I apologize in advance if the next chapters seem scattered. Trying to study for exams while typing. It's not working. Either way, I don't own POTO. And any form of comment is welcome with open arms.

"Erik!" Maria pounded on the door. "Erik! Wake up! We need to greet the new kids. Get up!" When she heard nothing stir, she banged more furiously. "I will come in there if you do not respond within five seconds. Hear me? One... two... three..." She counted the seconds slowly. "Four..." She hear something hit the ground inside. "Five... you okay in there?" She could imagine Erik waking up on the floor and wondering where in the world he was. She got a groan in reply. "Come on Destler. We have teenagers to greet." She could practically see the look on his face. She bet, that for all the world, he had completely forgotten that the new foreign students were arriving today. "The first one will probably be here in five minutes." That was met by a flurry of activity that she could hear come from within. Quite suddenly, the door was pulled in, and Erik flew out. He was half-dressed, with a pair of khaki pants, socks, and his mask even. He still wore a sleep-shirt though. "You need this." Maria held out a shirt, he snatched it out of grasp and the door clicked shut before she even knew the shirt was gone. "Morning to you too!"
She called through the door. If all mornings were going to go like this, then he certainly needed an alarm.

He came out literal seconds later, completely dressed, and trying to smooth down his hair. "Morning." Maria smiled. He was clearly not a morning person, if that half hearted grumble was to indicate anything. He slipped by her and into the bathroom. She assumed that he was brushing his teeth, for she had seen his toothbrush when she herself needed to do the same.

"When your done, come upstairs to the kitchen." Maria heard him say something through the toothbrush, but wasn't exactly sure what. She took that as an acknowledgement, and started up the stairs herself. She wandered into the kitchen to look out the window. From her vantage point, she could just barely see the parking lot. She stared out at it, her vision focusing on nothing. She felt, rather than heard, him approach. He certainly had quite a presence! Very dignified, but dark, and majestic, just nervous. Certainly it was a presence that would make heads turn. And indeed, she turned her head.

He didn't look like he woke up minutes ago. He could have been up for hours, for all that she could tell. The only that implied that he just woke was that a bit of his hair was sticking strait up. She assumed it had been the bit he had been fiddling with when he walked by her. She chose to ignore it, instead handing him a muffin, and continuing to look out the window.

"We're on greeting duty for the first three hours. Essentially, we get to point people towards their prefects."

"Sounds joyous. Very exciting." She smiled at his sarcasm. It was a good thing coming from him after he seemed so sullen last night.

"Terribly so. In fact, how 'bout we start now!" She turned and pushed him towards the door. He went along with her without protest. He opened the door for the pair of them, and they walked down the stairs leading to their house together. She hadn't seen the car park, only pull up. A father was getting out from the drivers side, and the teenager, the other. The man looked Asian, possibly Chinese.

"Hello! Welcome to Arxs. I'm Maria Isse, and this is Erik Destler." She jerked a thumb at Erik before accepting the mans outstretched hand. Maria noticed that he was avoiding looking at Erik.

"Good to meet you. I am-" Not a Chinese name. Vietnamese then? "This is my daughter, Mai." Vietnamese definitely.

"Nice to meet you mr. Phan and Mai! Mai will be staying in Exter, which is that dorm there." Maria waved directed them to Exter, where Mai's prefects were waiting. "If you need any help whatsoever, then simply talk to anyone. Everyone is willing to be of assistance."

"Thank you ms. Isse." No thanks to Erik. Luckily he didn't seem to mind. Perhaps he was a morning person. He just wasn't great at the whole waking up thing. He certainly seemed to be in a much better mood than he had been last night. Maria shrugged inwardly. She could certainly ask him about it, but she had the feeling that the matter was best left alone. While the prefects of Exter rushed to help Mai unpack her things and get settled into her room, another car pulled up.

"You should greet these people." Erik seemed slightly taken aback at the suggestion.

"You did just see the Phan's reaction to me, did you not? I doubt that these people will react any different."

"Well, you never know. Besides, you didn't exactly say anything to them."

"The man couldn't even look at me." Maria grimaced. It was a true thing though. Mr. Phan had taken one glimpse at Erik, and immediately ignored him.

"Give these people a chance." Maria looked up towards his eyes. She could see them turn down to meet hers. "Please?" She mustered the sweetest voice that she could find. "Just this once?" He huffed, and Maria smiled at his defeat. The newcomers stepped out of a car, and seemed to be continuing a conversation in their home language. She nearly frowned; she couldn't identify the language (which wasn't saying much) or their nationality.

"They're Egyptian." Erik answered her unspoken question. Maria looked back up at him in surprise. He shrugged. "They are speaking Arabic with and Egyptian accent."

"Wait. You're saying that you can tell accents in Arabic?" Disbelief was evident in her voice.

"Can you tell that an English accent is different than an America accent?"

"Well yes, but I grew up speaking English. From what I know about you, you grew up speaking French." As he nodded his agreement, the Egyptians approached. Maria elbowed him, and he shot a fast glare at her.

"Hello. Welcome to Arxs School. I am Erik Destler, and my companion is Maria Isse." The poor family didn't know what to think of him, and Maria barely managed to restrain a smile. They spoke animatedly in Arabic to each-other. Erik's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes, this is where Exter dorm is." He answered their question. She hadn't even know they had a question. "If you go to those two girls over there," he pointed towards Exter's prefects, "they will help you unload and get settled in." The pair went over to the prefects and continued to mutter in their language. Maria looked at him.

"That wasn't too bad. You could work on your friendliness though. Try smiling next time." To prove her point, she made her lips smile. "And you do know it isn't terribly polite to eavesdrop." He didn't look guilty in the slightest.

"I was only listening because they were speaking right in front of us. That wasn't 'terribly polite', as you put it, either." He didn't even sound indignant, and Maria rolled her eyes. This was going to be an interesting three hours.

Please note that the name Phan isn't pronounced like Fan, but like Fawn, as in a baby deer. And Mai isn't pronounced as May the month, but My, like 'My oh my, what a wonderful day!'