We're a Couple of Misfits

<div align=center>As Tellios went to look out the window, Pollyanna became once more trapped in her own thoughts. She wasn’t a very ponder-y type person on usual occasions, but questions that revolved around true purpose tended to keep her up at night. Sure, she wanted to be an artist or maybe go find a side job since her grades wouldn’t do much else, but whether or not she should be alive was often a topic of much consideration. Her experiment should have been terminated, but the laboratory she had been in went abandoned leaving just her behind. If someone hadn’t picked her up, she probably wouldn’t be very much like the girl she was today. Probably would become that man-beast sort of urban legend that roamed the streets until someone decided to turn her in for a reward and possibly put on display at a museum as a new species. She shuttered. Taxidermy didn’t seem like it would be all that fun.

When he spoke up again, she snapped out of her thoughts. He seemed frustrated or something by the statement, and rightfully so. She tilted her head out of slight confusion for the sentiment, wondering what that meant. Was it like a choice? She felt everyone needed both to be happy, but perhaps she was wrong. Before she could fully puzzle this however she watched as Tellios approached, and almost jolted in surprise when he hugged her. The unsure smile she held before widened gladly, as she too returned the embrace with a wing, the unnatural appendage being cast loosely behind his back. "I just hope for you’ll find what will make you truly happy as an individual." She sighed in a soft voice before letting go, allowing him to return back to his chair.

"I guess all will be revealed in time." At least she hoped so. He began to say something else, which caused her once more to tilt her head. "What is it?" She asked, wondering if he had figured something else out. </div>

<div align=center>Though she was comfortable talking with her roommate, she still exhibited hesitation on just how she would go about talking to him. She didn't want to offend or somehow drive him away, for she needed friends to trust and be herself with. He already was rather important to her and she wanted nothing more to treat him with respect with the value he held as her new friend. After all she was a creature created from a laboratory, and an animal at that. There was that natural inferiority and eagerness to please not often found in more human peers. Hopefully he understood this, and perhaps he had a same sort of comprehension of the feeling.

"Hm?" His question had caught her off guard. She looked to the ground, smiling, ears slightly flattened. "Oh um... Gosh, I'm sorta speechless... I'm not used to talking that much to others." That was partially correct, her social skills were lackluster to just how much she flied solo. Figuratively speaking, of course. She wanted to learn more about him, but had some rather provoking questions that she didn't know would be appropriate or not. But it appeared that he had something to say and therefore she gave him the floor to speak. "No no please... You can say anything. I don't mind!" She was a hard person to offend, and that was out of her curiosity for others. Tellios was an interesting individual to say the least. Whatever he wanted to know she's be happy to answer, and whatever he wanted done she'd be happy to oblige. However her attention on his own questions were deterred by the comment he almost whispered that she picked up on. By the sound of it, it was rather remorseful.

"What do you mean?" She asked in a bit of a hushed tone, head tilting and tail swishing slowly. She shifted on her hind paws a bit as she realized that he probably cut himself off for a reason. "S-sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop. You don't have to answer me, I was just curious." A guilty look came about her as she peered down. Perhaps maybe she'd leave the questioning to Tellios. </div>

<div align=center>As she was concentrating on his words, she also kept an eye out for what he was doing. Those nanites apparently could do a lot, though what that was exactly was a mystery. Still he looked pleased with himself. Despite what he insisted however she still didn't want to ask due to privacy reasons. But temptation lured her otherwise. "Whatcha doin?" She asked curiously, though didn't attempt to check out herself. "Oh, and um... Glad to hear. But if I do ever step outta line, please tell me!" He was a tough man to break but she didn't want to test fate. It was better to be on good terms with a roommate, after all.

But it seemed that he was still protective of what happened in his past. For her relatively simple mind everything seemed so complicated- she could ask his potentially invasive questions but didn't necessarily get the answers. Which was fine by her, really. "Ah, alright..." She commented almost to herself but acknowledged her place. It was a big secret, and she didn't need/have the desire to step beyond boundaries. "If you do ever wanna talk about it, I'll be here to listen... I won't tell anybody, I promise." And that was something she intended to keep.

The thoughts of this however were tossed aside with the out of the blue question. She in fact chuckled at it, and glanced over to where she slept. "Hm, well I guess I prefer sleeping with a bunch of pillows rather than a comforter... A couple of times I've accidentally shifted in my sleep and have hurt my wings from being tangled with a blanket on a bed..." Now that she put some consideration into it, there was a lot more to her sleeping situation than 'just cuz'. "Plus there's a feeling of looseness... I mean the species I come from is famous for sleeping upside down in trees. Tried that once, fell flat on my face. So a hanging hammock type thing is the closest I can get." She mused with another small chuckle. The memory of attempting that when she was younger wasn't a pleasant one. Fell from a tree, hit her head, needed stitches but couldn't switch back to human form for awhile. Couldn't do anything until she switched back, lest her father having to go through the humiliation of publicly displaying his inhuman daughter. But this memory was shaken off. "Plus I like being unconventional. And it looks cool." Sure, comfort wasn't the highest when she was in human form, but that wasn't much of her concern. She looked back to him, tilting her head as she too was curious. "So um... You really like alcohol." She remarked in a neutral tone, neither accusatory nor commending. She was merely questioning of this behavior. "Any reason why you like to drink it? Or just because it tastes good?" Her innocent question showed just how much she knew. She figured it may have been personal, but she also wanted to know about a clear habit of Tellios. As long as he wasn't getting hammered drunk, everything was cool. "Uh... You don't have to answer that, either..." </div>

<div align=center>Trapped. God did she know the feeling. Trapped to her through were those years spent mutilating her body to become the creature she was today. Trapped was when the bat DNA within her was overridden with the consciousness of the Human Girl DNA, when she realized that she wasn't quite either. It was those memories of being strapped to a cold metal table or life support tank, or getting glimpses through stages of her mutation at herself and seeing how disgusting she appeared, thus causing her to cry. But those years were long gone, and now she was free... To an extent. But Tellios was still living it, and still trapped. What set it different however was how he wasn't safe no matter where he went. He was on the run, and unless his chasers possibly spontaneously combusted she figured he'd never feel truly comfortable. Which was a thought that rather depressed her.

After explaining himself, and her admittedly feeling guilty for unintentionally prying, she looked down and twitched her muzzle. "Well, I hope you're safe now. SA has a good way of covering up tracks for its students... So I think you're good here." She smiled with her fangs. There were plenty of kids that caused havoc on the home front and were here as a way to start over. If Tellios played his cards right he'd end up being fine... At least, she hoped so.

"Hm, makes sense." She commented on his chair response, hoping to brighten up the conversation. "Beds take up a lot of space anyhow." Which is another reason she had a hammock, now that she thought about it. Upon alcohol, she understood where he was coming from. She didn't exactly like the way alcohol tasted, or at least from what she vaguely remembered as a child when her adopted father left around half empty glasses. But to each their own. After all, she ate cake just because she liked the flavor too. "Well then, I'm sure you've had some pretty good stuff then. I would get some for you as a present or something, but uh... That would be illegal." She laughed a bit, though was serious. She liked surprising the little friends she had. It made her happy when they were happy.

Her ears perked up almost like a dog's when the female voice rang out, curiosity also being more animal like. She glanced at his arm, intrigued. "That's cool..." She muttered under her breath before looking back up to his face. She returned his smile, content as he was. "I know you will. Especially since you have a lot of time to do so. Besides, you're a lot more human than half of the people here." And not physically, either. He had a greater understanding than others, which was most welcome in a place like this. </div>

<div align=center>Being the optimist, Pollyanna didn't want to think of the odds that they would come after her new friend, or that he was a cold machine rather than a thinking being. Everyone to her had value and it wasn't fair they kept Tellios under their control for so long. No wonder why he had run away. She would have to, have she had the intelligence to make an intricate plan or the technology to override systems. Oh well, at least she had gotten out one way or another. On any case she hoped he was well prepared for anything that could happen. Maybe she could find a way to help... Perhaps...

In the meantime all she wanted to do was to somehow show him what it meant to be human. He was generous, though she couldn't help but to feel that this was in part to that mechanic inferiority he felt. Which still made her sad. However just as she was entertained by shiny things she watched as he opened up his arm to show her what his body could do. Man, that was interesting. Usually for her it took a natural pain response to assess damage, like whenever she banged her head against something. "Neat..." She mumbled, looking it over before leaning back a bit. The longer she stayed here the more she realized that she had a growing interest in technology. And everyone who was invoked with it had some pretty cool things to show. "I wish I could do that. The only special thing I have is echolocation, but I'd think knowing how my body is doing would be a lot more useful." She commented with a shrug of her shoulders, figuring further how much of a waste of materials and time that her experiment was.

Before she could concentrate on the negatives she had however she pulled on yet another tiny smile, hoping to reassure her roommate. "If you truly want to live forever, I'm sure you'll find a way. Technology changes so quickly in this day and age I know you'll find something to upgrade with. Even then the most futuristic of technology that I know of still are a few years behind what you are..." But not wanting for him to feel like his physical makeup defined his limits, she added "You have a lot of time and intelligence to figure out how life works. You'll find who you are and what you can do to thrive." Though it seemed he was ready to perform another task, she still kept that puppy-dog look of confidence and a swish of her tail. She had faith that he would do fine here... He just needed to feel safe is all. </div>