Chương 7: 7-Greet

"What?" The girl asks. Tanya blinks, before letting out a groan and dropping her arm. Language barrier. She'd forgotten, with so few interactions with humans she'd overlooked their inability to understand her for a moment. Apparently it's one of the reasons partners are so important. Caretaker seems to believe that partners are capable of learning to understand each other, proportional to 'the strength of their bond.' Which Tanya takes to mean they'll get better at reading each other's body language.

Maybe the human half of the equation would also be able to understand the language better. But the former human –who had the language uploaded into her brain– has no idea how she'd learn it from scratch. There's simply too many tiny nuances that she cannot believe a human mind or ear could pick out. She certainly wouldn't be able to. As Tanya considers whether she should try and choke out a Japanese translation, her conversation partner speaks up.

"Whatever," she dismisses, looking back out the window.

"Aren't you supposed to be downstairs?" Tanya blinks incredulously as the child dismisses her.

"Aren't you?." She snaps back, contemplating following the implied order as she glances out the window as well. It's a view into the yard, full of 'mon she's never seen before, all the same ratio of species minus any happiny, but not a single face she recognises. Concluding the administration must alternate yard days between two different groups, her eyes lock onto a fight as it breaks out between two treecko. They're both terrible. Just awful.

The fact they don't seem worried about hurting each other is the only thing they have going for them. But it's a logical decision to make considering the total lack of technique or strength in their attacks and movements. Even the weakest of challengers that show up in her yard would wipe the floor with these two, probably at the same time. Snorting as she makes up her mind and turns to leave, she sees the girl opposite her is staring at the same battle with an expression of distinct focus.

For some reason every time Tanya sees her face, with that almost completely neutral expression, something… The former soldier takes a short breath. She'll be the bigger person here.

"Hello." She says waving, before tapping her chest.

"My name is Tanya Degurechaff." She gestures to the human, who's now looking at her.

"What's yours?" The girl rolls her eyes.

"Didn't I tell you t-" Tanya's expression hardens.

"-Amelia." She says quickly, then blinks.

"Hey! W-""Amelia…?" Tanya asks as she cuts her off, rotating a forearm for 'Amelia' to continue. There's a pause as the girl looks confused, squinting as she tries to parse the gesture.

"Amelia… Joy?" She says, half gesturing to her vibrant pink hair. Tanya nods, clapping her hands together with a smile that has the girl flinch back slightly. Considering what to say next, Tanya suddenly realizes the most likely reason Matron sent her up to the second floor.

"Wonderful! Now that introductions are out of the way, I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be up here. I'm going to have to ask you t- watch it!" She cuts herself off with a shout as Amelia pokes her with a finger. The girl continues to have an unbroken finger only by Tanyas iron will as she gives another poke.

"I already told you to shove it!" The girl says, turning to face her fully.

"I'm not sure what you think being my partner is going to be like but I swear it's not going to be pleasant!" She says punctuating her point with another poke.

"If- When I go to Nursing school, I'm going to work hard and become the greatest nurse in the world!" She waves a hand around as if to gesture to the whole world to an increasingly focused Tanya, then continues.

"There will be no lazy days! No easy ride! My partner needs to be ready for nonstop, hard, work and I'm not gonna tolerate someone who's just going to. Slow. Me. Dow-!" She tries to conclude her tirade with three consecutive pokes, but finds her finger caught by pink limbs. Staring with perfect focus on the other side of the table, Tanya tightens her grip on the offending digit, almost vibrating with emotion. This girl. She…

Tanya looks into the human's eyes, her own sparkling as she can feel something form in the space between them. She gets it! Transitioning her grip into a wild handshake, Tanya smiles wide as the full implications of the offer becomes clear.

"You've got yourself a deal!" The overjoyed 'mon says with a full grin.

"Wh-? Hey!" It's no wonder she's up here! None of Tanya's sisters are at all suited for that kind of verbal contract! Any of them would just have run off crying at this intensity, this fire! It only makes sense she sequestered herself up here! But now they're both in luck. Because she'd somehow managed to mirror Tanya's own thoughts on nursing perfectly!

There is not even a single doubt in her mind at this moment about her suitability as a partner in the field of nursing, the magic in her chest flaring almost as much as when she had to educate the mudkip! This is exactly the type of person who will understand the benefits of hard work, and a clean – well defined– contract dividing their profits when they enter the workforce!

"Hey! Let me g-!" Tanya releases her hand and spins around, intending to call over Matron, but finding her already halfway up the steps seemingly drawn over by the raised voices of her partner's aggressive proposition. Gesturing at the gir- Amelia by her side, Tanya presents her like she would a new car in some long forgotten game show. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"I've found my partner!" Tanya states with finality. There's a pause at her proclamation, and the whisper of a shocked expression on Matron's face before she rushes over, scooping Tanya up in a hug and twirling them on the spot.

"You did!?" She shouts happily, looking over to Amelia with a wide smile.

"Uh- what are yo-? Woah!" The human starts before getting pulled into a group hug by Matron.

"I knew you'd find someone? Didn't I say that last year? I did! I know I did!" She chatters, before turning and heading towards the stairs.

"Oh this is great, I don't know how Blissey does that. She's just got that magic eye I'll tell you- Oooh we have to get you two the paperwork and then…" She continues but Tanya starts to tune Matron's usual level of excitement. Looking over to her soon partner, Tanya gestures for her to follow as Matron starts descending the stairs and notes a… strange expression on her face. A mixture of confusion, incredulity, and disbelief.

Blinking at Tanya's nonverbal instruction, the expression becomes more severe somehow, before she shakes her head and hesitantly follows behind. —-- –_– —-- Staring down at the piece of paper, Tanya considers the contract she's about to sign. Though 'contract' is a slightly elevated word for what the document actually entails. The sheet is, in all honesty, less of a legally binding agreement and more of a 'do you understand what you're getting into?' for the human side of the deal.

The few bits that actually pertain to Tanya were helpfully explained by Caretaker, who she'd been handed off to when the paperwork was brought out. Honestly, Caretaker's description of the human's side of the deal boiling down to 'be her friend and don't be mean' is reasonably accurate, if slightly reductive. Glancing over to Amelia, she notes her soon-to-be partner is holding a pen but hesitating to step forward and sign the document.

Her mother, who Tanya is increasingly certain she's seen before, puts a hand on her back and gives an encouraging smile. Seeing this, Amelia nods and uncaps her pen, signing her name with a flourish. She then looks over to Tanya.

"Well?" The girl asks, primly recapping the pen and gesturing towards the empty box next to her signature.

"Your turn." Nodding, Tanya kneels down and flips open the safety cover for the ink pad, then pauses. She'd been caught up in the moment, the excitement of finding someone who she'd been positive at the time was the perfect person to work with. So swept up in the idea and trying to capture the opportunity before it disappears, she's only now considering how fast this is all going. That certainty a few minutes ago has mostly faded, mirroring the waning of her magic, as the full scope of what she's about to agree to.

If she continues, she's made a commitment, while it might be possible to go back, changing partners in the middle of schooling seems like a recipe for disaster, not just for her but Amelia too. Such a hasty decision on both their parts. Though at the same time she doesn't disagree with anything she said before, it's just… Behind her, one of her sisters gives a squealing laugh at something, and from the sound alone Tanya can tell exactly who it was. She doesn't…

Caretaker gently presses an arm to her back and, seeing Tanya glance over, gives a smile. Seeing this, Tanya realizes this is just another one of those things she has to accept about this life, the system she has willingly attached herself to is asking her to do something and it is her function as an individual in that system to follow the rules in exchange for its many benefits. So, firming herself up, Tanya presses a forearm into the pad, then presses that ink stained limb into the box she's supposed to.

And it's done. She barely has time to stand before wet wipe flashes across her ink stained arm almost too quickly to be seen. The next thing she knows Tanya finds the world going dark and muffled as Caretaker wraps her in a hug, saying something unintelligible through the sound of her heartbeat. Pulling away, Caretaker looks down with a big smile. One that fades slightly on the edges at the sight of Tanyas neutral expression.

Looking over to her sisters with a blink, then a few more, Tanya considers how they've moved away from two of the humans, who are each holding one of her sisters with wonder-filled eyes.

"I guess I'll go say my farewells then." She says levelly. Strangely enough, Tanya has the same upside here as the last time she left for an education. Not a lot of possessions, so there's little to worry about when packin-"What?" Caretaker asks worriedly.

"Dear, could you explain? Please?" Tanya looks back, eyes irritated by the bright light behind Caretaker.

"For when I go to th-… nursing school." Caretaker looks, if anything, confused.

"You're not- Oh!" She cuts herself off, and Tanya finds herself in another, even tighter hug. After around half a minute, she's released, and finds Caretaker lifting her up to eye level with a watery smile.

"No dear, this is just the first round of meetings. School doesn't start for another year and a half, no one's going anywhere, it's alright." Tanya nods, assimilating this new information. She was unaware of that.

"A-And when it does all your sisters will be going too, and I promise I'll come over every weekend to check up on you ok? It's alright, I promise. D-Don't cry." Caretaker says, voice starting to waver, and by the time she's halfway through the sentence Tanya's blinded again as Caretaker presses her to her chest, breaking down into tears. Caretaker misread the situation, but it would be awkward to correct her.

Not to mention strange for Tanya to reveal that, no matter how nice they are, she doesn't consider them family. In that dark, with nothing but Caretaker's heartbeat, Tanya feels… something. Like magic but… not. Sniffing at the awkwardness of the situation, Tanya allows the hug to continue with no resistance.