Hot, humid, and miserable are good ways to describe Japan's summers. Today is only different in that there aren't even clouds to provide a pretense of relief from the hot or the humid. The sun burns brilliant in the blue sky above, and down below, Tokyo's denizens are forced to endure. For some, this means staying indoors, relying on fans or--for the fabulously wealthy--air conditioning. For others, it's a trip to the pool or the beach.
For a certain kitsune, however, it means stripping down to tanktop and bike shorts, and main-lining popsicles. Ayana's ears are hidden behind a big black bow, today, which makes it easier to avoid the problem of illusions. Tails are much harder to hide, and those she's had to magic away. She's got a small little cooler in one hand, presumably full of more popsicles, and a double lime ice in the other, which she's suckling on as she stares at the red pandas in their enclosure at the zoo.
"You know," Ayana says, waving her popsicle at the red panda, "I will never understand why you let yourselves be put in here. I mean, I guess it's because the humans put you here, but you should have fought back more. You don't see a lot of foxes behind bars," she observes. "Although maybe that's because they're too busy killing us," she grumbles unhappily.
Leaning forward on the bar, she sighs and glances up at the sky, then shoves her popsicle back in her mout. "It's way too hot," she mumbles unhappily.
Jiaying Maki is exploring the park in her usual disguise. Her illusions' marginally better than it has been, though her shadow looks a touch strange now, almost like it's occasionally moving on it's own. She might be getting paranoid at this point. Clothingwise though, Jia's wearing a a loose fitting blouse with what at this point is almost a trademark hood. She looks the hoots even on sleeveless things for convenience!
She's got her phone out and is leaning against a railing, occasionally turning to look at tiger that's below. She seems to be contemplating throwing it a snack from her satchel, but decides that it would probably get her in trouble. Her text sent, the phone is put away and she gingerly adjusts the strap of her satchel before continuing down towards the next pen while spotting a familiar figure. Much like with Kukai, she freezes up and tries to figure out what she needs to do to avoid a fight. Which means it's probably too late to do anything, since texting to change plans would be noticeable as would anything else.
It really is too hot to be out doing this sort of thing isn't it. She carefully lifts her arm up and scratches at the opposite shoulder very, very carefully.
Sora approaches Jiaying from behind, sneaky sneaky. She hasn't noticed Ayana yet, too focused on the girl she's about to pick up and hug. "Jiji-chan~" She giggles a bit, and reaches out to plant her lips on her girlfriend's cheek. "How are you doing?"
Nagina Hasane had been wandering the area... It might be summer, yet exploration still had to be done! Maybe not so much in the traditional sense of roaming around as much as holding a phone and staring at a map, making sure she could memorize it all and connect landmarks to spots on said map. A zoo, cozy park and a library all in one place? Such a thing was too good to be true! This had to be investigated personally!
Though her appearance might not quite suggest it, Nagina had an explorer's heart! Her skin was rather pale.. True. Her exploring might have mostly been done through her phone and a laptop at home... True. But she still had a curious spirit nonetheless! Books and websites were simply easier to handle. The pale skin got accompanied by a somewhat plain, white blouse that had a dark green ribbon at the final button by the top. A skirt, equally as green as the ribbon in colour aside from the white line by the bottom edge, ran down to her knees where it halted, only to have long white socks run down the rest of her legs. True, perhaps a touch too lengthy for such a heated day, yet for some reason Nagina seemed oddly.. Unaffected.
When finally arriving there were a few things that caught the girl's auburn eyes, black hair running down to her neck acting more as a heat absorbed than a deterrent. True, they had pandas. True, they even had tigers! But, do they have a reptile house, she wandered, passing by the one talking to the pandas. This talk of foxes, a potential discussion, this demanded her attention for the moment! Approaching from behind, she put the phone away in a breast pocket, chiming in towards Ayana "Doubt fighting would work out well.. Besides, if the panda could talk and know, I am confident it would suggest taking a trip to the Zao in the Miyagi prefecture.. The fox village seems pretty popular, but there are quite a few bars for them to stay behind." Should the other turn around, there would be a gentle smile on the girl's lips. Not so much hyped or excited, as much as feeling pride in herself, as if she enlightened another soul with the gift of knowledge.
Ayana's bow moves. It's not the wind, and it's not the way her head jerks around at being addressed; her bow actually seems to move of its own accord, briefly flattening against her head before perking back up. "Miyagi prefecture should stop putting foxes in zoos," she grumbles as she observes the new girl.
But her eyes are, inexorably, drawn beyond her towards the other two, not so very far away. With a scowl, Ayana looks back to Nagina, then back towards Sora and Jiaying. Well, there goes her good mood. Shoving her popsicle back in her mouth, Ayana sucks on it a moment, then pulls it out and asks, "Have you been there? Do they take good care of the foxes?"
Jiaying Maki tenses up when she's snuck up on by a Sora hug, partially out of fear of a brief shot of pain that is thankfully averted. She quickly turns to face Sora and gives her a hug while twirling just a bit, thankful that the movement induced wince isn't visible to Sora thanks to the angle. Hopefully. "It's still not fair that I don't have a good nickname for you!" she sounds like she's a touch distracted though as she sidles off to the side, still hugging Sora. She's not super sutble about this really.
Though that scowl and double take gets a scowl in return. She thought it was obvious what she was doing, but then again, she thinks she's subtle more often than not.
Still, there's a new girl talking to Ayana and that gets a curious look, wondering if it's a new friend or just something random. Then there's that whole distraction thing so she returns the kiss (Finally) and says, "Are you ready to take a walk through the zoo?" pointing back towards the tiger pens. Not that she's sure it'll work or anything.
Sora just gives Jiaying an amused smile at the complaints about nicknames, not even bothering to reassure her girlfriend that it's fine anymore. Instead, she follows Jiaying's gaze, and thereby notices Ayana. "What's she doing here?" She says in a tone that suggests she's certain that Ayana's presence is more nefarious than mere coincidence.
"We should probably warn that girl away from Ayana." Sora suggests, "We can look at the tigers after." She returns the kiss and then gently pulls on Jiaying in an attempt to head over that way.
Nagina Hasane blinked in the time the bow moved.. Curious and curious-er. Still, it could merely have been her own imagination, mentally shrugging it off to give a little wave to the panda-whisperer, when said panda whisperer turns around. . . Being looked past definitely was not quite her imagination, feeling it sink in a touch, especially as she saw a scowl on the other's expression... Never quite a pleasant sight.
She paid no heed to the popsicle. Her eyes might be caught occasionally trying to catch the bow on moving again, wondering if it was one of those fancy gadget-headbands that move based on how one's feeling, supposedly. She h ad little else to do during that moment or two of silence, after all! About to move on again based on that, just to hear the question "Huh? Ah, I believe so.. Been there on a school trip once, there are a lot of tourists, but they seem to get well fed, and a fair bit of freedom to move! Still.." She paused:
"You're a local, right?" The tone shifting to a hint of concern. The scowl to the others suggested it was so, yet she dared not assume! Feeling eyes on her for a hint, yet not quite responding to them, not quite catching them with enough certainty to validate a return-look, instead focusing on the next question "Do you.. Do they have a reptile house here, by any chance?" Not quite realizing how odd that specific question might sound until a moment or two later, she quickly added, "Ah, just curious! Because I have a bit of a research paper going involving suchandIkindawouldliketoknow.." Digging the social grave deeper, bit by bit.. Nagina simply decided to hush and wait for an answer. Being social was hard. Still oblivious to the other two outstanding girls.
Oh great, Sora's coming this way. Ayana's bow definitely moves again; flattening once more against her head. But she really doesn't want to be mean to this poor girl who clearly isn't a local. She glances at her, shoulders hunched, eyes frantic, then admits, "I. ... what?" she has no idea what Nagina was asking. Something about a, "Reptile house?" Ayana reaches up to scratch her head, then grimaces, "I dunno," she admits. "I don't come here much and I usually only see the fuzzy animals.
"I could go looking for it with you if you'd like," Ayana says, voice getting quieter by the moment until it's almost a conspiratorial whisper, "but um ... fair warning, there's a bully coming right now and she's going to probably be mean to me. Sorry." The last comes out with a distinctly canid whine overlaid atop it, and the kitsune takes a step backwards from the girl she's next to, in an attempt to keep Nagina from getting caught in the crossfire.
"Hi, Sora-san," Ayana says as Sora and Jiaying draw near. "And hi, Maki-san. Do you want a popsicle?" she holds up her little cooler hopefully, then shoves the rest of her own popsicle back in her mouth.
Jiaying Maki sighs softly as she fails once again to avoid trouble, she's starting to think they're drawn to her like magnets. Well, it can't go any worse than last time right? She gently nudges Sora and says, "She's probably wandering around the zoo like we are Sora- Be nice, there's people around and it's harder to explain awkward fights with witnesses" Which is an appeal to logic, twisted as it is. Better than just saying 'Play nice' which is what she really wants to suggest. At the comment at warning the new girl though, she stops and asks, "What did she actually do?" Deciding maybe she should get an answer.
Still, she's nearby and the question gets hesitation from Jia, mostly because she doesn't want to step on Sora's toes especially, but then there's a balancing act and it's really rather frustrating.
Then it clicks. It's hot, if it's poisoned she can haunt Ayana with help from Meifeng and if not, it's cold and it's sugary, two things she could do with right now. "Sure. Thank you." she replies to Ayana while placing herself between Sora and the other fox.
The new girl is given a cheerful smile, having caught the tail end of some of that, pointing at her subtly and saying, "Hey Sora, another exchange student. We should help her find the reptile house. Hi new girl, I'm not from here either!" as her accent kind of indicates.
Sora eyerolls as she overhears Ayana call her a bully. "I'm the bully? Last I checked you were the one who decided to attack me... multiple times now. I haven't ever punched or otherwise outside of self-defense." She seems a little annoyed, right away, "And this while I've been trying to help you pass your chemistry class."
Sora leans in to Jiaying a little, and looks towards the new girl. "Hey." She smiles, and adds, "Don't let Ayana get to you. The two of us have been fighting for a while now, don't read too much into it." Yeah Sora is downplaying her role in it all to a rather large degree.
Nagina Hasane knew it! That bow had something with it, though she might have to ask about it some other time. For now? Exploration! The surprise made her surprised, not expecting reptiles to be kept outside, after all. Maybe in this summer heat, but never when winter would come. Those auburn eyes had a hint of defeat in them for but a moment, only to strengthen their resolve. She /will/ find it. The fact that a local would attempt to help, was reassuring! Yet, why was she whispering?
She perked up as if caught off guard. A bully? She did not want to get involved with it, pondering on what to do as she straightens herself. "Huh? Aaah..." Not even certain what she could say! All she could now is observe, though she was involved by proxy of talking to the bowed one. Time will tell how it would go... Names? Ack, she had forgotten etiquette! Yet decided to wait until she got her turn.
There was definitely some tension to say the least, now with the mindset of someone being a potential bully and witnessing the positioning being rather.. Tactical. The cheery smile seemed genuine enough, right? Earning a gentle smile in return and- Wait, were they overheard that easily? Was the pale one that oblivious to her surroundings? A side effect from having one's surroundings mostly be books and a screen, one supposes. Either way, a little wave of her hand shortly in front of her in greeting, not quite saying hi for now. That accent.. Surely someone coming from the outside can't establish a position as bully that easily?
A little, mental eep escaped her as the whispers seemed to have been heard! Part of the reason she did not partake, but if Sora truly was a bully, one would imagine that would set the bully out to do orse things! And yet.. She was being told multiple sides of the story, at least. She took a little step back, lightly tempted to accept the flight instinct, before being spotted! Or.. Receiving confirmation she was being spotted.. Yet the smile and explanation of the duality of the situation was oddly reassuring, taking a little breath in relief. Quickly, she gave a deep bow to the three of them, saying "Greetings! My name is Hasane Nagina, Nice To Meet You! ... ... ... Please, call me Nagina. I, ahh... I only arrived here yesterday, I will be attending Seishou when summer break ends. . . Just exploring, for now! I, uhm.. Hope I am not bothering anything? "
Holding the rest of her popsicle in her mouth, Ayana frees her hands up to open the cooler and offer it towards Jiaying. Inside, there's plenty of ice, and half a dozen brightly coloured fruity popsicles all still in their wrappers. That the orange-haired girl doesn't deny being the first to throw punches may put her story in jeopardy. Or maybe she just doesn't like talking with her mouth full of lime popsicle? Whatever the case, she doesn't contradict Sora's claim, and neither does she introduce herself. Luckily, Sora's taken care of that for her.
Jiaying Maki just pinches the bridge of her nose and leans back against Sora, "Come on, get a popsicle. We can both haunt her if there's something wrong." She's trying to be a touch more proactive than last time. There's a brief moment there, then she jerks forward and says quickly, "Nice to meet you Nagina, I'm Jiaying." She offers a quick bow of her head, then bumps Sora and continues, "And this is my girlfriend Sora."
She then deftly takes one of the cherry flavored ones, avoiding the grape flavored one out of habit. There's a moment's curiousity and she asks Ayana, "Are you allergic to chocolate too?" Just kind of wondering, "That is, I think I'm allergic to it. I've been too afraid to ever test it." Carefully unwrapping the popsicle, she offers a lick to Sora first, clearly trying to both calm things down before it turns out like last time and you know, not freak out the new girl.
"If Ayana will let me have one, sure." Sora waits for confirmation between reaching out to grab one, and instead she bows to Nagina. "It's nice to meet you, Hasane-san. I am Sora Hisakata, and that's my cousin Ikiko's girlfriend, Ayana Tasogare. She's really good at getting people to think she's harmless and would be a good friend, while she's neither."
Then, a pause, "Wait, you're allergic to Chocolate, Jia-chan?" It sounds like this foils a plan Sora may have had, based on the disappointment in her voice.
Nagina Hasane took all accounts into, well.. Account. Whatever Sora said did not seem to be so gruesomely untrue that Ayana /had/ to interject. Based by what was said before, she could also piece together who was named what. She leaned in to peek into the cooler out of curiosity, though did not quite reach into the cold, instead she listened.. That seemed like a jab.. But at least Jiaying returned the etiquette! That was comforting, for one. Wait, girlfriend? She sounded a touch.. Surprised at that prospect, let alone at how casually it was stated, but decided not to really pry. After all, surely she meant a female friend, simply giving a little bow of the head towards Sora in greeting.
Just in case the popsicles were offered to her as well anyway, she simply waved it off. Then Sora's comment there had done did it. She shook her head a touch to herself and said "That.. Is no way to talk about someone! I mean.. I do not know what Exactly happened, buuut.. Still.." She trailed off a little, then quickly shook her head to herself "I was just wondering if they had a reptile house around here! Was hoping for a change to do some research on a paper.. I hope this contact won't bring ruination to all that is social?"
Ayana's ears--indeed, that's what the bow is, and not a bow at all--drop to either side as Sora continues to make her life more miserable. She offers a popsicle to Nagina as well, and once all three have selected or declined, she closes the cooler, then takes the now-empty popsicle stick out of her own mouth.
"That isn't true," Ayana whines at Sora unhappily, "I don't tell people I'm harmless. I just am not a liar, and I'm not a meanie, and I try to be a good friend." Boy does she wish Ikiko was here, right now.
Huffing a little in indignation, she looks back to Jiaying, then shrugs, "Iki-chan won't let me have any, so I dunno if I'm alergic. I don't think I want to try, though. Meat is better than chocolate anyways, and I get plenty of that."
Then she looks towards Nagina and tilts her head, "Research paper in the summer?" she asks. "Your teachers are mean." Nevermind that technically she has a research assignment due when the summer break is over, as well. She just doesn't want to admit it to herself, yet. "You talk kinda funny. 'Ruination to all that is social'?" she asks, tilting her head.
"Anyways, wait a minute," she looks back towards Jiaying, and her ears suddenly perk up alert atop her head: big orange foxy ears, burnt with little flecks of black fur here and there. "Girlfriend?! I thought Sora-chan liked smelly boys like that Kukai-baka."
Jiaying Maki gently nudges Sora as she tastes her own popsicle and says, "I know my mother was, I haven't really had the heart to try it. Grapes too you know?" Though to be fair, she's had a few foods that she probably would have been allergic to, but that was on accident! There's a curious look at Ayana, then she continues, "You should probably look up what-" huh, fox ears. She points to them and says, "You're as bad as I am." and she's not really that good at hiding it guessing by a comment like that.
There's a beat then she adds, "Yes." She turns to face Sora and after a brief moment of making sure she's not going to stick her popsicle to Sora's shirt or something, gives her a kiss. Okay, she may be messing with the other fox just a touch, but it's not in the same way as Sora!
That little show aside, she then quickly stands up straight, whines herself as that made something hurt, then says quickly, "Right, the reptile house. I uh- it'll be in a big house. We can look for it."
Eagerly returns the kiss, then shoots Ayana a glare. "Why can't I be into boys and girls, huh?" She asks, folding her arms. Clearly expecting Ayana to shut up about it after that, and she gets herself a strawberry flavoured popsickle, then puts it into her mouth. "Right, the sneaky scalies." She mutters to herself, "Yeah they should be over there somewhere." She smiles at Nagina, "Come on, tell us some more about yourself?" Comments regarding how to talk about others entirely ignored.
Nagina Hasane could not help but find herself looking at that bow again. She only recently found out there was.. More.. To this world, but she was not about to just go on a limb and keep guessing! Though she did make a mental note, at least. The meat comment got her to grow.. Ever so slightly conerned with that prior note, yet figured that some present showed enough ferocity in one manner or another as is. Her head tilted at the comment on her teachers.. True, she did not exactly have a paper as much as being curious.. But she did have constant homework and extra assignments, even at her age of 13 she had to perform academically! As for her speech.. She might have read one too many books rather than spoken to one too many people.
She was not quite certain how to respond to being told she spoke weird, but instead spoke "Ah, I... It is not That strange, is it?-" Then witnessing the topic change to the one she was set on leaving behind, yet did not quite get a chance to do such a thing. Welp... She got her answer at least.. Back to simply intending on not prying. She just stood there awkwardly for a little, just to catch the whine, asking with genuine concern for an expression towards Jiaying "Is everything ok? Are you hurt? And.. That would be much appreciated, I mean.. I do not know if they have aquariums instead or what paths to take or how big this place is or..." Then catching her breath.. Easing up a touch.. And giving a honest "Thank you." Followed by, of course..: "Reptiles aren't that sneaky!" Well, they could be.. But she was all too eager to leap into their defense when catching the muttering.
The suggestion of the direction got her to turn on her heels, about to walk, yet pausing for a moment. Checking to see if the others would join her. Should they not, she would still take a moment to ask with a little 'Huh?' As if not having expected people to take interest in her. "Who, me? I transferred here from the Iga prefecture.. Got told I needed to meet new people and that if I went to a school in Tokyo, I have a better shot at getting into Tokyo University. How about you, Sora-san? How did you get to where you are today?" Even her questioning sounded like an application form, almost...
"You ... can," Ayana says to Sora. "I just didn't think you did, is all," she mumbles, self-consciously. Reaching up at Jiaying's encouragement, Ayana smoothes her hair over, and those foxlike ears return to their bow-like illusion. "I'm not bad at it, I just get upset," she explains. "Especially when Sora is around," as if Sora isn't around right now. "And then it becomes hard to concentrate on it."
Translation: she's bad at it.
Ayana glances to Nagina, then says, "I guess if Sora and Jiaying are going to help you find the reptile house you don't need me. Good luck," she encourages the other girl, "and um. Welcome to Tokyo, I guess." Pulling her cooler open, Ayana grabs out another popsicle--this one grape--and tears it out of the package to start sucking on it.
Jiaying Maki glances around for a moment and tries to reach out with her own illusions and change the ribbon to a green one while Ayana's grabbing a popsicle. She'll stand by her believe that green foxes are better! In a joking matter that is. They may totally look like ears again if she's successful. At least for the time being. She nudges Sora at the comment and says, "Easy now- that was an honest question Sora." She then sniffs at the strawberry popsicle and says, "I didn't see that flavor in there, aww."
The Iki-chan comment gets a huff from Jia and she murmurs, "I still don't have a silly one for Sora- so unfair." Nagina's introduction is given a curious look. There's a few moments of thought, then she looks to Ayana and Sora and asks, "Do I talk that stiffly as well? I never thought about it." She's far less formal, for two reasons, but she probably is rather stiff compared to most. She rubs the back of her head and laughs slightly and adds, "Relax Nagina, she got here by walking." Literal answer. Hah. Ayana is given a light shrug and she says, "Thank you again" holding up the popsicle.
"I was just joking, I'm sure reptiles are cool critters. I just don't know much about them." Sora smiles at Nagina, and starts to walk towards the big building that allegedly holds the reptiles, "And everyone talks in their own way, don't worry about it~"
She quickle smooches Jiaying's cheek at the nicknames thing, but leaves jer response at that. "Maybe Jiji-chan can help you out with them?" Sora suggests in what seems like an unusual degree of being kind and pleasant towards Ayana. Maybe her girlfriend is being a good influence?
Nagina Hasane could not help but silently shake her head and sigh to herself as the.. Unfriendliness.. Ensues. Noticing how flat the two, Jia and Ayana, seemed to fall on their faces in terms of hiding things. All to be noted for later. She noted herself get waved off so to speak, she smiled to Ayana in a friendly fashion, nodding and saying "Thank you, I hope we can all get along!" Assuming the other two were helping her out, and not wanting to make Ayana feel unwanted.
Now this was just getting silly with how un-subtle things were! Having thought such abilities were supposed to kept as secret as possible. At least it might mean she might have people to talk with about the matters. Was she just called stiff? She could only softly pout to that, not exactly having much of a retort. Oh woes! Her question being made fun of, at that! Though knowing better than to really take the jesting seriously.
What was that? Interesting in her favored topic being shown, even remotely? Careful, for that could get Nagina actually actively excited! Nonetheless they started walking, curiously looking at the two.. True.. It was kinda cute to see, finding it hard to keep finding it odd "Well, funny you would say that.. Though, uhm.. Question.. And I am sorry if I sound too strange, but..." She then took a deep breath. Planned the words out, aaaand, "Are you.. Two? Are you.. Well.. 'Different'? I mean, there seem to be some strange things going on.." Yet, that said, she seemed oddly non-surprised by the existance of strange things. "Magical, I suppose..?" Her tone turning down, into a bit more of a hushed voice as if to avoid sounding weird to bistanders.
Ayana watches the interplay between Jiaying and Sora with growing unease. But she doesn't say anything about it beyond what she's already said. Instead, she just shrugs to Jiaying's thanks, then leans back agains the rail of the red panda exhibit again. "Take care," Ayana calls, as the girls all drift off towards the reptile house. No way is she going to join them. Not when things are already so tense. This means Jiaying gets to field the question about being 'different'.
Ayana, for her part, just sticks the purple popsicle in her mouth and turns back towards the cage, completely oblivious to the color her bow has turned. Green and orange do not go together. "Well," Ayana mumbles around her popsicle, "that could have been worse. Maybe Iki-chan will reward me for giving her a popsicle."
Jiaying Maki isn't really that good at maintaining illusions from any respectable distance. There might be a faint pop as her illusion drops. Jia also looks a bit fuzzy around the edges when it happens. There's also a strange hint of laughter that seems to come from Jia's shadow and a pair of eyes that blink out. Totally not actively letting ghosts out under her control after the heist the other day. Jia doesn't think they're as tense as the others do, but she is a touch on the dense side so that's to be expected anymore.
Still, the recommendation that she help out with illusions gets a surprised look from Jia who says softly, "Mine are not very good either- Might do well to practice with others, but..." She looks over to Ayana who is clearly trying to duck out. It's clear enough she's getting the hint. There's a scowl and she adds quickly, "It already dropped. Gah!" and tries to make a quick gesture to turn it green again. Subtlety went out the window for a moment because she was actually enjoying herself.
Well she was, the way Nagina was asking her question, she's not sure what question to expect. There's actually a sigh of relief at the 'magic' question rather than any number of things she was expecting. She glances around cheerfully and says, "I am, Sora sort of is and Ayana there." She gestures over and murmurs, "You should rub her ears, it's good luck." and she thinks that the other fox could use an ear petting. She's also back to actually enjoying herself. She considers this as close to a success as she's going to get. They didn't yell or fight and only some terse words? And there was even a suggestion that wasn't sarcastic maybe? Good enough for now!
Sora shrugs as Ayana doesn't want to go along with them, she seems to be entirely fine with leaving the girl alone while they go off as a group. "I'm not really magical in the way some people are." Sora objects to Jiaying claiming she's sorta magical, "I just can see things and know a few basic charms to help deal with curses."
As Jiaying's shadow laughs and those eyes blink out, Sora's shadow reaches out to ruffle Jiaying's shadow's hair. With how close the two girls already are, it's very hard to spot, and very easy to mistake for a trick of the eye.
Nagina Hasane did not so much notice the hints of sounds as much as got a bit of a gut feeling something was.. Off. Still, she held her eyes to her front, occasionally to the other two girls guiding her, giving a gentle smile all the while for though she might be expressionless the majority of her time reading... When (making an attempt at) being social, things simply lightened up. Not to mention, to someone like Nagina herself... Jia would simply seem silly with those odd gestures.
Well. That was easy enough to get an answer on the topic out of them. She should have expected such a response though, based on how lax they seemed to be, yet she was somewhat caught off guard noentheless. giving a little nod to the two, she added as they reached the house' door "I see.. I have just been.." Taking a moment, pondering as to just how to put it before finishing "Experiencing things. Reassuring to know someone nearby is somewhat good at dealing with curses, though!" Giving a somewhat relieved expression, then opening the doors with wide eyes of hope. There it was, that tropical climate, but indoors! Those glasses showing all types of critters, yet she seemed almost laser guided, bypassing the majority of them with mere glances, energetic steps seeking out the snake section!