Without hesitating, she nodded with a soft smile "Just a bit." Her voice had her teasing tone to it. To the right person, it might have been very engaging but just not to her. "If someone made jokes about my precious baby, I'd probably break one of their fingers..maybe two." The way she said it and smirk she gave left it ambiguous as to whether it was a joke or serious. Of course for Cinna, it was both. Her left brow raised as he said she laughed a lot, peering up at him "I do, don't I?" It was rhetorical question posed with self-satisfaction. True laughter had been rare for her before her path to Beacon.

"I will not settle for just 'good enough', I will be the best or keep trying until I am." Cinna didn't know why that struck her personally, but she didn't hear how assured she sounded just now. She seemed to relax when Aeschel reassured her that the food would be amazing, he seemed like he was finally starting to break out of his nervous shell. A smile returned to her features as he nudged her, though what he said next took a bit of the spark from that smile. Nevertheless, she still forced a few laughs as his rather bad joke "Better watch out I don't tell your mom." She shot back at him jokingly

Cinna learned very young that while size does matters, it's ultimately up to how much of a fight a person was willing to put up. She was willing to throw everything down in order to win a fight, so that was why she almost always won her scraps. Thought she didn't know him for long, Aeschel, while a nice guy, didn't seem to have that same kind of fighting spirit. Right now, Cinna didn't think that he would be that handy in an actual fight with grimm. However, a part of her chose to believe that he would show his true colors when the time came.

Talking to: @DrTwit

"Well, my Baby is still under convenience testing and tick checks. So, I can't defend her until she's gotten past advance field testing" He had spent a long time constructing his weapon, over the course of a year he had managed to forge ten different models. The tenth, final and now only one was attached to his hip, surviving. The others hadn't made it through foundation, basic or any other base level testing. Number ten, however, after a few sleepless nights, was ready. Yeah, there might be a small bug or two, but it was ready to fire at Grimm and slice whatever crossed its path.

"Oh, of course. Absolute domination or left behind to burn, huh?" He at first thought to go on and say how he agreed, took the mentality himself or give an analogy of a cool thing he did. But after a few more seconds of thought, he realized that such pointless lies and blatant pandering would just make him look like an ass. "Some would say that good enough is the best" He just wanted to get along with people, yet he was already getting that inkling of judgment alarm in his spine. He had to be saying the wrong thing again. "Don't tell her, she'll blow me up again..." While sounding like a joke, Aeschel had a face of someone who was serious about the fact. He still had a boil or two on his leg from when His mother tested a bomb made to throw people into a state of itching.

Aeschel began to fiddle with his hands, shooting Cinna with a tired look as he tried to scrutinize her expression. He didn't want to make bad judgements of people, but he also didn't want to waste his time or hinder others unintentionally, so that bad feeling in his gut was screaming at him to at least question beyond the surface layer of the conversation. "Do you want me to go?"

Talking to: @Ithradine

---

---

The girl introduced herself as Aquarius Haifisch, and she was a talker. Or at the very least, was comfortable enough to hold a conversation, as shortly after introducing herself, she decided to segue into another topic. Aquarius was rather observant, correctly assuming Aurelia wasn't from Vale and going so far as guessing her country of origin. Was it that obvious? That thought was, once again, correctly guessed as Aquarius would point out how traditional she was. It was all said very quickly, Aurelia had to take a second to make sure she took all her words in. Sure, she wanted to be more open with people, but she had hoped to ease into it; Aquarius was metaphorically approaching her stone wall with a cannon for all intents and purposes.

"Yes, I am from Mistral," Aurelia decided to admit. "My father disapproves of Atlas' ways of educating their students. And Haven has...too many familiar faces..." Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, she decided not to press on Haven, choosing to steer the conversation another way. "I suppose it may sound odd to you, but seeing the world and all it has to offer is one of my aspirations. Why not begin by seeing another country entirely?"

Cinna simply nodded at he informed her of the status of his weapon. It seemed a bit late to have a weapon not ready to go into the field at this stage but whatever. Her gaze was directed entirely towards the actual school, not just its ground. There was no real concept of 'good enough' inside her mind, if you were set or tasked to do something then you did it to the absolute best you could do "If you settle on good enough, you won't ever get better." She stated plainly. It was fine if that was the view Aeschel held, but she did not share it.

The next statement sounded like a joke but from the expression she was getting from him, it told her that he might not be lying "I guess you better stay on my good side then.." A rather sinister smirk arose, an aura of intimidation accompanying it as she looked up at him. She returned to viewing the school below, not noticing the fidgeting motions Aeschel was making. When he finally asked the question that seemed to be bugging him, Cinna paused for a moment then turned her head towards him "Listen Aeschel. If I wanted you to leave, you would have left by now alright?" She firmly stated, looking him very seriously in the eyes. Suddenly, her golden gaze lightened and a smile returned to her face "I've enjoyed our chat so far, I'm not that scary am I?" She purposefully did her best innocent-giggle at that remark.

A quick glance back out the window and she could see that the airship would be landing pretty soon "Looks like you will get a chance to escape me pretty soon." She semi-joked, enjoying toying with the poor squirrel-faunas now. Cinna knew that the two of them were quite different but that was made it interesting. He didn't annoy her, which was a huge plus. Now she just awaited the signal to prepare to get off this long ride.

Interacting with: @DrTwit

@Ithradine

"And if you're obsessed with the furthest goal, you'll be blinded to the obstacles in front of you" It wasn't that Aeschel had no drive to go up and beyond to succeed, he'd be excited to strive for the best results he could attain. But he wasn't going to tear himself apart just for not being the best at everything. Just better than one particular person. "Sometimes it's best to just be doing it right. I mean, my parents always said 'You don't reinvent the wheel, you just make it rocket-powered'. Then again, my parents strap each other to chairs to test their latest creations on each other. Last time I saw 'em, my mother was whipping out a flamethrower after dowsing my Father in alcohol. So, not the most stable individuals; but they have their nuggets of wisdom"

"Beleive me, looking at you she'd just rope you into it. She'll cause boils swelling in parts of your body only the craziest of sailors dare to probe" As he talked, Aescel began to scratch his left leg, memories coming back. Looking up at her as she made a sinister grin, Aeschel's thought immediately found humor in imagining a child version of her with a high pitched squeak yelling 'I'll tell my mommy on you!'. It made him unintentionally chuckle. Though it dissappeared when she gave him a clear cut answer. "No, no, you're not scary. You're very nice to talk to" Aeschel's more more alarmed tone made it clear that he was more scared of being rude to her than the possiability of angering her and causing bodily harm to him. Manners over personal safety. "You're awesome. I just... Don't to burden you, it'd be rude and disingenous. You shouldn't force yourself to talk to some dumb stranger who's only interesting trait is talking about greese and metal work"
"So far, I like your company very much. I'm sorry if I offended you"

@Agent 47

Several thoughts rushed through Kobalt's head as he waited for the airship to reach its destination. First, he considered the possibility of his brothers and sisters being students at Beacon Academy - it was more likely than not, considering the Zaffre family's origins in Vale. Kobalt knew he'd the answer soon enough, though.

However, Kobalt's mind quickly wandered to somewhere else. If he was going to be a student of Beacon, then he was going to be sorted into a team with three other students, just like him. All Kobalt could do was hope they were going to be good teammates, though - as he was going to be paired with them for quite a while. An unskilled person could prove themselves to be a liability, a possibility Kobalt wasn't quite fond of. 'Too soon to make a judgement, I guess. Should probably just wait and see... and anyways, everyone here's accomplished in some way... probably.'

It was then that Kobalt felt that something was amiss, jolting him out of his thoughts. He noticed something that had previously went unseen. What Kobalt noticed... was that someone else had seemingly appeared out of thin air, next to him. This person's sudden appearance gave Kobalt quite the surprise. "Huh?!" He gasped for a second, before quickly covering his mouth. "Damn... don't know how I missed you there. You're one hell of a sneaky one, you know that?" Kobalt spoke to the person, placing a hand onto his cap as he angled it ever so slightly downwards into its original place - where it felt just right.

It was a bit of a pleasant, yet unexpected surprise for Kobalt to have someone approach him, especially in such a boring time. The person was a lady with both blue eyes and hair - Kobalt assumed her hair was dyed, like his. She seemed to have an aqua motif, causing Kobalt to dub her 'Aqua' in his head. Such a name made perfect sense to Kobalt for reasons that would strike most as obvious. However, he didn't know her real name - so 'Aqua' just have to do for now. The woman had also spoken to Kobalt, too - greeting him, and addressing how he wasn't particularly chatty. '... She figured it out pretty damn quick,' Kobalt thought. 'That isn't surprising, though... guess it's about as subtle as a brick to the jaw.'

"Yeah... I guess you could say I'm not much of a mingler." Kobalt answered with a glance over at the blue-haired lady. "Never really been one. Gotta say... sounds like I'm missin' out, though. Maybe I'll give this 'mingling' stuff a shot. Maybe."

The beginning of the trip:

The journey to the airship was a long one. Seth figured it would only take a few hours to get where the airship would take him to the academy. However, after encountering a few Grimm and also not wanting to have the stench of Death on him. He had to make a detour which made the trip longer. When he finally got to the airship he was tired but relieved. His relief lasted all of three seconds when he saw how many people were going to be on the airship. He tensed up and swallowed his fear as he slowly got on. Walking with the crowd intensified his fear as the thought of his Primal Rage triggering scared him. He took several deep breaths as he ventured into the airship with the large crowd. Once he found a place where there were fewer people around. He let out a relaxed sigh and then a yawn. He knew the Airship would take a while before it got to its destination so he felt he had time to take a quick nap.

Seth folded his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes. He found it rather easy to fall asleep with all the talking, laughing and shouting around him. His head nodded up and down at times as he fell further into sleep. He then and without warning fell sideways on the bench. However, he continued to sleep and after a while, his white tail curled up and he lay next to his head as he continued to sleep.

Now:

Seth let out a yawn as he stretched out like a cat that just woke up from a nap. He let out a moan as he felt his joints pop before he sat up and looked around. The airship still hadn’t landed and he was unsure where they were or how long he had been sleeping. He stood up and looked around to see if anyone might know where they were. Then an announcement came over the loudspeaker saying they’d be there in ten minutes.

“Wow, I slept that long?” Seth said to himself. He then looked around until he saw a few windows looking out over where they were. He started over there careful not to get too close to any of the other students there. As he drew closer he noticed three other students at the windows: a blue-haired shark Faunus which made Seth stop for a second and think Never seen an aquatic type of Faunus before, a blond hair girl who seemed like she wasn’t from Vale since her scent to Seth didn’t smell anything like Vale, and a guy with Various patches on his attire with one of gold and yelling yes. Seth wasn’t sure why he wore them, but he wasn’t going to be rude and ask.

When he reached the windows he quickly placed his hands on the glass and marveled at the view of the forest. He seemed like a dog who had just taken his first car ride as his tail swished back and forth. His eyes glinted with excitement as he said out loud, “Whoa! I’ve never seen the trees from above before. This is so amazing!” Seth forgot about the fake persona he had to put on and let his true self out as his tail continued to swish back and forth.

Mentions: @AGenericUser@Agent 47@Hero

@DrTwit

Cinna would simple crush any obstacles in her way. The only thing that matter to her right now was the become a top huntress. That was the only way she could repay the debt she owed to the one who saved her life. She respected Aeschel's thinking, but she was far from accepting it for herself. Ultimately she decided to let that topic of conversation pass. Philosophy and deep stuff like that she didn't like to talk about.

"I'm having a hard time believing these are your actual parents." She said with a grin while shaking her head in denial. There was no way these insane sounding people were even related to Aeschel, he didn't seem all like them. Well except for the all the technical mumbo-jumbo. Cinna was relieved that he took her 'scary look' with a laugh, that was what she had been hoping for. A bright smile grew on her lips at the compliments he gave, it was nice to hear from someone. He was way too humble about himself she noted, did he not think he was good enough? "I'm going to set this straight, Aeschel. I don't force myself to do anything I don't want to do, got it?" Her voice was friendly despite the strength of her words.

She jumped a bit on her toes "Good. For the record, you're not so bad yourself." Cinna spoke without allowing him to reply. This was going better than she hoped, making friends was not one of her strong suits. There many others talking to each others probably trying to do the same, but there was one who stood out. Alone and looking less excited than the rest, he stuck out quite a bit. The outfit he wore gave him a kinda of mysterious sense, something that made Cinna irresistibly curious "I'm gonna go check something out. I'll meet back up with you after we land, 'kay? Don't go on without me!" She responded with energy and kindness as she left his side to make sure he didn't think she was just ditching him entirely.

@Shadow Daedalus
"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to interrupt your solitude over here." Cinna state boldly to the heavily dressed guy by himself as she approached from his side, hands behind her back. She had seen people dressed like that in Mistral and it usually meant that had something to hide, many times illegal. It was doubtful that was true in his case, but it didn't sway her curiosity. From the attire, she had a pretty good reason to assume he was from Atlas. "Are you excited to be going to Beacon? It looks so incredible from up here." Her tone was casual, looking to to strike up a conversation. She was glad that her guardian had taught her a bit about being more friendly when talking "I'm Cinna by the way."

Daedalus hadn't completely stopped paying attention to the happenings on the deck, vigilance being an important trait for Huntsmen, but he'd stopped listening to the various conversations around him. Without a present threat or any pressing objectives to worry about he'd let himself relax, although the only tell was a loosening of his rigid posture. His arms were still clasped behind him, but they hung at his tailbone instead of held tightly at hip-level and his body swayed a tiny amount as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He'd left his eyes to gaze aimlessly across the passing scenery, although they probably hadn't lost their intensity.

A voice spoke up from beside him and he flicked his eyes over towards it to see the red-headed girl from earlier. "As you wish, I don't mind." Now that he was listening to her speak, he could detect a hint of a Mistral accent. He assumed that she'd moved to Vale long enough ago that her accent had been watered down, hence why she was enrolling at Beacon as opposed to Haven Academy, but it's wasn't really his place to ask and it wouldn't benefit him to know. She spoke again, prompting him to focus on the building approaching from the distance. He wasn't excited, per say, but he had to admit that he was looking forward to his time there. He was determined to make good of the gift his adoptive mother had given him as a Huntsman, and this was the last step of that journey. She paused before giving her name, and Daedalus responded by turning his body and extending a hand. It was probably a bit formal for the setting, but he wasn't exactly comfortable in social situations. "Daedalus Atsali. You're right about Beacon, it truly lives up to the name."

While most of the other students on-board the vessel had already got up, moved around and chatted with one another, Xinyue Cao Tang remained seated for the duration of the vessel's time in the air, her sorrowing gaze transfixed on the outside world on the opposing side of the window next to her. It was more or less all same; more grasslands upon more grasslands upon more grasslands. While she had to admit there were some beautiful sceneries that Vale had to offer, Xinyue was not all that impressed overall. And yet she still found herself looking at the far yonder below regardless, unwilling to tear herself away from it all for even a moment.

A lot of that came down to the fact that, to an extent at least, Vale's outskirts reminded Xinyue of her true region of birth; Vacuo. While the desert region could been seen as little more than an abhorring overgrown sandbox to some people, it had more of a rustic feeling that Vale couldn't compare to. And seeing that made Xinyue reminisce about her time Angel Celeste, the nun who raised her while her birth mother was nowhere to be found at the time. These memories in turn spurred more, this time consisting of her brief tenure at Mirage Academy.

...

One would think that Xinyue wouldn't have such a great time at Mirage Academy, specifically because of all the human students around her. Incidentally, a human was known to do one of two things to a faunus in Mirage Academy; either A.) they'd jeer and make fun of them, occasionally pulling and tugging at the specific body part that made up their animal trait, or B.) they'd leave them alone from a physical standpoint, but spread rumors about them to each other behind their backs, some investing more effort into preventing the "topic of discussion" from overhearing said rumors than others. Xinyue of course fell into the second category due to her naturally intimidating nature... which was only presentable because of her likeness to her birth mother, whose crimes had led her to be incarcerated inside the Vacuo Correctional Facility. However, while she quickly tired of the rumors being spread about her, she wasn't about to let them get to her. Right at that first year, Xinyue stood out from all of Mirage Academy's students, being the first to unlock her Aura, and even managing to squeeze out an activation of her Semblance within the later stages of the year.

Unfortunately, her prowess only put a target on Xinyue's back, as known White Fang members had been trying to recruit her for their nefarious deeds. They had a tremendous gall in attempt to recruit her straight out of Mirage Academy like they did, but apparently they did their homework; they'd noted that Mirage Academy was understaffed in the teacher department, and that was a weakness that they took advantage of. Feeling an unholy sense about them, Xinyue denied the White Fang members of her servitude, but they would not take no for an answer, and their persistence was beginning to aggravate her. In the end, after being made aware of the situation, the headmaster decided that the best course of action was to have Xinyue transferred to Signal Academy.

...

Now, after graduating Signal Academy, Xinyue found herself on this vessel, which was to fly all the way to Beacon Academy and still had yet to reach its destination. And out of everyone that was also on the vessel, Xinyue could find herself stuck with any three of them. This worried Xinyue, as she spent all that time in Mirage and Signal Academies focusing on improving her own capabilities... and she was never a people person to begin with. However, there was only so much that even someone of Xinyue's capabilities could do on their own, and having others to fight with was just as integral to being a Huntress as having others to fight for. And besides that, there was still the rare possibility that the role of leadership could fall on her lap, and in the event that should happen, that prospect alone could be worth the trouble of being stuck with people that she may or may not wind up despising.

Xinyue remained in her seat for now. If someone wanted to go out of their way to talk to her, then fine; who was she to deny them an interaction with her? But she would rather have gone into her designated teammate assignment blind. After all, trying to gauge who was likable and who wasn't could always risk setting one up for disappointment in the long run.

Asechel's face fell at what should have just been seen as a joking comment "You wouldn't be the first one to..." He forced out a laugh, passing it off as a joke as he did not want to start unloading emotional baggage onto hopefully-maybe-friends on the first day they met. In fact, he'd be delighted to never bring it up again in his entire life. He was sure they were his parents, he had the birth records and the years of 'family bonding' to prove it, but aside from the faunus traits he shared with his mother and skin tone and eyes of his father, he was clearly an odd spot for the family. At times, he even suspected his parents doubted it, but he'd never say those suspicions out loud. "Uh, got it!" He nodded, offering a sheepish smile at the compliment. "I try?"

And within the span of a minute, Cinna had spouted off a goodbye and jolted off to find much cooler looking people. Not that Aeschel blamed her, the guy he spotted her heading towards did have that sort of look about him, though something told Aeschel that the man was judging him. But that was just the paranoia. "Bye then... Nice to meet you..." She wanted to meet him when they land? How was he expected to find her in this crowd of people? Sometimes, Aeschel did seem to forget that no matter how small he tried to make himself, him and his bright bushy tail stuck out like a sore thumb. She wants to meet again, that's a good sign But once more, Aeschel was left alone in a suffocating silence, as much as he was afraid of talking and offending others, he was starting to realize that the uncertainty of what to do next was uncomfortable. And reaching into his bag and taking out his puppet collection so he could talk to himself was not an option.

Not that there was anything wrong with that. It was a perfectly normal thing to do. Unfortunately, during his thoughts, his body decided to move closer to the ramp where everyone would get off at the journey's and. And when his body acted without much thought, his tail would soon screw something up, or in this case, the bright orange sorry sight of fur would bump into a random tiger Faunus nearby. It was extremely rude. "Ah! God, sorry!"

Mentions:@Ithradine
Interacts: @AdmrlStalfos19

@Agent 47

Well, if Kobalt had thought of mingling with anybody - he'd certainly gotten it, to say the least. The aqua-haired lady that Kobalt had dubbed 'Aqua' had introduced herself... she'd introduced herself as 'Aquarius Haifisch'. Kobalt was a little surprised that his nickname turned out to be so accurate. However, shortly after this, the blue-haired lady did something that Kobalt didn't see coming. The lady wrapped her hand around Kobalt's shoulder.

To put this one way, it wasn't something Kobalt expected. He'd had people do such a gesture to him in the past, but it was never a complete stranger. It struck Kobalt as rather unusual, and he found himself not knowing how to react to it. So, instead - he simply chose to not acknowledge it, at least to the best of his abilities. "My name's Kobalt Zaffre," He introduced himself with a clear, calm tone. "That's a K at the start of my name. Not sure if my parents couldn't spell Cobalt or something, but, hey." Kobalt explained, placing a hand onto his hat - for the lady, Aquarius, had called him something interesting - that being the name 'Captain'. Briefly, Kobalt knew not what she was talking about... and then it came to his mind. She must've said that because of his hat. "'Mr. Captain', eh... you're not the first one to call me that. Never really had that much interest in flying ships like these - knew someone who did, though."

Kobalt felt that asking the lady, Aquarius a few questions would be a good course of action. He'd never been the type to talk about himself a lot. "Aqua, right?" Kobalt addressed, glancing over at the blue-haired woman. "Judging from the fact you're on this ship, chances are you're heading to Beacon. 'Course, you've gotta have reasons for going. Maybe it's a weird question, but what're your reasons?"

It probably was a strange question... but it was a piece of information Kobalt liked learning about people. He'd always believed that you could learn a fair bit about someone by their motivation.

@Shadow Daedalus

Cinna never liked formal handshakes, which is why she did that odd one with Aeschel. She didn't want to do the same thing twice, so she simply relented and took Daedalus's hand in a firm grip. He didn't answer her question but she didn't like repeating herself, so she let it go. At least he was talking to her, though she was now very sure he was an Atlas boy "Just looking at it makes me eager to get started. Do you know anything about the entrance exams?" She asked him, personally Cinna did not a whole about what they had to do plus it was something to talk about.

She admired silently his outfit, it looked pretty cool at least from her perspective. It didn't make sense though why he needed to be so covered up, Cinna preferred clothing that gave her a larger range of movement. That just sort of came with her semblance and living in Mistral however. Her mostly bare arms exposed the muscles she had to work hard to maintain despite her slim shape.

---

It was just as she turned away from the window that Xinyue found her own face being rubbed against by another faunus' tail... a sight that was none too happy about. He may have been quick to realize his blunder, but his apologizing for it barely helped matters at all. Now, aside from having to remove any traces of fur contact from her face, Xinyue's thoughts would be plagued by the prospect of having to deal with an oaf on her team. Considering all the misfortune she had to deal with in her life, that was the last thing she needed on her mind.

"Next time, pay attention," Xinyue stated simply. She seemed surprisingly calm for someone who had half a mind to scold the faunus, but her tone of voice was still sour. She did not appreciate a colossal mess of fur protruding from just above the rear end rubbing against her like that, and it tended to reflect better on her conscience had she made that known than not.

Xinyue looked away again, wanting to forget about that incident as quickly as she was able.

"It's just it's really crowded and Mistral is not really a crowded place most of the time, and I had a lot on my mind and-" Aeschel blinked, taking in the appearance of this new person, realizing that this was someone who almost as tall as him. "-You are surprisingly tall! Cool" He'd realized sometimes that he was apparently taller than average for his age, so to meet someone who almost reached his height was a bit of a surprise. "Bah, that's no excuse, I should be watching where I'm going. Again, my sincerest apologies" He felt the need to bow like he'd seen others do when the offended someone.

Feeling the need to compensate for his 'crime', Aeschel reached into his satchel and pulled out some type of meaty snack wrapped in plastic, looking akin to bacon. "Would you accept a trade as an apology?" She was giving off some scary vibes, but Aeschel just couldn't walk away awkwardly, that'd be rude!

Interacting with: @AdmrlStalfos19

The lady, Aquarius, had answered Kobalt's question on her reason for coming to Beacon. She spoke of how she couldn't see herself doing anything else, and that heading to Beacon would allow her to fight Grimm - and henceforth, save people. It seemed like quite the goal to Kobalt - in fact, it seemed rather noble to him. Someone like this Aqua struck Kobalt as someone who would make for a good hunter. Though, Kobalt couldn't help but think about his own goal. It wasn't something quite so noble - in comparison, Kobalt's goal merely seemed like a search for strength, to become the next Zaffre heir. But he quickly moved on from these thoughts - everyone had their own goals, and that was his. "So you wanna help people, huh?" Kobalt uttered to the blue-haired Aqua. "That's probably a good thing in a huntress... so that's good to hear."

Notably, Aqua had also spoke of the opportunity to hang out with good-looking people. Kobalt didn't particularly want to admit it out loud, but that too was an upside of heading to Beacon Academy. Though, before he could dwell on this for too long, he felt something impact him in the ribs - Aquarius. "Geez... don't go killing me now," Kobalt thought he'd try to make a joke on this matter, and slowly clutched the point of impact in his ribs. "Don't wanna rock up into Beacon on a stretcher. Wouldn't be my best first impression. Probably not my worst, either."

Kobalt's eyes wandered across to the other students again, and this time - he spotted two people that caught his eye. One of whom seemed to be quite the tall Faunus woman, with what seemed to be multi-coloured hair. The other person... was also a tall Faunus, though he was a man and had orange hair. Kobalt had seen the tall Faunus's tail brush against the lady Faunus's face - and as it'd turn out, the lady wasn't exactly too happy about that. Kobalt couldn't help but think the orange-haired Faunus man was more than a little clumsy and uncoordinated - not the best traits for a hunter, especially if his tail was ending up in someone's face. He then thought to himself. 'Spose I'm not one to talk, though... hell, I'm not a Faunus. Maybe that's a real easy thing to do by accident. Dunno...'

---

Interactions: @Agent 47

---

"Would you accept a trade as an apology?"

"Hm?" Xinyue looked back over to the squirrelly faunus with a newfound curiosity. She was expecting the rather lame excuse that he gave of him not being used to crowds and having "a lot on his mind", as if being aware of one's surroundings could possibly be too much to think about at any point in time, and she expected him to accept that what was done was done and moved onto wherever he was going. However, she wasn't expecting him to then rescind said lame excuse as quickly as he did, and she certainly wasn't expecting him to insist on a confirmation that his apology would be accepted. Had she realized he was one of those types, Xinyue could've easily adjusted her response so that it showed a little bit of courtesy towards the guy on her end. Unfortunately, hindsight was 20/20.

Xinyue wasn't so sure the "trade" was necessary. After all, she didn't know if the squirrelly faunus could even give her what she would hypothetically want from him. But then she noticed what he was initially offering; that strange bacon-like substance that was supposed to serve as some kind of snack. She leaned over and sniffed in confirm that, yes, it did have that scent of meat, but then closed her eyes.

"As much as I appreciate the offer, I can't accept it. Strict vegan," she shook her head as she this, before looking straight into the squirrelly faunus' eyes, this time with a considerably softer gaze, "You seem rather... contrite, compared to what I was expecting of you. A normal person would've forgotten about such an incident in its entirety by now."

She listened patiently to what the other faunus had to say... assuming he could find anything to say about her insight of him that was, and whilst she listened, Xinyue got to thinking. This was the first faunus she'd talked to since back at Mirage Academy, and that would have been a couple years ago. Furthermore, she knew barely anything about the other students since she chose to just focus on her own grades for both Mirage and Signal. The perfect opportunity to get to know this specific faunus was right here and now.

"Tell you what. You give me information about yourself; hobbies, interests, secrets, motivations, lifestyle choices, what have you, and I'll accept your apology once I've ascertained a good understanding of you as a person," Xinyue offered, a seemingly innocent smile present on her face.

"You may start with your name, if you so choose..."