Julielyn, School Reception Worker:

  “Alright, children, off to your classes!” She hated shouting, but it was part of the job sometimes.

  Part of her loved the school drama that unfolded before her so often. She, like others, had to admit there was a chip on her shoulder about humans roaming free in the city. As if they weren’t the start of their world’s problems. They’d made the bio plague that had caused Sylpharia to be forced out of the interplanetary community. They’d created the empire that had done terrible things to the people they deemed ‘lesser’ than themselves.

  Sure, Julie was part of a Kilthien clan with far less recognition than Karin’s. Not that it mattered too much, but she’d fought for her own freedom, too. Just not in the literal manner.

  As far as she was concerned, so long as the humans were the ones being targeted, good riddance. They deserved it. She usually didn’t hide her disdain, either.

  “Just what got into Krissanine? Do you think she really chose that human girl as her life partner?” Julielyn turned to her coworker, a young Ravien man with faintly blue scales and eyes that shone in a coppery tone.

  “School drama is always just that; drama. I don’t really care so long as nobody gets hurt.” He blithely waved his hand, grumbling as he leaned back into his chair. “That new class is supposed to happen right as our lunch hour begins. Want to take a peek at the material?”

  “Are you curious about other worlds?” Julielyn didn’t care, but the teachers might be attractive. “We could take a look.”

  He nodded, opening his mouth to respond, only to pause as he frowned at the doorway.

  Julielyn turned, then frowned herself.

  A girl had just walked in. She had a high ponytail of black hair that fell all the way to her knee height behind her, and her eyes shone in heterochromatic green and blue illumination. She was wearing a white coat over a sweater and a knee-length skirt. Her boots struck the stone audibly, as if she weighed more than her height implied she should.

  “Excuse me, little girl? Are you lost?” Julielyn asked, wondering who she was looking at. Part of her could almost begin to think the girl was a human, but no human she’d ever seen had eyes that glowed like that. Aside from the wimpy one with the glowing red eyes, at least.

  The child ignored her question and strode forward, throwing curious looks around the lobby as she came to a stop, both heels clicking together audibly. When she turned towards a hallway, her feet snapped in rigid motions, one toe planted while the opposite heel pivoted until the heels snapped together again.

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  Julie assumed the girl was a new student who didn’t have a uniform yet. “Excuse me, little girl!” She hurried around the desk and tried to flag the child down. “Your classes are probably on the top floor. Do you know which teacher you’re assigned to? Where are your parents?”

  The child looked at her, and Julie felt as if those eyes tore into her soul with the intensity of all their world’s dozen natural moons in them. “It is fools like you who make me regret halting my apparent age at this stage of my youth. No, I am not a child, and no, I am not assigned to any teacher. It is the assistant teachers who have been assigned to me.”

  As if on cue, another set of heavy boots entered the school, and a lanky man with brown eyes and hair entered wearing a full outfit of mottled greens and browns. “I’m Andrew Brooks. I’m supposed to be assisting someone named Anise with teaching a new class later today?”

  “Perfect timing.” The little girl snapped her heels together as she turned away from Julie to face the man. “I’m Anise. Where is the other one?”

  Julielyn blinked. A child would be teaching the new course? That made no sense to her. And the assistant was a human man? There had to be a mistake, and she wouldn’t stand for it.

  “He’s claiming his injury is acting up and he can’t make it.” The man, Andrew, replied.

  Julielyn opened her mouth to interject, but was cut off. “Well, we can’t have that. Take me to see him.” Anise strode out the front doors without hesitation, and Andrew followed along at a jog, passing her and speaking about something with animated excitement.

  “The actual fuck was that?” Julie asked her coworker.

  He shrugged, eyes turned back to his terminal, not a care in the world.

  Hours passed, intruders nearly forgotten as a typical, bland day resumed around Julie.

  Suddenly, the front doors opened again. Julie looked up and spotted three people entering. The child, Andrew, and another man with greying facial hair and a tousled mess of salt and pepper receding behind a widow’s peak. The new man was also dressed in that mottled green outfit style, but he had a crutch under one arm, which he used to support the strides of one of his legs, which was bandaged at the calf.

  “Excuse me, you three can’t be here.” She put her foot down right away, and was soundly ignored as they walked right by and headed for one of the hallways, deep in conversation about… something. Julie didn’t even recognize the language.

  “Excuse me!” She tried again, and the man with the crutch turned towards her.

  “Lady, I apologize if you didn’t hear, but we’re the guest teachers for the new course. We have a lot to discuss about our lesson plan, so please try not to interrupt. Sorry again.” He had a strange accent, but he was oddly polite, and Julie had to check herself as she realized she found him rather attractive. She may have turned twenty-eight without a bonded partner, but she’d never feel something for a human.

  Something about his confident, charming smile, though…

  She pushed the feeling away and realized they’d already left.

  “What was that? That guy break your mind or something?” Her coworker asked.

  “Of course not!” She huffed, then returned to her terminal to send an inquiry to the Citadel about the new guest teachers. “Still, a child? And two humans? What could they possibly teach? Kids’ games and war crimes?”

  The ravien by her side eyed her skeptically. “You really paint with a broad brush, you know that?”

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