A young human woman lets out a long sigh. "Hah...alright, let's do this." She looks up at the weathered building in front of her. She can't even tell how old it is, with vines and roots and moss covering what looks like the entirety of the exterior. Despite the crowded exterior, she finds the door easily and steps inside.

"Hey, I'm looking for a...Tierra?" She looks around to find that the inside is similar to the outside, and the reason why it's that way. A tall, older looking dryad approaches her with a warm smile. The woman is made of the same wood as the entire rest of the building, which she likely grew herself.

"Yes, that's me dear. You must be one of the new residents coming in today."

Tin blinks, surprised at the non-reaction to her appearance from Tierra. "Uh, yeah. Tin, in room 101?"

"Ah, perfect! I was worried since the semester starts tomorrow. Did you have a long trip here?" 

"Yeah, I live off the Southern Coast, so pretty far. My folks preferred if I waited to leave, since visiting's not much of an option."

Tierra frowns. "Oh, that's a shame. I could lease out an empty room to them for a few days if they ever came by."

"No, no, it's not like that." Tin waves a hand. "My family's all aquatic, so it'd be a mess trying to bring them anywhere. They're willing to, but I'm not trying to get them to do that."

"Oh, I see." Tierra nods. "That's understandable. Just because our families will do anything for us doesn't mean we want them to. Anyways, let's get you to your room, shall we?" She begins walking and Tin follows slowly. 101 doesn't sound like a very far room, after all.

And it isn't, with the two barely making it down the hall before stopping. Tierra pulls a key out of a dress pocket and unlocks the door before handing the key to Tin. "Here you are, Tin. Your roommates are...Aria, Mirabelle, Seren, and Voski. Hope you enjoy this year!"

"Th-wait, five? I thought this was a four person apartment?" Tin can't help but tense. She hadn't even set down her duffel bag and there was already a catch.

"It's a four bedroom apartment, dear. Seren and Voski applied to share a room, and that's actually to your benefit! You get to spend less on rent by splitting with them."

"...So I'll be paying a fifth of the rent, instead of a fourth?" Tin's hesitation sheds somewhat, as saving on rent may justify having another roommate to deal with.

"That's exactly right. Now, anymore questions before I go?" Tierra tilts her head curiously.

"No, that's all, thank you." Tin fully shakes off the initial shock, ready to rest after a long trip.

"Perfect. I'll see you around, Tin." Tierra waves before walking away, and Tin watches her go into some other room close to the front door.

Tin jumps back, falling over when she sees Tierra behind her own door, sweeping. "Huh?"

'Tierra' jolts, dropping the broom. "Ah, sorry, I'm not Ms. Tierra! I'm Mirabelle, one of the new residents."

Tin takes a minute to catch her breath, looking Mirabelle up and down. "A doppelganger, right?"

Mirabelle nods. "I'm sorry for the scare, but my sister doesn't really like me using her appearance, and Ms. Tierra said I could use hers, and—do you need help up?" She looks concernedly while closing off her posture, an ineffective tactic while carrying the height of Tierra.

Tin sighs and shakes her head, standing up with the help of the wall. "It's fine, I get it. Kind of inconvenient if you don't have an appearance you can use. You can use mine, if you'd like, though the leg will take time to get used to." She pats her left leg, a white prosthetic that sticks out compared to her dark skin.

"Oh, thank you!" Mirabelle looks Tin up and down before shifting and taking on the other girl's appearance...then frowning. "Oh, I see what you mean." She takes a few tentative steps as Tin. "I've used prosthetics before, but—"

"This one's different, right?" Tin can't help but grin. "I customized it some over the years, so it's different than the default someone else would use. You should take bigger steps." Tin walks around Mirabelle, watching her figure it out.

"Oh, this is impressive." Mirabelle relaxes as she walks around as Tin and becomes more comfortable. "Thank you, um, oh goodness, I never asked for your name." She averts her gaze out of embarrassment, and Tin has to deal with the strange sensation of finding herself cute.

"Tin, Tin Tinker." She drops her bag by a couch across from Mirabelle before sitting down.

"It's...nice to meet you, Tin." Mirabelle sits in a nearby chair, shifting and tugging at the edge of her skirt, which is dangerously short.

"I don't care if anyone sees up my skirt, you know." Tin rolls her eyes as she sits in a much more relaxed position, legs neither crossed nor widespread.

"Ah, I understand but...I personally care." Once more, Mirabelle averts her eyes.

"Alright, you do you."

Tin awakens hours later, having accidentally dozed off on the couch. The room's bathed in an orange light as the evening approaches. Looking forward, she sees that Mirabelle's no longer present. She stands and looks around just in time to see the front door to the apartment open, and an avian girl enters with an easygoing look and a backpack, shutting the door behind her with a talon.

"Yo, I'm Aria. You?"

Tin rubs her eyes with a groan. "Tin. Mirabelle's also here, you can tell that you see her because she's shy."

"Oh, a doppelganger or something, yeah? And what are you? Off-season werewolf?" She points a wing at Tin and raises an eyebrow.

Tin sighs. "No, human. No, I'm not joking. Yes, I had a couple doctors check. No, my parents aren't human too."

"Woah, easy there. I wasn't going to interrogate you. So people ask a lot?"

"Yes, and tend not to believe me. Sorry for going off." She scratches the back of her head.

"It's cool, I can't imagine how much of a pain it'd be. Anyways, you pick out a room yet?"

"Uh, no. I was more tired than I thought. I don't know which room Mirabelle took, either..." Tin looks around, but finds no sign of which of the four rooms has been taken.

"Eh, it's fine." Aria lets her backpack slide to the end of one wing before tossing it into the empty chair. "You wanna doze for a bit? You look pretty tired and my wings are sore from flying here."

"Are you serious?" Tin looks the other girl up and down. "You flew here on your own?"

Aria chuckles. "Yeah, cheaper than a commercial flight. Took longer, but it was worth it. Now, I'm gonna crash on the couch for a few hours. You joining me or no?" She takes a large leap to land on the couch behind Tin, sprawled out.

"Fuck it, sure." Tin sat on the floor to remove her leg before climbing on top of Aria, who wrapped her in her wings.

"You know, people rarely say yes to a nap when I ask them. You can wrap around me, by the way."

Tin does so, reaching under Aria's wings. "I'm tired too, and don't really care that much. I doubt the others will mind when they get here, either, since they're sharing."

"Ooh, how fun. Wonder if they're open." Aria grins as she and Tin fall asleep.

"Hey guys!" The peace of the dimly lit common area is interrupted by a hefty voice and the sound of the door hitting the stop as it swings inward.

"Voski, they may be asleep!" Aria sits up first, forcing Tin to open her eyes and both to see the new arrivals. A werewolf girl with a bashful smile and bushy beard and a deathly pale vampire girl.

"Not anymore, guessing you're Voski and Seren?" Aria speaks up to address the new arrivals, while Tin simply frowns while turning to be in Aria's lap and look the duo up and down.

"Yep, that's us! I'm Voski, and this cutie here is Seren." Voski wraps a clawed hand around Seren, who's easily pulled and almost hides behind Voski.

"Apologies for the late arrival, we aren't exactly the most diurnal." Seren bows slightly, her gaze shifting over to the side of the room repeatedly.

"It's cool, isn't that right Tintin?" Aria looks down with a grin.

"Wh-yeah, it's fine." Tin pinches the bridge of her nose, unsure what to think of the nickname. "What are you looking at though, Seren?"

"Ah, uhm. That'd probably be me." Mirabelle speaks up, still appearing as Tin and peeking her head out of one of the bedrooms. She steps out bashfully, stumbling a little. She currently has a large blanket wrapped around her.

"Heya!" Voski grins and waves with her free hand. "How about you come sit down so we can all get introduced?" She begins to walk to the couch, but Seren slips out of her grasp to close the door. She continues undeterred, only looking back for a moment before sitting in one of the chairs while Seren takes the other.

"Ah, sure." Mirabelle nods and walks over to the couch as Aria and Tin move to make room, with Tin getting out of Aria's lap. Once they're arranged, Mirabelle sits beside Tin.

"I'll start, and we'll go to my left." Aria smiles as she sees Seren sigh in relief. "I'm Aria, my pronouns are whatever, and I'm an avian. I don't have a lot of things that bug me, but maybe make sure we're all awake before calling for us."

Voski scratches the back of her head. "My bad, heheh."

"Guess I'm next, huh?" Tin looks around before continuing. "I'm Tin, my pronouns are she/her, and I'm a human who doesn't like follow up questions about that. I'll need more space than just my room pretty often, but I keep it neat."

Mirabelle nods along before snapping to attention when she realizes it's her turn. "Ah, um. I'm Mirabelle, but Mira is fine. I'm still figuring it out on the pronoun front, but she/her works. And I'm...a doppelganger. My sister isn't fond of me using her appearance, so if you'd allow me to use yours, that'd be appreciated. It's totally fine if not, though!" She holds up her hands defensively.

"Works for me." Aria shrugs easily.

"Oooh, sure!" Voski says excitedly.

"Perhaps not, my apologies." Seren says after a delay for thought.

"Thank you very much." Mira nods with a weak smile. "That's all I had, though."

"Then I'm up!" Voski loudly speaks up as she stands. "I'm Voski the Werewolf, heheheh." She then drops down into her seat and looks to her left. "Serry?"

Seren sighs. "My name is Seren, and my pronouns are she/they, and I'm a vampire. Voski's pronouns are she/it. As for things to know, the two of us will share a room and each contribute a fifth of the rent, and...I tend to have a greater blood thirst than others. If anyone is willing to contribute, that'd be appreciated.

"Can't, unfortunately. Avians can't handle losing much blood." Aria shrugs with a regretful smile.

"Sounds interesting, I'm fine with it. I know my blood type and all that if it's necessary." Tin sits up as she responds.

"I don't mind, but...I'm not sure how doppelganger blood works?" Mira shifts uncomfortably.

"Y-you don't know?" Seren looks surprised and curious. "Doppelganger blood is considered a delicacy among connoisseurs due to the mix of flavors, and is highly valuable within the medical field for its compatibility with essentially anyone regardless of race. People are willing to play exuberant prices for it, regardless of their purposes." 

The room's silent after Seren speaks, with everyone looking at her.

"Ah, sorry for rambling." She brushes a lock of hair behind her ear. "Anyways, that'd be greatly appreciated, though I understand if you'd like to change your mind with this new information."

It takes Mira a solid moment to process the information before responding. "Oh, no, it's fine. Thank you for letting me know, though."

"Anyways, that is all from me. Which of the rooms is mine and Voski's?"

"Don't know, Mira here's the only one who moved in." Tin tilts her head over to the left.

"Oh, then can we get that one across from Mira? Setting up curtains right on a window for Serbear's a pain and a half!" Voski tilts back with her emphasis, almost falling over.

Aria and Tin both nod in agreement, then Aria looks to Tin. "You got a preference between the other two? It sounds like you need a lot of space when you aren't all tired, but you can come to my room anytime."

Tin nods. "I'll take the one beside Mira, so I'm not blocking the kitchen if my work ends up out of my room. I'll join you once I put my stuff up, if you don't mind."

"Wait, you two don't already know each other? But you were all lovey-dovey!" Voski looks confusedly between the two.

Aria shrugs. "Nah, I just like naps with people. Couldn't miss a chance when I saw how tired she looked when I came in."

Tin reaches down to reattach her prosthetic. "I'm kind of cold blooded, so having someone warm to be against helps with sleeping, especially up here."

"Huh? I thought—" Voski turns to Seren. "Ser, didn't you say that humans are warm-blooded?"

Seren jolts a little at being called out. "Well, um, that's not exactly what I said, and it's rude to so openly ask—"

"It's fine." Tin cuts in. "It does go against the typical idea for a human, but both of my parents are fish-folk, so I just didn't have any warm-blooded parts to inherit I guess."

"Oh! I getcha." Voski nods energetically. "I've got some mole on my mom's side, so my eyes aren't the best when it's that time of the month."

"I see." Tin's eyes widen with an interest, but it fades back into tiredness as she yawns. "Do we plan on making a chore list and everything tonight, or can that wait?"

"It can wait, especially since we arrived so late. I'm sure everyone needs their rest. Good night everyone, and good luck with your first day." Seren nods and rises, with Voski following her out.

"Uh, good night." Mira stands up and walks back towards her room, but stops to turn to the remaining two. "And thank you for letting me use your appearance." She smiles and heads into her room before the two can respond. 

"So, an interesting group, huh?" Aria looks over to Tin.

"Yeah, I guess so." Tin stands up and picks up her bag. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Alright, see you there." Aria lazily waves before rolling back over the back of the couch and landing on the floor, heading to her room.

Tin heads into her room, a somewhat bare space containing an open closet, a bed with basic sheets, and a nightstand dresser. She places her duffel bag on the bed and proceeds to take everything out and to its place. Clothes to the closet, tools to the dresser, laptop on the nightstand, and so on. Once done, she looks around and nods before heading out.

"Hey, there you are. I was worried you dropped immediately." Aria lightly chuckles to herself as Tin enters. 

"No, just hanging up clothes, thought I'd get it over with." Tin sits on the edge of the bed and removes her prosthetic before crawling up to Aria at the head.

"Fair, I'm just too tired to bother." Aria wraps her wings around Tin, who leans in closer and replicates with her arms. "Good night, Tin."

"Good night, Aria."