Kera Langley/Keras Rant/

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Kera Langley collapsed on her bed with a frustrated thunk. Enough to jar the wall with a solid thump. And that, in turn, was enough to convince Shelly Lightfoot to put down her book, stick her head in Kera's room, and ask, "Okay, what's wrong. Fail an exam at school?"

The younger girl ave an exasperated groan and blew the stray lock of red hair that threated to crowd over one eye. "No."

"Then what's with the dramatic thump?" Shelly asked.

"Everyone in this DAMN place hates me. Why do I even bother staying here?" She kicked the foot her her bed in anger.

Shelly was certain if Kera kept this up, they'd have everyone else in the Foundation dorms knocking on their door. "Why doncha save Zen's furniture and tell me what's wrong?" Shelly asked, pulling up a chair.

Kera sighed, staring at her school books. "They just all hate me."

"So you said, but why? Prove it." Shelly folded her arms, waiting for the explanation.

"Well first it was Paw."

"South Paw? Ain't got a mean bone in her body."

"No, Midnight Paw."

"Same comment applies."

"She ratted me out to Mr. Zen..." Kera began, but Shelly cut her off.

"...and then totally did something about the problems you came to her about later. And it was just cause she was worried over something you said." Shelly pointed out.

"Over something Shi said about her little supers group. Did Shi ever get punished for saying that crap?" Kera retorted.

"Probably." Shelly shrugged. Kera was referring to an incident a few months back, before joining the Foundation, where Shi had told Kera not to look towards ASPCA for friends, as it was a 'furries only club', as Kera put it. Shelly only knew Kera's side of the story, as she had told Kera when they first went into being roommates together that Kera could always talk to Shelly about whatever was on her mind. But Shelly realized that the 16 year old girl's tales were generally one sided and that there probably was another side to her stories. "But it was also probably done discreetly and quietly without any of us ever knowing. Paw could have dealt with Shi for saying that crap to you, and we'd never know. So... who else?"

"Mr. Zen."

"...Who was only going off Paw's lead and ensuring the safety of his people. He probably likes you just fine." Shelly rebuttled right back.

"...and Jin." Kera added, counting them on her fingers as she went along.

Shelly sighed. "I only met him once, in the D, after a few beers. He seemed fine to me." This whole conversation was, of course, taking place after several days of hearing Kera complain about Kera had taken a Quantum blast to the face and ended up in the hospital which resulted in Jin laughing at her to her face about it. "Besides, he treats everyone like that. Nothing personal to you."

"Being a jerk isn't an excuse."

"No, but it's Jin's problem - not yours. Did you talk to Mr. Zen about him?"

Kera shifted a little, uncomfortably. "Well... yes.... kinda..."

"Kinda?" Shelly anxiously awaited to hear what 'kinda' meant in this context.

"...Well I went to his office with him to talk about it, we got to talking about Rikti and the future, and the conversation sorta fizzled from there without ever reaching any kind of closure."

Shelly raised an eyebrow. "Well if it's still bothering you, pin him down and talk to him about it again."

"Mr. Zen will keep me from being alone with Zoe, but he won't make the same stipulaiton on furries being alone with kids in the Foundation."

"Furries weren't eternally at war with human kids either. Who else?"

"Graff."

"Oh great, what did *he* do?"

"Well when I went to try to make up with Jin about all that happened, he totally took Jin's side against me."

Shelly snorted. "Graff is a teenage kid with delusions of grandeur and his own airship the size of his ego. Don't let yourself get all worked up over what he says. He asked me once if I'd fly on his ship like I used to in 1937 on the Stronghold. I told him no. I could never take a kid seriously as a captain." Shelly sighed. Not many men were even half what Captain Connors had been.

"But obviously Mr. Zen likes him."

"Mr. Zen considers him an ally, that's not the same thing as liking someone. Who else?"

"Michiko."

Shelly blinked. "Who?"

"Michiko. Ishikawa"

Shelly nodded. "Oh right, her. She always seemed to copying my accent I got from my mum, seemed kinda fake. Didn't see much of her. What about her?"

"Word around the D is she bunked off with Jin."

Shelly sighed and threw her arms up. "Just cause some dipshit at the club says she's bunked off with this guy that treated you like shit, your gonna assume she hates you?" Kera blushed a rosy red at Shelly's reprimand. "Seriously, that's just paranoia. Just cause she bunks with Jin and Graff doesn't mean she's like them - she might even be a good influence on them."

Kera grumbled. "I'll believe that when I see it."

Shelly sighed, stood, and put a comforting hand on Kera's shoulder. "Seriously, girlfriend - lighten up. Everyone is not out to get you. There's no armada of nictus or kheldian space aliens coming to kill you for reforming. Talk to Mr. Zen. Ace your exams. It'll be fine - you'll see."

Kera sighed, looking at her school books with dread. "Do I have to?"

"You'll be proud of yourself when you do."

"Did you graduate?"

"Hon in 1920 girls only went to school on sundays - what does that tell you?"

"You didn't graduate?"

"I'm self-taught." Shelly grinned. "Take it easy, I'll bring dinner up later."

Kera nodded. "Okay. Thanks for listening to my ramblings, Shelly."

"Don't mention it, kid." Shelly waved to the redhead as she left the room to return to her own reading.

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