To most of those who resided on the island, Academy 218 wasn't big news anymore. But for those arriving today, it must've been a whole new adventure. He knew it was for him the first day he arrived when he was eleven. He was twenty-two now.
Dr. Henry J. Olin was an intern and a long time resident of the island. He was a smart man, enough so to have been able to graduate only six months ago with a PhD in Biochemistry. He was currently working towards getting a job on the island as a teacher. He knew he had the stuff for it. After all, it was no secret that the current Biotechnology teacher was on a paid break half the day. He taught, wrote tests, and graded things most of the week. So, as an intern, and technically member of the staff, he had been called upon to help out at the orientation dinner. Normally he would be out and about; partying and getting laid like every other person his age (it was harder for him, but there were some girls on the island that went for anything, and there was no shortage of drunk idiots who needed to be walked home).
And so, there he stood, hulking and scaly, a giant reptile in a monkey’s suit, pulling at the collar with one of his claws to allow his neck more room to breathe. As a seasoned veteran of the academy, he knew for a fact that the meat orientation dinner was absolute shit, and while he wouldn’t care most of the time, he brought his own food, and lots of it. Fish he had caught, and filleted with his own claws. He had been doing it since he was about sixteen; he was pretty good by now. So, when he saw the young boy, who couldn’t have been that much younger than him when he first came here, although noticeably younger. He felt a pang of sympathy as the kid spat out the chicken, and finally snapped.
“Excuse me, I think I’m going to go and meet the new students.” He said, nodding and smiling to the English teacher that had been speaking to him, which he hadn’t been listening to. He grabbed a few dishes of fish he had caught that had been specially prepared by him for the dinner. Just because he wasn’t part of the cooking club as a full on member doesn’t mean he hadn’t picked up a few tricks. It wasn’t a fabulous, incredible dinner, but it was good, at least, that’s what others had said when he made fish for them. He preferred whole fish, but he knew he couldn’t just walk out of the water with arms full of fish like he did normally. He would have to be a bit classier for now. He related to the little kid though.
So, with a dish in each of his hands, one for the kid, and one for himself, he walked forward, and set them down at the table, at the head of the table. He pulled up a chair, which he briefly examined, hoping it would be able to hold his weight, but deemed it safe. He did not sit down yet though. He set his own dish down, and walked up behind Jaska and placed the dish of fish in front of him. He carried himself respectfully, but he wore a gummy, toothless smile.
“Welcome to the academy!” He said, his smile remaining on his face. “My name is Henry, but most refer to me as Dragonfly. I am an intern here at the school and, for some of you; I will be your science teacher. I noticed that someone wasn’t enjoying the food, so I brought some that I caught myself this morning for the teachers. It’s Mahi-Mahi. You’ll love it.” Henry said, sitting down finally. He had a lot of food on his plate, more than even the skinny girl at the end of the table. That was to be expected, he was much bigger than everyone else at the table. “I hope you all have enjoyed the academy so far, I know Darrel can be pretty boring, but he’s a nice guy. Sorry about that.” He said, his lips finally contorting out of their smile, instead taking the form of a good-hearted smirk. He looked to Red, and motioned for him to sit down. “So, what are all of your names? You know mine- Henry.”