Jag was walking next to Raynar, heading for lunch after the end of their third period, when he remembered the comments that had puzzled him that morning. He waited for a pause in the excitable youth's chatter before speaking, his Chiss manners too well ingrained for him to dismiss them.
"What did Jacen mean by a war this morning?" He asked before the other boy could blaze into yet another story of his misfortune. Now he paused, his stride faltering and his bright blue eyes going wide.
"It's nothing, just this gang of kids making trouble. They don't like us Demy kids." He replied after a moment, using what Jag had learned was a popular abbreviation for Independent Academy, the name of their school. He had a feeling there was more to it than that but before he could ask Raynar pushed the cafeteria doors open and he was blasted with a burst of sudden sound. While he'd had hints of such during the morning he hadn't yet realized just how different this place was from the Chiss academy he'd attended until this year. A wave of noise washed over him as he followed Raynar through the door and to the serving line. He took a tray and his lunch rather distractedly as his pale green eyes scanned the huge but crowded room and followed Raynar more by instinct than because he saw where he was going. He ended up seated between the blonde boy and Jacen, who mumbled a greeting around a mouthful of food. Then the middle Solo child jerked like he'd been kicked in the shin and Jag would bet anything it had been the impassive red-head sitting on Jacen's other side. Then Jag turned his gaze to the table's other occupants and realized Jaina was seated at what could be termed the head of the table with her regular posse. Across from him was a brown-haired underclassman with startling blue eyes, a bouncy blonde girl with emerald eyes, and a large wookie with a thick black stripe in the chestnut fur of his head. There were a few others but these were obviously the main players in this group of friends. Jacen had obviously finished whatever he was eating because he began introductions.
"Hey everybody, this is Jag. He just transferred here from Chiss space and he's gonna hang with us. Jag, you already know Jaina but the big guy to her right is Zekk. The other two are Jake and Darra, then there's Lowie; he's the wookie. Next to him are my brother Anakin and his girlfriend Tahiri." He explained, pointing at each with his fork as he introduced them before turning back to his food. Then there was the clop of hooves as another being approached their table and Raynar turned as scarlet as his shirt.
"Oh, Lusa! You made it today, this is Jag. He's new here and he's hanging with us so I thought I should introduce him to you. You look really nice today you know?" Raynar rambled, finally shutting himself up by stuffing food into his mouth. There was a quiet chuckle that reverberated up the table as the others took in his blush and rambling words. Lusa simply smiled softly and set her tray beside Raynar's. She was a centauriform girl with chestnut hair and tail. She wore a simple green, sleeveless shirt over her torso and nothing else as she had no need to cover her lower body. It was obvious from his furtive glances as he continued to eat that Raynar very much liked this recent arrival, and also from his comment that she either didn't always eat with them or she didn't always make it to school. Throughout the lunch period Jag idly listened their conversations, learning more in this way than he could have by speaking up. And when the bell rang to signal the next class he had a pretty good idea of the group's dynamics.
"C'mon, we all have this class together." Jacen said, nudging Jag in the direction of the door as he went to toss his empty tray onto the appropriate rack.