Robin
It was a particularly cool afternoon when Craig had arrived at Newton's Cradle and he was exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to pass out on his bed back at Evelyn's cabin, but seeing as that was a continent away, it was impossible. 

Scanning the dorm halls, he stops in front of the room number written on the key card. Swiping the key card with one of his hair strands, he struggled to open the door as his limbs were full of luggage and a variety of potted plants. Closing the door behind him, he placed the large snake plant he was holding down before calling out to his supposed roommate. 

"Hello," He awkwardly called out, "I'm Craig, your new roommate, pleased to meet you." He said with a smile, transferring the luggage he was carrying in his right arm to his left to extend his arm out to his roommate. It was odd greeting a new person. For most of Craig's life, he'd been treated as livestock and he only had one person he could really trust after that. "I hope we could get along well."
Britney
_ _ 

** 【 "But you promise, right? You promise to come back. You know I can't stand them." 】**

【 "I will be back as soon as possible. You must know that they won't let me leave this institution until I have... Certain things under control. I understand your frustrati— 】

 *Creaaaak-* 

Glancing to see what seemed to be a character ripped straight out of a fantasy book, Craig's roommate would pause with his mouth still left ajar. What was supposedly just an innocent glance could easily be interpreted as a *Sharp* Glare, piercing through Craig's tinted glasses-covered eyes. He let out a sigh, continuing on his conversation over the phone as his roommate placed down a concerningly big snake plant down.

【 "... I'm sorry, Mei. My roommate has arrived. I will call you again later. Goodbye for now." 】

** 【 "Da Ge-" 】**

*Beep* 

Tucking his phone into his untied trench-coat's pocket, the shorter figure would turn to the new addition to the dormitories. His dull black orbs stared back at him as Craig would eventually (and awkwardly) introduce himself. He would have to get used to the Western names, that was for sure. He had arrived just a few minutes before him, and he was still suffering from jet lag (who wouldn't after an 8 hour long flight?), and he hadn't even unpacked yet. His much neater luggage leaned against his side of the room, which would be towards the window. 

**"I hope we could get along well."**

Shaking his hand, his roommate would give him a polite yet brief bow, his arms to his side. 

"I am Wan Haoran. I will be your roommate for your time at this institute. It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Jones. Do you need assistance in moving your baggage?" 

Finally, his identity would be revealed, light Chinese accent and all. Standing moderately short when compared to Craig, his seemingly unkempt black hair contrasted against his neat slightly formal attire. Haoran didn't know this person, who he was, why he had such exotic looking hair, or why he was so tall. All he knew was that he was named 'Craig Jones' and had a serious obsession with plants.
Robin
"Lovely meeting you, Wan Haoran, may I call you Haoran?" He asked, putting the luggage he was carrying on the floor by his bed. Stretching his back slightly, he let out a groan. "It's alright, I don't have much on me anyway, I mostly just need to set up these plants." He assured, continuing to unpack his things. 

Craig thought Haoran was a bit scary, but didn't think to comment on it. His head was buzzing, all the other 'people' (for the lack of a better word) in his head chattering away. 

```"His accent is funny" "He looks angry" "He called you by your last name lmao" "He looked at us so funny earlier"``` 

A flurry of different thoughts, most of which not belonging to him bounced around his skull, forming insufferable and barely coherent mumbles. 'shut up all of you.' he thought to himself, getting slightly frustrated. 

His hair hovered above him, extending upwards towards Haoran's face. *"You're funny"* The strand of pink and blue plant like 'hair' spoke aloud. Noticing this, Craig quickly yanked the strand away from Haoran's face "I'm so sorry man, I cant control them well yet." He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. *"Let go Craiggg"* The strand of hair he was clutching whined. "Don't do that again or I swear I'll cut you off." He grumbled, letting go. 

Picking up a couple of succulents, he placed them on a shelf by the window. "Sorry about that again, you must be confused." He sighed, "Each of these buggers has a mind of their own and they're quite troublesome." He explained, pointing at his hair.
Britney
_ _ 

"Yes, you may call me that. Alright. If you say so." 

Straightforward, a bit too robotic, and an equally as straight posture. It was like he had a meeting in 15 minutes, and had no time to offer Craig anymore kind gestures beyond the bare minimum expected of a decent human being. As the taller male would continue unpacking, Haoran would tend to his items and take off his coat to hang by his chair, revealing more of his expensive-looking clothing as he seemingly typed something in his phone. All of a sudden, he'd turn around to see one of Craig's.. Hair strands approaching his face. 

He didn't move, his stoic and blank expression morphing into a more curious one instead. Did it *Look* Like he was curious? No. He looked like he was about to punch the strand. But he stared, and he stared hard in awe as he looked at the talking piece of hair. Perhaps getting a roommate *Was* A genius idea after all, one that he wouldn't regret in the span of 10 minutes. 

_ _

_ _ 

*Fascinating.* 

"Why, your hair is interesting.. Does it always talk?" 
 "Make it talk again. It's very important for my studies. Don't cut it off."

Disregarding the snake-shaped hair's words, his subject of staring would shift to Craig himself as he apologized - first apology ignored too, for the pursuit of scientific discovery - he took one step forward to take a look at the hair closer, to see just how magical it really was. 

**"Each of these buggers has a mind of their own and they're quite troublesome." **

 . . .?! *真的吗?!*

One more step forward, a lot bolder this time, a lot less personal space respecting. 

"Tell me more. What do they do, Jones? Your hair. I assumed that they held *Some* Form of power, but not this. Not this at all. Tell me, Jones, what your locks are capable of. I need it for my work, this kind of information."
Robin
"They only talk if they're interested in someone other than me. Other than that they usually just send their thoughts to my brain." He answered, picking up his large snake plant. "Ah er, I cant exactly force them to talk-" 

His head was buzzing again, the hair seemed very amused at Haoran's curiosity. 

```"Wow what a funny guy" "Should we humour him" "Oh man i wonder what he wants to do with us" "Should we mess with him" "Dude I thought he was gonna rip us off Craig's scalp"```

As Haoran begin to walk towards Craig, he backs up out of instinct, clutching the potted plant. "Ah- er, my hair?" He began to move away from Haoran as he comes closer, his leg pressed against the side of the bed. "Well, they can talk, er, they can grab objects and carry some weight." His posture straightened, moving his face away from Haoran slightly, using the snake plant as some form of shield. 

"Ah uh they make some form of acidic fluids that could be drunken diluted as a form of healing potion but will bur-" Caught up in the movement of backing away Craig tripped on the bedframe and was about to fall backwards before-

*Chomp* 

In a quick effort to save himself from the fall, one of Craig's hair strands bit onto Haoran's shoulder, using him as a clutch to pull Craig up. 

In a panic, he put the snake plant down and grabbed Haoran by the shoulder, inspecting the bite. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry Haoran," He said, looking at the bite on Haoran's shoulder. It didnt leave any blood, but it was drenched in acid. 

"Oh this will leave a rash," He said in a panic, going over to his bag to search for a rash cream. "I'm sorry again, I've only been here for a few minutes and I've already caused trouble." He sighed, focused on searching his bag. "That'll leave an itchy rash soon if you dont treat it." 

"Here, please use it." Craig said, handing Haoran a small tube of cream.
Britney
_ _ 

Interesting. Very interesting. Too interesting to pass up. He was dead wrong to believe that his abilities were strange - in front of him was living *Breathing* Proof of that. He seemed far too invested in Craig's hair to notice himself rapidly approaching the much taller male, let alone process the fact that he was uncomfortable by his actions. 

"**Well, they can talk, er, they can grab objects and carry some weight.**"

**"Ah uh they make some form of acidic fluids that could be drunken diluted as a form of healing potion but will bur-"** 

His seemingly dead eyes light up with curiosity, his head tilting as he took a closer look at his head again. They were so strong they could grab objects? Carry weight? *Healing properties?* The applications of such power ran through his head like 10 bullet trains all at once, such a versatile ability to be used in combat. He could've sworn that the words of a 30 minute rant were rapidly climbing up his throat, but before he could say anything he would —

 ***CHOMP!***

. . . "O-" 

Quickly, to stop himself from crashing on top of Craig, he'd hold onto the bed. 

*Blink* 
 *Blink* 

What had just happened? Slowly, his optics would drift to where his shoulder was seemingly bitten. He had expected it to be red with blood, but to his (pleasant) surprise, they were just drenched with some form of.. Liquid. He wasn't sure what it was, but almost robotically Haoran would reach to his breast pocket to take out a handkerchief to wipe it off. As Craig scrambled to find whatever cream he was talking about, he'd fold his fabric neatly and return to where he took it, before his gaze landed on the suspect. 

**GLARE**

In reality, he was just shocked. His eyes, however, told another story - one of a mean glare. It took him one more blink for a change of expression, returning to his rather stoic face. 

"It's quite alright, Jones. Thank you. I apologize for overstepping your boundaries when I should not have. Please tell me next time, as I.. Well, people tend to say that I can't 'read the room'. I was merely fascinated with your powers is all." 

He'd ask Craig about the other students too, but he knew that he was probably just as new as Haoran was. No use in trying then. Taking the cream gently, he'd apply it to the now dry area of where the acid was.
Robin
"Ah no no, don't apologise man," He said, loosening up slightly after Haoran's apology, "You don't have to be sorry." He picked up the large snake plant with both his arms, his hair carrying the rest of the plants he brought with. Scanning the room for a proper place to set them down, he finally stopped to take in his new living area. 

It was miles different from his home back in the woods of America. It was cold and the surface was made of hard concrete, certainly a change of pace from Evelyn's cosy, wooden cabin he's grown a custom to. However, it was much more roomy than his old place which was quite nice. 

"How 'bout you, what powers do you have?" He asked as he walked around his side of the room, placing his array of potted plants around the place. "Hope you don't mind the plants, none of these should cause any allergies if you're worried about that." He hummed, hanging a comically large pot of maidenhair fern above his bed. 

The array of potted plants scattered about the harsh concrete room was a stark juxtaposition, however it made Craig feel more at home. Now much more comfortable, he had already forgotten what was making him panic just 5 minutes ago. 

"Mm I thought this place was for delinquents and people who don't have much control of their powers." He thought aloud, sitting on his bed. "I don't peg you as the kind of guy who would be a delinquent." Yawning, he rubbed his eye through his multicoloured glasses.
Britney
_ _ 

"Apologizing is what is seen by society as the bare minimum, no? People tend to do that despite it not being their fault, but I don't see any point in that. I'm simply telling the truth." 

Haoran frowned a bit in confusion, not entirely understanding what Craig was saying. Not have to be sorry? Well, he had already apologized, so what was he supposed to do? Tell him that he *Wasn't* Sorry? He was, and there was no point in lying about it. Perhaps this was one of the social contexts that he didn't understand either. Enough people had told him that he severely lacked in that department, anyways. Haoran hoped that Craig wouldn't find any trouble in adapting to his rather strange personality. As Craig made his half of the room a mini jungle, Haoran enjoyed the blank concrete of his half. He was much used to this blankness than.. Color. 

**"How 'bout you, what powers do you have?"**

"..Perhaps now would be a good time to show you." 

Convenient. Suddenly, a nearby suitcase whirred to life - it was hidden behind the bed previously, but had metal limbs the entire time. On it was metal wings that would scale the shelves, claws attached to the side pulling his neatly folded clothes into his closet. Haoran merely glanced at it doing its work, before his gaze returned to Craig. 

"My doctor advised me to not hold heavy objects often, so I put my powers to good use and prepared a robot to do the heavy lifting for me. That is my power - to create robots out of inanimate objects." 
 "Not as fascinating as acid-filled plants nor capable in combat, but certainly practical in everyday life." 

Compared to sentient plant hair, his abilities were definitely duller (both metaphorically and literally in color), the grey steel limbs smoothly climbing up and down the shelves as it placed Haoran's belongings that were previously in boxes to their proper locations. It seemed to have a mind of its own, placing his notebook on the desk, pausing, and then sliding it elsewhere as if it were deciding which would be a better place. The creator of said robot would stay on his bed, much more invested in the conversation than watching what he had already witnessed before a million times. 

**"Mm I thought this place was for delinquents and people who don't have much control of their powers." **

"Incorrect, unless said delinquents are included in the latter group as well. It's a facade. Everyone here has powers, and barely anyone here is a delinquent.. I would hope." 

He corrected, bluntly and sharply, almost like a robot himself. Brusque. He eyed Craig curiously, tilting his head ever so slightly as he continued to speak. Him? Delinquent? No, definitely far from it. As if he had even the opportunity to become one. If his father knew he was even just a smidge cavort-like, he would've received a lengthy talk and an equally as lengthy punishment. Definitely not Craig either. Haoran had a better chance at being a 'punk' compared to someone like Craig.

"No. I'm no delinquent. My verdict was not guilty, and I doubt you are one either. You're far too soft-spoken and friendly to be one, Jones." 

Haoran gazed at the plants scattered around the room. 

"I don't think delinquents like plants either. Or perhaps that'd be a generalization. Are you tired? I will not bother you if you need rest."
Robin
Watching as a suitcase with robotic limbs crawled out of the bed Craig's eyes turned wide. His relaxed, leaning position on the bed swiftly moved into him watching curiously, his body hanging over the side of the bed, his hair following the robot's movements carefully. "Woah," He muttered, "That's so cool!" He exclaimed, hanging over the side of his bed like an excited large dog. 

"Not as fascinating as acid-filled plants nor capable in combat, but certainly practical in everyday life."

Craig violently shook his head at Haoran's remark. "I think your power is just as cool- if not even cooler," He said, a stupid grin on his face, "This hair is annoying, I can't be left alone with my thoughts else I go insane and I can barely control them half the time." He groaned, tugging on one of his hair strands. "I would much rather be able to control robots than this mess of a power." 

It was true, Craig really doesn't like his powers much. After all, it was the source of his pain and torturing for the past 15 years. He wished he could shave it all off but it was really no use, it would be too much pain to handle for it to only grow back soon after. 

```"Aww don't be too harsh on us, you know you wouldn't survive without us"``` 

True again, 

Craig knows that deep down, without his head of hair and without his powers, he would likely not have survived his early childhood. He was born into poverty and had he not been shipped to the cult, he would have likely died of starvation much faster than he would torture. But he doesn't want to think of that kind of thing- no, it would be a waste to think about. Such a taxing thought and for what? 

"No. I'm no delinquent. My verdict was not guilty, and I doubt you are one either. You're far too soft-spoken and friendly to be one, Jones."

"I figured," He said, chuckling lightly. "You seem too proper to be a troublemaker." He returned to his relaxed position on the bed and yawned lightly. "Me? I don't think I'm one either but it's kind of hard to say when my hair is a walking contradiction." He sighed, tugging on one of the hairs. 

Craig was far from a delinquent, by all means. He's generally sweet and will quite literally do anything you ask of him, no questions asked. He never really had the chance to be a brat, really, he was used as produce for 15 years of his life after all. Evelyn never spoiled him either, he always had to clean up after himself and help around the house and never once did he complain or not agree to a thing he was asked. 

"Are you tired? I will not bother you if you need rest." 

"I'm a little tired, yeah," He said, laying down on his bed and yawning, "It was a long trip to get here." He hummed, letting his eyes close for a bit. "Did you just arrive today as well? I'm sure you're tired as well." He opened one of his eyes briefly, glancing at Haoran. "If there's some produce in the fridge I can make us something to eat if you're hungry."
Britney
_ _ 

Haoran was taken back by the sudden expression of.. Enthusiasm from his roommate. He didn't expect such thing, leaning backwards slightly as he hung over the bed. He frowned. Not exactly in distaste, but rather in confusion. Craig seemed to be more and more peculiar, stranger than what he first expected out of a roommate. He cringed slightly as Craig tugged at his hair strands, but said nothing towards those positive remarks. He wasn't exactly sure what to say to them, (a strange feeling of awkwardness bloomed in his chest) so after a few moments of glancing around he opted for the commonly accepted response - 

"Thank you."

Though, he could understand that Craig didn't seem to enjoy his powers. There wasn't much you could enjoy when your hair constantly talked in your mind (which, Haoran would add, was extremely fascinating. He ought to write that down later.). He also didn't know Craig's past, and neither was true vice versa. Would Haoran have had a better life without his powers? Possibly not - he wouldn't have been able to rediscover his passion in robotics again if he hadn't received them. He would've continued attending private school, and he would've continued having no friends. 

**"You seem too proper to be a troublemaker."**

. .? 

*Really now?* 

"The 'troublemakers' I'm used to are just students who pay too much money to break a few rules. They speak just like I do." 

In fact, they tend to speak a lot more formal and more eloquent than he could. That was one of the only ways you could get around the strict regulations of his former institution, anyways. He squinted a bit at Craig, taking a better look at his hairs before shaking his head in disagreement.

"I wouldn't put your hair and yourself together. You have different character from... It. Them. As for you, I doubt you would ever come close to being a 'delinquent'." 

He wasn't misjudging either - Craig seemed a bit.. Malleable. The type to apologize for things not even his fault, do whatever you request him to do.. Perhaps Haoran would have to keep a close eye on this roommate of his to ensure his kindness doesn't fall in the wrong hands. It is nice people like him that are abused, after all. He'd take off his coat and drape it over his desk's chair as Craig confirmed his suspicion. 

"No, it's alright. I don't buy groceries often. You should rest if you feel tired. I just had coffee so I'll use the remainder of my energy to visit the school's facilities. You can contact me through the forum's private chats, yes? If there is anything to happen that needs me." He said as he moved, taking his phone with him to leave his robot to do the work he had tasked it to do. Haoran would glance at Craig one last time, before opening the dormitory door to exit the premises, closing it behind him with a gentle click. 

*Hm. Maybe I should invite him to dinner later. It would be rude not to.*