"So," Onua began around a bite of her sandwich, "I have a job for you."

Daine looked up at her in happy surprise, nearly dropping her sandwich. "Really? What job?"

"Nothing fun, unfortunately. My adviser needs an assistant. Not a research assistant, mind you. Someone to check emails, manage some events, schedule… That sort of thing. Plus it would be a flat weekly rate." Onua crunched on a chip. "Could lead to bigger things if you take the opportunity to meet other faculty."

"Flat rate, that's tempting. How much of a time commitment do you think it is?" Daine picked her sandwich up thoughtfully.

"It would definitely fluctuate based on any events. We host volunteering events, clean up events, ecological awareness events… You wouldn't be managing it all alone, of course. Poor guy just needs some help. Most of the day-to-day you could handle whenever and wherever you want, you wouldn't need to come in. That would be organizing emails, replying to a few, checking his schedule and maybe sending a couple of reminders." Onua finished with another giant bite of her sandwich.

Daine chewed her much smaller bite slowly, considering the offer. Working whenever sounds great. Bust out the daily tasks first thing in the morning. Plus no added commute! And he's Animal Studies, what more could I want?

"What's your adviser like?" Daine asked curiously. Onua pushed her bag of chips closer to Daine, nodding at her to take one.

"A giant teddy bear but the most unorganized mess I've ever met. Not tech-savvy in the slightest. He's quiet, shy even and just…," Onua shrugged helplessly, "wants to spend time with animals." Daine smiled at that. That was relatable.

"Misses classes and meetings on nearly a daily basis," Onua continued. "Has tenure - gods knows how - but missed a meeting with the Dean because he didn't see the emailed invitation. It's rare of him to check his email more than once a week. The only way I and any of his other students get anything done is by tracking him down in the field."

"He sounds fantastic," Daine said truthfully.

"You'll definitely like him. He's a fantastic grad adviser, genuinely cares," Onua hinted strongly.

Daine rolled her eyes. "Onua, you are not pushing me to think about grad school after I just transferred here."

"I'm not pushing! You will be going to grad school though, mark my words," Onua responded dramatically. "I mean, you're obviously following in my footsteps! Working at the reserve, moving to Corus U, majoring in Animal Studies, soon to be working for my adviser… I'm flattered, lamkbin."

Daine scoffed. "Concidence," she said grandly, dismissing Onua with a wave. "But I would love to soon to be working for your adviser. If he doesn't email should I just drop by his office?"

"Hmmm," Onua put on an overly innocent face. "He'll be dropping by here soon for lunch, comes by here everyday."

"Onua!" Daine nearly dropped her sandwich again. "Is that why you drove us all the way out here?" The cafe they were at was a decent ways away from campus, close to the University's agricultural fields on the outskirts of Corus. No wonder she was so insistent on showing me this place.

Onua shrugged magnanimously. "You're interested aren't you? Want someone else to snag this job?"

"No offense to snakes, but you're a snake," Daine grumbled to her sandwich.

"Eat your sandwich, lambkin, You'll thank good ol' Onua later."

Daine stuck her tongue out. Onua responded with the same.

"So, what's new?" Onua asked, folding up her empty sandwich bag and grabbing another chip.

"In the last ten days? Hmm, realized my dearest friend is a sneaky, slithery, snake," Daine grumbled.

"What was that? I'm your dearest friend?"

"Oh, shush."

"Roommate move in yet?"

"A few things got mailed over but no sign of life yet. Honestly, as long as they're paying rent, I couldn't care less. It's just weird you know?"

"Definitely weird. Are they a student? They've already missed so many classes."

"Right?" Daine took another bite of her sandwich. "Speaking of classes though, I'm dying in Hormones and Behavior. They're making us learn about things at a cellular level! I don't care about that! And I just can't wrap my head around it."

"Oh shit, that sucks. Your prof is new; I think they come from more of a bio background so is less macro. Office hours aren't helping?"

"Onua, I don't even know what I don't know."

Onua pulled a face. "That's the worst. Have you looked into tutoring?"

"They're all booked up," Daine pouted. "Don't you remember anything? Have any notes?"

"I took that class online and open book. I have no memory of it at all." Onua paused for a moment. "Numair has a bio degree you know, he might be able to help."

Daine looked up surprised. "He does? But he's astro?"

"Gods know with that man. Swear he's studied a little bit of everything but one of his undergrad degrees was definitely bio-related."

"One of?"

"Double majored and had a minor."

"Darn. He really does give Thom a run for his money, huh."

"Definitely, two sides of the same coin," Onua looked up thoughtfully."I think 'Lanna picked Numair up because he reminded her of a nicer Thom. Maybe she thought he could teach Thom a thing or two about being a decent person as well as a genius."

"'Lanna picked him up?" Daine prodded. "How'd he end up with y'all anyways? And how's it the only story I've heard about him is that hawk incident?"

Onua guffawed in response to that. "We did tell you that story huh? Did you tell him you knew? How'd he react? Did you record it?"

Daine snickered remembering the look of utter dismay on Numair's face. "He was upset for sure. It just suddenly came to me so I'm sorry I didn't think to record anything for you."

"He hates when that's brought up," Onua said, wickedly grin. "I've just never seen anyone have such a bad trip. Jon tried for days to get some of whatever he was on."

"Is that really all though? You all seem close and it's odd you've only told me that one story."

"He was going through a lot when we first met. Came here from Carthak trying to get away from some nasty business that was pinned on him. Took a lot of healing for him to get to this point; you know how it is better than most. He changed his name too, was originally Arram."

Daine hummed, taking this new information in as she finished up her sandwich. Onua pushed the remaining chips her way.

"Y'all really do pick up a lot of strange ones huh," Daine said a moment later, crunching on a chip.

"I only ever picked you up."

"And Sarge."

"And Sarge."

"And Buri."

"Buri just tagged along for a good time. And Alanna's group was strange to start with."

"Agreed. I can't imagine the chaos of all of them as teenagers."

Onua gave a dramatic shudder. "He's alright if that's what you were wondering," she added a moment later.

"I trust anyone y'all trust," Daine said softly.

Onua gave her a small smile and reached up to ruffle Daine's hair. "We got you, kiddo. You done? Because your future boss is coming over."

Oh right, almost forgot about this sneak attack job interview. Daine gave Onua an exasperated look as she hurriedly shoved the rest of the chips in her mouth and dusted her hands off. She glanced up at the harried-looking man walking up to the cafe.

"There you go! Let me do the talking and just look… organized."

"Hate you."

"Hate you, too, DeeDee."