Dareen is my oc based on Iago from Aladdin, and she is from the Scarabia dorm

"Let me guess. Kalim ate his lunch again back at the dorm last night?"

A voice with irritation made Kalim and Jamil turn their heads to find a girl with a crimson ponytail and bright blue feathers mixed in her hair. "Oh, Dareen! Hi! Yeah, I couldn't resist. Jamil's cooking is just too good." Kalim confirmed her guess, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

Her violet purple eyes directed annoyance at her housewarden. However, she acknowledged Jamil with a small smile and a respectful nod. Jamil returned the smile and nodded back to her.

Besides Jamil, Dareen also despised Kalim. While the vice housewarden hid that disdain well, the macaw beast girl was the opposite, making it visibly clear that she was annoyed. Honestly, it surprised Jamil how Kalim was so dense to notice.

"Man, I'm starving." Kalim whined, feeling his stomach growl, prompting a shaking head of disappointment from both his classmates. "Well, I guess I have to eat too. What do you want for lunch, Kalim?" His vice housewarden asked in a calm tone.

"Well, I saw some of the students getting chicken sandwiches. It would be great if you could find some. Oh! And maybe some fries and fruits to go with it!" Kalim requested with eyes shining in excitement at his options. "Alright then." His classmate responded, already dreading to wait in the long line of rambunctious, food fighting students.

"Don't. I'll get it for him. And you too, Jamil."

Before he got up, Dareen's voice made him halt, and his golden eyes glanced up at her only to find the macaw girl gone, heading to the line. "Oh! Thank you, Dareen! Ain't that sweet of her, huh Jamil?" Kalim commented naively, earning an eye roll from his upperclassmen.

However, he couldn't help but feel concerned. When alone, the freshmen would angrily vent and complain about their housewarden, even making it known to him to Jamil'a face. The vice housewarden had to make sure she kept her cool and patience, lest the bird beast girl decided to retract her talons and make his housewarden a meal meant for an angry macaw.

"I'm back."

Her voice and the trays slamming on the table reached his ears. "Aw sweet! Thanks, Dareen!" The white-haired boy thanked her gratefully, taking the tray handed to him by the girl. Jamil's hand was about to grab the tray. He wanted to check if potentially Dareen posioned the food. However, the macaw girl leaned into his ear, already knowing his thoughts.

"It's not poisoned."

Well, that relieved him. Then again, she didn't seem like the type to work with poisons.

"Huh. Dareen. It seems you mixed up our plates."

That comment caught the second year off guard, and he looked at Kalim's meal, and he was actually surprised to see that the Al Asim was right. Rather than what he had ordered, there was a bag of chips, two sandwich rolls, and a cup of cucumber sliced. No fruits, and no chicken among the selected options.

Jamil's tray, however, had all the food options that Kalim requested.

"Really? Huh. Silly me."

His yellow eyes went from the food to the macaw girl and could see that behind that sweet smile, her eyes held pride in them. Perhaps someone as naive as Kalim wouldn't see that. But through his experience with many kinds of assassins coming for the Al Asim, Jamil could see through her. A lesson he learned, one he follows to hide his schemes, is sweet words, and soft smiles were an effective mask.

"Oh, well. It's not a big deal. Shukron (thank you), Dareen." Kalim thanked her, smiling widely at her and started gulfing down on his food. She felt a bad taste in her mouth from that, disgusted that she had to help the sweet guy that annoyed her. The only reason she did it was to spare Jamil from the grueling wait and fight in the line for lunch.

"Wait. Dareen. Where's your food?"

Her eyes glanced back at the vice housewarden. He noticed she had no food on her. "Have you seen the line?" Glancing her eyes back at the line, her classmate followed her direction and spotted Ace and Deuce fighting over an egg sandwich. "I'm not ruffling my feathers over that." She pointed out firmly, fixing a crooked feather in her hair from having to fight one of the students for the fries.

However, her face turned back to his direction when the macaw was startled by some weight in her hand and looked back to find herself holding one of the chicken sandwiches. "I don't think I can finish all of this. I am willing to share this meal with you." Jamil offered her, positioning the tray to be between them so she could take some of fries and fruits.

Dareen looked at him, dumbfounded. He was not an easy person to read as he always held this neutral air to him. What made her hang out with him was their disdain for Kalim. However, seeing this act of kindness gaved her second thoughts. The corners of her mouth went up into a soft smile.

Jamil felt someone staring at him and glanced his golden eyes in her direction. Dareen felt her face flush and turn away, taking a big bite of her sandwich. The housewarden stared at her for a while before turning back to his meal with a half-smile. It seemed there was more in common between them than just one thing.

Shukron - arabic for "thank you"