Staff Room Meet Up

She was new enough to the island, she knew. And frankly, she was freezing -- and in a moment without tethering her loose tongue, had revealed this fact to the other teacher. Celeste Forestier was a petite woman with a voraciousness that more than made up for it; it greatly contrasted Jia An's own wallflower attitude, which was something she'd have to get used to. As a chemistry teacher, Jia An often sequestered herself away to the science labs, preferring to bask in the silence and busywork without having to really interact with people.

Which was a problem, since she was now also a teacher.

She realised she'd been standing awkwardly in the middle of the room long enough to warrant a kick. Well. The only way to go was forward, right? She might as well formally introduce herself, unlike the lackadaisical one back in the community centre. Jia An cleared her throat, moving into the kitchen with Celeste. She was normally surrounded by birds of all sorts, but the birds didn't seem to like the staff room.

"Hey, uh, something you need? Ms Forestier, was it?"

They sound... the same? Thought Jia An, now confused. Back home, most teachers were either "Ms, Mrs, or Madam," and it was obvious what each one sounded like. She still didn't know how Celeste was telling that she'd said "Ms" instead of "Miss", but attributed her knowledge to Island Life. Jia An was new, after all. There was no telling how many more things she'd have to get used to. Speaking of which --

-- "Wha--"

What the hell was that? A bat?? Wait, no, what??? A human??

Jia An blinked dumbly at the scene. The bat had flown into the staff room and without any pomp, turned into a girl. A very striking girl, her brain appended, but a bat-turned-girl nonetheless. She'd known there would be supernatural beings in Manta Carlos the moment she'd accepted the invitation, but... It was still hard to wrap her mind around. Still! As dumbstruck as she was, Jia An was nothing if not polite, and so she accepted whatever naming conventions existed on the island with an acquiescing: "Celeste, then."

"Mallory!" The very same woman said, talking to the bat-kid as if bats becoming people were an everyday occasion. "Have you met Ms Li yet?"

Despite no one having actually done anything yet, Jia An still felt like all eyes were now on her. The new kid on the block, so to speak. She paused. Clasped her hands behind her back. Fiddled with the shirttails poking out from beneath her brown sweater. She looked from Celeste, to the newly-christened Mallory, to Celeste, and then fixed her stare firmly on the coffee pot.

"Jia An will do," said Jia An, also very intelligently. "And no, I don't believe we have. I'm Li Jia An; I teach physics and chemistry. You are Ms Mallory...?" Because no matter how young someone looked, with Manta Carlos and its inhabitants, you could never know.

Then. Another person. Cantered in. He?? She?? Was a humanoid creature standing on cloven feet, with a great big tail swinging behind it. Them? No matter, that query was quickly resolved when Celeste addressed them as Mr, and Jia An relaxed. On her own she would never have been able to figure it out without bumbling around and making some sort of social faux pas, so she really was grateful for Celeste's presence.

Cups clinked as Celeste retrieved them, ceramic against ceramic. The smell of brewing coffee permeating the air restored some sense of normalcy to the scene then, as if a man on hooves had not just entered and a girl had not previously been a bat. Speaking of, the girl looked at most fourteen but was teaching history, so Jia An had been right in assuming she was older than presented. Mallory would do just fine. Somehow, Jia An got the feeling that while she didn't look the youngest, she was.

But before Jia An could politely refuse the coffee, Celeste had already placed it in her hands and now she was struggling to find something to do with it. It wasn't that she was ungrateful -- really, Celeste had already done so much for her in the ten minutes they'd been in this room! -- she just didn't drink any sort of caffeine. Her mother had been particular about her daughter drinking coffee and tea, citing sleeplessness, and so Jia An had never formed a habit of it. Hesitantly, she took a sip, just to appear polite anyway. It was... indescribable. Jia An did not fancy the taste in the least, but it was warm still, and she found that the warmth far outweighed the taste. So against her better knowledge, she continued to drink.

At the mention of her name, she looked up and waved. She didn't know what she was supposed to say since Celeste was clearly doing all the introducing (and Jia An was very immensely happy that Celeste was helping her with that) and she didn't feel like she really needed to say anything more.