Jace walked into the room and looked around. The room was semi-large and had a scattering of round tables throughout. It was filled with many different students, who all carried themselves and were dressed in a very casual attitude, much like Tryst. At the far end of the room, there was a window where a woman - wearing her uniform properly - seemed to be taking inventory.
"What is this place?" He asked, looking around at all the different people.
Tryst gestured around to the room of activity surrounding them. "Welcome to The Shop, this is where we Rogues tend to gather. In this place, we don't feel judged or destained by the teachers and Crisps here in this school. We're able to be ourselves and find comfort. There are actually places like this scattered throughout the school, but they were all inspired by this place. It used to just be a storeroom, but our people started gathering here, so Madam Sheev decided to make it an official place."
"What's so special about this place that everyone would gather here?" Jace asked.
Tryst winked. "I'll show you in a moment."
Just then one of the boys in the room noticed them standing in the doorway "'ey!" he shouted, and everyone turned to see what he was about. "'Oo's the tyke?"
The room fell silent as everyone looked at Jace and Tryst in curiosity. Tryst gestured to him as if showing off a prize won in a game show. She had a flair for the dramatic, Jace had noticed. "Everyone! This is Jace Stryker, the newest member in our ranks! Please welcome him and make him feel at home!"
All the tables erupted in shouts of welcome and cheers. Several called for him to sit with them, but Tryst waved them off as she led him through the crowd to the window at the back of the room. The beautiful lady behind the counter - who he saw now was wearing the badge of a teacher - smiled at him sweetly and said. "Welcome, Jace, to the Cadet Academy. I hope you enjoy yourself while you are here."
Jace felt his face grow warm at her attention. He usually wasn't so sensitive to the charms of women, but something about this particular woman made him feel embarrassed that she was looking at him and he wanted to impress her.
Tryst smiled at his reaction. "This is Miss Sylvie, she's the supervisor of The Shop and the reason it exists in the first place."
Miss Sylvie turned her smile to the other girl. "Oh, no. that was all you kids. I'm just doing my job as the supplies manager here."
Tryst grinned at her then turned back to Jace. "She was one of the few teachers who treated us Rogues like we're worth something, so we all started to hang out in her storeroom, so she petitioned Madam Sheev to make it an official gathering place."
Jace could see why, she reminded him of some of the older lady's who would give him food when he was desperate. He began to feel more at home here at the school, and muscles that he hadn't realized were tight relaxed.
Tryst turned back to Miss Sylvie. "We're here to get him equipped with the standard stuff."
The woman turned back to her shelves, moved a couple of things, then pulled out a sealed bag. She turned back to Jace and held it out for him. He took it and saw it was several uniforms - he was still wearing the basic clothes that had been provided him on the ship - as well as a few gadgets he didn't recognize.
"The uniforms should fit. They send over the measurements of new students to the fabrication team as soon as you dock."
Jace pointed at the objects on top. "What are these?" he asked.
Tryst helped him pull them out as she explained. "These are the standard tools provided to every student." She held up what looked like a card-shaped piece of glass. "This is your Panel. This is used for a large variety of uses. Everything from looking at classwork to sending messages to the rest of us." she pinched it between her thumb and the knuckle of her pointer finger and flicked it like it was a magic wand. It lit up blue, though the screen was blank. She handed it over to Jace. "They're coded to us personally, so the only people who can use it are us, some select staff, and those we code in." Then she held up a small, clear pod about the size of her pinky nail. "This earpiece is linked to your Panel. With this, you can receive announcements and make voice calls. It also has a neat guiding feature if you ever lose your panel. Keep it in your ear at all times, it won't hurt you and they're a pain to lose." Jace pushed it in his ear and felt it mold inside, muffling the sound surrounding him a little. He heard a faint beeping from it, then a ding, and the sound immediately cleared. He couldn't even hear a difference between when it was in his ear and not. It wasn't uncomfortable either, he could get used to it.
He heard someone calling from behind him and he turned to see the same boy from before. "I heard you came here with a Crisp! Must've been unbearable! Especially someone from the Mortonesse family! How'd you bear it?!"
Jace's face darkened, and he was about to confront the boy when Tryst shouted behind him. "Ey! Lay off. Turns out Jace here is soft for the girl. Claims she's different. I can't say I agree, but don't go trash-talking her alright?" Jace guessed she must have some clout around here to be bossing them around like that.
Another boy spoke up. "You mean like you and Sam?" the room burst into catcalling and laughter. Jace turned to Tryst and pointed at her deepening red face. "Ha! I knew there was something there."
Tryst immediately looked away, obviously at a loss for a comeback.
When things finally calmed down, Tryst began introducing him to several of the others in the room. As Jace and the others laughed and joked together, Jace began to relax more and more. Here he was safe, and among those who could relate to him. It was a new feeling, but he liked it.
A few hours later, Tryst led Jace back to his room. Apparently, they had been supposed to go on a tour but they had lost track of time, Tryst told him she'd return the next day to show him around a little more. She left him at his door, and after she was gone, he turned and entered back into his room, wiped out by the day's events.
As he entered, he was startled by a flurry of movement coming from the area across from his, his roommate's space.
When the craziness finally stilled, he found a boy, close to his age, sitting across from him. The boy wore his uniform neatly, so Jace assumed he was a Crisp. He was holding one of the gadgets he'd seen on the shelves earlier in his hand, and several screens were projecting from it, though in his hand they were pointing off towards the wall at an angle.
Jace grinned. "Did I startle you?"
The boy straightened, then adjusted the spectacles on his face. And stood up. He was a little shorter than Jace, and skinny, not like malnourished skinny like Jace was used to, but skinny nonetheless. He fidgeted with his fingers a little bit, then hid them behind his back, still holding the piece of machinery in his hands, so it looked like he was wreathed in glowing light.
"Are you my new roommate?" he asked, his face showing no sign of his scramble earlier.
Jace kept his smile on his face then stuck out his hand. "Yup, name's Jace. you?"
The other boy pulled his hand out to shake, but then realized the gadget was still in it, so he set it down then shook Jace's hand. "I'm Martin." his hand a little weak in Jace's grip.
Jace shook his hand firmly, then turned and flopped on his bed. "Whatcha doin? He asked, looking at the projector.
Martin turned to the screens floating over his bed and said. "Homework."
"For what?"
"Galactic Astronomy"
It sounded like Martin didn't want to talk about it, though it sounded interesting, so Jace dropped it. "So Martin, where are you from?"
Martin started pocking at the screen and looking over it. "I'm from the planet nearest here, Seguric."
"What brought you to the Cadet Academy?" Jace asked, feeling he was pulling teeth for conversation.
"My father had me come. I'm to become a planetside soldier." Jace looked at the scrawny boy and raised his eyebrows in disbelief, though Martin couldn't see it.
Martin turned to him then. "Sorry I can't talk right now. I need to get this done tonight."
Jace huffed, a little offended at the rudeness, and glared at Martin.
Martin just looked at him blankly. "What?"
Jace realized the other boy had no clue that he'd been abrupt. That brought a smile out of him. He said, "Nothing, I need to sleep anyway. We'll talk more tomorrow." then he crawled into his bed so he was in it properly, and quickly fell asleep.