I don't know who you are, but you're still you [ZhongChi]

Monoceros Caeli VI: I should've let you know

Classes were a boring affair. His lecturers just droned on and on and on in their usual boring, monotone voices, and Ajax was pretty damn sure he'd get more emotion out of a damned text-to-speech. Taking a peek into his bag, Ajax found the highlight of his day; Lapis wearing a tiny paper hat while munching happily on an apple that Ajax had bought before lessons started, afraid that his little buddy would get hungry before lunchtime.

Noticing his presence, Lapis looked up at him, the apple core in between his tiny paws, letting out a small, quiet trill as he wagged his tail. Ajax couldn't help but let out a smile, gently patting Lapis' head between his tiny horns, before turning his attention back to the lecturer's slides before anyone noticed the little critter in his backpack.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Ajax gently slung his backpack over his back, careful not to jostle it too much lest he hurts Lapis, before booking it to the cafeteria. There was pizza, but Ajax wasn't too sure if lizards could eat bread and grains, so he opted to purchase a pear on the side to toss inside his bag, grabbing a pizza slice for himself.

He knew that he didn't have to always eat at the cafeteria, where they served cheap food that rotated every day to give the illusion of giving less fortunate kids a healthy diet, when there were a variety of fast food places and restaurants littered all over campus, but for one, Ajax wasn't a picky eater, and he knew that most of his friends would be here.

Speaking of friends, he could see Venti running towards his table, yanking Diluc behind him who was sipping grape juice from a carton impassively, which was just perfect. He wanted to talk to Diluc about the party, since he didn't want to leave Lapis behind at home, where he'd be lonely while Ajax was out with his friends. He knew that the redhead had a pet eagle, but he wasn't sure if Diluc would be okay bringing pets into the Angel's Share.

"Childe!" Venti slammed his hands down on the table, "Policy Studies! Please!"

"You can always drop the course, you know." Diluc muttered, slipping into a chair.

"Oh shush, you." Venti groaned, as Ajax carefully propped up his bag and tried to search through his notebooks without hurting Lapis.

"Oh, Diluc, I was looking for you. I was wondering... if I could bring a pet along with me?"

"I wasn't aware you got a pet." Diluc snorted, "But sure. It's a private event, so the usual "No Pets" rule that Angel's Share doesn't count. Dawn will be hanging around, and I think Razor might be bringing his new adopted puppy."

"Razor has a puppy?" Ajax asked, surprised, still rummaging around in his bag.

"Yeah. According to Jean, Barbara was doing some charity work and was hanging out with Razor since Lisa was at her Librarian job, and Razor absolutely fell in love with this little puppy, and it didn't take too long for Lisa to sort out the paperwork for him." Diluc replied.

Venti piped up, "Wait, so I can bring Dvalin?"

"You mean your super grouchy budgie?" Diluc raised an eyebrow, and Ajax frowned, "I thought he was called Stormterror. That's what Kaeya said, anyways."

"Nope. His name Dvalin." Diluc grumbled, "Just that he got sick once and he was in the manor while Venti was busy. He nearly bit off everyone's fingers when we tried to put him back in his cage, proceeded to shred half our papers and homework, and was a literal menace."

"Look, Diluc I already said I was sorry!" Venti whined, "I couldn't keep him at home at that time! You know I had to do recordings and rehearsals for Music class! But please, can I bring him? I know he's sorry! It wasn't his fault he was sick and had food poisoning because one of the twins accidentally gave him the wrong food!"