjoying the feeling of showing off something they were proud of and excited about. Even if they were just low level assistants in the lab and the grad students and professor did most of the real work. Kir kept an eye on their surroundings but other than that KirMir was focused on Lily.

"The technology provided up here for students is excellent. If you go into any advanced sciences at the college level the chances are high you may end up studying up here at least partially too," Mir mentioned thoughtfully and then KirMir realized they didn't even know what kind of plans Lily had. Would she go to college? "If you decide to take that path we mean. Science is only one of many rewarding pursuits," she added on truthfully. KirMir would probably go for multiple degrees eventually. Why stop at one specialization?

Mir happily held Lily there as she looked with fascination at all the technology within the lab. Holding Lily and sharing all this was... well the best word they could use was 'comfortable'. They could have stood there talking to her for hours probably. Though finding a place to actually sit down would be more reasonable- and realistically they knew they had many more things to show to Lily. But there was no rush and this was so nice.

Mir nodded at Lily. Their species was inherently fond of science because... well that was one of the most longstanding and ingrained part of their culture. Their very existence was based on developing new advancements and adaptations. She smiled back though as Lily explained her goals. "A counselor? That is a very useful position" she remarked thoughtfully. KirMir had been helped by several counselors who a while after their original arrival on the station. "We think you will make an excellent grief counselor Lily. You are compassionate and caring and you are correct that you have a unique connection that may assist you in helping people with their grief."

Kir had adjusted himself so that he was still there to hold Lily's other hand but instead of facing the window into the lab he had his back to it and was facing the rest of the corridor so KirMir could keep an eye out while still enjoying Lily's company. He brought the hand he was holding up a little to cup it in both of his. "You are always working hard to help other people aren't you?" he asked with a smile. KirMir knew that they were a lot more selfish in nature than she was but they admired the quality in her anyway.