<div class="floatleft">(http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140209180936/monstergirlencyclopedia/images/c/c6/1391828247505.png)</div>Name: Zenobia<br/>Location: The Institute, Classroom 1A<br/>Tagging: Sparx, open<br/>Warning:<strong>SUPER LONG POST</strong>(Due to Zephy being okay doing all the questions in one go.  also, I understand, Shana ^^ No worries!)<br/><br/>Hmmm....he seemed to be relaxing around her already.  That was odd...perhaps it was due to the talk of technology?  Was that his comfort zone, perhaps?  Useful information if she was going to get on this human's good side, to say the least.  Perhaps she had chosen better than she thought...though he likely would need some working with to get up to par with her idea of an ideal partner, if other tech focused people she had seen were any indication.  It wouldn't do to have her partner unable to at least hold his own for a little bit if she wasn't around or was otherwise busy, after all.  Though, his comfort seemed to have vanished when she spoke to the overly egotistical seeming fleabag behind her, turning a tad into fear.  That made her bristle, just a little.  He was going to be her human, after all...though then again, he probably didn't know what all that entailed yet.  For the moment, she just shook her head and spoke offhandedly.  "Don't worry too much about him.  He won't get you, trust me on that."  It was about as close as she was going to get to verbally saying 'you're under my care, I won't let anything happen to you' as it was going to get right now.<br/><br/>She then tilted her head a little bit as Sparx actually looked her in the eyes, more puzzled than scared now.  They weren't bad eyes to look into at all, she noted, and hers weren't nearly as harsh as he might have imagined they could be.  Sure, they were an unusual red in color,  and the pupil was a slit much like a cat's eye, but they were surprisingly softer than the deadly appearance the rest of her body held.  In fact, if he was any good at reading emotions and the like, her eyes would speak volumes more than her words did.  Behind the annoyance towards the teachers and Eden's behavior, she was already feeling a little protective of him.  After a short moment, and a smile on his part, he replied.  "80's rock, huh?  So...the music I've really enjoyed listening to on this ipod was made a good twenty something years ago, at the latest?"  The notion seemed to surprise her about as much as her stating what she liked surprised him.  In actuality, that ipod had been her first real extended encounter with music of the human variety.  It had all sorts of songs on it, and displayed titles and artist names, but she hadn't been sure when the songs had been made until now.<br/><br/>When he played the first song, he actually managed to get a small smile out of her.  "Yeah...that's exactly what I am talking about.  Stuff like this actually makes me think humans might not be so bad if they can make music like this.  No offense or anything."  Her opinion of humans as a whole was still pretty low, but at least she was trying to not offend Sparx too much.  Plus she openly admitted that there was at least one good thing she had found so far.  That was a good sign that she was at least starting to try, right?  He then put on a different song, one that made her furrow her brows a little bit.  She didn't immediately respond to the question, instead listening to the music being played so she could give him a full answer.  The song was about halfway over by the time she answered.  "It's not too bad of a song.  It sounds a little bit different than the ones I really like so far, but it's definitely not bad.  Think we can continue listening to music while we fill out this assignment?"  Whether or not he was willing to keep music going, she was ready to get this over with so maybe they could both get out of the classroom and work together on something maybe.<br/><br/>She found it odd that there was only one question on the paper at this time.  Still, though, it was a pretty simple one.  "Any one place, huh?  Well, let's see...before I came here to this place, once I was old enough to be on my own I took up residence in a jungle type area.  It was pretty wild out there, and it was very much survival of the fittest.  Definitely dangerous, though it was also really pretty.  Lots of colorful creatures and plants around, though you really had to be careful.  The rivers were clear, and there was no shortage of food if you knew where to look and weren't afraid to get dirty...I think the best part though was when I sat in the tallest tree I could find to watch the sun set while eating whatever it was I had managed to outsmart and hunt down that evening.  Knowing I had made it through another day while enjoying both the view and the fruit of my own labors."  She waited for him to write it all down, and was prepared to write down whatever it was he told her.  Needless to say, it was a surprise when the question faded and changed.  "Well...that's new..."<br/><br/>She stared at the paper for a long moment before answering the next question for him.  "Three favorite foods, and explain why?  Are all these questions going to be this strange?"  She sighed a little.  Well, best to get it over with.  "I'll just stick to what I have gotten to try so far during my stay here.  My favorite thing I've probably ever gotten to try is a cheeseburger, without the pickles.  It just has so many different layers of texture and flavor...I dunno, it's just really satisfying to eat for some reason."  She shrugged a little bit.  "...but I can't stand the taste of pickles, so yeah.  Anyway, closely following that is steak.  I am not sure why she was so willing to share, but some woman at one point gave me an extra that her man had been cooking shortly after I had lost my edge..."  She paused a moment, narrowing her eyes.  She was still sore about that mutagen, it seemed.  "...but I got to try one.  I didn't know cooked meat could taste so wonderful until that day.  You might say it was my first taste of human prepared food.  As for the last one....this is slightly embarrassing, but I had to go and dig around in garbage on a few occasions just to find food sometimes.  Most humans weren't like the lady I just mentioned....anyway, there was this...this meat of some sort that was wrapped in some sort of crunchy exterior.  It had bones in it, which weren't a problem, but since it was evening I'm guessing it was recently thrown away leftovers that hadn't been bought that day.  I think it was called Kentucky Fried Chicken?  Seriously though, that crunchy exterior made that food amazing."<br/><br/>Again, she waited for him to answer the question and waited for the next to appear, just like she would be doing until they were done.  "...a pet?  No, I can't say I've ever had one of those.  I would imagine, however, it would be a lot of maintenance and consume time in taking care of them.  Not for lack of trying, there was a giant lizard I tried to keep as a kid, but my father said no...."  She shrugged.  Not really a whole lot she could say on that question beyond that.<br/><br/>She paused for a moment at the next question, sighing a bit before responding.  "....I would normally say home, back to the jungle I was in when I got pulled into this world was, but I have no idea if what these two clowns at the front of the classroom did to me would stick or not.  I likely wouldn't survive there in this weakened state, and I don't really have anywhere else to go but here so....I don't have an answer to this one."  In this instance, she seemed a bit more...vulnerable than she tried to let on.  If only for a brief moment until the next question came up.<br/><br/>"Two piece, of course.  I mean, really, why would I want to wear a freaking one piece?  Do you have any idea how hard it would be to get these wings into an abomination like that, much less figure out how my tail will work?  No, two piece will more easily accommodate both those things and allow me to show off a bit more of my figure at the same time."  She shrugged a bit.  "...granted, I probably would need the bottom custom made to accommodate my tail anyway, but still.  Easier than trying to figure both that and the wings out."  She didn't even hesitate in answering that one.<br/><br/>"The worst fight...."  Zenobia paused for just a few seconds.  "...the worst fights were with my father.  Actually, the only fights.  He wanted a son, and all he ever got was me.  My mom didn't live long after I was born, and...well...he never found anyone else, to my knowledge.  So you can imagine how life was, with him being bitter that he had a 'weakling' of a daughter.  Eventually it came to a boil just after I was old enough to take care of myself, we had a huge blowup of an argument, and we went our separate ways.  Never heard from him again, doubt I ever will."  It was hard to tell her true feelings on the matter.  She was avoiding eye contact, and masking everything else fairly well.<br/><br/>The seventh question got a bit of a sound of amusement.  "Well, I hinted at this earlier, but...clear skies with the sun setting off in the distance, with colors of all sorts leaking out across the horizon.  It really is an awesome sight to behold.  You have seen a sunset before, right?"  If he hadn't, it was something that would have to be fixed.  She wondered where all on campus would be the best spots to view such things at the end of the day?  Something she'd have to look into, that was for sure.<br/><br/>The next two questions actually fell into the same boat for her.  "I...can't really say I've really read much of anything in the way of books.  I mean, sure, I know HOW to read, but I've never really taken the time to sit down and go through a book of any sort.  I've just had a lot of other stuff I'd rather be doing, you know?  Hate to say it, but I don't have an answer for this type of question either.  Unless newspapers count, anyway.  I suppose I've read my fair share of those, and they've had both positive and negative effects on me..."<br/><br/>Zenobia was oddly quiet for a while on the tenth question before answering.  "Well...provided I even get to live that long, given today's circumstances...I don't really have anyone to invite except for you, as of right now.  Most people don't like me, and I can't say I blame them for feeling that way.  So....as of right now, you're the only one I would."  The hidden little thing to take note of there was that she was acknowledging that he was being nicer to her than really most any other human she had encountered, and that it did mean something of some sort.<br/><br/>"....the hell kind of question is this?"  Zenobia stared at the eleventh question for a good moment, not sure exactly how this was remotely important.  "Uhhh....considering this isn't something I've ever thought about in the first place, I'm just going to pick the first shape that came to mind and go with a cylinder."  ...close enough.  Surely that would be an acceptable answer, right?......right?<br/><br/>She sighed a bit heavily on question twelve.  "Man, these questions feel like they're targeting me to an extent.  I've never really had friends in the first place.  All I've ever had was my father, then I didn't have him once we went separate ways.  I was then on my own until just moments ago, when we wound up partnered."  What was with this questionnaire and trying to make her feel bad?<br/><br/>"I am going to have to go with incredibly inconvenient on this one.  I mean, think about it....sure, I could hunt small rodents and birds and eat them, or just otherwise scavenge in general, but then I also have to worry about being stepped on, swatted, or otherwise smashed into oblivion.  Not a fun thing to worry about in the least.  As if that weren't enough, I can't imagine what kind of nightmare it would be like to deal with the things I -normally- hunt for food, or even the things they hunt.  This is not a fun idea in my mind in the least, I'd rather stay sized just the way I am, thank you."<br/><br/>"Why did I come here?  Well...I got tired of trying to struggle on my own.  This whole reliance on humans really put a crimp in my way of life I am used to.  I tried to fight against it for a while, but when I finally realized it wasn't ever going to work like I wanted....I gave up.  I found out about this place, applied to join, and boom here I am."  She sighed a little, glancing towards the teachers at the front of the room, glaring a little bit as she did so.  "Doesn't mean I like it at all..."<br/><br/>"Sunshine or rain?  Well...both are important.  I think I prefer it to be sunny though, if for no other reason than the rain messes with my fur in ways I don't overly like too much."  She made a slight face at the thought of it.  Not only did it make the fur stick to her body, it made her smell kind of like wet dog to an extent.  She hated that smell, very much.<br/><br/>The next question made her grin, actually.  Now this was a better question, one she could work with a bit more.  "Well, there is one song I ran across in the ipod that I felt fit me pretty well.  You probably are familiar with it, but the first time  heard Eye of the Tiger, I was just thinking 'oh my god, that's totally me' the whole time."  She paused a second.  "Well....except for the parts where men are described, that is.  But you get my drift."<br/><br/>"Coffee.  Definitely coffee, as black as a starless night sky.  I'm not overly fond of either of the other two things in all honesty.  If water had been an option though, that's what I would have picked."  She nodded a little bit, seeming to remember the few times she had gotten to drink coffee.  It really did wonders for energizing her, and she found the taste to be quite appealing too.<br/><br/>"Oh, the biggest disappointment in my life?  That's easy.  How about that time when I was forced to rely on human kindness to function anywhere near the levels I SHOULD be at for the remaining days of my life?"  Her gaze was once again directed towards the two teachers at the front of the room, and boy, if looks could kill.  It was clear she was very bitter about being in this boat that their genius idea had forced her into, and it would take quite a bit to help her get over it...<br/><br/>Zenobia furrowed her brows, deep in thought for the next question.  She actually needed to think a little bit for this one.  "I think...I will go with ashes and cinders on this one.  My father raised me near a volcano, so....all my earliest memories, and all the lessons I learned from him when I thought he cared about me...they're tied to the smell of fire."<br/><br/>The next question got a small laugh out of her.  "Well, I dunno...you tell me.  It's not like I've really got anything on other than what I'm wearing as it is."  She grinned a bit more widely than she had so far.  Maybe she could use this question and resulting answer to make him uncomfortable again.  That could be fun.<br/><br/>"...one secret?"  Zenobia eyed the paper distrustfully when the second to last question popped up.  "...well.  I guess I can trust you with one if you trust me with one of your own."  She moved her hand to his device, actually attempting to turn the volume up should the music be playing to make it harder for those with better than average hearing to listen in on them.  Granted...she wasn't entirely sure HOW to turn the volume up, but she tried anyway based on her earlier observation of Sparx turning the volume down.  She then leaned in, whispering right into Sparx's ear, seemingly oblivious to how it might make him uncomfortable.  "I have a soft spot for overly cute things."  It was a bit embarrassing to admit, as shown by the slight traces of blush now on her face...she was tough and strong.  She shouldn't have a weakness for things like kittens and puppies, and yet she couldn't help herself.  That being out of the way, she moved so he could whisper a secret back into her ear.<br/><br/>"...yeah.  Yeah, I guess I do like you well enough.  You're not too bad for a human, and I feel like you might actually grow on me."  She nodded a little, seeming to accept him more fully.  She wasn't really regretting her choice in picking him so far, and things looked like they might work out okay with them being partners.<br/><br/>"...so I think that's all of them.  Does this mean we're done, and free to go, or is there more stuff we have to go through first?"  She tilted her head, more than ready to be out the door by now.