2107/Activating Your Library Card

Activating Your Library Card
Date of Scene:	25 November 2024
Location:	Library, to Cafeteria Plaza
Synopsis:	Rashmi stops by Entrapta's room to show the new Etherian around the school, and in the process learns a *lot* about Entrapta. Like: she's incredibly curious, she can only eat tiny food, her life has been one of loneliness and neglect, and she is a library gremlin in the making. But the most *important* thing about Entrapta Rashmi learns is... Rashmi is now Entrapta's senpai.
Cast of Characters:	281, Rashmi Terios

---

Entrapta (281) has posed:
One day has passed.

The first day was very eventful for everyone. Finding Entrapta a room was easy, the school has those. Prying Setsuna's roomba from her arms was more difficult, but eventually the purple haired, purple-clad girl was put into a room. To rest. And that was the plan.

When someone friendly knocked on her bedroom door in the morning, to say HI! and be welcoming! the girl inside was found to be missing. Eventually, bed unslept-in, she was found. In the air ducts. Sleeping like a baby.

While this is not the weirdest student on campus, it is enough to make people respect the 'please knock first' sign on Entrapta's door. Rashmi, however, finds her awake and alert. And after what appears to be a drive-by snacking (she seems to have odd eating habits) they are ready for a TOUR!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
With the note from Setsuna that Entrapta -- now Enissa von Trapp -- has received the 'accelerated language courses,' Rashmi felt very, very good about knocking on the new student's door, especially since she'd been granted the day off to help with orientation.

"Hi!" she says, beaming. "How'd you sleep?"

It would be *rude* to mention that Entrapta's sleeping habits are becoming rumor-mill fodder, just yet.

"Are you settled in enough to be up to a tour? I figured we'd start with the library."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta springs to her feet! Whether or not she was upside-down is irrelevant and should not alter the situation in any way, but she does appear to be capable of answering the door and that's what counts.

"I would LOVE that!" she exclaims with all the enthusiasm of a person who desperately needs something to do. "These rooms aren't supposed to lock from the outside, are they? I only brought my basic lockpicks so it took me a half-hour to figure out how the lock worked and I don't think I was supposed to wander around much but there's only so much time a person can sit in a room with nothing to do so I measured everything."

Pause. "Did you know that the other rooms aren't locked? They should be, someone could take something from them." A glance inside Entrapta's own room suggests that there might be a few things in there that are borrowed, or lent, or ...

MOVING ON! "I've never seen your libraries! Can I take scrolls from them? I hope they have a lot!" She really really does. Wait, scrolls?

"I'd give my left pigtail for a proper access point to your computers, I could learn SO MUCH!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Aaaaand the first questions are about *basic room security* and how she doesn't seem to quite understand the concept. Oh, *boy.*

"...Well I mean," Rashmi says, stepping back from the doorway and gesturing for Entrapta to follow her, "You could actually get in a lot of trouble for going in other peoples' rooms without permission. Especially if they're locked. So try to remember not to? Also, you're gonna want your jacket, it's cold out this time of year," she says, lifting up her arm and plucking the sleeve of her school-issue winter jacket.

With the size of the Radiant Heart campus, 'going to the library' actually involves going down three flights of stairs to the dorm's lobby, down a cement-paved lane, and toward a large, almost cathedral-like building after some walking. "So another thing to remember... Taking apart stuff that catches your eye is *also* against the rules. Mostly because there's a *lot* of people here, and especially the computers in the library, everyone needs to be able to use. ...You also want to keep the laptop computer you're gonna get intact, but I know of at least two clubs that are all about computers and other equipment. When you're familiar with the school, I can introduce you to someone in one of them!"

Entrapta (281) has posed:
"Oh is that what those clothes were for? Someone dropped some off." Entrapta pauses, going back inside, and returns with a jacket that mostly fits her. "It isn't purple," she says, kind of an observation. Note she didn't really respond to the security issue.

And sticks her head in a doorway when they pass. And sticks her head in another doorway as they pass. And sticks her head in another doorway as they pass, til Rashmi has noted the trend. Curiosity, unstoppable curiosity.

"I don't think locks make sense. I just find those doors more interesting, because the door itself becomes an opportunity to learn!" She's...almost weirdly honest about things that really shouldn't be. "How are we supposed to make things better if we're not allowed to take them apart?"

And sticks her head in a doorway as they pass by it.

"What's a club? I already have a lap top. You're very helpful." It sounded like a compliment, but not quite a compliment? Kind of like someone mentioning that your hair is dark and you have something on your chin

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Well, I like to help people," Rashmi says with a smile, adressing the last question first. "And there *are* things you can take apart to learn how they work, it's just... when things are out for people to use, then if people can't use them because they're taken apart, then nobody's happy. But electronics on this world are pretty standardized! You can learn a lot about how they work by studying something pretty similar!"

While by now, some folks with lesser amounts of patience would already start to become frutrated... It's pretty obvious that the questions stem from genuine curiosity, and *Bow's* learning curve was pretty steep, given the differences between Earth and Etheria. So... Entrapta's questions and commentaries are treated at face value. Such as the locks.

"Most people feel safer when they can lock a room," she points out. "The lock is meant to keep people out, and if someone ignores that, it's like ignoring their right to feel safe. Which I know you're *not* doing, in practice, but it's still kinder to just let locked doors be locked doors, where you sleep. It's all just peoples' rooms anyway."

Which is about when she pauses, and mentally runs over all the questions, then nods. "Also. Clubs are after-school groups, where people who have similar interests meet and do things together. It's a great way to make friends, and if you're from this country -- Japan -- it also helps you get into higher education."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta (Enissa) goes silent for a moment. She's thinking, but she can't stay silent for long. So Rashmi would hear, "standardized electronics requires..." then mumbling. Then, "mass production tools, a higher level of normalized education..possibility of education reaching..."

She may possibly have missed a bit while in her little limbo, but she does look up when required. She blinks, taking a second to review the infomation her ears took in while she wasn't attending, then says, "Oh! Oh that's not a big deal, once you learn how one lock works other locks that are structurally similar aren't anything to learn from anyway. It's not worth losing time better used for other work!"

So, the best plan is to let her break ONE thing and then she won't want anything quite like it again? That could possibly....be weird as hell, but at least predictable. Proof that you can learn all the wrong points and still arrive at the proper conclusion. Logic is strange.

"How many people are in 'Japan' anyway?" She doesn't know air quotes, but that was totally air quotes.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"How many people...?" Rashmi looks off into the middle distance, telepathically querying her Device, linked to her phone and thus the Internet entire. "Well... when people counted last year, it was... about a hundred forty-five and a half million? That's the *whole* country, in Tokyo -- that's this city -- it's almost ten million. Japan's pretty dense, though, it's a lot of islands with mountains so we have to build *up* more than we build out."

She gestures to the towering steel-and-glass syscrapers in the distance. "A *lot* of Tokyo's like that, but not all of it."

The redhead pauses to consider for a moment, then decides to go ahead and take care of the really mind-blowing number. "On the *whole world,* there's about eight billion people. And always climbing."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Silence.

There's nothing coming from the chatterbox's chatter box for a moment, as Entrapta goes quiet and stops walking for a moment. Stops moving, stares at Rashmi from behind. She's staring, she's not moving. Her arms are around herself, and she's shaking, just a little bit.

"Oh," she manages to say, looking, for the first time since -travelling to another universe-, a little bit scared.

"That's a lot."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The silence is the first flag. When Entrapta leaves her peripheral vision, that's another. But when Rashmi turns, it's the look on Entrapta's face, and the shaking, that tell the rest of the story.

"It is," Rashmi says carefully, approaching the purple-haired girl. "But it's a big world. And you don't have to drop into the city right now, if you don't want. There's still a lot of people at the school, but... there's always places you can go if it gets to be too much. Like there," she says, pointing to the library doors not far away. "I *love* libraries. We don't have scrolls, we use books and computers, but it's always very quiet in a library. C'mon... Wanna find out what knowledge smells like?"

The promise of truly novel, abstract sensation... maybe *that* will be the temptation that unlocks this poor girl enough to move forward?

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta's eyes look around as if she's envisioning a billion people all around her. The fact that she can accurately envision a billion people is NOT HELPING. Still, there's a real person in her vision. Glasses. Entrapta puts a hand over her eyes, as if to shade them, then says, "I need to calculate something."

Then she blinks twice, an indicator that she's reviewing what she's heard but not processed. This is something that her friends will be able to identify going forward, once they know her. And she nods. Then she starts toward the Library Doors with a determined stride!

"I have got to have...."

Knowledge. As the library doors open before her, and she sees for the first time in her life what a BILLION PEOPLE can wrought.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi cannot help but grin. For someone as curious as Entrapta, the lure of a library as massive as Radiant Heart's *cannot* but be a joy, and she's still smiling as she moves up to stand next to Entrapta. "I *love* coming here," she says, in the next best thing to a whisper; the common volume level of the library attendee. "They even have a big fiction section, sometimes I come here to see if I can patch the holes in my collections before I find them shopping."

As the doors close behind them, Rashmi draws in a long breath through her nose. "Now there's two rules you *have* to follow if you want to be allowed to use the library. Talk quietly, and never take a book away from here without checking it out at that desk, there." And she points to the big checkout desk, a short stride away. "There are people whose entire job it is, to make sure they know where every book is and who has it."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
There's a bit of a two-for-one situation that occurs then. Entrapta YELLS AS LOUD AS SHE CAN in sheer overwhelmed rapture! At the same instant, her hindbrain reaches up and SLAPS HER HAND OVER HER OWN MOUTH!

Quiet, you imbecile! We won't be allowed to come back!
But..but..
Cost/loss ratio analysis, NOW!
..the costs of being banned from this are unacceptable.
Correct. Now take a breath, and calm down.

Hem.

"Entrapta is pleased to be here and has no further comment at this time." Then she blinks, and smiles. "That was close, literally no idea what I was about to do there."

Then she turns directly to Rashmi, and vibrates as she waits to be given access. "Show me how to do this. Please."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Far from drawing ire from anyone -- except perhaps maybe a brief, unamused look from the librarian at the front desk -- Rashmi's reaction to Entrapta's initial shout is something very close to laughter. "...No I absolutely understand," she says, as her new friend runs through the cost/benefit analysis of letting her volume match her excitement. "C'mon... I'll show you how to use the reference computers, and we can find your first book to check out."

Leading the Etherian to a row of terminals within the library proper, she blinks. "Oh... You got all your student paperwork, right? Do you have your school ID?" From a pocket on the inside of her school jacket, she extracts a card of plastic with a vaguely unflatting picture of herself on it, with the heart-in-gem icon of the Radiant Heart school. "Because you'll want to swipe it, like this..."

She slides the card, very specifically oriented, through the slot on the side of the terminal. "...and it'll log you into your account. Then..." She touches 'Search By Subject', and types 'Electronics' and hits enter.

...Apparently there are multiple dozens of books within the library on that subject alone! Who knew!

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta pauses, panicking slightly as she checks her pockets. "I don't know," she says, wanting to punctuate that with a !!! but keeping it down because really good reasons!

!!

Then she nods, breathing again as she finds her card. "I didn't know it was important, but one of my servants put it in my coat," she says. Hm. Servants? "Oh." She pauses, then looks at the screen. Then she looks at the back of the screen, at the cords, then at the screen again. The eyes she turns on Rashmi are full of stars. "It has near-perfect visualizing elements!" That last ! slipped out, but it wasn't enough for a ban probably I hope.

Then she bites her lip, looking at the actual screen and what came up on it. "Oh, no. Rashmi no. That's not..." She pauses, then frowns.

"Computer, give me books on mathematics. One for each level, showing all major forms used to create technology at this time."

The computer does, of course, none of those things given that it is not responsive to the spoken word. But Entrapta only frowns. "I can't understand the tech until I'm caught up on the math. Where do I find math?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Okay first off, it's not a voice-activated system, but the screen is a touchscreen," Rashmi notes. "Second... Actually that's a really good idea. You'll want to read up on all the basic math so you have a foundation for the geometry and calculus you're gonna be having while you're here, so... Take your card to that terminal," she says, pointing to the one right next to hers. "Make sure this little stripe is turned *this* way, and slide it through this slot. It's magnetic, so try to keep it away from any magnets you'll, um. Find. Or make. because it'll ruin the stripe and you have to get a new one. When you've swiped your card, touch 'Search By Subject' and then type 'Basic Math' on the keyboard."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta nods, keeping up because she has a vested interest in this. "I know! Knowledge is incomplete without a thorough grounding in its basics." She says this as if it's something she's said many times. But then she swipes her card, as instructed, and touches 'search by subject'.

And below, a list comes up of available subjects, and Entrapta goes white.

Archeology. Main articles:
Aerial archaeology.
Aviation archaeology.
Anthracology.
Archaeo-optics.
Archaeoacoustics.
Archaoastronomy.

The list goes off the screen, and she scrolls down.

History. Linguistics. Languages. Philosophy. Religion, the ars, culinary arts, performing arts, economics, , fiction, geography, interdisciplinary studies, politics, psychology, sociology, biology chemistry physics space travel computers logic mathematics statistics systems sciences agriculture business engineering law medicine military math policies and transportation and and and and and.

Entrapta turns away from the computer to Rashmi, says, "Ah." And faints. Right there, onto the floor.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Oh," Rashmi says a moment after Entrapta collapses, eyes wide.

Crouching down next to the girl, she reaches out, gently shaking Entrapta's shoulder. "Hey," she says softly. "Hey, it's okay. You still there, Enissa-chan?"

Clearly she's not, right this moment, but it might help to have sounds to respond to.

But while Rashmi looks very much bemused by this development, she doesn't look very *surprised.* Entrapta is, after all, a walking time-bomb of sensory overload, between her curiosity and the wild difference between Etheria and Earth.

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta blinks. She looks up, then says, "Who?" The name isn't really clicking yet. But she sits up, not -getting- up yet, and blinks. She has lovely purple eyes, even if her actual features aren't pretty at all. But sitting up doesn't mean recovered, even if the librarian is looking concerned.

She is. "Does she need the school nurse?"

At that, Entrapta starts to stand. But she pulls Rashmi close, and says, "I need more than one book." It is a firm statement, and she may have never been more firm about anything in her life.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Oh no, sensei," Rashmi says, waving a hand. "It's mostly culture shock. She's... *really* new. I've got her, it's okay."

She stands with Entrapta, unable to suppress a quiet squeak as she gets hauled in close. "That's what the library's for," she says after a moment. "You're allowed to read every book they have here. You can even check a few out, bring them back, and get more. Let's start with... hm. Four? Four sounds good to start."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta nods. Not smiling, but stronger. Not unafraid, but brave. "Will you choose me some? I have never been so overloaded before. Is that okay to ask?" She knows that once "once I've started I'll be okay, I get in a rhythm. And I need to learn to read again, since knowing the words isn't the same thing as actually doing the reading and I might be here a while I hope they bring food if you forget to eat because that's what my servants did to keep me alive but I'm really never leaving here again except to bathe because health is important and I'm starting to rise in volume please stop me!"

She pauses to take in oxygen.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Of course I'll help you," Rashmi says as the rising voice stops due to the needs of oxygen. "You just breathe for a bit. Breathe in slowly, breathe out slowly, and on every breath count by fours until you hit eighty."

As Entrapta is busy combining math and breath, Rashmi punches up a list of a few basic texts on math, chemistry, Japanese history, and civics. On the off chance that soft sciences retain better when read, rather than spoken.

"So just so you know... you're enrolled as a student at this school. Um... Bow-kun and Adora-chan called students 'scholaires'? That, basically you're that. And class time is actually extremely structured, once you settle in you'll have a whole routine that'll take up most of your day, and most of it will involve learning about things."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
4,8,12,16,20,24,28,
"Well," Entrapta von Trapp says, as she breathes. The counting doesn't take long.

32,36,40,44,48
"I hope,

She's doing better. Good strategy, there.
52,56,60,64,68
"They can keep up with me."

72,76.

Eighty.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I mean, to be perfectly honest," Rashmi says, as a small receipt-size list is printed out, bearing the titles of the books, and the numerical codes that correspond to their sections. "They probably won't, but it's really the tests that matter. A lot of our learning is lectures, homework, and self-study in preparation for tests. It's not the best, but, there's a *lot* for people to learn, more if they're going into university. Now, look here..."

Showing Entrapta the paper, she points to the title, then the code. "See that number? Now look up there..." She points to the signs at each of the shelves on the bottom floor, and those at the stairwells. "You'll see how to get to the sections the numbers correspond to..."

And Rashmi keeps up a running commentary as she takes Entrapts among the stacks, describing how the library is organized and how to find one's way. Information she assumes is critical enough to remember without reminders to remember.

After that, she walks the Etherian through the checkout process, and before too long -- questions inevitable, and answered with gentle patience -- Entrapta has *eight whole books,* one of which is a storybook!

"And now, you're probably hungry?"

Entrapta (281) has posed:
"Mmf!" The person behind the books says, being as clear as is reasonable when you're using your chin to hold books in place. "I'm always hungry," she says as she clears it, adjusting as necessary. "The optimal intake style is to eat when you require food, but in small enough doses to limit overconsumption."

Nerd.

She's trying to open a book NOW, while holding eight of them, which is likely an indication of how life for Entrapta here is going to go. "Just...too many things...at once," she says, referring to...what exactly? To be fair that's likely an apt description of her entire life, and this current day or so is no exception.

Realizing that she's trying something effectively impossible, Entrapta looks up to see where she is. "Where are we?" she asks, having not noticed being led out of the library.

Peering a bit, the purple people reader looks around at signs. "It is so weird reading this language suddenly, just ...mentioning." Beat. "I like weird."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yeah I can see that," Rashmi says, nodding to Entrapta's preferred food intake system. "But this school also has mealtimes structured, too... One in the morning, one at midday, and one in the evening. But this is a *really* good school, so there's *all kinds* of things available at any time. Also we have snacks, which are a lot less healthy but they're good to hold you over if you're hungry between meals."

When Entrapta asks where they're going, the redhead chuckles. "To where the food is," she answers. "At least the food the school provides. When you get settled in and get a bit more comfortable with your routine, I'll teach you about money because everything outside of this school, you have to use money to buy things. It's a little counterintuitive until you get used to it. But that's later!"

Leading the poor Etherian toward the cafeteria building, Rashmi pauses just before opening the door. "...Actually, serious question. Is there any kind of food that you can't eat? Allergies, stuff that doesn't sit well, anything like that?"

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Fumbling her books (Noo!) Entrapta adjusts again. This time seems slightly more stable, though she is mentally reviewing better ways to carry books in the future.

Dude, they offer bags in the library.
I didn't see them! There was a FEW DISTRACTIONS.
Ok fair.

"What?" she manages, looking around at all the things in the world, trying to see it all at once. She passes by a window and manages to not stop entirely, a marked improvement! "Don't they bring food to you, here? That's a weird way to do things. No, I'll eat anything."

Then she stops talking for half a moment, and adds, "As I say that I realize that if I were allergic to something in your world there's literally no way I would know at this stage of our proceedings. Do you have a way to handle that if I suddenly die from eating your version of Padaka?"

That was Etherian, and it only sort-of translates. It's some kind of small cake.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"That... really depends on what you make Padaka with," Rashmi says slowly. "But no, there's just too many people to bring all of them their own meals. Also a lot of people use lunchtime for socializing, sitting with their friends and talking while they're eating. But after we get our food, I'm gonna take you to where some people our age prefer to have their food, where it's quiet. C'mon! And if you want, I can carry your books for you while we get lunch?"

Rashmi is, of course, aware enough with Entrapta's burden to hold the door open for her.

"...And you probably don't use chopsticks, do you... Well that's fine, a *lot* of people come from places that don't have them."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
"I don't know how to cook but it's just chemistry," Entrapta says as she's ...well, finds herself talked into another room. Yes, talked. "Chopping sticks isn't chemistry," she adds. Then, "These are my books, I want to be close to them."

Okay, getting a little creepy there. "I normally eat with my hair, but it seems to be broken." Not better. "This place is a treasure trove of knowledge. I have got to open up a portal so I can bring first ones tech over." As she babbles her head is on a pivot, swivelling left and right, left and right.

Shoving a few books into Rashmi's arms (didn't she just say...? Nevermind.) Entrapta leans over one side, looking at the student store.

"I NEED THAT." She's looking at something, a box with pictures on it. It's...

It's a digital tape recorder. It has a picture of someone talking into it, and playing back their words. Is that not a technology she has yet?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Wuph!" Rashmi exclaims as the books are shoved into her arms. For a moment she just stands there, bobbling them, but once the stack is settled, they go into her ubiquitous, battered bookbag, then moves up to see what it was that had Entrapta so enthralled?

Besides everything?

"Oh! Okay so I guess I *do* get to teach you about yen now!"

Pointing at the sticker with the number 2.000 printed on it. "So, that costs two thousand yen, which is actually pretty inexpensive."

Rummaging in a side pocket in her bag, she removes two thousand-yen notes. "Each of these is worth *one* thousand yen, so..." Straightening, she addresses the poor worker manning the student store, and looking a bit bemused. "She'd like that voice recorder, please? It's okay, I'm paying for it."

In short order, the box is taken out of the display, scanned, and paid for, and Rashmi turns, holding the box out with a bright smile. "Here you go! Consider it a welcome gift!"

Entrapta (281) has posed:
"TECHNOLOGY" Entrapta says, growing three sizes larger and hunkering down right there on the floor to disassemble and hopefully understand the universe in a bottle. The world pauses about her, and she instantly becomes level two! Two and a half, if given enough rice.

No, that did not happen. But she -does- take the box and turn it over and over and over, still holding some of her precious books (she didn't give them all up, don't be ridiculous) until she finds an entry point.

Then she's finding table space to work on the item. It's open in moments, then it's OPEN in moments. She's cracked it open and is looking inside, peering at wires and ...

"Oh, thank you!" Bit belated, but I mean, that's her apparently. And you were warned, do not let her near things unless you want them taken apart. Quid ergo demonstrandum.

Looking up after, what was it, thirty seconds? She says, "Oh. Right. Food." Then she looks at the mess she's made on tabletop, then at the food. Torn between walking away from the new thing and what we're here for.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi should have expected this. Honestly. But now we are here, and there is the guts of a voice recorder strewn over the table. But *then* Entrapta worries about food, and is in an obvious conundrum. "Here, let's... Why don't we put the pieces in the box? Then when you get back to your room you can give them an even closer study?"

And she starts suiting deed to word, gathering up the bits for depositing back in the cardboard vessel that spawned them.

"So a lot of Japanese food is meant to be eaten in one or two bites. Chopsticks are what we use for that, but there's enough international students we have forks and spoons too. And as soon as we're done..."

By this point, with or without Entrapta's help, the box is full.

"Okay! What do you like to *taste* when you eat? Sweet? Salty? Something else?"

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta's -careful- help. She's very involved in putting things into the box, so she doesn't lose track of parts. "You have to make sure you know which parts came from where, there's a process to disassembly," she mutters as if being the teacher for once.

But, with the box sealed (nearly didn't fit, it never fits properly) she slips it into a pocket under her jacket, and looks at Rashmi.

Then she looks, a little blank. "I eat whatever I'm given," she says, as if that's how things work. "Rashmi, I'm going to say something that might be a bit weird."

Okay, my typist just left to bang their head on a wall.

"...but I'm a princess. I kind of get ignored, a lot. They just send food in and I eat it."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi leans in, when Entrapta says she's about to say something weird. And nods, when she says she's a princess. That was already kno--

...Oh.

And the matter-of-fact tone in that voice is so familiar, it's just how it is and it's something to be accepted long ago.

Rashmi, more than a lot of the students of this school, knows the feeling of 'getting ignored a lot.' And it *hurts* that Entrapta knows that feeling.

"Well," she says, placing a hand on Entrapta's shoulder. "As long as you're here, I can promise you that *I* won't ignore you. And I'll show you how to get in contact with me, so you *always* have someone to talk to."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Princess doesn't always mean freedom. In some cases, it means insulation. Being kept down? Maybe not that much, but definitely it seems in this case that Entrapta was a Princess in a Tower type. For all her power, she had remarkably little of what anyone would call a life.

The hand on her shoulder actually gets her attention, as she looks at it confusedly. She looks like she's trying to process, and not entirely getting there. But she does nod. You know, eventually.

Glancing around again, Entrapta said, "I was kind of glad I got taken. I haven't been out of my rooms in a decade. Do they have small food? I only eat small food." Then she's off, looking at sushi. "Oh this is nice!"

Fully recovered! Healing achieved! And if you believe that I have a room in Obsidian to sell you.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"We actually have *lots* of small food like that sushi," Rashmi says, coming up behind Entrapta. "I would avoid eating the green paste though... That's called wasabi, and you use a very little of it to make your bite feel hotter. But try some if you want! And there... that's kara-age, little bits of a kind of bird we batter and fry. And *that's* takoyaki, and also in Japan we always have a big bowl of rice with every meal," she says, gesturing to the half-full tub of rice. "It's one of the tiniest foods, eaten in big clumps."

And she mostly chatters along, identifying different foods, asking if she *wants* some, then ensuring it's on her plate. Trying very very hard not to think of ten years of crushing loneliness *without* parents. Nope nope nope.

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta makes choices, when asked. She needs to be prodded for a while, before eventually getting the hang of it. For someone so athletic about learning and knowledge, she certainly isn't about this situation. But eventually there's a pattern.

Her food must not touch other food.
Each food is its own separate thing.
It must be small enough that she can put it in her mouth, alone.

When queried, gently and with Rashmi's near-infinite patience, Entrapta pauses as if thinking. Then she says, "I'm afraid of choking. I can't help it." She closes her eyes, then sighs. "I can't shut off my head. Food can't touch, you're going to choke. Don't bother anyone."

Don't bother anyone. Take what you need, be quiet and don't scare them. you're creepy. You get what you need by stealing, because nobody is going to offer it to you. Holy crap.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi's heart breaks a little more, with each explanation. And while there might be those who *do* consider it weird... It's a real problem for Entrapta, and so Rashmi resolves *here and now* to make it as small a problem as possible. She can already see, in the coming days, Rashmi coming to Entrapta's defense, in the hallways. Possibly getting into fights.

Well whatever. She will explain herself if it happens, and those whose opinions actually matter will understand, and probably approve.

Rashmi now has a kohai.

And Entrapta's food requirements are not only taken seriously, they're followed immediately. And when Entrapta has what she thinks will be enough, Rashmi takes her to the classroom building, to where she'd said they can have a quiet lunch. And they go up every flight of stairs, until they arrive at the last one. A door that opens out on the rooftop.

"This is kind of traditional," she says. "You'll even see it in stories about school-age people, going up to the rooftop to be by yourself if you want. Sometimes I like to come up here to read, and in fact I met my *first friend* up here, when I was new to this school."

It's cold up this high, and not a little bit windy, but Rashmi knows of a nook near one of the HVAC units, where the wind can't reach.

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta follows quietly. Her senpai is teaching, and she has a lot to learn. Even if she does cause problems, she honestly doesn't mean to. So, that has to count for something. And for now, it does.

And, the rooftop. The quintissential location, every school should have one. Safety be damned. With food, and permission to be here, Entrapta looks around. And sees the world below.

"Rashmi? That's your name, right?" She remembers, I swear! "I'm sorry, but I can't look out at all of this. Would you be okay if I just, sat quietly and ate for a bit?"

There's so much to see, and she's already seen a lot. Even for her voracious mind.

Though, she does glance at the box. "and, maybe tinker a little bit?" she adds, hopefully. Something she can handle, in a day of a bit too much.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Of course," Rashmi says, giving Entrapta the closest part of the nook, and sitting herself down to block the distressing sightline. "And you remembered my name perfectly. I'm just going to read while we eat, and if you have any questions? Just ask, it won't bother me at all."

Mentally she's already composing a note to send to Setsuna, about Entrapta's very obvious requirements and quirks. Because they are *going* to cause friction among the students -- bullies gonna bully, even here -- and it will ease things greatly to have administrative backup. And with the two of them alone on the rooftop, Rashmi thinks nothing of tapping the cracked charm clasped to her bow, and somehow extracting an entire, slim, book.

And after Entrapta gets settled with food, tools, and parts, it turns out that Rashmi is deft enough with her chopsticks to eat with one hand, and secure and turn pages with the other.