Staff Room Meet Up

Henghai gave a wary look at the cup of coffee, then asked Celeste to just put it in the fridge for a bit. He thought about risking it and just drinking it hot while turning off his element, but he didn't want that kind of stomachache.

"I can't handle hot... anything. I need to wait it out a bit, but this is perfect, by the time I'm ready to leave it should be cold enough. Thank you." Then he looked over at Mallory and gave her a wink. "Of course. I'm still staff."

Henghai looked down at the new teacher with a grin. He could feel her tenseness. It was fantastic. He loved surprising the new people with his "unique" appearance. "I've heard of her, but I haven't met her yet. Henghai Leizu, nice to meet you."

“Coffee...?”

Jia An cradled the cup in her hands, pausing her unhurried drinking to eye Mallory.

“I... suppose we do?”

Jia An had the gall to look confused. Why on earth was the history teacher asking about coffee? Coffee was present here; surely it was present anywhere else! Or maybe she was talking about standing around a coffeepot to drink said beverage. In which case, yes, they did, but it was usually less over coffee and more over local foods. Speaking of which, most coffee away from the food courts was drunk in to-go plastic bags and taken with milk, sugar, both, or neither. Jia An gave Mallory’s question some deeper thought and revised her answer.

“Oh. Wait. Yes, but I worked in a lab prior to this, so not very often.”

She also didn’t talk very often either, but that was besides the point. Manta Carlos — new place, new life, right? Might as well start here; it was as good a place as any. Jia An knew Mallory probably wanted more than such a brief answer, but she really had no idea what she should be saying and really, her life wasn’t the most interesting thing ever. She was a twenty-eight-year-old virgin who’d never had any sort of relationship stuck in academia for the better two-thirds of her life.

Henghai stared down at Jia An and Jia An did her best to look him in the eye instead of averting her gaze as she usually did. She normally had a hard enough time just making eye contact when she was conversing, but she didn’t want to appear... rude or something. Socialising was a profoundly difficult concept to grasp; she felt it necessary to do what she could to ease the load. ”It’s mutual,” she thusly replied, though unsure of why almost everyone in the staff room had seemed to know of her arrival before she actually arrived. Was it a gossip thing? Her name? ????

”Why can’t you take hot things?” Jia An set the mug aside onto the counter. Hers was unironically a chemistry pun - a ferrous wheel. She snorted. ”Species-limitation or...?”

The scientist in her had been raring to go. Jia An had never been a fan of organic chemistry and had since stopped pursuing it, but it was still interesting to try and relate things to other things! In the same vein of questioning: ”Could you all give me some tips? On teaching? Handling unruly students and... parents...”

Jia An made a face. ”We don’t deal with parents in the lab. This is all new to me.”

She chuckled and sipped her coffee. Henghai was good to talk to.

He also seemed to have an interesting outlook on new staff. She couldn't blame him, but she thought that her appearance wasn't as easy to adjust to. A magical Centaur compared to a young girl?

Jia An seemed to understand, and Mallory nodded. the girl probably didn't socialise as much.

Sipping again, she noted the liquid was running low, but she was too invested in the conversation to ask for more. "Might be an aspect of who they are. Like the Human in the fridge. Just another diet on the island. I myself take blood every so often."

Speaking of, she had to try out that new blood bar.

Henghai gave a nod of the head to Celeste to show his appreciation, yet he stiffened when Mallory Mallory answered a question meant for him. His smile made no change, but he did look down at Mallory and allowed himself a twitch of the eyebrow. "I appreciate it, but I can answer my own questions. I'd rather not be spoken about like I'm not here. And we should probably not jump right into cannibalism so nonchalantly."

Once that was out of the way, he turned pleasantly to Ji An. "Anywho, I'm part Water elemental, so I can't handle heat as well as humans. I'm meant to digest cold things. I have a few other conditions from my other side as an Earth elemental. Don't be surprised if other people have unique diets around here. It's very common. And for the record, cannibalism here is managed. All body parts are donated and drinking blood is meant to be consensual here. Anything else is illegal."

He wondered if he was treating Ji An like she was dumb. She was a teacher here, after all. She probably already took some cultural classes and already knew about diets. But then again, she didn't make the connection that his diet influenced why he couldn't drink his coffee hot. Regardless, better safe than sorry.

There were a great many things that had been covered in the New Citizen Must-Know syllabus, and a great many other things that were not. Jia An had never formed the habit of judging people for their diets, but... well. One couldn't know everything, could they? So when Henghai told her his parentage made if difficult for him to take warm things, she just nodded. "Species-limitation?" She remembered herself saying, and let the matter drop.

Mallory, on the other hand. The tail sprouting from the small of her back stiffened. She said it so casually — human in the fridge. Human in the fridge?? What kind of diet made it necessary to eat humans?? What kind of nutrients did other meat lack?> It wasn't that Jia An wasn't going to accept said diet — she was, really — it was just that. What. How?? Would they even get the human in the first place? It wasn't like humans were dying left and right. Wasn't like they sprung out of nowhere. Wasn't like they were farmed.

Henghai once more assuaged her concerns, though, and her feathers visibly unruffled. Of course, back against the counter as it was, Jia An's wings were phasing through the tabletop and whatever else was inside it. Then Celeste — good, sweet Celeste, thank the stars — gave her an out.

"Ah," said Jia An, because she had run out of words. It was a relief to not have to deal with parents. That was all her scientist brain could really come up with. "My apologies, if anything sounds insensitive or harsh. First days are really the worst."

"I apologise if you found that insulting, Henghai, I generally avoid the new staff until after a few weeks, so I don't think I can really do anything but Nonchalant."

Putting her empty cup down, she sighed as Celeste loudly cleared her throat. She was too intense. Maybe she should just be silent. get another cup of coffee.

Henghai frowned at Mallory's "apology." Not because it was an apology (he has gotten used to that sort of thing), but because of how it was said. Nevertheless, he forced a smile back onto his face and decided to ignore it. Henghai was happy to see Ji An calm down somewhat from his explanation. He was even happier when Celeste forced a change of topic. It made it a bit easier for him to loosen up a bit.

"Regarding students, try to keep an open mind. Some people come from Heaven, Hell, alternate universes, alternate timelines, the list goes on. The society they came from can be extremely different from yours. Don't be surprised if you see kids talking about going on hunts or doing rituals. Oh! Here's a good one. It's pretty common. Have you learned the rules of the fae yet?"