Anais Vallinar (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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zenderael_rl2013-02-28 11:46 am
vallinar) wrote in zenderael_rl2013-02-28 11:46 am
Entry tags:
[Anais/Tavan] - Class Interrupted
Who: Anais and Tavan
When: Tuesday, July 12, early morning
Where: a classroom at FCU
Before/After: N/A
Warnings: N/A
The streets of Kakoresh were rarely busy. The city was small, barely small enough to be called a city at all, most of its inhabitants sleeping through the morning hours and only rousing towards noon to prepare midday meals or start their chores. Tavan sat in his alley, lazily tossing his knives at a broken wooden board that passed for a target. It was too early for him, even, but he never managed to sleep as late as most in this town.
With a bored sigh, he stood and went to retrieve his knives, tucking them into hidden places on his person, and then making his way out of the alley to see if he could scrounge up some food. He hadn't eaten since midday the day before, having been occupied with training most of the afternoon and then getting into fights most of the evening - one of the other small gangs was trying to muscle into his group's turf, though Tavan and his friends had the advantage, with half of them being rogues. He had a few bruises and his muscled still ached, but it was nothing he wasn't used to.
When he turned the corner to head towards what passed for the local market, he suddenly felt dizzy, reaching out to brace against the wall of the building he was just passing - only there was no wall there, and he wound up stumbling to maintain his footing. His vision went dark, and he found himself wondering if he was dying, and what had done it, but then light started to filter in and he blinked a few times, trying to see.
It didn't sound like Kakoresh, or smell like Kakoresh. Once his vision cleared, he realized it didn't look like Kakoresh either. He glanced around himself in a sudden panic, then remembered all the talk- this was Earth, wasn't it...?
With eyes turning towards him, all he could manage was a disoriented, "Uh..."
There was a time when Anais Vallinar would have said that the only people who appeared out of nowhere were mages. Unfortunately, that would have been from a time long before the merges between Zenderael and Earth began, before she had known there was a place called Earth at all, and before she herself had appeared without warning in an alley that opened to a busy street in Fall City. While the merges continued, and the people and places of Zenderael continued to merge with Earth each day, Anais had personally been witness to very little of it actually happening.
Until today, it seemed, when a person appeared without any warning whatsoever in the middle of a circle of her students. She herself was no longer in the center of the ring, in the process of correcting another student's stance when he had stumbled into it, amid gasps and wide-eyed stares from many of her students. He wasn't a mage. She knew that much. If he had been, he wouldn't have seemed quite that disoriented. A new arrival, then. This was what X-DAV had originally hired her for, in addition to slaughtering monsters, but with people like Zale unable to carry out the duty of greeting newcomers anymore, she supposed someone would have to.
She pulled away from the student, clapping twice loudly to get her students' attention. "That will be all for today. Practice the forms we learned earlier. There will be a quiz when we meet tomorrow morning. Dismissed."
That accomplished, she didn't even wait for the students to leave before she moved to the newcomer and gave him a little smile. It was a little sad that it was the best she could do under the circumstances, but Anais didn't have much practice at being the friendly sort. She was used to being a soldier, not the face of anything. Even so, she supposed she had to make an attempt, as there wasn't anyone else. "Welcome to Earth."
It was one thing to hear about it happening, and another thing entirely to be the person it happened to. Besides being disoriented, his head still kind of dizzy and his footing not quite steady, he'd appeared in the middle of a group of people, and was suddenly the center of attention, everyone staring. That made him very uncomfortable. It wasn't like he could just disappear in this crowd, either, since his clothing didn't fit at all.
He turned his attention on the woman when she spoke, obviously in charge. A class, then. Well, at least he hadn't appeared in the middle of some weird ritual. Wary, he looked her over as she approached him, his hand rising to rub the back of his neck as he gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry for interrupting..." The rest of them got a few glances as they started to shuffle away, some more reluctant to leave than others.
"You cannot help where you appeared," she pointed out, shaking her head. "There is nothing to apologize for." She considered for a moment before leaning in and saying almost conspiratorially "Besides, I am certain at least half of my students would much rather be anywhere else other than here."
Apparently, that only went for some of them, however. Others, it seemed, decided a better use of their time was to stare at the man who had appeared out of nowhere instead of going off and practicing whatever she had taught them for the day. She could see them still, many of them lurking just out of the corner of her eye. Eyes narrowing, she spun, turning to fix each of them with a look that she hoped would terrify them enough into leaving. "I believe I said we were done for the day, ladies and gentlemen. Unless you would like to find yourselves saddled with extra material for the quiz tomorrow morning, I suggest you leave. Now."
That seemed to be incentive enough for some of them, many of them gathering their things and bolting out the door. Shaking her head, she turned back to the stranger. "Hopefully, that should keep them away for the time being. I know how overwhelming arriving to see a strange group of people around you can get." Admittedly, she had arrived in an alley, not in the middle of a busy street, but it had still been beyond strange for her to see them, anyway. "I do not believe you would be benefit from any further disorientation."
Things were still kind of spinning. Tavan didn't hear much of what the woman said, though she did seem to have a lot to say. It seemed unlikely the people here were accustomed to people appearing in front of them, with how her students had gawked and stared, but what about her? She'd just taken it in stride like it was nothing.
By the time she finished speaking, his head had cleared enough that he was no longer dizzy. That was a start. He still had no idea where he was, though, other than Earth. Pushing his hair back, he turned about to get a look of where he was. Of course, it didn't do much to tell him where he was, as unfamiliar with anything Earth as he was.
He turned back to her, his smile still sheepish, but sincere. "Where is this?"
"This is Bastantown, in a portion of a place known as Fall City on the western side of Earth's United States." There was a part of her that wished she had an actual map available to her right now. Unfortunately, there wasn't much call for such things when she was teaching students how to defend themselves with swords. Even so, she couldn't deny that a map would have been very helpful in pointing out where he was. Without that, for all she knew, the places she mentioned would be nothing more than meaningless words to him. "At the moment, you happen to be in a classroom within the university." Was any of that helpful to him? She wasn't sure, but at least he had place names, which was more than what he had moments before.
"Do you need to sit down?" she asked, gesturing to the desks she had pushed to the side for the lesson today. "Some need to shortly after they arrive." She hadn't, but not everybody had been her.
United States. America. He'd been researching Earth for a while now, ever since he'd acquired one of those tablets back in Zenderael, so he knew where America was. He also knew Fall City, and the term Bastantown, from reading the forums. And he knew that meant keeping what he was extra quiet. Bastan had never much liked the Pakerion guilds, even before the war, but now? They'd probably lynch him. At least it was unlikely they'd be able to guess. So far as anyone knew, he was just any old Zenderean kid.
His smile never wavered as those thoughts went through his mind, watching the woman intently and taking in her words. "No, I'm all right. I was a little dizzy, but I think I'm good now. Thanks miss."
He was rather curious about her, however. About Earth, in general, but this woman who didn't seem at all surprised when someone just appeared out of nowhere to interrupt her lesson... "Are you from Zenderael?" he asked, head tilting to the side. It was either that or she'd seen enough arrivals to understand. And then he remembered his manners, and, standing tall (as tall as his 5'4" height would allow, at any rate), he offered his hand. "Oh, my name's Tavan. Tavan Rakhsha."
"Anais Vallinar." She smiled at him as she took his hand and shook it, looking for all the world as if the gesture was something she did every day. While it might have been, it still wasn't a gesture she was entirely comfortable with, however. Being a paladin, she was used to salutes or bows when necessary. Shaking hands, it seemed, was meant to be more informal, and Anais wasn't entire sure she liked it. Regardless, it was common here on Earth, and she supposed she had little other choice but to go along with it. "I was from Zenderael once, yes. Now, it seems I am stuck here and teaching students how not to impale themselves on a sword."
He shook her hand eagerly, as if meeting an old friend, smile turning into an amiable grin. "Nice to meet you, miss!" When she said she was from Zenderael, he felt more at ease - not that there was any visible tension, but it did feel better to know the first person he met had had the same experience. Or similar, at any rate. "So you, uh. What do they call it? Crossed over? Where from? If you don't mind me asking." He tried to remember to tread carefully, not wanting to bombard this poor stranger with a million questions all at once.
Truthfully, Anais hadn't expected Tavan to be quite that enthusiastic upon meeting someone from Zenderael. In a way, it almost reminded her of Rasmus or even Zale, and for a moment, she found herself missing him. It was strange, really. Since she had been on Earth, she had met more people like that than she had thought possible, and, somehow, they seemed to gravitate toward her. Why that was, she didn't know, but she had the feeling it happened for a reason.
"Bastan, actually," she replied, raising a hand to tuck a lose strand of hair behind an ear. "I have been here for three months now." Had it really only been three months? It felt like an eternity sometimes, although she supposed she had Lynea to blame for that. "What about you? Where were you from?"
Bastan. A part of him had expected that answer, what with most of Bastan being here already, but he was a little sad by it as well. Ah well, nothing to do for it but be careful. "Three months? That's a long time!" To him, at any rate, but he was still pretty young. "I'm from Kakoresh. It's nowhere special, really. Nobody goes there." He shrugged. In a way he was glad to be gone. There had to be more interesting things to do here.
Of course, being on Earth also meant avoiding the war.
"So how come you know so much about swords?" He assumed she did at any rate, or she wouldn't be teaching a class on their use, but it was actually a veiled attempt to find out if she was in a guild.
Kakoresh was most certainly not a place Anais had ever heard of, and, as such, she had to conclude that it must have been a place of little consequence. There was no shame in that, of course. Quite a few paladins she had known had come from little places no one else had heard of. The ones who had, however, wanted things to be better for their little town. Was Tavan such a person?
Anais shrugged. "I was a soldier, and one of Bastan's guards." Was he looking to find out what guild she had been part of? If so, Anais couldn't imagine why that would be so important. Here on Earth, guilds didn't seem to matter too much. "The sword is simply my personal preference."
He didn't know much about Bastan's guards, unfortunately, so he couldn't assume she was in a guild just from knowing she was a soldier in Bastan. It still meant being extra careful, though. "That's pretty neat," he said, seeming intrigued. "Kakoresh doesn't have guards." Most of Pakerion didn't, so far as he knew.
"So now you teach?" It was a curious transition, from guard to teacher- her students hadn't seemed like recruits. "Do they not have a guard here you could be a part of?"
"If there is one, I do not believe joining it would be entirely practical right now." That wasn't to say she hadn't considered it, of course, but she was uncertain it would actually be paid work. Money was something she needed here, especially for her apartment and especially if she was looking into a larger one so Lynea could actually have a room in it. Teaching paid, thankfully. The coin she had prior to coming here had mostly come in through any adventuring she had done while off-duty.
"Things have happened the past few weeks, and I do not believe Earth citizens would welcome a Zenderael-based guard system after that." It was a delicate way of putting that she thought the woman who ran her country was an idiot, she supposed, but as much as she disagreed with how Queen Omid had handled the situation, she still couldn't bring herself to say it. "They appreciate those of us who are capable of defending them from our creatures that cross over, but I do not think they are entirely comfortable with relying on us, either. Many of them would rather be able to defend themselves."
"Oh. I thought maybe they had their own guard system or such that people could join." Did Earth not have guards? Maybe some parts of it didn't, just as some parts of Zenderael didn't. But with Bastan here, he'd be surprised if it was as lawless as where he came from.
"Are your students Earthers, then?" It would make sense. If Earthers didn't use swords, it'd be a lot better to learn how to use one from someone from Zenderael, and from what he'd read, they seemed more likely to use a variety of firearms than any sort of melee weapon.
Anais had to smile a little at that. She had seen what passed for Earth's "guards" ages ago, and she had been convinced they weren't for her. The problem was the firearms. Anais' had tried once, back in Zenderael, but she had never had much aptitude for anything remotely resembling a firearm. Besides which, it always seemed so impersonal. If Anais was going to hurt someone, she would rather be the one to do it and treat the sword as an extension of her arm. Using a gun or a bow to do that felt like cheating to her.
She nodded, however, at Tavan's next question. "They are, yes, mostly from the university, but there are some from the high school in the next town over, as well."
School! He had no idea how 'high school' differed from 'university', and only assumed the latter was another form of school because of the association. School wasn't something Kakoresh had, and he hadn't even had real lessons until signing up with the rogues.
The confussion was perhaps visible for a moment or two, before he associated the two and recalled that Earth kids did this whole 'school' thing until they were adults. It had seemed boring to him, really. "So they're all local, yeah? I guess without mages to warp people around it'd be harder to get places..."
"There are no warp mages, no," she replied, which was ridiculously inconvenient. Admittedly, she didn't have much use for them now that she was here. "Instead, the Earthers have this fascinating thing called 'mass transit', with cars and buses and things of that nature." Normally, that would have been a nice transition into bringing him somewhere that wasn't there, but that had been in the days before X-DAV had been shut down. Truthfully, now, Anais wasn't entirely sure what to do with Tavan. She supposed she could bring him back to her apartment, but Lynea would most likely misread the situation, and apartment space was small as it was...
What was she supposed to do with him?
Cars and buses! He hadn't even thought about those! His research had covered the basics of Earth, which had included vehicles. Mostly looking at pictures or watching videos of the things since most of the technical details made absolutely no sense to him, but still! "You know, I never thought I'd wind up here to be able to see all this stuff myself. I've heard about some of it, though."
And then his stomach growled. Audibly.
Tavan looked startled for a moment, and then gave Anais an apologetic look. "Sorry, miss." He'd almost forgotten about being hungry.
Apparently, his stomach was going to make the decision for her. She smiled, shaking her head. "Never apologize for being hungry. Our first order of business should have been getting you something to eat." She didn't think the campus cafeteria was open yet, but there were a few places to get food within walking distance at least. "Do you mind walking a bit? There are a few places to obtain food within walking distance of the campus."
"I can walk just fine!" He held himself tall again, as if this were something to be proud of, and not like something most people did all the time anyway. Perhaps it was more because of the prospect of food getting him a little excited.
While he assumed she meant to pay for it, since it'd be unlikely he'd have any Earth money (or much money at all, considering he was just a kid, and not an especially well-dressed one by any means), Tavan at least feigned looking wilted at the prospect of paying, his shoulders drooping as he glanced down. "I don't have any money, though. But it's okay, I'm used to not eating." Weak smile.
Even if Anais hadn't been planning on paying for the meal, the sad face would have gotten her to do it anyway. She was weak to sad faces. Still, she gave him a comforting smile and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I did not have Earth money when I came here, either. I was not expecting you to pay for it."
Tavan visibly brightened, straightening his shoulders and smiling wider. "Really? That's real nice of you, miss!" Aw yeah, free food. Not that he paid for it very often to begin with. Though it would likely be a lot more difficult to, uh, acquire things until he got used to this place... For now, though! "Lead the way!"
When: Tuesday, July 12, early morning
Where: a classroom at FCU
Before/After: N/A
Warnings: N/A
The streets of Kakoresh were rarely busy. The city was small, barely small enough to be called a city at all, most of its inhabitants sleeping through the morning hours and only rousing towards noon to prepare midday meals or start their chores. Tavan sat in his alley, lazily tossing his knives at a broken wooden board that passed for a target. It was too early for him, even, but he never managed to sleep as late as most in this town.
With a bored sigh, he stood and went to retrieve his knives, tucking them into hidden places on his person, and then making his way out of the alley to see if he could scrounge up some food. He hadn't eaten since midday the day before, having been occupied with training most of the afternoon and then getting into fights most of the evening - one of the other small gangs was trying to muscle into his group's turf, though Tavan and his friends had the advantage, with half of them being rogues. He had a few bruises and his muscled still ached, but it was nothing he wasn't used to.
When he turned the corner to head towards what passed for the local market, he suddenly felt dizzy, reaching out to brace against the wall of the building he was just passing - only there was no wall there, and he wound up stumbling to maintain his footing. His vision went dark, and he found himself wondering if he was dying, and what had done it, but then light started to filter in and he blinked a few times, trying to see.
It didn't sound like Kakoresh, or smell like Kakoresh. Once his vision cleared, he realized it didn't look like Kakoresh either. He glanced around himself in a sudden panic, then remembered all the talk- this was Earth, wasn't it...?
With eyes turning towards him, all he could manage was a disoriented, "Uh..."
There was a time when Anais Vallinar would have said that the only people who appeared out of nowhere were mages. Unfortunately, that would have been from a time long before the merges between Zenderael and Earth began, before she had known there was a place called Earth at all, and before she herself had appeared without warning in an alley that opened to a busy street in Fall City. While the merges continued, and the people and places of Zenderael continued to merge with Earth each day, Anais had personally been witness to very little of it actually happening.
Until today, it seemed, when a person appeared without any warning whatsoever in the middle of a circle of her students. She herself was no longer in the center of the ring, in the process of correcting another student's stance when he had stumbled into it, amid gasps and wide-eyed stares from many of her students. He wasn't a mage. She knew that much. If he had been, he wouldn't have seemed quite that disoriented. A new arrival, then. This was what X-DAV had originally hired her for, in addition to slaughtering monsters, but with people like Zale unable to carry out the duty of greeting newcomers anymore, she supposed someone would have to.
She pulled away from the student, clapping twice loudly to get her students' attention. "That will be all for today. Practice the forms we learned earlier. There will be a quiz when we meet tomorrow morning. Dismissed."
That accomplished, she didn't even wait for the students to leave before she moved to the newcomer and gave him a little smile. It was a little sad that it was the best she could do under the circumstances, but Anais didn't have much practice at being the friendly sort. She was used to being a soldier, not the face of anything. Even so, she supposed she had to make an attempt, as there wasn't anyone else. "Welcome to Earth."
It was one thing to hear about it happening, and another thing entirely to be the person it happened to. Besides being disoriented, his head still kind of dizzy and his footing not quite steady, he'd appeared in the middle of a group of people, and was suddenly the center of attention, everyone staring. That made him very uncomfortable. It wasn't like he could just disappear in this crowd, either, since his clothing didn't fit at all.
He turned his attention on the woman when she spoke, obviously in charge. A class, then. Well, at least he hadn't appeared in the middle of some weird ritual. Wary, he looked her over as she approached him, his hand rising to rub the back of his neck as he gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry for interrupting..." The rest of them got a few glances as they started to shuffle away, some more reluctant to leave than others.
"You cannot help where you appeared," she pointed out, shaking her head. "There is nothing to apologize for." She considered for a moment before leaning in and saying almost conspiratorially "Besides, I am certain at least half of my students would much rather be anywhere else other than here."
Apparently, that only went for some of them, however. Others, it seemed, decided a better use of their time was to stare at the man who had appeared out of nowhere instead of going off and practicing whatever she had taught them for the day. She could see them still, many of them lurking just out of the corner of her eye. Eyes narrowing, she spun, turning to fix each of them with a look that she hoped would terrify them enough into leaving. "I believe I said we were done for the day, ladies and gentlemen. Unless you would like to find yourselves saddled with extra material for the quiz tomorrow morning, I suggest you leave. Now."
That seemed to be incentive enough for some of them, many of them gathering their things and bolting out the door. Shaking her head, she turned back to the stranger. "Hopefully, that should keep them away for the time being. I know how overwhelming arriving to see a strange group of people around you can get." Admittedly, she had arrived in an alley, not in the middle of a busy street, but it had still been beyond strange for her to see them, anyway. "I do not believe you would be benefit from any further disorientation."
Things were still kind of spinning. Tavan didn't hear much of what the woman said, though she did seem to have a lot to say. It seemed unlikely the people here were accustomed to people appearing in front of them, with how her students had gawked and stared, but what about her? She'd just taken it in stride like it was nothing.
By the time she finished speaking, his head had cleared enough that he was no longer dizzy. That was a start. He still had no idea where he was, though, other than Earth. Pushing his hair back, he turned about to get a look of where he was. Of course, it didn't do much to tell him where he was, as unfamiliar with anything Earth as he was.
He turned back to her, his smile still sheepish, but sincere. "Where is this?"
"This is Bastantown, in a portion of a place known as Fall City on the western side of Earth's United States." There was a part of her that wished she had an actual map available to her right now. Unfortunately, there wasn't much call for such things when she was teaching students how to defend themselves with swords. Even so, she couldn't deny that a map would have been very helpful in pointing out where he was. Without that, for all she knew, the places she mentioned would be nothing more than meaningless words to him. "At the moment, you happen to be in a classroom within the university." Was any of that helpful to him? She wasn't sure, but at least he had place names, which was more than what he had moments before.
"Do you need to sit down?" she asked, gesturing to the desks she had pushed to the side for the lesson today. "Some need to shortly after they arrive." She hadn't, but not everybody had been her.
United States. America. He'd been researching Earth for a while now, ever since he'd acquired one of those tablets back in Zenderael, so he knew where America was. He also knew Fall City, and the term Bastantown, from reading the forums. And he knew that meant keeping what he was extra quiet. Bastan had never much liked the Pakerion guilds, even before the war, but now? They'd probably lynch him. At least it was unlikely they'd be able to guess. So far as anyone knew, he was just any old Zenderean kid.
His smile never wavered as those thoughts went through his mind, watching the woman intently and taking in her words. "No, I'm all right. I was a little dizzy, but I think I'm good now. Thanks miss."
He was rather curious about her, however. About Earth, in general, but this woman who didn't seem at all surprised when someone just appeared out of nowhere to interrupt her lesson... "Are you from Zenderael?" he asked, head tilting to the side. It was either that or she'd seen enough arrivals to understand. And then he remembered his manners, and, standing tall (as tall as his 5'4" height would allow, at any rate), he offered his hand. "Oh, my name's Tavan. Tavan Rakhsha."
"Anais Vallinar." She smiled at him as she took his hand and shook it, looking for all the world as if the gesture was something she did every day. While it might have been, it still wasn't a gesture she was entirely comfortable with, however. Being a paladin, she was used to salutes or bows when necessary. Shaking hands, it seemed, was meant to be more informal, and Anais wasn't entire sure she liked it. Regardless, it was common here on Earth, and she supposed she had little other choice but to go along with it. "I was from Zenderael once, yes. Now, it seems I am stuck here and teaching students how not to impale themselves on a sword."
He shook her hand eagerly, as if meeting an old friend, smile turning into an amiable grin. "Nice to meet you, miss!" When she said she was from Zenderael, he felt more at ease - not that there was any visible tension, but it did feel better to know the first person he met had had the same experience. Or similar, at any rate. "So you, uh. What do they call it? Crossed over? Where from? If you don't mind me asking." He tried to remember to tread carefully, not wanting to bombard this poor stranger with a million questions all at once.
Truthfully, Anais hadn't expected Tavan to be quite that enthusiastic upon meeting someone from Zenderael. In a way, it almost reminded her of Rasmus or even Zale, and for a moment, she found herself missing him. It was strange, really. Since she had been on Earth, she had met more people like that than she had thought possible, and, somehow, they seemed to gravitate toward her. Why that was, she didn't know, but she had the feeling it happened for a reason.
"Bastan, actually," she replied, raising a hand to tuck a lose strand of hair behind an ear. "I have been here for three months now." Had it really only been three months? It felt like an eternity sometimes, although she supposed she had Lynea to blame for that. "What about you? Where were you from?"
Bastan. A part of him had expected that answer, what with most of Bastan being here already, but he was a little sad by it as well. Ah well, nothing to do for it but be careful. "Three months? That's a long time!" To him, at any rate, but he was still pretty young. "I'm from Kakoresh. It's nowhere special, really. Nobody goes there." He shrugged. In a way he was glad to be gone. There had to be more interesting things to do here.
Of course, being on Earth also meant avoiding the war.
"So how come you know so much about swords?" He assumed she did at any rate, or she wouldn't be teaching a class on their use, but it was actually a veiled attempt to find out if she was in a guild.
Kakoresh was most certainly not a place Anais had ever heard of, and, as such, she had to conclude that it must have been a place of little consequence. There was no shame in that, of course. Quite a few paladins she had known had come from little places no one else had heard of. The ones who had, however, wanted things to be better for their little town. Was Tavan such a person?
Anais shrugged. "I was a soldier, and one of Bastan's guards." Was he looking to find out what guild she had been part of? If so, Anais couldn't imagine why that would be so important. Here on Earth, guilds didn't seem to matter too much. "The sword is simply my personal preference."
He didn't know much about Bastan's guards, unfortunately, so he couldn't assume she was in a guild just from knowing she was a soldier in Bastan. It still meant being extra careful, though. "That's pretty neat," he said, seeming intrigued. "Kakoresh doesn't have guards." Most of Pakerion didn't, so far as he knew.
"So now you teach?" It was a curious transition, from guard to teacher- her students hadn't seemed like recruits. "Do they not have a guard here you could be a part of?"
"If there is one, I do not believe joining it would be entirely practical right now." That wasn't to say she hadn't considered it, of course, but she was uncertain it would actually be paid work. Money was something she needed here, especially for her apartment and especially if she was looking into a larger one so Lynea could actually have a room in it. Teaching paid, thankfully. The coin she had prior to coming here had mostly come in through any adventuring she had done while off-duty.
"Things have happened the past few weeks, and I do not believe Earth citizens would welcome a Zenderael-based guard system after that." It was a delicate way of putting that she thought the woman who ran her country was an idiot, she supposed, but as much as she disagreed with how Queen Omid had handled the situation, she still couldn't bring herself to say it. "They appreciate those of us who are capable of defending them from our creatures that cross over, but I do not think they are entirely comfortable with relying on us, either. Many of them would rather be able to defend themselves."
"Oh. I thought maybe they had their own guard system or such that people could join." Did Earth not have guards? Maybe some parts of it didn't, just as some parts of Zenderael didn't. But with Bastan here, he'd be surprised if it was as lawless as where he came from.
"Are your students Earthers, then?" It would make sense. If Earthers didn't use swords, it'd be a lot better to learn how to use one from someone from Zenderael, and from what he'd read, they seemed more likely to use a variety of firearms than any sort of melee weapon.
Anais had to smile a little at that. She had seen what passed for Earth's "guards" ages ago, and she had been convinced they weren't for her. The problem was the firearms. Anais' had tried once, back in Zenderael, but she had never had much aptitude for anything remotely resembling a firearm. Besides which, it always seemed so impersonal. If Anais was going to hurt someone, she would rather be the one to do it and treat the sword as an extension of her arm. Using a gun or a bow to do that felt like cheating to her.
She nodded, however, at Tavan's next question. "They are, yes, mostly from the university, but there are some from the high school in the next town over, as well."
School! He had no idea how 'high school' differed from 'university', and only assumed the latter was another form of school because of the association. School wasn't something Kakoresh had, and he hadn't even had real lessons until signing up with the rogues.
The confussion was perhaps visible for a moment or two, before he associated the two and recalled that Earth kids did this whole 'school' thing until they were adults. It had seemed boring to him, really. "So they're all local, yeah? I guess without mages to warp people around it'd be harder to get places..."
"There are no warp mages, no," she replied, which was ridiculously inconvenient. Admittedly, she didn't have much use for them now that she was here. "Instead, the Earthers have this fascinating thing called 'mass transit', with cars and buses and things of that nature." Normally, that would have been a nice transition into bringing him somewhere that wasn't there, but that had been in the days before X-DAV had been shut down. Truthfully, now, Anais wasn't entirely sure what to do with Tavan. She supposed she could bring him back to her apartment, but Lynea would most likely misread the situation, and apartment space was small as it was...
What was she supposed to do with him?
Cars and buses! He hadn't even thought about those! His research had covered the basics of Earth, which had included vehicles. Mostly looking at pictures or watching videos of the things since most of the technical details made absolutely no sense to him, but still! "You know, I never thought I'd wind up here to be able to see all this stuff myself. I've heard about some of it, though."
And then his stomach growled. Audibly.
Tavan looked startled for a moment, and then gave Anais an apologetic look. "Sorry, miss." He'd almost forgotten about being hungry.
Apparently, his stomach was going to make the decision for her. She smiled, shaking her head. "Never apologize for being hungry. Our first order of business should have been getting you something to eat." She didn't think the campus cafeteria was open yet, but there were a few places to get food within walking distance at least. "Do you mind walking a bit? There are a few places to obtain food within walking distance of the campus."
"I can walk just fine!" He held himself tall again, as if this were something to be proud of, and not like something most people did all the time anyway. Perhaps it was more because of the prospect of food getting him a little excited.
While he assumed she meant to pay for it, since it'd be unlikely he'd have any Earth money (or much money at all, considering he was just a kid, and not an especially well-dressed one by any means), Tavan at least feigned looking wilted at the prospect of paying, his shoulders drooping as he glanced down. "I don't have any money, though. But it's okay, I'm used to not eating." Weak smile.
Even if Anais hadn't been planning on paying for the meal, the sad face would have gotten her to do it anyway. She was weak to sad faces. Still, she gave him a comforting smile and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I did not have Earth money when I came here, either. I was not expecting you to pay for it."
Tavan visibly brightened, straightening his shoulders and smiling wider. "Really? That's real nice of you, miss!" Aw yeah, free food. Not that he paid for it very often to begin with. Though it would likely be a lot more difficult to, uh, acquire things until he got used to this place... For now, though! "Lead the way!"