"Maybe you're wondering why all this talk about hybrid people" Lulu said, anticipating some questions as she knew her class fairly well, minus the newcomers of course.
"Because from a Gullie or Brob girl's point of view it's like winning the lottery! Or finding a needle in a haystack" She then giggled at her inadvertent pun "No offense"
"Hybrids' increased resillience means that you have less to worry about. If you find yourselves a Lillie-Brob hybrid, or even better a quarter-Lillie you don't need to worry about holding back with your affection at all!" She said with maybe a little too much enthusiasm but that was nothing out of the ordinary for all the students that knew her already. She then cleared her throat and got a little more serious.
"But of course, he has to be willing and up for it too. Abuse towards anyone is not going to be tolerated at the school, and if anyone tries to take advantage of anyone else's size that's going to be even more harshly punished. Ms. Abalos already made that clear when you installed the school's app but I believe there will be an assembly tomorrow where she'll explain it better yet" Lulu's warning almost clashed with the entire tone of her class but it was understandable, given that it was the first that of the Gulliver Exchange program, rules needed to be laid out.
Still, many girls directed their glances at Jen, in particular at you as you were still sitting on her chest. There were a few seconds of silent awkwardness and the two of you were feeling increasingly uncomfortable until Jen decided she had enough and took a deep breath before speaking.
"For the record, Blaise's here with me on his own will and we're dormmates anyway" She said with a firmer tone that even had some sort of authoritative, motherly vibe, something that confused you a little though you were far more flustered by the fact that she was speaking up for you.
"Don't think I didn't hear some of you back in the cafeteria" She added with an annoyed huff but also cupping her hand protectively around you. A few small gasps and 'yikes' were heard among the Brob girls.
You felt like you should say something but your embarrassment was intense enough that your legs were trembling and you weren't sure you could speak without tripping over your own words. You looked up at Jen and locked eyes with each other, she gave you a reassuring look and pretty much told you that it was all fine, smiling a little as she lightly patted your head with her fingertip.
"I see no reason to doubt that" Lulu said, giving the two of you a kind look that made it clear she understood perfectly, taking back control of the class "And remember that gossip's a double edged sword, not so fun when you're on the other side, hmm?" She directed that at the rest of the Brob girls, raising an eyebrow. She already had a good idea on which ones looked down on Jen and her friends, and many of those felt called out indeed.
"Anyway, getting back on topic, we're going to be learning many things about how to have safe and pleasant interactions for both boys and girls. Consider the info on hybrids like a little extra tip for you to be on the lookout" She winked at the class before continuing.
'You got to be freaking kidding me' You sighed and shook your head. At least you didn't get outed as one yet... keyword being 'yet'.
"First things first, in our case as Brobs, though it also applies for Gullies as well is that we have to be respectful and gentle. Well, that also goes for Lillies as well but being realistic, most situations aren't going to be balanced in their favor. We can't deny that we are larger by nature but that doesn't mean we have to abuse that fact" She said.
"For starters, don't pick people up without asking for their permission, though I hoped that was already clear as we've had Gullie students with us for a year now. It doesn't hurt to remind that you too have to abide by that now, you're 100 times taller than Lillies after all"
"I think some have already picked up on some of these basics but let's get everyone on the same page" Lulu winked at Jen when she said that, making her blush a little.
"Once you got permission and picked up a Lillie, next thing is safe ways of transportation. You could keep him on your palm but it's not always the best idea, sometimes we need to free our hands for some things too" She said, turning to look at Jen's direction but focusing on you, still sitting on her chest.
"You guys probably saw it before but I have no trouble demonstrating it again, now, Blaise, if you please..."
It hadn't even been more than a couple of minutes and both yourself and Jen were on the spot again, but maybe you brought it upon yourselves as no other Brob and Lillie are this physically close to each other and on the first day. You gulped nervously and saw no choice but to obey, however you sensed a sudden intense gaze upon you and looking, up, you saw that Jen was indeed looking at you and shook her head.
"I think we all saw, Ms. McAllen... Pretty sure we understand" Jen replied, sounding polite but Lulu managed to sense that she wasn't quite so fond of letting her get a hold of you again, which she found all the more amusing and cute but respected it still.
'I even came up with it myself to keep him safe... well, maybe I got it from Zuemy but still'
"Oh? Alright! I was intending to demonstrate it myself" Lulu shrugged "But I guess you can see this in action right now. If you're decently endowed up here, a Lillie can rest and be kept safe, making communication easy too. Just be careful if it gets bouncy up there" She added and enjoyed a bit of a chuckle that made most Brob girls a little embarrassed and a few of them either envious or annoyed. The Lillie girls were nearly all aggravated by this and even disgusted.
"Is it my idea or is it looking like we don't count?" One of the Lillie girls could be heard whispering.
"To be fair, I don't think many of us have tried even dating the boys at all. That none of us came into the school with a boyfriend already is quite telling" Rosario responded.
"Well, duh! Why date them when you can just keep leading them on? No need to truly attach strings" Tracy was quick to say.
"I'd say that for a 'no strings attached' thing you girls like to play them like puppets" Rosario raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, shut up! That's the Lillie way, they have to man up until they're worthy for real. Until then the best they can do is keep doing what we say, make us happy and hope that we decide to give them the time of day" Tracy huffed, crossing her arms.
"Don't you think that attitude might get you in trouble? See what happened to Chrissy" Rosario then said.
"You DID NOT!" Tracy answered sharply "I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say what you just said"
"You know, that cow bitch is sure protective of the little freak" Another girl chimed in.
"For sure! She know she's not gonna get any other boy to be stupid enough to wanna risk drowning in all that filthy blubber" Tracy said in a complete matter-of-factly manner.
"Or maybe the cow needs someone to milk those blimp-sized jugs" The girl from earlier smiled disdainfully, and a collective "Ewwwww" was heard coming from most of the Lillie girls'.
"If you wanna be even more affectionate, you may place him in the cleavage, that's more intimate and it would let them listen to your heartbeat" Lulu continued "One thing that I didn't mention yet but is also very important is that maybe you guys weren't told of it, but the 3 races do differ in how we handle temperature. Does anyone have any good guesses?"
Zuemy smirked. In spite of being an actual genius, she didn't overly flaunt her status and even in class she usually only responded when directly asked, feeling no need to prove herself to anyone but this time she wanted to participate in the class as she was loving the topic, so she raised her hand.
"Any theories, Zuemy?" Lulu asked with an intrigued look, already half suspecting that she probably had done her research long in advance.
"Historically, the mutation in early humans that led to the emergence of Brobdingnagians was useful because they lived in very cold environments. Brobs originated in Scandinavia after all, and becoming larger helped retain body heat better, just like the other Ice Age giants like the mammoths. Even today, Brobs largely thrive on colder temperatures, there's a reason we keep the AC at school at full blast most of the time" She explained.
"Very good. But I think it's important to mention that some of us have developed more tolerance towards heat, see all the Brob population across all the countries south of Brobdingnag and of course, the Indian subcontinent. Although even in those cases, hydration is very important as well as getting shade when possible" Lulu said "What about the others?"
"For Lillies it was the opposite, they were already being affected by insular dwarfism, plus becoming smaller also helped to cope better with the intense heat, but scientific findings indicate that there was a meteoric impact in the region that brought a virus from outer space that got into their DNA and drastically exacerbated the mutation that was making them smaller, granting them their great resilience and strength in return, it also made them much better at thriving in hot tropical and even arid climates"
"Somebody did her homework, huh?" Lulu smiled "What can you tell us about Gullies?"
"They're the ones that stayed close to our common ancestor and the mild climate of Europe kept them at their original size, there was no need to enlarge to resist harsh icy weather nor to shrink to become better suited for too much heat. They have better overall tolerance of temperatures but struggle with the extremes" Zuemy promptly replied.
"Yep, and you certainly put it better than I would have!" Lulu said
"And this important now because with all these abilities the different races got came with tradeoffs. Like I said before, Brobs usually struggle with the heat, Lillies struggle with the cold and Gullies are fine most of the time. With the cold climate of Brobdingnag and even here at our school, it's actually quite important that Lillies keep warm and this is where we come in..."