Could This Be Home? (Beyril and Lani; Private)

Tien looked at all the windows, counting off in Thai, "How... which one is mine?"

"We will find out when we get inside," Eve said, smiling reassuringly. "There are gardens outside, too, and you can keep plants in your room, if you would like." Still smiling, she held out her hand for Tien, waiting to lead her inside.

Tien held onto her hand like she was afraid something was going to tug her away and followed inside, "Where are the cows?"

"There are not any cows here. Not in the city, anyway." She lead the way to the desk clerk, smiling at the resident adviser behind the desk, "This is Tien Phan." Evelyn said, nodding to the girl behind her but not making her come any closer. "Do you have her things ready?"

The girl, an unassuming, but smiling Chinese student, nodded in affirmation. Bending down, she lifted a shower caddie with one hand and a DWMA-issued backpack with the other. "Her key is hooked to the bag." She offered politely, setting them in front of Evelyn to grab. She holstered the bag over one shoulder, taking the caddie with her free hand. "The bed has already been made and the rest of her provided school supplies are on and in her desk. We already have some coat hangers in the closet and some spare blankets as well." A nod met Evelyn's approving gaze. "Whenever you are ready."

"Xièxiè." Eve returned in the girl's native language, receiving a grateful nod as they departed. "That is Zhen." She explained, looking back at Tien. "I helped her when she was new, too. She is a meister, like me."

Tien nodded, looking at the girl over her shoulder, "She is... Chinese?"

"She is." Evelyn said with a nod, "I helped her learn English."

Tien nodded, a bit of relief settling in to her muscles, "How many here?"

"In this dorm?" She asked, thinking to herself, "Roughly 127, if I remember correctly. Most of them are not here most of the time."

Tien nodded, "That is almost how many were in my village."

"The dorm is like a village," she said, leading her up the stairs to the fourth floor instead of adding the elevator to the list of the day's lessons and confusions. "It is just all indoors."

Tien nodded, "Once our house caught on fire because we bought a heater instead of using the fireplace." she said nonchalantly, "Father said gods were angry."

Evelyn shook her head, though not obviously enough to be evident. "Where did you keep the heater?"

"Next to the bed." Tien explained.

"It was too close," she said, gentle, patient, keeping her temper from her words. "Fire is started by heat, oxygen --- air --- and a fuel source. The bed was made of wood, yes?"

Tien nodded along, listening to the explanation.

"Did you understand?" She asked, leading the girl to room 424 and nodding to the number. "This is your room, by the way, Tien." Evelyn set the caddie down, pulling the backpack from her shoulder and unclipping the keyring.

"I think so..." Tien mulled over the words in her head, taking the key and tossing it in her hands, then fiddled with the lock until it opened.

Evelyn smiled, noticing how quickly the girl caught on. "That is the key to your room, and you just opened the lock. Now, the room is open. You can lock it to keep others from opening it, as well." The room had quite a bit of space, with two beds bunked on one side and a third already made and against the opposing wall to the first two. Three desks were set up in the room, the closest lining the wall behind the door, all uncovered. To the right of the entryway was a full bathroom, with one sink outside it and one sink outside, built into a vanity that they could not yet see. It was simple, but for Tien, it probably seemed impeccably lavish.

Tien seemed amazed, pointing to the beds, "Which... is mine?"

"The one with blankets," Eve said, leading her inside and dropping the caddie in the far closet, which had the spare blankets and hangers. "You can move them to another bed, if you would like, but they thought that would be easier for you."

Tien ran her hand over the blankets tenderly, goosebumps rising on her arms as she felt the fabric. She let her bag drop onto the bed as she clutched it to her chest, "This.... is mine..?"

"Yes," Evelyn clarified, grinning from where she stood, leaning against the side, bracing wall beside the vanity. "For the time being, the entire room and everything in it is yours. As a whole, the bed, the closet, and that desk," she pointed to the one that already had stationary on it, "And everything with them are all yours."

Tien nodded, looking at the room curiously, "I... I don't have enough things for the hangers." she pointed to her shirt, "Is all I brought."

"I have some old clothes that might fit you. So might my cousin," she waved dismissively, holding the backpack out with the other hand. "You get a charge card for the first week, when you settle in." Evelyn specifically did not mention that she funded the card herself. "You can get anything that you want, for the room, for yourself, even to send home, until you start class. Once that starts, we will find you a job to..." she searched for a word for 'supplement,' "...to go with the allowance you get from the school each week."

Tien nodded, looking at the front and back of the card. She rifled through her bag, finding a small, hand-sewn red and gold stuffed elephant with a small gold ring through it's ear, "Here." she offered, "For good luck, since you have been so kind. I made it on the plane."