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Feathered arms, talons, claws... Most harpies had those, but not all. Aldara had, at one point, been most impressed by how well her 'student form' masked what she was. So concerned had she been with fitting in, she'd forgotten what it had meant to be herself.

As a result, the harpy ghoul sported a set of well manicured nails at the end of slender fingers and the only real defining trait of her race were the feathers sprouting from her arms that were neatly folded back into a 'resting' position as she stretched out on one of the sofas in the Monster Dorm lounge. Feet clad in an entirely impractical pair of heels were propped up on the arm of the sofa and she seemed to be completely bored out of her mind, eyes almost crossing as they browsed over the words in the textbook she was trying to study.

Aldara felt the other ghoul's presence before she actually noticed her, the feeling starting with a strange prickling sensation that caused her to shiver, feathers rustling as she glanced up... Only to see someone inches away from her, peering over her shoulder, in her space, reading her book.

The harpy ghoul let out an undignified squawk in her startle, nearly leaping off of the couch and just narrowly avoiding cracking heads with the other girl as she sat up. It took a moment before she was able to gather herself enough for her feathers to fall back down, casting a narrow, suspicious gaze in the other ghoul's direction.

"... Hello." She had intended to throw on a few other words, and possibly a 'are you crazy?' and a 'what were you doing?' but anything else that she might have said was caught off guard when she actually looked at the other girl.

"You're a harpy."

Hello Captain Obvious.

"Yes, they're feathers and of course I'm a harpy. What else would I be?" In Halloween? Without some of her most defining features? She could have been anything, especially in the Monster dorms. She had met a number of other feathered monsters and it should have been no surprise that the other ghoul didn't recognize her for what she was immediately.

"Sorry." Her brow furrowed slightly, the tone of her voice softening just a bit before she restated herself a bit more nicely. "Yes, they're feathers and yes, I'm a harpy. The same variant that you are, judging by the look of things." She made a vague gesture at the feathers coming from the other ghoul's arms, another one coming right after to point the talons that served as the other ghoul's feet.

The traces of niceness faded away as suspicion returned. How long had it been since she had seen another harpy? She had not parted on good terms with her own clan. Had they...?

"I like it here. I'm not going back." She crossed her arms over her chest, facial features set in a 'and that's final' expression, softening only at the afterthought. "... Do you know Aleka? How is she? Is...?"

Now she was just rambling; spouting words without using her head. Logic would have told her that if she dug deeply enough in her memories she would know that there were no harpies in her clan who sported the same bright, beautiful plumage as the ghoul now across from her. Most of her clan carried the colors of the sand and sea of the island she called home. She's not here to demand you come home. She's a student, stupid.

Her shoulders sagged and her arms uncrossed, extending one hand out to the other ghoul. "My name is Aldara. I didn't know there were other harpies here at Amityville."

Her pale face flooded with color as the other ghoul glomped and nuzzled her. She was at a complete loss, entirely too startled to know how to properly react to the situation save for letting out another peep of a squeak followed by a cawking cough as she tried to find...

"Air... Jack, you're going to... Kill me... Can't breathe. Can't..." She brought a hand up, patting at the other ghoul's shoulder as though tapping out of a battle. At this rate she was going to wind up a ghost before hitting year two.

Would she have to repeat year one?

Could harpies even become ghosts?

"Great Pumpkin..."

Suddenly the other ghoul released her and she reeled back, taking that brief moment to inhale the most wonderfully deep breath of air she had ever been permitted to take in. For all of two seconds she was safe and then...

Oh. My. Jack.

The magpie harpy's hands flew up, taking a firm hold of the other ghoul by the wrists. "Stop... STOP." She said sternly, almost too sternly, and then as if that wasn't enough. "OH MY JACK I AM FINE. I AM FINE. I SWEAR. PROMISE." Between the two of them they were likely making enough ruckus to bring the whole dorm down to the common room and someone was going to wind up making inappropriate comments about ghoul on ghoul action.

Breathe. Just breathe... She reminded herself coolly as she tried to settle herself again, attempting desperately to recover from the shaking. "I'm going to let go of your wrists... And we're going to try this again, okay?" Think, Aldara, what would calm you down if you were over-exciteable.

"If you take a deep breath and sit down on the couch... I'll give you a feather. Jack knows you've already shaken a few loose..." The last bit was muttered softly beneath her breath.

"Yes." Aldara answered quickly to the first question, too quickly to realize that it might come off as an answer to the second question as well. Her mind reeled, quickly churning through how she could either safely wheedle her way out of accepting such a thing or... OR how she could use it to her advantage.

"Yes..." She said slowly, this time drawing the thought out of her head as she spoke. "Absolutely, but... But." She brought one hand up, fingers closed save for her index finger pointing straight up to signify the need for focus along with the absolute seriousness on her face. "You are not allowed to squeeze the life out of me again, got it? If we're to be sisters it means we must look out for one another, as rookery sisters do, and not try to sabotage or suffocate one another unless a situation specifically calls for it and it is completely unavoidable, understood?"

Aldara had no idea what she was getting herself into, or if it would even work... But it was worth a shot and it couldn't be too bad, right?

"I..." For a moment Aldara was caught speechless as her eyes drifted to the pin in the other ghoul's hand. She brought her hand up slowly, taking it from Mayaa as if she were being offered something precious like a rare gem, or a perfect bead. She ran her thumb over the surface of the pin, tracing the swirl in the stylized wing before doing something completely unexpected.

Aldara threw her arms around the other ghoul, hugging her tightly (although not nearly as tightly as Mayaa had grabbed her), feeling sentimental tears sting her eyes. "... No one's ever given me their pin before. I..."

She sniffed as she leaned back after releasing the other ghoul, bringing the back of her hand up to rub at her eyes as though she had something in them; dust, maybe, certainly not tears. "Thank you, Mayaa. I... Don't keep any extra pins on me, but I'll make sure I bring one for you next time, okay?"