Before long they found the room Daria had told Nika about and entered. It had been set up with two beds, dressers, night stands, a couple chairs, lamps and a wall mirrior. Nika quickly moved one of the beds over next to the window. "I call window spot!" She yelled as she jumped on to the bed and stretched out with the sun bathing her in warmth. Instinctively she started to purr. Turning onto her side she rolled to look back at Nicki. "Is that ok with you?"

Nicki laughed, putting her bags on the other bed. "Yeah chicky, that's fine." She opened her bag and started to pull out random things. "Sorry about the whole 'pulling you off in a nervous panic' thing. I'm not really shy around boys, just gotta get shy around people. And...well...he was super cute" Nicki chuckled, pulling out a picture of her family from the bag and setting it on the table next to her bed. "I can just be a bit of a dork sometimes...you'll have to get used to it" Nicki shrugged a little, sitting down and turning towards Nika.

Nika moved herself so that she was laying on her stomach facing Nicki. Her legs were stretched out and the tip of her tail flicked softly from side to side. She watched Nicki unpack some things to include a picture of her family.

"It's ok, you can use me as your security blanket if you start to get nervous and I'm around." Nika giggled at what she just said. "Ok maybe not a security blanket but you know what I mean right?"

She looked at Nicki's family picture again. "You have a nice looking family. You all look very happy and close." Her eyes started to tear up a little but she wiped them before any tears could run down her face. "I wish I had a family like that."

Nicki chuckled lightly, happily listening to her new roommated slight ramblings. She was a sweetie, there was no doubt about that.

"I'll remember that, thanks. I'll just drape you over my shoulder, curl in the corner and suck my thumb til everyone leaves" Nicki giggled, kidding Nika.

Nicki smiled as she looked over the picture on her nightstand. She didn't know how to respond to Nika's comment. Yes, they did look happy and indeed they were when the photo was taken, but things were different now. Now she had secrets from all but her mother, and those secrets would seriously hinder the happiness of the lovely little family in the portrait.

"You don't have any family?" Nicki asked sadly, looking over to Nika.

Nika smiled and giggled at Nicki's playful response and she piuctred herself draped over Nicki's shoulder. "You're funny. I hope we can become good friends. Maybe we can even get you to be more outgoing."

She looked down at the floor for a moment then back to Nicki. Her ice blue eyes locked on Nicki's eyes. "No, I don't have any family. In fact I never got to meet my parents. The only adult I knew from my childhood was my adopted father. He told me that when I was born my parents gave me up for adoption because I was born with my cat features. So he took me in."

Nicki smiled as Nika told her she hoped they'd be friends. She hadn't heard something like that since she was a little kid and you ran over and asked people if they wanted to be best friends. "I bet we'll get along just fine Nika...but don't get your hopes up about me becoming more outgoing. That's a long shot"

Nicki sighed, looking over to Nika again. "Well then, isn't he your father? Family isn't blood..." Nicki asked.

Again Nika smiled at Nicki. "Well, that's true but does family put you in a pit and make you fight people while he bets on you to make money? Then when you start doing better at defending yourself does family put dogs in the pit to fight you and make comments about how funny it is to see dogs fighting a cat girl?" Nika started to full out cry now. She sat up on her knees and took off her collar revealing a large scar going slant ways down the left side of her neck. "Does family let this happen to you?"

Nicki rushed over to Nika, hugging her tightly. Nicki always did this. Sometimes, with her power, she picked up on information people were involved in, but that didn't mean that they wanted to talk about it. She often times brought these up because it was simply the things on their mind. Nicki shushed Nika, stroking her head affectionatly (like any other person, not a cat) and hugged her tightly.

"Don't worry Nika. You aren't there anymore. You'll never have to do that again. You're in a school with other people like you and you'll learn more than you could ever think to know and you'll never have to see that evil man again" Nicki spoke softly.

Nika had closed her eyes for a moment trying to shut out the images in her head. She didn't know Nicki had come over to her until she felt Nicki hug the sobbing girl. Nicki's voice was calming and reassuring. She felt her roommates hand stroking her head which also helped calm Nika down and made her purr softly.

"I'm sorry for all that. I know I'm in a better place and I'm sure I won't see him again." She wiped away her tears and put her collar back on. "Oh, sorry about the purring bit. it just kind of happens when someone pets me even if they aren't treating me like a pet." Nika blushed a bit.

Nicki smiled a little as Nika started to calm down. She was glad Nika was calming down; Nicki was really worried about her there for a while.

"Oh, don't worry about it, sometimes it happens and people just need to cry. And don't worry about the purring, it was cute. And as long as you know I wasn't thinking 'Oooh a kitty' then we're all good" Nicki smiled, sitting next to Nika on her bed.

Nika couldn't help but laugh at Nicki's last statement. It was the Oooh a kitty bit that did it. "I know you didn't mean it that way when you were stroking my head. I know you were doing what you could to comfort me and I thank you for that. You see like a very caring person and you're kind of goofy too so that's cool. I like making people laugh as well as let others make me laugh."

Nika took a deep breath and released it. "I'm better now. Thank you for being here." She looked over at Nicki's bed and saw some of her clothes. "Hey do you wanna go shopping with me? I only brought a few items of clothing with me, and if I'm going to be staying here I don't want everyone to think I wear the same clothes over and over again."

"Okay good," Nicki smiled. "I figured you would I just wanted to be sure. And hey, anytime you need help or need some comforting, let me know: I'm a great hugger"

Nicki smiled happily, linking arms with her new roomie. "Let's go get you some new threads girlie. And I'll pick up some of those cat ear headbands so when we go out we'll both get weird looks" Nicki smiled. She hadn't had a friend who wasn't family in a long time. She was happy to have one.

Nika stood up with Nicki as she hooked her arm again. She then listened to Nicki mention her wanting to get some cat ear headbands and Nika laughed again. She thought it was cute of Nicki to even make such a gesture after seeing her almost have a panic attack when that boy was in the infirmary.

"Ok but you gotta get a tail too. Otherwise it just throws off the whole look." Nika formed a square with her fingers and looked through it like a fake camera at Nicki. "And don't worry; if you ever need saving from a boy don't hesitate to call me ok? By the way I'm a good hugger too. So I think we're pretty much set as long as we got each other to lean on."

Nika was exhausted. Her training sessions with Neena were getting longer and longer, but she seemed to be getting better at lasting for longer periods of time. That last session was truly a rough one though.

Changing into a comfy pair of sweat pants and a tank top Nika stretched out on her bed as she remembered the events from earlier. She couldn't believe Neena had a bot fight her. Although if it had been Neena instead of a bot then the school might need a new teacher. Nika couldn't help but giggle softly. She should've known that it wasn't really Neena when there was no conversation when Nika arrived at the Danger Room.

Nika shook the thoughts from her head and looked out her window. What ever happened to Nicki? Did she leave for good? Would Nika have to find a new roommate? If she did then who would she ask? Her brain kept running around that thought as the cat girl fell asleep.

The warmth of the morning sun woke Nika and made her stretch and smile. It was a new day and she felt good. She wondered what the day would bring. First things first. She needed to get something to eat.

Putting on a pair of tight blue shorts and a white and blue tank top Nika headed for the kithcen. Her tummy growled to hurry her along.