[Jaykobell]

Thankfully for Drawser, Kaamil was willing to bear with her some more. She reached the door and opened it before turning back to him. "W-with everything that's happened, I completely forgot..." She lead Kaamil out of her room before heading down the hall, almost running. "H-huh?" She looked over her shoulder. "U-um, we have to go to the other dorms... The one I need to deliver this to isn't in these dorms..." Dorms went by rank, after all. So basically, there were even more dorms out there.

Drawser quickly lead Kaamil back to the lobby, going through one hall and turning to the next with ease; she was clearly used to this Academy, despite how big it was. She lead him back up the stairs on the other side, the ones that lead to the classrooms. She took the door they'd taken earlier and walked through the window corridor, this time taking a different turn than the one earlier. This lead the two of them to large doors, which lead outside. "The dorms are a completely separate building of their own," Drawser quickly explained, seemingly too busy getting to her destination to really focus on any details Kaamil might be curious about.

The doors lead outside, but a few steps ahead was another set of doors, which lead into another building. Inside, this building looked a lot like the other dorms; but there were only a few doors per each wall, so one could assume the rooms were bigger. Drawser quickly headed down the first hall, eventually stopping dead in her tracks, presumably in front of the room where whoever she needed to meet lived. When one stood close to the door, one could hear noises coming out of it, including screeching and some exasperated screaming. It didn't seem to phase Drawser, however, and without thinking twice about it, she opened the door.

She was about to say something when a flash of green flew by.



The creature stopped right outside the door, shoulders and hackles raised, and let out a small shriek. While rather small, the creature was obviously a dragon. Bandages were wrapped around its wings, and its body was covered with a few bruises. It seemed to be observing its surroundings, not running away... quite yet.

And from inside the room came a voice, rather alarmed. "Catch it! Catch it!"

[Kodai]

Since Drawser seemed so flustered at the moment, Kaamil said nothing and simply hurried after her as she ran. The pace at which they went made sure that he didn't get the chance to focus on anything, and so he didn't notice much of anything until they stopped before the door. He was about to look around the new dorm when Drawser opened the door to the room and a small dragon-like creature scurried out, followed by shouting. Blinking at the critter, Kaamil stooped down so that he was closer to its level and held out the back of his hand to it. "...It's all right.....I won't hurt you..." Perhaps Kami would be better for calming this creature, thought Kaamil, but he could still try.

[Jaykobell]

And Drawser was too flustered to even react to the sudden appearance of the dragon to do anything. Still clutching the strap of her bag, she just stared, like a complete rookie, as Kaamil dealt with the situation. It didn't even come to her, just how ridiculous and inexperienced she looked right now. Stunned, was one way to put her current reaction.

Right as Kaamil bent down, the dragon turned its head to glare at him, still on the defensive. It seemed to be distracted enough for someone to grab it as Kaamil stretched his hand toward it. Its mouth remained open, ready to snap at anything that would approach it from too close, but it stayed there, glaring at Kaamil's hand, and occasionally looking up at Kaamil, as well. It hissed threateningly when Kaamil spoke to it, however, and it fidgeted dangerously, seemingly getting ready to assault this new stranger. But right as it was about to snap its powerful jaws over Kaamil's hand, it was lifted from the ground quickly.



A young man in his mid-twenties now stood by the door, the dragon baby in his hands. He kept the creature as far away as his arms could allow, and still the dragon managed to hurt him, by biting his hands and fidgeting madly, like a baby throwing a temper tantrum. It started screeching again, its wings flapping slightly, but usually folding back rather quickly; it seemed to be an instinctive response to danger, but the pain from its injuries probably kept it from fighting back too much.

The man sighed, before turning his grey eyes to Drawser, looking far from amused, and quite displeased. "Drawser, what the hell?" His harsh voice seemed to be enough to make Drawser snap out of her daydream. "I asked you to get that milk for the baby, and then you don't show up?" Seemingly, the two of them knew each other; but there was more to it than just 'friends'. "I told you babies get temperamental if they aren't fed. I asked you to get milk, for Bane's sake. Am I supposed to send you back with the Miden rookies?"

Upon getting scolded, Drawser clutched the strap even tighter, looking down, and seemingly unable to look into that man's eyes. "I-I'm sorry," she replied for a hesitant excuse, finally glancing up a little, timidly. "I-I got the milk, I-I just...." She looked back down, feeling miserable and unaccomplished. All she could do was remain quiet and fiddle with her strap.

He sighed irritably, and then winced from the dragon biting his hand. "Can you at least heat it? She's been eating my hands for hours," he complained, moving aside from the door so Drawser could step in. Without any voiced answer, Drawser nodded and rushed inside the room... leaving Kaamil with this stranger and his temperamental critter.

Now alone with him, Kaamil would probably notice the man's features more. He wore a uniform similar to Drawser's; it bore the same colors, although a slightly different design. His hands were bleeding at some spots, and his sleeves were ripped, and the chest had suffered the same fate to a certain degree. Unlike Drawser, he wore no hat, leaving his semi-long black hair exposed. A short ponytail was sticking out on the right side of his head, and beyond that, his hair was adorned with some gray hair. If Kaamil remembered, this seemed to be the same man that was in the pictures posted on Drawser's cork board.

After a short pause, he turned to Kaamil suddenly, his harsh and uncaring gray eyes staring at him. He raised an eyebrow questioningly, and made a face. "You're supposed to be who?"

[Kodai]

As the new person continued speaking, Kaamil's expression started to sour. Sure, he could understand this man being irritated, what with being chewed up by a baby dragon while waiting for its food to arrive, but that didn't mean he needed to use that tone of voice with Drawser. Standing back up, Kaamil returned the man's gaze coolly and replied in his soft voice, "...I am Kaamil.....I am the prospective student that Drawser has been leading about for Open House.....She has been quite busy for the past few hours, and I apologize if this has inconvenienced you..." He glanced over at the dragon again and added, "...What exactly happened to that hatchling...? ...She has a few bruises on her body, and it's obvious her wings are injured... ...Also, holding her like that is not going to calm her down..."

[Jaykobell]

Albert didn't quite seem to care about Kaamil turning sour with him, nor about how he returned a cold stare. He'd gotten those looks enough that he did not care about them, nor did he care about why people stared at him in that way. When you refuse to trust anyone, you become pretty uncaring. Even then, Kaamil's expression didn't even match his tone of voice. "The Open House?" He sighed and shook his head. "If she is guiding you around, then she's not doing it correctly," he started, seemingly going off on another tangent. "I don't care if she wants to play guide for the Open House. So long as she completes her other tasks before doing that." Perhaps one could understand, from reading between the lines, that Albert had asked Drawser to bring this food before going to the Open House, which Drawser hadn't done. Beyond that, he did look like an easy-to-irritate man.

As their conversation progressed, there was eventually a strong smell in the air, that of hot milk. Unlike regular milk, however, this one smelled extremely strong and sweet, which was a bit displeasing to the nose. To anyone's but the dragon's, it seemed, since she raised her head and stopped fidgeting once she got a whiff of that smell. Her screeching turned into whistling, or a sound similar to that; no matter what it was, it sounded content. Albert sighed with relief as the hatchling calmed down, and he brought her closer to his chest. He still didn't hold her as most people would hold a kitten or a pup; but as soon as the dragon was close to his chest, she climbed up and onto his shoulders, with her forepaws holding onto Albert's head. She continued to chirp quietly as she stared further into the room, her tail waging like a pup's.

But that wasn't to say he'd ignored Kaamil. Although he wished he could. "Assaulted somewhere, by something," he replied vaguely with a light shrug, so as to not trouble the baby on his shoulders. "We found her injured, we brought her back here. Drawser's room is too small, so I'm keeping her." A slight change of tone, he seemed relieved that the hatchling had stopped chewing him. He also gave a face to Kaamil when he commented that holding her by sides, like Albert had been doing, wouldn't calm her down. "Feeding her is the only thing that'd calm her down. Holding them is even considered disrespectful. And if I didn't hold her like that and let her chew the furniture, she can run away if anyone opens the door without knocking first." Precisely how Drawser has done it, and one could assume that was the only reason why Albert was even bringing it up. And then he sighed. "Can you just get in? I don't need the whole building to learn I've got this hatchling here."

[Kodai]

Kaamil said nothing. He was feeling slightly irritated at this young man, but he had no wish to start a confrontation and so silently stepped into the dorm room. The strong scent of the milk was making him feel a bit nauseous, but it wasn't too bad (yet). Hopefully the hatchling would have her meal and the scent would dissipate soon after. Thinking of this, Kaamil wondered just where they had found this baby dragon. Perhaps on an expedition? Maybe the dragon had been injured by a Spider... but then, Spiders were incredibly dangerous. It was highly unlikely that a Spider would have left her alive... unless Drawser and this young man had subdued it just in time? Standing off in the corner, Kaamil shook his head at himself. It wouldn't give him any answers to just guess about it.
"...Would you be willing to divulge the story of how you found her...? ...Or is that a secret...?"

[Jaykobell]

Right after Kaamil had stepped inside the room, Albert closed the door.

This dorm was strikingly different from Drawser's room. It was much bigger, for one thing; the door lead to a living room, with long couches and a fancy table in the middle. A carpet even adorned the floor under the table. A television was almost hidden away in a corner of the room, but it wasn't too dusty, so one could assume Albert used it now and then. The living room itself was in the shape of a rectangle, and to the right was an opening, which lead to a small kitchen. Despite looking smaller than a regular kitchen, it seemed to be well-equipped nonetheless. Right next to the kitchen, on the same wall as the entrance, was another door, and a third door stood right in front of it, on the opposite wall. One could assume one lead to the bedroom, and the other to the bathroom. This room, in itself, looked very much like a small apartment.

With the door closed and the dragon subdued by the smell of the milk, Albert walked over to a couch and sat down on it, sighing. He didn't really seem interested in keeping Kaamil company while Drawser was in the kitchen heating up that milk. Not only that, it seemed like he didn't even want to acknowledge Kaamil's presence, even. He seemed extremely distant and uncaring, from his behavior.

Fortunately for Kaamil, Drawser came back in the living room shortly after, holding a typical baby bottle in her hands. She was also wearing oven mittens; it seemed like that bottle was hotter than it looked. "I-it's hot," she announced as she showed the bottle to Albert, the dragon on his shoulders becoming even more excited and impatient. "... Really hot," Drawser added as she lowered the bottle.

The scene that followed looked slightly unusual. Albert asked Drawser to put the bottle on the ground, and to leave it there. Drawser questioned him, but he only replied by repeating his command. As Drawser set the bottle on the ground, a little away from the carpet — so it wouldn't dirty it — Albert picked up the ecstatic dragon from his shoulders and set her down. Immediately, the dragon dashed for the bottle. She messed with it for a while, tossing it around, nibbling it, until eventually she found out that she had to suckle to get the milk out. Once she figured it out, the dragon settled down and held the bottle down with a paw, suckling hungrily, and happily, from it.

Drawser watched curiously as the dragon struggled to find out how to drink the milk from the bottle. "Why let her figure it out?" she asked, turning her head to Albert, who was just calmly watching the dragon. After asking her question, Drawser sat down on the couch, right next to Albert; which seemed to surprise him for a moment, but he didn't say anything; perhaps to Kaamil's surprise. "She's still a baby," Albert started, laying against the back of the couch. "If we feed her, she'll get the idea that's how it goes. It'll be hard for her parents to teach her how to get her own food if we use her to hand-feeding." Despite his incredibly harsh and uncaring character, he still seemed to know a good bit.

And then came Kaamil's question, after all of this. Albert looked at him when he asked the question, but he didn't say anything particularly harsh. "Drawser found her while we were exploring. Who knows what kind of thing assaulted this hatchling," he answered, shrugging. "I'm planning to keep her until her injuries close. Then I have to travel to Dragon Hive so I can give her back to her parents." He paused shortly after explaining this, and then he casually took Drawser's cap off her head, throwing it away on the other couch. "I thought I'd told you to stop the whole dress-up thing." Whether the comment was to scold or was to meant well, you couldn't tell. But the gesture had been done casually, and his expression seemed neutral.

Drawser already knew about the hatchling, obviously; so she only reacted when Albert took off her cap. She gasped and then shuffled her hands over her head. "A-Albert! Wh-what if he didn't know?" He, of course, referring to Kaamil. And thinking about that, Drawser blinked and got up quickly. "Y-you can s-sit down, K-Kaamil!" she offered quickly, seemingly embarrassed that she'd completely forgotten about him for a while. Albert didn't react to Drawser's reaction, other than shaking his head and sighing.

[Kodai]

Kaamil simply stood there as Drawser brought the milk bottle into the room and Albert told her what to do with it. It was a smart idea of Albert to let the hatchling figure out how to get the milk herself -- inwardly Kaamil nodded in agreement with his reasoning. Then Albert answered his questions about the dragon and Drawser invited him to sit down. He gave a nod and walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Drawser so that he wasn't by Albert. Kaamil's irritation with Albert had faded some, but he didn't want to escalate any bad feelings between himself and the other boy by invading his personal space.
"...You said it was disrespectful to hold a dragon..." Kaamil began, his curiosity getting the better of him. "...Why is that...? ...What sort of role do dragons play in your society...?"

[Jaykobell]

It was striking how disorganized and absent-minded Drawser was with the whole Open House thing. She probably hadn't guided Kaamil around the whole Academy, which is really the purpose of the Open House... but Albert said nothing, just observing the two, while sometimes taking a look at the hatchling, which was just playing around with the bottle now.

The couch was big enough for the three of them to sit down. And unbeknownst to Kaamil, pretty much everything got on Albert's nerves, be it from a stranger or from someone he knew. Sitting on his couch, though, wasn't enough to get on his nerves; thankfully. But the question about the dragons was enough to make Albert frown slightly. He didn't look down when Drawser looked up at him, his eyes focused on Kaamil. "They're sacred," he finally answered, though not very heartily. "No one knows where they live, almost. They're extremely powerful creatures. If the wrong person learned I have this baby in my room, they would probably try to get her so they could obtain her powers." He was thankful Drawser had been the one to find the hatchling with him. Had it been other people, they would've been much more difficult to deal with. As much as he complained about Drawser being disorganized, at least she could keep a secret and understand the situation.

"They're considered myths to most people," Drawser chimed in while Albert was busy daydreaming about his own concerns. "They know about their home, the Dragon Hive, but nobody knows exactly where it is."

While they were busy talking, the dragon hatchling had finished drinking her milk. Playing with the bottle was only entertaining for so long, and so she started roaming around to find something to play with, or just something to do. She was used to seeing Albert, and Drawser was no stranger to her; but there was a third person here, someone she didn't know. Curious and playful, the hatchling made her way towards Kaamil, stretching her neck and sniffling loudly at the stranger.

Noticing the dragon's behavior, Albert stepped in. "Don't touch her," he instructed, eyeing from Kaamil to the hatchling. "Touching them before they can confirm you're worthy can lead to aggressive behavior..."

[Kodai]

"......I see...." Kaamil replied softly, thinking back to the time he had spent as a child living in a place and among people that most people considered legendary. Even then, he had known the significance of where he was and who he was living with, and always did his best to skirt around or avoid talking about that part of his life. "...I will not touch her..." he tried to assure Albert as he offered his hand to the curious hatchling. "...She, however, may touch me if she sees fit... .....And you need not worry about this secret...I will tell no one...." He looked down at the dragon now and spoke to her. "....I am Kaamil.....I do not know much of this world, but since I have been told of your people, I will give you the respect you deserve.... ...I do not mean you harm..."

[Jaykobell]

For a moment, Albert thought Kaamil was going to just disregard his instructions; which would have made him furious, but fortunately, Kaamil only kept his hand there. Albert sighed, running a hand through his hair. Drawser did that too, seemingly going to disobey him, but not really doing it... But fortunately for Albert, Kaamil seemed to understand just how heavy the secret was. Perhaps not fully, but enough to promise he wouldn't tell. And then it occurred to Albert, quite suddenly: was Kaamil even going to enroll here? The thought made him realize that, if Kaamil wasn't going to enroll, that he'd just told an extremely important piece of information to a complete stranger. A crucial mistake, if Kaamil wasn't going to enroll.

The hatchling continued to sniff Kaamil, seemingly not minding his hand. So long as the hand didn't come near the hatchling, she wouldn't react aggressively to the gesture. Her little nose sniffed loudly, her head tilting from one side to the next. Her tail twitched a little in a satisfied manner, her wings moving slightly as the dragon judged Kaamil. When Kaamil spoke, she stopped sniffing abruptly, her eyes glancing at Kaamil in a flash. She slowly turned her head toward him, listening to him without moving a muscle. She continued to stare at Kaamil for a moment, before slowly stretching her neck towards his hand; to eventually butt her head into his palm. Her tail flicked, and the hatchling made noises reminiscent of a parrot.

As he watched this, Albert remained quiet; but he eventually intervened. "She's eaten; you two should go and finish the Open House. You can't keep him as a pet, Drawser."

Drawser, who had been busy watching the hatchling react to Kaamil's approach, suddenly straightened up and turned to Albert when she heard her name, embarrassed. "Wh-why?" she blinked, looking back at Kaamil and the hatchling, the dragon trying to climb over the boy now. "She's not trying to hurt him...."

"Are you even planning on enrolling?" Albert asked Kaamil directly, semi-ignoring Drawser's response. "If so, then you should go talk to the Director and get it all over with. You shouldn't even be stopping in students' rooms," he commented, the last part obviously directed more at Drawser than at Kaamil. "The less she's exposed to humans, the better. One of us is already too much." It seems Albert wasn't done being cranky and bossy; but he did have a point... sort of.

[Kodai]

Kaamil tried to listen to Albert as the hatchling tried to climb all over him. It certainly seemed that she had accepted him, and wanted to play now. Trying to distract her so that he could reply to Albert, Kaamil put one of his hands in her general direction so she could play with it.
"...I would like to speak with the Director about enrolling, yes....and speak to him about the possibility of my brother enrolling, as well....Though, I would have to find my brother first...." Unintentionally, he began to stroke the dragon under her chin. "....Truthfully...I have no idea where he might be, as I have no idea how I found this place....From what I have heard, I gather that I am in a different world than the one I was born in..." His eyes grew slightly distant. "....We could be dimensions apart..."

[Jaykobell]

Being a baby, the hatchling wasn't hard to distract. Almost climbing all the way into Kaamil's lap, she stretched her neck so she could sniff at his stray hand. She would rub her forehead and nose against it while chirping happily. She seemed satisfied with the hand, if at least for now.

To Albert's relief, Kaamil was planning on registering here. Well, at least he hadn't divulged the information about the dragons to just anyone. At least Kaamil would stay around and at the Academy. Even if he promised not to tell the secret... Well, Albert had his own doubts, be it with Kaamil or with any stranger.

At the mention of having a brother, Drawser seemingly took over the conversation, leaving Albert to exist for a little while. "You have a brother?" she asked, blinking at Kaamil with curiosity. She didn't have a sibling, so being an only child, the idea of a brother or sister had always intrigued her. Not to mention, a twin was even more special, considering they looked alike. "Oh.. You don't know where he is?" Drawser tilted her head and crossed her arms. "A different world?" While the idea seemed to be extraordinary to Drawser, the mention of a different dimension or plane didn't seem to bother Albert. And while this conversation happened, the hatchling was happily getting her chin stroked, which made her chirp some more.

When he realized Drawser had nothing helpful to add, Albert took the conversation over once more. "Well, some here can travel through planes..." he mused quietly, not exactly to anyone in particular, but loud enough so Drawser and Kaamil would hear. "If you want to join, I bet the Director could send a team to search for him..." Well, it was part of their job, wasn't it? That, among a whole bunch of other things. "Which is why you should go talk to him," he urged again, once more hinting for Drawser and Kaamil to leave his room and to go do their business.

While she hadn't looked very enthusiastic to leave just a few moments ago, Drawser was now excited. Picking up her hat and her bag, she stood beside Kaamil, excited. "If Albert's right, then we can definitely find your brother! Even if he's in a whole different world, we'll find him!" She puffed her chest slightly, holding the strap of her bag tightly. "B-because it's part of our job!"

The movement was enough to get the hatchling off Kaamil's lap and looking up at Drawser, surprised, from the ground. As for Albert, while he didn't say anything, he actually looked amused, although only slightly; and not for long. Drawser's enthusiasm... at least, there was that.

[Kodai]

Luckily for Kaamil, before he could be drawn into a period of quiet depression worrying about his brother, Albert and Drawser spoke up, saying that Kami could definitely be found. Even if they were just saying it to be optimistic, it made Kaamil feel better. Standing up now that the hatchling had moved off his lap, he nodded and smiled slightly at Drawser. "...Yes, that's right.....We will find him... ...And I will go speak to the Director now.....Thank you, Albert..." Perhaps surprisingly, all the irritation Kaamil had had towards Albert had gone, and he gave the other boy a short bow. "...Perhaps we shall meet again..." Turning to Drawser, Kaamil straightened and asked, "...Do you know where we might find the Director at this time...? ...If the Open House is still going on, then he may still be in the main hall..."

[Jaykobell]

It was unknown to Albert why Kaamil bothered to 'thank him.' He hadn't done, nor had he said, anything remotely helpful. Still, it seemed like the kid wanted to thank him, even going as far as bowing slightly; a method he hadn't seen a lot of people, save for Director. Albert stared at Kaamil for a moment before looking down at the hatchling, perhaps thinking about what to do with her now. "I don't think you'd want that," he told Kaamil, however, concerning them 'ever meeting again.' Albert wasn't known for being a nice person here; and so, he expected most people to be resentful and to ignore him entirely. It was a habit he'd developed, from being here this long.

Drawser didn't seem to mind Albert's depressive moment and ignored him entirely, instead turning to Kaamil, determination and excitement burning in her eyes. So strong Kaamil could probably feel them burning through his skin. "Let's get going!" She turned around to head for the door, only to turn back around when Kaamil asked his question. "Oh. Probably there," she confirmed with an excited nod. "If anything, he's in his office right now," she added, this time turning around and really going for the door.

Going all the way back to the lobby, walking through the exterior part and then back into the first building, and once more through the window-corridor, Drawser walked much faster than before, with determination and excitement emanating from her in waves. She would absent-mindedly look over her shoulder now and then to make sure Kaamil was still following; he'd followed well the whole time, so she assumed he wouldn't have trouble keeping up with her.

Back in the lobby, the place was almost empty, save for a few students that seemed to be getting ready and others that were relaxing with some friends. And right besides the doors, with that same strange fox by his side, was the Director, seemingly staring off into space there. Even as Drawser and Kaamil approached him, he didn't budge; and neither did the fox. It was only after Drawser let out a loud and high-pitched greeting that the Director blinked, looking over his shoulder with a dumbfounded expression on his face, only for it to be replaced by an amused, curious expression as he recognized Drawser and Kaamil there. "Ah, there you are," he greeted, turning around so he could face them properly. "Drawser, I take it you've been doing a good job?"

Straightening up, Drawser nodded. "I think so!" she replied with a doubtful tone; but the stern look on her face was enough for the Director to understand she'd done her best, and it was enough to amuse him and make him chuckle. "Kaamil said he wants to talk with you," Drawser added, holding onto the strap of her bag. "So, uh, I'll leave you two talk." Kaamil didn't know about it, but now he would. Apparently, the conversation was supposed to be private between the student and the Director; which was fair enough, when you think about it. Right before running off, Drawser turned to Kaamil and tightened her grip on the strap. "G-good luck Kaamil," she wished, looking timid and slightly taken aback. "I-I hope I'll see you again," she added quickly and shyly before literally dashing off without another word. And off she went, running up the stairs and almost tripping as she did so.

Drawser had been gone so quickly, even, that the Director was left standing there, blinking slowly as he watched the student run off. Neither Kaamil nor the Director had had time to add anything; Drawser had left as quickly as she'd appeared. But the Director didn't seem too troubled, chuckling and shaking his head. "What a handful..." he murmured to himself before turning to Kaamil, who was now his focus. "Hello again. I hope Drawser has been doing her task correctly?" He figured, if Drawser was too timid to admit she'd slipped (although he doubted it), he might as well ask Kaamil. "All that aside, what is it you'd like to talk about? We can head to my office, if you'd prefer more privacy."