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Rohan sat next to Jotaro as he worked, watching him carefully record all of the data he needed for his thesis. He leaned over to look at the paper, "Remind me what you're doing this thesis on again?"
Jotaro looked up from the papers, "I saw a cool sea star on the beach not long after I got here."
"And that's what you're doing your thesis on?"
"Yes."
"One star fish?"
"Sea star," Jotaro corrected, "But yes. Really I'm doing it on the entire species, but I got the idea from the one I saw. Granted it was dead so I had to find living ones to do this, but still."
"Are these the star- Sea stars?"
"Yeah. I haven't been able to find anything about them in any of my textbooks or other papers so I guess they're only native here. They're interesting though, they have seven arms but they're also smaller than most I've seen with seven arms."
"If they aren't recorded yet, does that mean you get to name it?"
"I think so. I'm taking the one I found on the beach back to Florida with me so my one professor can look at it and see it to make sure it isn't just a rare species, but if it is new then she'll help me name it."
"That'll be so cool if you do get to name it," Rohan said with a smile.
Jotaro stood up and moved to the tide pool on the other side of Rohan, "It's weird though, they all seem to stay in this one tidal area. I've looked deeper out and couldn't find any."
"Have you figured out any reasons yet?" Rohan asked as he turned to face Jotaro.
"I've tested the water but it's close enough to what it is deeper out that it wouldn't be noticed so that's not it. I haven't had a lot of geology classes but the rock type seems to be the same so I don't think that's it, though I'm taking samples of that back too in case I'm wrong."
"What about things that can eat them?"
"They have spines though, that keeps them from being eaten," Jotaro replied.
"Okay, but what eats sea stars?"
"Uh, some sharks, manta rays, some fish, and sometimes other sea stars. Why?"
"Okay, what sharks eat star fish."
"The main ones are horn sharks, nurse sharks, and Port Jackson sharks. And they're sea stars."
"Ah, my bad. Do any of those live here?"
"No."
"Okay then, they aren't staying away from sharks. What about manta rays?"
"Sometimes they're seen this far north but not usually."
"Then it isn't manta rays," Rohan replied. He thought for a moment, "You said other sea stars?"
Jotaro nodded, "Sometimes, yeah."
"Okay, are there other sea stars in the pools you've found these ones in?"
Jotaro flipped through his notebook, "I've only seen other sea stars once."
"Maybe they're staying away from the other sea stars then."
"Are you trying to tell me that you think other sea stars eat these ones?"
"Well out of the two of us, you're the one with the degree in marine biology. I'm just trying to help."
Jotaro softly smiled, looking down at his notebook to hide it from Rohan, "I, uh, I guess you could be right. Maybe you should do my thesis."
"Ha! In your dreams, Kujo," Rohan said as he got up, "I gotta go, I have work to do. I'll talk to you later though, good luck with your star fish!"
"They're sea stars, you asshole."
"I know, I just wanted to piss you off a little bit. Later!"
Jotaro chuckled and shook his head, a soft blush spreading across his cheeks as he watched Rohan leave. He went back to his work, thinking about what Rohan had said. Thinking about Rohan, really, though his help was greatly appreciated.