"Thanks!"

Ariel claps her hands together as they walk away from the desk. "What to do now, what to do now... Do you have any ideas? We've kind of been following me, sorry about that."

"That's okay. I think I want to look inside some of the buildings? The outsides are pretty but I wanna know what they're for."

"Sure! Let's see... How about that one!"

They merrily explore some buildings.

The first four buildings prove to be: a dormitory, a class hall, a library, and a natatorium.

"I can't even pronounce that. What'd you say?"

"It's kind of an old word. Means 'building with a pool inside'."

"Ah. So... it's a pool."

She gestures to the pool.

"And here's me without my swimsuit."

Ariel... says nothing for a minute! Because the only things she can think of are kind of inappropriate and that'd make things awkward.

"I don't know if I have a swimsuit," she says once she thinks of it. "Maybe they'll be issued."

"I think they said something about our things being in our rooms?" she says vaguely. "We could come back later."

"Yeah, sure! ...I wonder if the dining hall is open. Kinda hungry."

"It's worth a look."

They haven't found the dining hall yet. It proves to be on the other side of the assembly hall.

And is it in fact open?

It is! There are Lots Of Choices, representing a wide range of galactic cuisine. Nira gravitates toward the salad bar.

Ariel gets a pile of meat, an inordinate amount of dessert, and some of whatever looks most weird and galactic on offer. The winner of the final category appears to be a semisolid multicolored gel containing some form of edible glitter.

She eats unselfconsciously, to say the least. It looks like the gel is actually pretty good, judging by how quickly she devours it.

Seems in-character. Nira eats more sedately, though she will try some of the gel when she sees Ariel with it.

"Remind me to never let you get very hungry."

"I am a terror to behold. Raar."

"I wonder if it will be like this every day or if they're just being exuberant to welcome us."

"Man, I hope it's like this every day. This is good food. You're right, though, they might just be showing off. Who knows. I guess some of the older magical girls would, but I dunno if I want to bug them, being as I am but a pathetic froshling."

"Pathetic is as pathetic does."

There's a group of older girls a few tables away. Nira stands to go talk to them.

Such bravery! Ariel will stand by her.

"Hi, my name's Nira and this is Ariel, we wondering if the food is always like this."

     "Aww, look at the little cuties!"

   "Stoppit Ash. Yes, it's always like this."

"Cool! And we're totally cute, it's fine."

"Thanks."

     "See, Terr'? They accept it, it's fine."

   "Would you stop."

...Nira is just going to leave them to it and head back to her plate.

Ariel will return with her!

"Informative and reassuring! A good combination of qualities."