Krut was ugly.

On his home planet, he was about average looking, but here on Cerul, he was about three times as hideous as Roxanne, which was ireally/i saying something.

His skin was about the same shade as Roxanne's, he stood six feet tall (and probably wouldn't stop growing until he was about six' five"), and he was very wide with bulging, rippling muscles and a very small head. His face was sharp and his jaw was chiseled, his blue eyes tiny, and iboy/i was he hairy!

And, standing next to Mace, who had the shape of a male model, he looked even worse by comparison.

But in the back of his mind, Krut couldn't help but think nearly everyone there was just as ugly as they thought him to be. It was a matter of conditioning, and Krut hadn't grown up around blue people. In fact, most all of them looked about the same to him. A few stood out here and there, and there was one or two girls he saw as Mace showed him around the school that he couldn't help but think, "if only they weren't so blue…"

Beauty is, and always had been, in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder is so often drawn to what they know. What the Ceruleans knew was blue, and what the Cryptonians knew was white.

Mace and Krut had spent enough time around one another that they never really thought of one another as ugly, so much as they considered each other different. They weren't really friends, but they knew each other well enough from Mendje's line of work and Krut's royal heritage.

The day went smoothly, for the most part, as Krut sat in on the classes Mace attended and tried to learn something from them (he wasn't so bright, even for someone on his own planet) and Mace introduced him to students, minions, and staff.

Towards the end of the day, Mace had introduced Krut to just about everyone he knew, including Reptung, who seemed caught between greeting him and moving on or pointing out that his sister bore a resemblance. He had ended up taking the middle ground and greeted the Cryptonian before excusing himself and dashing down the halls with Gishnar on his tail. There were just a few students and professors left that hadn't been introduced. Unfortunately, one of them was Deldja.

Deldja was considered beautiful. She had a full figure, a deep blue complexion, full, dark lips, and striking brown eyes. Her eyebrows were nearly nonexistent, dark blue freckles coloring her nose and the surrounding area, and her teeth were perfect little pearls. Her family didn't have wealth and power, but her parents lavished her with anything they could afford to give her, being that she was the only child and their "baby." She had no qualms with imparting that fact on anyone who bore the slightest inkling of wanting to know. But then, she didn't have many qualms at all.

For a while it had been expected that Mace and Deldja would become a couple, and even still there were a few who expected it, Deldja included, but Mace wouldn't have it. He didn't care for Deldja. She was, plain and simple, a brat. She did anything she could to be the most popular student within the school system, and stepped on a lot of people just about constantly. She didn't see anything wrong with picking on other students, or if she did, she hid it rather well, and her personality was lacking in other aspects as well.

She desired Mace purely for his body, his wealth, and his power. She was indifferent toward such trivial things as personality, intellect, and interests. Mace was not so shallow, and all that she did assured him in every way that he wanted nothing to do with her.

She was also far too forward for Mace's liking. It was considered a stigma for a girl to ask out a boy, mostly because it was uncommon and because some men saw it as a jab at their masculinity, and other women sometimes saw it as a threat. It wasn't, of course, unheard of, and sometimes amounted to great things—it had been Mendje who first suggested that she and Macklnn develop a romantic relationship, but that was neither here nor there, the point being that it was not commonly seen as a positive thing. Deldja paid it no mind.

The girl had no problem with proposing a start to a relationship, and while that on its own would be an annoyance and a nuisance to those who weren't privy to it, she was irelentless/i in her efforts, particularly towards Mace. She had questioned him at least a hundred and forty-two times on the subject, and she was always straight-forward with her intentions, no hints, no round-abouts, no indirects. It was always right out in the open immediately, and it always played to the same tune. The worst thing was, no amount of denial could stave her off for long. She was the worst person Mace knew, and he knew a great many people.

But still, upon seeing her in the halls, Mace made an obligatory stop with Minion and Krut following close behind.

"Krut," Mace introduced, "this is Deldja, and this is her minion, Flooze." Deldja regarded Krut with open disdain, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Nice to meet you," he greeted, holding out a hand, which Deldja took after a moment's hesitation.

"It's a sad thing that the pleasure cannot be returned," she said, and Flooze snickered.

"It's a rude thing to say to the Prince of Crypt," Mace advised. In the back of his mind, he was almost hopeful that somehow Deldja's rude nature would be something Krut liked and he'd take iher/i back with him to Crypt. It would certainly solve his problems with her.

"It's a rude thing to say to anyone," Deldja quipped. "But I find it an accurate portrayal of my feelings. Speaking of feelings…"

"You are not assisting your case in insulting my friend, Deldja," Mace interjected in a warning tone. She gave him a haughty, childish glare, which was imitated by her minion. "It was most certainly not a pleasure to see you on this very fine day, Deldja," Mace said, turning with a nod and purposefully neglecting the traditional farewell.

"Go ahead and play hard-to-get, Mace!" Deldja called. "You know you want me!" Mace growled and grumbled under his breath, brow darkening considerably.

"Cheer up, Little Buddy," Krut said, slapping Mace lightly on the back. "Lightly" was a relative term, and Minion just barely caught him before he hit the ground.

For some reason, Krut had always called Mace his "little buddy." He supposed it was accurate, seeing that they were only friendly terms, and in comparison Mace was rather small, but it was still odd.

"Deldja can spend eternity in the endless darkness of oblivion, for all I care," Mace said at barely more than a whisper, but with Krut's naturally-born sense of hearing, it might as well have been a shout.

"She'll get what she deserves, I'm sure." Mace imagined that it must be very difficult to keep any secrets on Crypt. He was glad it was Ceruleans and not Cryptonians that had a touch of mind-linking.

"On her own time, I'm also sure," Mace muttered, then looked down. "Fishpaste!" he exclaimed.

"Sir!" Minion exclaimed, and Krut snorted childishly, as if swearing had been funny past Third Year.

"Sorry," Mace apologized, stopping in his tracks and bending down. "My laces are broken again, is all. I'll have to fix the inner mechanisms on these boots when I get home…" He trailed off as he began fiddling with his laces, triple- and then quadruple-knotting them so that they stayed well in place. Krut leaned against the nearest wall while they waited, and, meanwhile, Minion spotted a familiar face that each of the other two failed to.

"Look, Sir," Minion said as Mace stood, pointing. "There's Aida! Let's introduce the two of them now before we lose track of her.

"Must we?" Mace asked, sounding as if it were some sort of laborious chore he'd rather not attend to.

"Sir," Minion said, giving him his special, "you know you have to" look. "You promised your Mother you would, and you iwill./i"

"Fine," Mace sighed, trudging over to where Krut was bending a metal pen into all sorts of shapes with ease. "Krut, come!" he announced theatrically. "There is a figure within the school that my Mother has ordared—ordered," he corrected, "me to introduce you to! Anon, Prince, and away!" Krut gave Minion a questioning glance as Mace sped off, and Minion shook his head.

"He's been watching far too many documentaries on the feudal era lately."

"Aida!" Mace exclaimed, and for the fourth time in three days, Roxanne and Mace encountered one another. "I'd like to introduce you to Krut," he said, and he didn't even have to point out to her who "Krut" was. First of all, the name was distinctly Cryptonian—they were very fond of hard sounds on Crypt, thus the hard "c" sound that began the name of the planet—and secondly, the large, white-skinned Ceruleoid was very hard to miss. With a gesture to the young man, Mace added, "he's the Prince of Crypt. I've been showing him around the school today and introducing him to all of the students."

"It's nice to meet you," Roxanne said quietly, eyes down. She knew she must look a mess, regardless of the very obvious similarities the two shared; ugly to one was ugly to all, wasn't it?

"You, too!" Krut exclaimed with a grin. His grammar, she was soon to find, was very loose and imprecise.

"How—How have you found our school system to be, so-far-in?" she asked, forcing the words from out her mouth. She had to swallow a great deal of apprehension in doing so, apprehension being what made up the better part of her social interactions.

"School's alright," Krut said, then grinned wider, leaning against the wall and stooping just a little so he was a little more on her level. "You know, you're kinda cute." Roxanne blushed, bowing her head further.

"Th—Thank you," she stuttered. "But—But really, I'm really not."

"Sure you are!" Krut exclaimed, reaching out to touch her waist. Roxanne flinched away, and Krut backed off a little, but he didn't stop insisting that she was pretty. It didn't make her believe it any more, and she just kept telling him she wasn't. It was clear that she wasn't seeking for appraisal the way Deldja might do, but simply didn't think much of herself.

On his own planet, Krut was average. He was smaller than some, bigger than others, had about an average amount of musculature, the same powers everyone else had—he was nothing special. But his Mother and Father had rule over the entire planet, so he was pretty much the catch of the walk (was that how that saying went? Catch of the walk? Didn't matter, he was loaded!). Here though, that wasn't true, not that he had expected it to be, but he was absolutely shocked to find another Cryptonian on Cerul, a pretty one at that, and even more so that she didn't seem to realize just iwho/i he was. Usually by the time someone said "Prince" he had girls jumping all over him.

"What're you doing here on Cerul, anyway?" he asked after their back and forth had gone on for some odd minutes. Roxanne was becoming anxious about being late for her next class, though she truly didn't want to be rude. "Your parents have a government job or something?"

"Aida isn't Cyptonian," Mace said quickly. In the background, he was also becoming impatient, and an irrational part of his mind told him that he needed to get Krut away from Aida iright now./i "She's human."

"Human?" Krut asked, bridling in surprise. "What's that?"

"She came from a far away planet called Earth," Mace explained quickly, "It's about nine billion light-years from here." Roxanne nodded, looking up and then back down.

"Woah," Krut said. "That's heavy."

"What?" Roxanne and Mace asked simultaneously, neither familiar with the colloquialism.

"Nothing," Krut said, not feeling like going into an explanation for reasons A and B, A being that he didn't really know the definition in this sense, and B because he knew that a Cerulean, particularly Mace, could spend an indefinite amount of time arguing the use and placement of words and slang. "So, you're like, exotic?"

iShe's not some kind of animal or fruit you know,/i Mace wanted to say, but held his tongue. Roxanne shrugged.

"I…Suppose so. I guess…I don't know…"

"Cool. What're you doing here anyway, if you're not Cerulean?"

"I was raised here," Roxanne said. "My biological parents were consumed, along with the rest of my planet, in a roving black hole. They sent me here before they died, and I was raised by my Cerulean family."

"Ah, crabnuggets, that's gotta be rough. You know, you wouldn't even know you're human to look at ya. Ya look just like a Cryptonian!" Mace and Minion winced visibly at his choice of words, Gilda's brow darknened, and Roxanne just bit her bottom lip. Krut didn't even notice. He thought he was giving a compliment, but…

"Come on," Mace said quickly, pushing at Krut's arm to get him going. "We're going to be late for the Halls of Study, and we don't want Aida to be late to her next class, either, so let's get going now shall we?" He said it all in one breath, and Krut seemed to be a little confused at the quick reaction. He was definitely inot/i that bright. "I apologize for our abrupt departure," Mace said with a nod in Aida's direction. He was on the verge of blushing in embarrassment for Krut's behavior. "But we really must be going, and I shall be seeing you again an hour after school has ended! So long!"

"See ya again, cute stuff!" Krut called with a wink and the snap of his fingers as he allowed himself to be lead away. Minion followed after them, mouthing a quick, "so sorry" at Gilda before running after. Gilda and Roxanne made a quick dash for their classroom, reaching it just as the late alarm sounded.

"He was…Nice," Gilda allowed as she and Roxanne settled into their seats near the front of the classroom.

"He…tried to be," Roxanne agreed in a whisper, then hid her face in her hands. "But he was iso/i ugly and clueless! I hate to sound so shallow, but…" She shuddered. "That's what iI/i look like!"

"Nonsense," Gilda snapped. "You look so much better than any Cryptonian on your worst day! You saw how wide he was—just think how big and buff their women must be!" Roxanne managed a smile and set a hand discreetly on the dome of Gilda's suit.

"You're the best," she thanked.

"I try," Gilda said, offering a smile in return.

"You succeed."

"And you need to succeed in this class, Miss Cerebellum," Professor Jeckdal said, overhearing the conversation and casting a disapproving gaze her way. "So I suggest you and Gilda stop conversing and begin taking notes."

"Yes, Sir," Roxanne squeaked, lowering her head as other students began to laugh. Another glance from the Professor quieted them again, and he went back to using his laser pen to etch the lesson into the surface of the front wall, which was made of pure light energy. She felt a sudden sinking feeling in her gut, and Gilda seemed to sense it, setting a robotic hand on her Mistress's shoulder.

It was only a matter of time before people who had seen her talking to Krut started telling everyone else. Who knew what they'd call her then? For that matter, who knew what they'd ithrow/i at her then? But then, they couldn't get much worse than ibooks,/i could they?

Author Comments: Props are in order for Tuptaju on dA, who guessed that Krut was Metro Man, because, well, he is! XDXD
Freakin' Deldja...Sheesh...Her minion's name even sounds bad...Flooze...Like floozy...XDXD
SELF-TYING FLIPPING SHOES! THAT'S RIGHT, I WENT THERE! XDXD, I got a lot of sleep last night-this morning-this afternoon-whatever. I didn't go to school. I got a lot of sleep. I'm energetic. So there. XDXD
Cerul had a feudal era? Why yes, yes it did. Because I can, that's why.
...Krut is kind of an idiot. -.- XDXD