....Okay what. 

On the one hand that's...really sweet of him? And in fact makes it less likely she'll get eaten by a mal? On the other hand, what. 

Shannon lingers in her open doorway to wait for him, and takes the opportunity to peek around and see if she can learn who her neighbours are, since apparently it's recommended to go to the bathrooms and stuff with friends. 

Annisa walked back with Daria and is talking with her occasionally during breaks from attempting to install new, less hazardous shelving (she's just going to end up with one somewhat crooked shelf, is what she's going to end up with), but she can also meet her other neighbors! 

"Hello! Annie," she's tentatively decided to be Annisa around people who aren't white and Annie around people who are, "from Surabaya, artificing track. You?"

Ohgod she's so tired but she should really socialize more. Also this girl looks...normalish? Like someone who might have reasonable advice about boys being inexplicably nice to you? 

"Hi! I'm Shannon, from Canada, alchemy track." 

"Nice to meet you!" Not from Toronto or she'd have said that, but with a close ally already, apparently. "Is your" brother? Better not to assume that - "friend on our hall, too?" Going far for a screwdriver would be notably not following the advice their parents have all drilled into them, which might be why the girl looks so baffled.

"No, he's way far away. He's just being bizarrely helpful. ...I think he maybe feels bad because I carried in twenty kilos of his gear in order to get a slot here? But he just keeps being really nice and it's, um..." 

 - oh. 

"And you don't know if you want to go for it or not? What enclave?"

...go for what, teaming up? Seems like a good bet, if he's being that friendly.

"Sacramento. They must be decent, he's got really nice gear. Apparently there are some other Sacramento kids in older years, I had letters for them, but I couldn't find them in the cafeteria at orientation so Raleigh said he'd take care of delivering them." 

Shannon is also wondering 'go for what' because it's not like Raleigh has made any specific trade offers or requests yet. 

Annisa has ever read a list of all the enclaves and is pretty sure Sacramento is an American one but couldn't place it on a map if her life depended on it. "Well, have you got a stunningly useful affinity such that he's trying to butter you up for that?"

"Healing, and - I'm pretty good already and I'll probably be really good if I survive this place." Wow it feels uncomfortable and presumptuous to say that out loud, but. She is. "Um, I already gave him like three kilos worth of healing potions though, and I'm not going to know better spells for at least a few months probably." 

- wow Annisa is having stunningly good luck, luck good enough she kind of doesn't trust it, one next door neighbor is also artificing track and does wards and the other is a gifted healer. She exchanges glances to this effect with Daria. "Well, that's probably enough explanation in itself, but if you want I can keep an eye out for vibes when he comes back to help you with your furniture?"

"For...vibes? Like what?" 

Oh boy. 

"Uh, don't take this the wrong way....no surviving older siblings and you got all your Scholomance advice from loving parents who don't want their little girl to be going away to become a grownup?"

Shannon frowns at her for a moment, and then blushes crimson. 

"I - umm - my parents did have the, um, the talk with me? About - doing things with boys. But there's no way he wants that, I mean, I have braces!" At least her hair is no longer frizzy. Because she has a buzz cut. Which cannot possibly be an improvement, appearance wise. 

"- that interferes with some sex acts but not the most popular ones?"

Shannon's face is BURNING. "That - what - no I just meant I'm ugly." And now she feels even more embarrassed did she actually just say that out loud. 

"I think you look fine? We're all shaved. And if braces repelled boys then America wouldn't have such a teen pregnancy problem, would it."

This is so aaaaaawkward.

”So you think he likes me? Uh, as in, wants to date me?” Aaaaaaaaaah.

"I don't know, I haven't met him! If you want I can keep an eye out while he's helping you with your furniture and then tell you what I think?"

“Sure, I’d appreciate that!”

When Raleigh gets back, there’s a senior with him. 

“Hey guys! This is Larisa. Sacramento enclave as well.”

The girl smiles distractedly at them. She’s tall and muscular and swinging what looks like a literal battle-axe in one hand. 

“Um, nice to meet you, Larisa?”

The thing you do around enclave seniors is not waste their time. "Annie, Indonesia, Shannon's neighbor," she says, not expecting this to be acknowledged, and then scoots over to where she can work on shelf assembly while watching for Vibes.

Larisa does not in fact acknowledge this, beyond sweeping her eyes over Annisa. She parks herself just inside the door to Shannon’s room and starts incanting a spell in Russian under her breath.