Egalitarian Librarian (Open: 2/4)

[Sona Pastel]

First order of business; the recommended reading. If she was to get good grades, head a society based on equality for all, and achieve everything on her to-do list during her time at Beacon, Sona was going to need to stay ahead of the curve, and that meant putting in the hours before classes even started. Yes, she had only been on school grounds for ten minutes, and yes, she still had her luggage trolley in tow. How else was the girl to carry around the...

Sona counted the items in the list she'd made in her scroll.

... 18 books that she needed to check out?

The sight had certainly garnered some level of attention. A fresh arrival practically b-lining it for the library, pulling along a cart full of her deerest belongings? Truthfully, she didn't care much what others were going to think about her. As always, there was nary a crease nor blemish to be found on her outfit and her hair was styled exactly to her liking; organised chaos. An onlooker would probably think she was just an eager busy body and leave her be. That was the plan, anyway. This wasn't a time for socializing, this was a time for-

"Tremendous Grimm and Where to Find Them!"

-books. It was a time for books. She proclaimed after finding the first item on her list, an entry-level encyclopedia of the most documented Grimm variants scattered across Remnant. The scroll made a 'bloop' as she crossed the item off the list. A notification dinged through in the next instant, causing her to startle. A message from Sona's sister, whom she'd come to Vale with, informing her that she's in safe hands in the city. Replying with a lone heart emoji - which caused a flood of hearts to fill the screen in a display of cute programming - she brought up the list once again, reading aloud the title of the next book. "History: Huntsman and Huntresses..."

With a startling realization that this may take more time than anticipated, she surveyed her immediate surroundings for the likes of a librarian. She sought counsel from the figure immediately behind her, partially obscured by the luggage trolley. They looked sort of librarian-y? "Excuse me, Mi- uh, Si- person, librarian. Ahem," she collected herself. "Awfully sorry, would you be able to help me look for a couple of books? I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew trying to find them all myself." She spoke matter-of-factly, though not as if she was exhibiting any impatience or displeasure. Sona was simply being efficient, as normal.

[Ax L Rose]

Well, "librarian-y" might have been a little bit of a stretch for this particular student. Sure, her white shirt was pristine, wrinkle-free and clean. She wasn't exactly dressed like the other students around. While she was wearing her tie straight, and she was sorting through the books on the shelf in a way that only someone pretty familiar with the library's systems could, her look was otherwise pretty unconventional. The person that Sona was hailing from behind her luggage trolley ended up... not looking that much like a librarian after a closer look.

For starters, as the pink-haired faunus stepped around the trolley to see who was talking, Sona would notice that half of this girl's head was shaved. The tips of her ears seemed to end in pink, feathery tips. She had luminous, sharp blue eyes and little lightning-bolt piercings dangling from her ears. Her outfit was all around a sort of rebellious variation on the typical school outfit. Her jacket was tied around her waist, partially draped over her skirt. She didn't look out-of-place at Beacon necessarily, but she probably seemed pretty hard to mistake for someone that worked here.

"...you uh, you talking to me?" The bird faunus asked, a wry little grin on her lips. She and this person seemed to be the only people close by, at least. She'd never been mistaken for a librarian before, and was apparently finding this a little bit amusing.

[Sona Pastel]

She endeavoured to get a closer look at the 'librarian'. The first thing that struck Sona was the white-pink color of the person's hair, preceding her notice of their striking blue iris'. To her dismay, the person in front of her wasn't the likes of a librarian at all but rather a student of the academy, and one who seemed to wear their uniform with a curious mix of dignity and chaos. It was a look that took guts, and, judging by appearances alone, the girl oozed lots of it. Sona appreciated that. If she was roaming the library at this young hour of their own volition, perhaps she'd still be of help?

"I am," Sona confirmed, "and it seems like I've mistaken you for a member of faculty. Honest apologies." She bowed apologetically, slightly. Formalities were ingrained into her very nature as an Atlessian, though she spared any dramatic gestures for the moment. The girl didn't seem to be entirely bothered by Sona's misinformed guess and she certainly didn't appear horrified by it, thus her expression of regret concluded graciously.

As she lifted her face to meet the girl's eyes, something immediately snatched Sona's attention. Quite suddenly, she recoiled in the all-encompassing shock of realization as a look of recognition stretched across her face. Bird ears. Cockatoo ears. It was the final piece of the puzzle. Sona had an inkling that she'd seen the girl before and it came to her like a swift punch in the face, leading her to blurt out with both disbelief and a hint of excitement. "Hang on, sorry, Ax Rose? From Baby Blues?" Her eyes would match the energy of her voice. Now was truly a moment to show some formalities - it was entirely possible she'd taken a stab in the dark and ended up blindsiding an unsuspecting faunus. It was unbecoming to accuse others of being somebody they aren't so she stove off the fangirling for the moment, yet there was an unmistakable glint of anticipation in her eyes.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's hair-color was definitely unique. If it was dyed, someone put a really inordinate amount of effort to get it look the way it did. Her blue eyes were as intense as everything else about her - she could make a bear run away at a sprint with a look alone if she did it right, and Ax knew it. The smile on Ax's lips served to dull the steely edge of her gaze.

It would've been easy to tease this person, but it sounded like the mistake was just the product of some wishful thinking. There'd probably been no way to really see who they were speaking to with that big luggage thing in the way. Ax decided to give this person the benefit of the doubt. She shrugged gently at the apologetic gesture.

"No need to be sorry," Ax said reassuringly, gently shaking her head, raising a hand and making a sort of dismissive gesture. Her speaking voice was a smooth, feminine contralto. Not only was this tall bird stylish and strange, but her right arm was completely on display. A cursory glance could lead one to mistake it for a really modern-looking sort of armor gauntlet, but closer examination would reveal that every inch of her arm from a bit above her elbow was cybernetic. There were even little hardlight emitters that generated little pink-white shapes like shaped glass in a pattern like feathers to match those on her opposite flesh-and-blood arm.

Ax's eyes met Sona's as the girl looked back up, and something happened. Ax felt... strange. Then surprised. She wasn't sure why. Had she seen this girl somewhere before? Wait, were they even a girl? There was... some ambiguity there. This person looked kind of androgynous at a glance. Ax's eyes locked on Sona's throat, as if looking for a clue when she spoke, but the words that were spoken next completely derailed Ax's ability to pay attention.

Ax's eyebrows went straight up, her eyes widening for a brief moment. It'd been a while since she'd been recognized publicly, and this might've been maybe the second or third time it'd happened on school grounds since she'd first arrived. It was inevitable, right? How many people had hair and eye like hers? Sure, she didn't wear it the same way back then... she was taller, more womanly now. Rougher around the edges. Fit, strong-looking, imposing and rebellious. Ax now was a far cry from the amiable, smiling pop star at the center of the stage during the old days. She supposed it was better that Sona was calling her by what was her old stage name instead of her real name back then.

"...I-" Ax raised her metal elbow to cough into it, before swaying her head a little so that her long hair cascaded over her shoulder. She cocked her hips, planted a hand on her waist, and smiled as confidently as she could.

"Yeah, actually," Ax admitted, managing a sort of mild, polite little laugh. She was forcing the cheer a little bit. Being recognized brought her to a strange place emotionally. It was a weird, mixed feeling, too complex to easily define. Fortunately, Sona wasn't looking at her with suspicious or antagonistic eyes. They seemed... excited? Happy? Ax wanted to hope that Sona wasn't a hater.

"Shit, ancient history there... you're like, maybe the second person to recognize me here since I started," Ax continued. She gave Sona a brief, appraising look, still puzzling out if she was talking to a guy or a girl, still trying to gather a general impression.

[Sona Pastel]

Sona's outfit certainly played into the androgynous aesthetic, a plain white blouse with all but the top two buttons fastened and sleeves rolled up to her elbow, straight black trousers cut off at the point where the shin met the ankle, and a pair of black shiny heels to round off the look. It was also pristine, nary a crease nor blemish to be seen, which was in stark contrast to the way that she styled her hair; she was all party up top, business down below. Most would probably come to the conclusion that she identified as female, judging by the choice of footwear, although to be pinned as non-binary wouldn't cause any offence - after all, she practically invited that sort of conclusion.

The ambiguous girl assessed Ax's reaction to being called out. The singer's shock was obvious and Sona's suspicions were all but confirmed by Ax shortly after. The green-haired girl muffled a fangirlish squee behind cupped hands and, in an effort to not make a complete fool of herself, stopped short of jumping on the spot in excitement, reigning in her reaction to a bout of excitable foot taps instead. The tiled floor caused her heels to clack a bit louder than expected, although, the pair seemed to be quite isolated from the rest of the library goers and no other parties seemed to take any notice. After an exciting couple of seconds, Sona calmed down, a faint redness spreading across her pale cheeks as she came to realize what her little display must've looked like. "Wow. Sorry, I just... did not expect to meet a celebrity at Beacon, at all."

It was then that the metal arm drew Sona's gaze for the first time. She was generally very good at ignoring other people's peculiarities, knowing that there's usually a story attached that would evoke strong feelings more often than not. Her eyes lingered on it for the briefest of moments which Ax may have been able to pick up on if she was following Sona's gaze, though the girl gave no indication as to what her thoughts about the arm were; in truth, she didn't think much of it, if perhaps just a vague feeling of curiosity. She didn't remember the singer lacking any appendages back in the day.

Sona continued, her demeanor much more measured than a few moments ago - still, there was an unmistakable giddiness to her voice and her pitch was slightly higher than it had been when they first exchanged words. "My Sister and I went through a massive Baby Blues phase when we were younger, about ten years ago maybe? 'Wild Hearts Never Die' was our song for years, and she still has 'Mine' in most of her mood playlists. She idolized you for not hiding who you are. It... it helped her overcome a lot of her own obstacles."

Sona caught that she was waffling on, and caught onto the possibility that Ax wasn't a fan of the attention. The green-haired girl was normally able to gauge how others are feeling, yet she was struggling to get a read on the singer. Were they simply being civil? She'd hold still for now, mentally preparing herself for a quick exit if Ax wished it.

[Ax L Rose]

A cursory look was more than enough to alleviate any concern about committing a major social faux pas out of ignorance on Ax's part, which was good because Ax was definitely more caught up in being recognized as this conversation progressed. She'd imagined this situation a few times, thought up things she'd say if it happened... but for some reason, every time it happened it was like her mind blanked out and she forgot everything. Who even was Ax Rose now?

The rocker was a pretty expressive person. She had been playing confident, but uncertainty was there in her eyes, in her body language, in her hesitation. Then the pressure eased as earnest excitement from Sona overpowered Ax's worries all at once. The girl in front of Ax didn't need to physically jump up and down for Ax to feel the wave of excitement, the heat rushing to her face making her cheeks turn a little pink. The corner of Ax's lip twitched ever so slightly into a hint of a smile, but her eyes were wide as though she was in a little bit of disbelief herself.

Ax raised her metal hand and rubbed the side of her neck, her expression breaking into a proper smile. Ax was a celebrity, wasn't she? It was easy to forget sometimes now that she felt so far away from everything that happened in Atlas... so numb to it at times. Clearly a little chuffed with Sona's flattering reactions thus far, Ax looked away, blowing a bit of hair from her face. She only grew more bubbly and warm inside as Sona continued to speak, albeit in a calmer voice this time. The moment Sona mentioned a song by name - 'Wild Hearts Never Die' - Ax's eyes snapped back to Sona in surprise. Everyone had heard 'Mine' a thousand times already, to the point where she'd heard people proclaim they were sick of it back in the day. Clearly, only a real and true Wild Heart would claim 'Wild Hearts Never Die' as their song. Ax was face to face with an honest-to-the-gods fan.

"...She idolized you for not hiding who you are. It... it helped her overcome a lot of her own obstacles."

Ax tried to swallow the lump in her throat at that, biting her lip to stifle a shaky breath that was nearly a laugh. It was so easy sometimes to forget that there had been young girls who really were emotionally invested in her work, in the things she did, in every part of the show. Ax's lips twitched and then pressed together hard as she tried to not frown or worse, cry. It was easy to pretend, writing the past off like it was as meaningless as a bad dream... but life didn't really work that way. Events were always so multifaceted. Ax's work had touched someone's life. Her work had helped someone in some small way. It made a lot of pain and suffering feel a little more worth it to hear what Sona had to say. Ax was so touched she didn't immediately know how to react, her veneer of false confidence shaken.

"I... I'm... thank you," Ax swallowed and closed her eyes, willing the heat behind her eyes to go away. She wanted to be awesome and great right now, confident and composed! But she had been disarmed in every way by Sona's genuine, earnest excitement at meeting her.

"I have a thing," Ax blurted out awkwardly, waving a hand dismissively, wincing a little as though she realized how rough this was going to come out. "A semblance thing, I... I feel other people's emotions and project my own so if this seems kinda a lot, it's..." Ax stopped abruptly, sucking in a breath.

"I'm... I'm really happy to hear you say that. Really..." Ax looked back over at Sona and gave her a small little smile. There were clearly some tears starting to line her piercing blue eyes, undercutting the intensity of her gaze.

[Sona Pastel]

Sona blinked, her smile turning uncertain as she watched Ax's confident facade become a little more transparent. The apparent air of badassery that followed the singer was still very much there, yet the alarming shift in demeanor left Sona uncertain of how to react; largely out of fear that she'd overstepped or said something to upset Ax. Gingerly holding her upper arm with the hand of the other, she played back the words in her mind like a sort of mental replay and, in a moment of self-imposed anxiety, wracked her brain for anything that might have come across horribly wrong.

Though she wouldn't show it, Sona breathed a mental sigh of relief when Ax spoke the words 'thank you'. It meant that she hadn't immediately tarnished her 'reputation' at Beacon - which, as of that moment, consisted solely of what Ax thought of her - and more importantly, the singer's day hadn't been made worse off by their introduction. The unease in Sona's expression was wiped away in an instant, replaced by a thoughtful, kind smile, and a gentle nod of her head.

The brief mention of Ax's semblance caused Sona lips to part for a moment, as if she were readying to comment or to let the singer know that it's fine, but the words never escaped her throat. It did spark a little thought in the back of the younger girl's mind - had that semblance played in a part in her slightly out-of-character outburst when meeting Ax? A Wild Heart she was, yet she'd never before careened so far from her polite, collected manner when meeting a famous person. As the daughter of a man who had made a living out of networking with business elites, familiar faces were a dime-a-dozen back at home; then again, she'd never actually cared about meeting her father's associates. Her backlog of questions grew one larger.

Sona took the little smile from Ax as a cue to cut in, and she did so with a gentle shake of her head. "N-no worries at all, I... I'm glad you took it that way. For a moment there, I thought I'd completely blown this whole conversation." She gave Ax a kind smile and performed a shallow bow, realizing she hadn't given her name yet. "I'm Sona, by the way. My sister's name is Blaire, she'll be..." She made a 'mind blown' gesture with her hands above her head. "- that I ran into you." The mention of Blaire's name caused her to make a cursory glance for any notifications on her scroll, which still had the list of books open on the screen. "We uh, we actually just arrived today. She's working in the city so you needn't to worry about watching your back for a stalker or anything. That might not stop her from trying, though." Sona made a quiet, nervous chuckle, brushing away a lock of hair that was dangling in front of her eyes.

[Ax L Rose]

It'd once been really easy to meet fans. She eventually got used to the praise, but she never got tired of it. After the show at the Orion things had been... different ever since. People had a different quality in their eyes in the street when they recognized her a lot of the time, and... it made her want to be a different person. Now... in a manner of speaking, she was. She rose her head a little, as if she could trick the tears in her eyes into going back where they came from. She sniffled and then swallowed once more, not wanting to lose her smile. She couldn't really play this off, so... the next best thing she could do was own it. It felt nice to know she played a positive part in someone's life, and it was kind of amazing to see someone could still get excited about those old songs. Wild Hearts Never Die!

She could tell that she'd maybe made this a little awkward. She would just have to hope that this kind stranger would understand.

"Oh nooo, you're good, totally," Ax was quick to let out an amused little breath, waving a hand dismissively, speaking in a quiet, reassuring tone benefitting of the location of their exchange. She grinned more broadly at the mention of Sona's sister.

"Well," Ax straightened up a little and planted her hands on her hips. "Let me be one among the first to welcome you to Beacon, Sona. Ax is the name now, always and forever," Ax nodded her head firmly. An old fan had a good chance of knowing that the name 'Ax' was an alias and a stage name back in the day. Now, though, it was her real name. 'Amaranthine' had never really fit her whole vibe anyway. Too much of a mouthful.

"Not ah, not a lot of people recognize me these days. You might be surprised how much of a difference changing your makeup, hair, and..." Ax slowly realized that she was probably preaching to the choir. "Yeah. You uh, you said you need some help finding some books?" Ax eagerly changed the subject. She might not have been a librarian, but she knew her way around here now as a third year. She could probably help!

[Sona Pastel]

To Sona's relief, the awkward undertone that'd crept upon the conversation was beginning to ease up a little. The green-haired girl made a small, affirmative nod when the singer welcomed her to Beacon and confirmed the name they were going by nowadays. Although Sona knew about 'Amaranthine' from her stint as a Wild Heart, she hadn't even thought twice about what name Ax would've been using at present. Perhaps she should be more cautious about misnaming in the future; her initial guess was right in this instance, however, and it became a passing thought as the discussion moved on.

One foot crossed behind the other as she shifted her weight to one side, arms crossing together into a loose fold. Sona was looking quite intently as Ax started up again, her centre of gravity drifting forwards ever so slightly as it if to listen closely when the singer appeared to trail off. The abrupt subject change caught her off guard, causing her to stumble a little before quickly - if unceremoniously - righting her posture.

She laughed nervously through a smile and nodded. "Uh, yes," Sona held her scroll out, allowing them both a good look at the list on the screen, "Only a couple, o-or a few, rather. Just to get a head start on classes." Her eyes opened as if she'd said something wrong. "N-not that I'm a nerd! It's just, uh, fun to get a little ahead of the curve, less stress and all," she reached across to the luggage trolley and showed off her copy of Tremendous Grimm and Where to Find Them, "and who doesn't love a little bit, of um... historical literature." Her smile somewhat deflated. What was that? "... S-so, would you happen to know where the History section is? That might be the best place to start." The badass aura coming from Ax was certainly having an effect on Sona and as it turns out, brazen confidence was a sorry look on the androgyne.

[Ax L Rose]

She stepped closer, her eyes squinting a little as she peered over the list on the scroll. This was this chick's idea of 'a few' huh? She glanced from the scroll over to Sona, a bemused expression on her lips. She let out a little huff of air that sounded like the beginning of a laugh.

"Naaaah, nah, don't worry 'bout it. Nerds are in these days," Ax said with a lazy little half-shrug. Maybe she hadn't quite been as passionate as this one about books and learning herself, but she could think of a few subjects where people found her attention to detail a little... excessive. Sona's lingering excitement as well as the echo of her own confidence was also endearing the rocker-bird to this girl quite quickly - it was all warmth and comfort when someone was a fan! These days it seemed any time anyone approached her it was either because of her reputation in the school, or because they thought she was pretty. Attention of that nature was welcome too, but this just... hit different.

As Sona's smile deflated, however, so too did Ax's just a bit. Right. A fan wouldn't know her semblance - Ax hadn't unlocked it yet back then. She'd need to explain this. She was always explaining this. It was a hassle, but it was the right thing to do. Sure, it felt cliche to launch into a monologue about her semblance every time she met someone new... but it was what it was.

"I do. I should warn you... you might feel a little different around me. I have a semblance that... tends to project my emotions passively. I can also sense other people's feelings. If that's not a problem... I'd be happy to lead the way," Ax offered, starting to turn on her heel just a bit, but pausing to see how Sona reacted. A lot of people were cool about it lately, but sometimes... some people didn't seem to like it.

[Sona Pastel]

Sona pepped up a little, hearing Ax's reassurance. Nerds certainly weren't in where she was from, at least not in the circles that she was accustomed to, so to receive a glimpse of hope that she might'n't need to change much to fit in at the school was comforting. It was something she'd been counting on prior to moving there.

As some looming doubts about her own off-behaviour began to cloud her thoughts, they were very quickly dispelled by a curious piece of exposition from the singer about their own semblance. It certainly explained things. She paused and thought for a couple of seconds, pondering the implications of what she'd been told. Then, she seemed to accept it with a little nod. "No, it's not a problem at all," she spoke truthfully, arriving at the logical conclusion that, as it's a passive semblance, one shouldn't be judged for its ill-effects. "I don't mind it." Sona smiled faintly, understandingly.

Sona pulled alongside Ax and turned to grab hold of her luggage trolley, the wheels squeaking a little as they spun on the spot. Not forgetting her manners, Sona looked across to the singer. "Thank you, by the way," she expressed with gratitude, "for the help. The library's reputation precedes itself; all of knowledge at your fingertips, if you can find it in the maze of bookshelves." She laughed a little, easing up. The occassion still seemed crazy to the freshman - Ax L. Rose was helping her look for books. What bizarre fantasy was she living in?

"As for your semblance, I... I can't quite compare mine to yours - it's emotionally motivated, sometimes, rather than passive - but it's caused some issues for people close to me, in the past." She looked ahead and slightly to the ground, as they walked along the library's pristing flooring. "I can capture sounds, and voices, and reconstruct them as if they were playing from a recording device. It's led to some important secrets imparting before their time, when I was younger." Her eyes pinched, the faint whiff of sadness drawing across her features. It only lasted a moment until she steeled herself. "That might be completely out of turn for me to say, sorry." Running my mouth again, she thought. For a listener, she was speaking an awful lot, and oddly, she didn't mind it. It felt nice to be able to say things without second guessing, to have the confidence to speak to a person - who, for all intents and purposes, was a stranger - with little impedement.

[Ax L Rose]

Sometimes this sort of thing could cause a sort of fluctuation in signal strength. The reveal could subconsciously impact a person's guardedness, and sometimes that changed things. It was comforting to see it didn't seem to too massively impact things this time, or at least not in a way Ax could consciously feel or observe. She smiled a bit, pleased, giving Sona a second to catch up and walk alongside her, leading the way with a casual stride.

"Anything for a Wild Heart, and hey... us Beacon kids gotta look out for one another, way I see it," Ax replied with an easy grin, looking over at Sona as they rounded a corner and walked steadily onward to a different section of the library, deeper into the long rows of books ahead. Even she still needed help sometimes finding certain things... she was the type to do most of her research on computers these days, but the library still had a lot of practical value.

Her smile shrank a little as Sona spoke up a bit in an effort to empathize with her. It certainly made her curious, judging from the way she raised a curious, inquisitive brow. Soon enough, she elaborated. The way Sona's features subtly changed as she spoke along with the little sensation like her heart dropping a centimeter in her chest made Ax's lips purse into a sort of crooked half-smile, her expression softening.

"Nothing to be sorry for. You and I, we've already got a helluva lot in common. My semblance, like yours, has pretty much no direct combat utility in a fight," Ax noted matter-of-factly.

"And... my semblance also can make me more expressive than I mean to be, before I'm ready to really confront things. It tips my hand, so-to-speak. So I end up being... well, vulnerable with people. Often without really trying to be. But I like for people to be comfortable with me, so... sometimes I try to think of it like it's a strength," Ax continued with a faint smile. A few rows later, they were in the History section. Ax turned her head toward the shelves flanking them on both sides, squinting at the titles and the various numbers and codes for a second before looking back to Sona. While she knew the section they were looking for, she didn't know the book. She could probably still help her find it, though.