Gwyar ‘Aries’ Ariethous Fraoch | Male | 17 | Demisexual | Ambi | Physical - Weapon Knowledge | Mentions; Everyone(Ind).

--

He sat on the ground for a moment, staring at the phone Jakob had given him. And then, he set the phone down next to him on the ground, looking over at the book that he had been planning to read.

--

Then, he glanced at the bed in the room. He should probably go ahead and grab some of the blankets and one of the pillows so he could make a makeshift bed on the floor.

--

So he pushed himself up onto somewhat shaky legs, and walked over to the bed. Grabbing one of the pillows and two of the red orange blankets. Walking back to the middle of the room, sitting back down on the wood flooring and beginning to arrange one of the blankets to act as a mattress on the floor. The pillow went at one end after the pseudo-mattress had been made, and the other blanket was set on top.

--

Walking over to the closet, he opened the bag he had brought with him and took out his gladius daggers. Going back over to the makeshift bed in the middle of the room, he set both underneath the blanket acting as a mattress, under the pillow too. Reaching over to where the book was, he brought that over to him and sat down on the pseudo-bed.

--

Opening the book and beginning to read though, immediately proved to be a bit more difficult than he would’ve preferred. He should’ve asked about a journal and pen, or just a pen even. But he hadn’t, so within the first few sentences, he got lost and confused. So he set the book down instead, and laid back down on the makeshift bed.

*~*~*~*

Gorōta Sanae Ryuugo | Male | 16 | Demisexual | Ambi | Emotional/Healing - Heal Physical Wounds | Mentions; Everyone(Ind).

--

At some point, Gorōta had managed to calm down enough to actually get through a few chapters of the medical book he’d been trying to read. So then he moved from the rather comfortable chairs to the desk that was in there, grabbing a journal and pen on his way over.

--

Sitting down in the chair at the desk, he set the medical textbook down with the journal. Opening the empty journal, he began to read and take notes.

--

Mostly, the notes weren’t actually related to what he was reading. The notes were more so on what he needed to ask the group, and he made sure to jot down Briar’s answer from earlier too. He had to be able to help them, and if he knew the right questions to ask and how to get them to answer those questions honestly? Helping them would be made a lot easier.

*~*~*~*

Revan Rafe-Hassen Rowland | Male | 18 | Gay | Ambi | Space - Alter Gravity | Mentions; Everyone(Ind).

--

His fingers moved slowly, much slower than he liked. He was exhausted, eyes blinking slower and slower. Eyelids threatening to close permanently each time. He forced a hand to grab his coffee cup, taking a long sip from the lukewarm coffee left in it.

--

Placing it back down and returning to work was a bit easier after, just barely. His mind didn’t want to focus on the screen in front of him, and the room seemed too dark despite him having checked the dial to make sure it was as bright as could be in the room. He checked the brightness of his screen, it was all the way up too.

--

He kept thinking back to the phone call too, each time dragging his mind back to the screen and work he had to do. The call didn’t matter anyways. It wasn’t anything new. Nothing he didn’t already know.

--

His eyes blinked open, taking a moment to reorient himself before looking at the time, which hadn’t changed. Which meant that the microsleeps were back and he definitely needed to start brewing another pot of coffee.

--

So he pushed himself up, hand resting on the desk for a moment as his vision swam. He didn’t remember 68 hours being this bad. Was his memory too impaired for that? He wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter though, he had work to do and a schedule to keep up with. A shadow danced in the corner of his eyes.

--

He forced his feet to move to the coffee machine he’d set up in ‘his’ room. His movements were slow, and his vision seemed slightly blurry despite his glasses being on. Which reminded him that he still had to take out the contact he was currently wearing.

--

Deciding that the coffee was more important than the lens being taken out, he started the brew of coffee first. Only after that did he make his way to where he kept the contact holder. The shadows were still dancing in the corner of his vision, but he excused it as the contact’s doing. So, he managed to get the storage out for them and put it up. Seeing the bottle of Tylenol close to it had him grabbing that too before walking back over to the coffee machine.

--

While opening the Tylenol bottle so he could take a few with the coffee once it was done, another shadow moved across the room from the corner of his eyes. Glancing over, he didn’t see anything. So he looked back at the coffee machine, trying to keep his eyes open.

--

As he stood there, waiting for the coffee to be done, a voice rang out next to his ear. Indecipherable and faint. He blinked, glanced over, and looked back at the coffee machine. It didn’t matter. He was fine.

--

His eyes opened, handing gripping the counter the coffee machine was on as he collected himself and tried not to fall. He felt terrible. The machine made a sound to tell him the coffee was done. He grabbed the pot and took a long sip from it, burning his tongue and throat. The pain woke him up a bit more though, so he decided it didn’t matter. Grabbing the Tylenol tablets he’d taken out, he took them with another sip of the newly made coffee.

--

Without a word, he made his way back to his laptop and sat down, setting the pot next to it on the desktop. Forcing his eyes back to the screen and hands back to the keyboard, he tried to get back to work.

Horatio Caeso / Male / 19 / Demisexual Panromantic / Ambi / Time- Visions / M: Everyone (indirectly)

Horatio watched as Nico exited before quietly closing the door again and turning back to his table, flicking the switch on so that its glossy "wooden" surface sprang to life again, the holographic of the ships that Mira had been examining appearing. Tio swiped them aside, grimacing to himself as he pulled up the planet files yet again.

This time, however, he ignored the Kabalol. There was no point in psyching himself out again when there was nothing he could do. He had no more information than what Fher had given him, and that wasn't going to change, he'd just have to make sure everyone, especially Nico and Gorōta were properly trained to defend themselves, and he'd have to make sure they were both constantly being protected by the others.

For now, though, it would be best to double-check everything on the other planets. It would be best not to have any further surprises.

Planet File; 'Astarte'

Horatio silently opened the file, scrolling through it until he landed on species information.

Species: Hals

Planet: 'Astarte'

About: The Hals are typically hostile creatures, and are extremely territorial. They will attack if approached and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. The Hals are skilled fighters and builders, having the use of many technical weapons, and they can move very quickly.

Attempted attacks on Earth: 0

He zoomed in on the picture, examining the Hals captured in time. The lower half of its face was completely covered by a cloth masked, its limbs were unnaturally long, and its eyes were large and rounded. The main predators, supposedly. Tio swiped past.

Species: 'Fangs'

Planet: 'Astarte'

About: Fangs look very similar to the human-identified snake. However, they are much larger, much faster, and don't require heat to move. The Fangs seem to gain energy through water, whether that be rain, lakes, rivers, or larger bodies of water. They are extremely hostile when approached. Avoid if possible. If bitten, get immediate medical attention.

Horatio zoomed in on the picture. The Fangs were definitely huge, even coiled around itself. Its fangs (which Tio assumed the species was named for) were at least three feet long, and its eyes seemed to glow a faint yellow with vertically slitted pupils. The time holder swiped past again.

Species: 'Flickers'

Planet: 'Astarte'

About: Flickers are known to be peaceful, curious creatures. They look similar to the human-identified hummingbird, though they are slightly slower and slightly larger. Flickers are named for their ability to seemingly flicker in and out of existence, as they are masters of camouflage. Flickers are known to approach the protesters if they visit the planet, and have always been friendly.

A small smile tugged on Horatio's lips as he examined the picture. At least something on this planet wasn't hostile. The small, colorful creature was sitting on what looked like a tree branch, tilting its head slightly and staring right into the camera. Its eyes were rounded and, even through the screen, Horatio could tell it was an intelligent creature. Then, it kind of had to be, living in such a violent environment.

As Tio flipped to the next file, the screen seemed to glitch for a moment before settling, and the time holder blinked hard. He must be getting tired. Sighing, he flicked the switch, watching as the holograph melted back into the wooden surface of the table.

After a moment, Horatio shrugged his shoulders and turned, deciding to take a shower. He didn't want to sleep right now, but a shower might help with his nerves, which, honestly, was what he needed right now.

Nico Cosmos / AMAB Agender / 16 / Unlabeled/Queer / Ambi / Sound- Musical Knowledge / M: Everyone (indirectly)

Nico got back to his room and took a deep breath as the door closed again. He was lucky that Jade's threat was unable to hurt anyone, but that didn't change the fact that Jade was upset.

No, more accurately, Jade was hurt. Because Nico got up and left him without any word of warning. They were a fucking dumbass for that, she should have called Jade the second that Oleta, or whatever her name was, showed up. The least he could do was say goodbye!

The guilt of the whole situation was overwhelming, and Nico had to lean against the door for a moment before they felt strong enough to walk, going to the record player and choosing a record consisting of soft, soothing jazz.

Brain buzzing, Nico stumbled to bed, grabbing a notebook and pen before pulling the blankets tightly up to his torso. It took a few minutes, but eventually the buzzing faded, replaced by a melody, different from the record, but not something the sound holder had heard before.

Without really thinking, they started humming the tune, hand moving gracefully across the page of his notebook, producing a beautiful new song.

Micha Abbott / Male / 17 / Homosexual / Ambi / Elemental- Air / M: Everyone (indirectly)

Micha and Kage continued talking for a bit before Kage had to go, called by his adopted sister to help with something. They said a bittersweet goodbye, and then Micha was alone.

Sighing, the element holder sat back and stared at the small article of clothing he'd finished. For a few minutes, he just sat and stared. He really hated being alone, which was something he partially blamed on Kage. The guy was always around and always talking, something that M had found intimidating at first, but had eventually found comfort in.

Now, there was only silence.

After another moment, Micha stood and walked to turn the dial on the wall, stopping when the ceiling reflected the night sky with consitlations and a softly glowing moon. A soft hum of crickets started up and M found himself smiling. Night time was his favorite, Kage used to tease him for it, but it was true. It always amazed him to see sky twinkling with stars.

After looking around for a moment, the new element holder headed to his bed and allowed himself to be dragged to sleep as he mulled over the days events.

Revan Rafe-Hassen Rowland | Male | 18 | Gay | Ambi | Space - Alter Gravity | Mentions; Everyone(Ind).

--

Revan was still moving slower than he’d like, and he still had so much to do. Frankly, his hands were typing mostly due to his memorization of the keyboard, eyes scanning the words on his screen five times over before actually understanding what had been said.

--

He probably should’ve brought some sort of concealer. He hadn’t used it in recent times, but that was mostly because he was never out in public. He was in his office, working. Like he was supposed to. The only time he used it now was for the weekly dinners.

--

He hated those. Hated them. The silence always turned to arguing and insults. Honestly though… The silence had always been worse. Cold and unwelcoming, a clear reminder of what he’d caused. Of what he’d done.

--

And he was tired. So tired of being reminded. Of trying to do better. Of trying to be better. Of just trying to make up for everything… He was tired of doing everything he could, he was just tired. The complaints felt undeserved. Mostly because they were. What had he done to earn any right to complain about anything? At least he was alive and able to complain!

--

Revan bit his tongue, realizing his hands had stalled for a moment. And he must be needing a new prescription in his glasses because his vision was shaking his hands. He bit down a little harder, digging his teeth into the still raw area from earlier, the burn definitely hadn’t helped. Not that he really cared, the pain that came with the iron taste was welcomed in the fact that it woke him up a bit better. Cleared his vision a bit better.

--

He took a sip of the still warm coffee, placing a hand on the still hot glass as he did so. He removed it a few seconds later, after his brain actually managed to think through what had happened. And he glanced at the burn, and then immediately went back to work. It wasn’t terrible, nothing worth stopping his work for, and the pain had helped a bit better than the caffeine had. He just had to keep working, no matter the consequence. He’d be fine. And if he wasn’t? Well… Good. It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve whatever happened.

Gwyar ‘Aries’ Ariethous Fraoch | Male | 17 | Demisexual | Ambi | Physical - Weapon Knowledge | Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

Gwyar woke up with his hands clutching at the collar of his shirt, sitting up relatively straight, and in a cold sweat. Vision too blurred to see what the time was. He sat there, slightly shaking, hands only managing to not tremble due to the fact that they were holding his shirt collar for dear life.

--

He took in heavy breaths, trying to slow his breathing down as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Words danced by his ears that he couldn’t fully hear, the smell of blood hung in the air, the only remnants of where he’d been before waking. He forced his hands down, to hold himself upright instead since there wasn’t a wall behind him to do so. His eyes wouldn’t focus as he swept them across the room, trying to plant himself into the moment.

--

…He took way longer than he would’ve liked before his breathing was normal and his vision cleared up. Even then, blood tainted the air he breathed. He swept his eyes along the room again, instinctively looking for a clock of some kind to know the time. Which he did find, and was immediately standing as he saw the time. 8:00 AM. Way too late to be getting up. The sun would have already risen into the sky.

--

He found his way into the closet in the room he’d been allowed to stay in. His hands were still shaking as he found something to wear and his hoodie along with the outfit. The outfit? A long sleeve red and black plaid shirt, desaturated and worn by time, and a pair of black cargo pants that were still in pretty good shape, other than where the knees were stained from just how many times he’d ended up colliding on the ground using them. He also went ahead and put on his shoes, worn slip resistant military style work boots. They were black, but had scratches and the bottoms had a slight red tint due to just how much they’d been stained over time.

--

Taking off his shirt to switch to the plaid one, he took a moment to glance at all of the scarring. Only for a moment, and then he was slipping on the sleeves of the new shirt. He rubbed his wrists before buttoning the shirt up to the last one, which he left undone. The shirt always felt too suffocating, too close, if he buttoned the top one.

--

The rest went rather quickly, easily, and he left the closet by the time the clock said 8:10 AM. His hands were still a bit shaky, so he took five minutes to grab his gladius daggers and find their sheathes to be able to carry them with him, and to put his long hair into a low, loose ponytail. They probably didn’t want to be cooped up in the room too long anyways. As soon as they were in their sheathes and at the waist of his cargo pants, he was making his way out of the room.

--

As he walked to the cafeteria, he fiddled with their handles just out of habit, one red and the other purple. As soon as the cafeteria was in sight though, he stopped and forced his hands into his pockets instead, just in case they were still shaking, and walked inside as quietly as possible.

--

Briar, Nico, and Horatio were all already in there; with Briar and Nico seeming to have a conversation. Not wanting to bother them, he made his way over to grab a plate quietly, taking a seat nearby enough to be able to jump up and get involved if something happened but far enough to not be a bother.

--

He wasn’t really sure what to eat, or if he was allowed to. Or if anyone had airborne allergies. So he mostly just sat there, staring at the plate… Should he talk to Horatio? Find out if he’d managed to find anything? Apologize for not coming to help look? Ask for the pen and journal?

--

He should probably apologize, that would be better. Right? An apology was always an allowed reason to speak, after all. So, he looked over at Horatio, leaning over a bit and speaking quietly so as to not bother the other duo in the cafeteria. “Hey, uh… Sorry about not coming to help look last night. Did you find anything though..?” He hoped the question wasn’t a problem, and hoped the time holder wouldn’t get upset if the question was a problem. Ready to apologize if he did.

*~*~*~*

Gorōta Sanae Ryuugo | Male | 16 | Demisexual | Ambi | Emotional/Healing - Heal Physical Wounds | Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

Gorōta woke up with the alarm he had set on his phone for 8:10 AM going off. He shifted, blinking and feeling like the last thing he wanted to do was get up. Regardless, he pushed himself up and rubbed at his eye lightly.

--

And then he remembered where he was. Getting up was a bit easier as soon as he did, pushing himself up and stretching a slight bit. Turning his head to look at the nightstand, he grabbed the patch waiting on it and took off the one he wore to bed. Putting on the new one, a simple white one, he stepped back and made his way over to the closet.

--

Grabbing a simple t-shirt with blue and white stripes, he slipped it on quickly. Along with the new shirt, he also slipped on a pair of worn blue jeans and a pair of worn blue sneakers, and his simple black hoodie with a five on the back of it. He messed with the sleeves a bit as he stepped out of the closet again, walking over to the desk in his room and picking up the journal he had written the questions.

--

There weren’t too many, just a few simple ones. Do you have any triggers I should know about? Do you know what helps in the case of stress or some kind of episode or attack? Just questions like that. And he had titled a page for all seven of them, having already written down Briar’s response to the questions too.

--

He took a moment to review different signs and symptoms in his head, holding the journal securely in his hands as he did so. Trying to hype himself up for when he’d have to talk to them all in order to ask the questions. He wondered if he could paraphrase in order to shorten them, before shaking his head and scolding himself for even thinking about it. He had to be clear with what he was asking, he couldn’t paraphrase. He’d just make sure to not do everyone really close together. So that he could just continuously hype himself up… Yeah. Yeah.

--

He went over to his phone, grabbing it and taking a look at the time. 8:35 AM. He turned and walked back over the desk, putting his phone into his jacket’s pocket. Grabbing a pen from the desk and putting it into his other pocket, he took a seat for a moment. Just to try and make sure he was completely ready to face the group, face the day…

--

The idea of training was kind of nerve wracking, he wasn’t too sure if he wanted to learn to fight. Even if it was just for self defense. He didn’t like violence, he didn’t condone it at all. But, well… He couldn’t just say no. He couldn’t hold the group back. It’d be rude, and wrong… He didn’t really want to leave his room at all. He’d rather be able to just stay in here, not worrying about talking to anyone or being affected by other people’s emotions…

--

But he had a job to do, and he had to do it. So he forced himself to stand again, and made his feet move him out of his room and towards the cafeteria. Honestly, he wasn’t looking forward to eating either. But breakfast was important, the most important meal of the day. So he’d endure, hopefully the group was feeling fine enough this morning that he didn’t end up feeling too anxious to eat anything.

--

He checked his phone while walking to the cafeteria, 8:42 AM. No notifications from anyone about anything. His friends didn’t tend to wake up until later anyways, and he wasn’t even sure if the timezone had changed or not. But given how he wasn’t dealing with jet lag… He was fairly willing to bet it hadn’t. So at least there was that.

--

He put his phone back into his pocket once he reached the cafeteria, the time being closer to 8:45 AM at that point. Stepping inside, half the group was already there. Briar, Nico, Horatio, and Aries. Briar and Nico were talking, and Aries seemed to be talking to Horatio… So he made his way over to the plates without a word, grabbing one and sitting back down to eat something. Which ended up being a simple cream cheese bagel, some fruit, and eggs.

*~*~*~*

Gen’ya Hiei Hikari | AMAB Demi-Boy | 17 | Apresexual Demiromantic | Ambi | Trust/Truth - Lie Detection / Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

Somehow, Gen’ya managed to sleep through the entire night. Only blinking awake with a groan and shift onto his side when his phone rang out with the 9:00 AM alarm he had on it. He curled on the bed, feeling just as terrible as he always did whenever first waking up.

--

They squeezed their eyes shut, trying to cling to sleep like a lifeline, laying there in a desperate attempt to not have to get up and do… Anything, really. Until they heard the sound of their 9:10 AM backup alarm. At which point, they groaned and huffed, turning over in bed and looking across the room.

--

And then he was sitting up, eyes wide in realization that he wasn’t in his room at home. And then he was squeezing his eyes shut at a wave of dizziness from sitting up too fast. He rubbed at his temple, blinking his eyes open again slowly. Taking a deep breath, he glanced around the room. There was training at 10:00 AM, right? And it was already 9:10 AM. He needed to get up and get ready…

--

They huffed a sigh and forced themself up out of bed, grabbing their glasses from the nightstand as they did. Going over to the closet, they grabbed a black sweater and black baggy jeans, changing into the clothing as quickly as possible. Then, they were grabbing their black hoodie and slipping it on as they walked over to where they had put their jewelry box on the desk. Picking out some earrings, they went with simple black and red ones for the day. And of course, their choker was put on with the same care they always gave the heirloom jewelry.

--

He looked at the plate on the desk… The nauseous feeling formed in his stomach practically immediately at the sight. He really didn’t want to eat but… Well, he also didn’t want Horatio to realize he wasn’t eating. So he grabbed the plate. Not being able to lie was going to be annoying, so he’d have to use actions then. Right? Bring up food, get rid of it somewhere, and then bring the plate with him so that they all thought he’d eaten without asking about it.

--

By 9:25 AM, they’d managed to make the plate look like there had been food eaten off of it. By summoning food onto it, and then messing around with it a bit on the plate before scrapping it off and into the bathroom trash. Trying to keep himself from

--

And with that done, he was walking to the cafeteria with the plate in hand. He’d go in, put it in the sink, and then take a seat. Easy. Totally.

--

They did exactly that as they stepped into the cafeteria, looking at who were all already in there. Horatio, Nico, Gorōta, Briar, Micha, and Aries. So they were one of the last ones there. Regardless, there seemed to be conversations going on already, so they just kept up with their plan and went over to the sink, placing the dish in there.

--

Then, he turned and walked over to the group, speaking as he approached and took a seat. “The outfit looks amazing, Micha.”

*~*~*~*

Revan Rafe-Hassen Rowland | Male | 18 | Gay | Ambi | Space - Alter Gravity | Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

The night and morning was long. Filled with Revan’s head shifting down only to be snapped back up a few seconds later, shadows that danced in the corner of his vision, hands stalling every few minutes, indecipherable whispers beside his ears, a growing inability to focus on the words on the screen he was supposed to be reading, his headache growing with it, and dull pain in his hands. All in all… He felt like shit by the time the clock on his laptop read 7:00 AM.

--

The only thing that made it bearable? The obnoxiously bitter caffeine of his coffee, the bright lighting in the room, the heat of the glass pot against his hand every now and then, and the dull pain accompanied by the taste of iron from digging his teeth into his already burnt tongue.

--

He didn’t remember 77 hours being this hard. It was really only three days and five hours, after all. He didn’t see why it would be this hard. He felt pathetic. He’d gone longer before, he was fine. He just had to deal with it. He had more important things to do than sulk.

--

Like the college work he was supposed to be doing right now. So he forced his mind back to the screen, trying to read the paragraph he’d been rereading for what felt like hours but was honestly probably just 10 minutes.

--

…He really was pathetic. His skin crawled. He didn’t deserve to be here. Someone else would’ve already been finished by now. He should’ve been done by now. He should’ve been the one to die. He didn’t deserve to be alive. Everything would’ve been fine if he’d died instead.

--

His head snapped back up, breathing shaky. Too shallow. He gritted his teeth, dug them into his raw tongue, and forced his eyes to meet the words on the screen again. He didn’t have time for this. He didn’t have time for this. He just needed to get this done.

--

Time passed by, him getting up a few more times to make more coffee. Each time, his steps stumbled more, his balance suffered more, and he was certainly starting to see things. He chose to ignore all of that though, because he still had work to do. So he made coffee, ignored how outright shitty he felt, and went back to work.

--

By the time his eyes caught the clock on his laptop again, it was already 9:30 AM and he was absolutely exhausted. Almost 80 hours, thirty minutes to 80 hours, and he was nowhere near done with everything that he had to do. He never was. Every time that he finished something, another thing took its place practically immediately.

--

His breathing was heavier than it should be, his hands were duly aching, his tongue was numb and raw, his vision was blurry, the indecipherable whispers were getting more frequent, the shadows kept dancing with figures and hands and smoke, and his headache was terrible.

--

And then he remembered that Hora- Mr. Caeso had said that they would have training at 10:00 AM and he groaned. He had so much to do and not enough time to do it. And the time was already 9:30- Or, it was 9:35 AM now. And he was still wearing the same thing from yesterday, and he probably looked like shit just as much as he felt like shit and…

--

His head snapped back up, eyes blinking open. 9:36 AM. He forced himself to stand up, using the desk to keep himself upright until he felt like he could probably walk.

--

At which point he went and got dressed. A long sleeve, white button-up shirt. Black dress pants. A lightweight black sweater, because he was very cold for some reason. His purple heels, because he was still going to try, regardless of how bad his balance had been treating him so far. He needed the height to be at least a bit more respectable. And of course, then he was going into the bathroom with the contact holder, the bottle of Tylenol, and a cup of coffee. Where he put the colored contact in and took a few of the pills to try and help out his headache.

--

Looking in the mirror, he wished he brought concealer. He looked pale and waxy, the bags under his eyes were dark, and the color of his undertones seemed to be what was making up the majority of his skin. So yes, he’d been right, he did look just as shitty as he felt. In fact, his hands both had fairly obvious burns on the palms of them, so he ran them under water for a moment, deciding that was good enough.

--

But he put on his best grin, and it crinkled the corners of his eyes just enough, and he decided that it was also good enough. He squared his shoulders, stood straight, and kept the grin up. It didn’t fix the bags or his complexion but… Well, the false confidence that oozed from it was enough for him. So he was willing to just decide to order concealer later and deal with it all later.

--

He combed through his hair, ignoring the thin strands that came with the comb. He needed to bleach and dye his hair again soon, he was starting to see black roots popping up. He pointedly ignored the gray roots that were beginning to show up too. He’d order hair bleach and blonde dye when he ordered concealer.

--

When he finished combing his hair, he made his way out of the bathroom, an already empty cup of coffee left behind in the trash. He made himself another cup, downed it, and then made himself another. And then he went and grabbed his phone from where it was charging, checking the time. 9:48 AM.

--

He checked that he was at an at least alright stopping point for the moment on his laptop before closing it on his desk and making his way out of the room. He probably should’ve paid attention when Mr. Caeso showed them the way to the cafeteria but… He’d be fine. He’d figure it out. Not even the slight dizziness would stop him from continuing on. He did stay relatively close to a wall though, just because he didn’t want to end up on the floor. He’d much rather the wall if anything. But he didn’t fall, or faint, or collapse and everything was fine. His eyes stayed on his phone as he did whatever work he could on it.

--

He managed to get to the cafeteria, the time on his phone being 9:55 AM. A perfectly fine time, a time that was technically on time for whatever ‘training’ was supposed to be. His coffee cup was already empty though, so as he stepped inside and saw that everyone else was already there, he went over to the coffee machine without a word.

Gwyar ‘Aries’ Ariethous Fraoch | Male | 17 | Demisexual | Ambi | Physical - Weapon Knowledge | Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

“No need to apologize, it's quite alright. Unfortunately, there's not really information about what may be hunting the Plies other than the fact that it makes a hissing sound and is probably quite large. We'll just have to be careful and alert, I'll make sure everything ends up okay. I promise.”

--

Gwyar nodded in response, eyes narrowing. The idea that he didn’t need to apologize was odd, given just how much he did need to. And the idea that Horatio was promising him that of all of them… That was weird too. The information was good to have though. Hissing and large. Some form of reptile or feline? Maybe. Then again, so did some birds. Even some rodents hiss… Still, the information was still useful, and he could look for any mentions in the journals.

--

“Would you like to eat? Some form of protein would probably be good, and fruit also tends to be a good breakfast food, if you like it, that is.”

--

His gaze went back to Tio, taking careful precautions to not look him in the eyes. He didn’t know who that was good to do that with still, after all. “Ah, yeah- Sorry. Will do.” He paused for a moment, and then quickly added, “Thank you.”

--

Protein and fruit… He looked back at his plate. Protein and fruit… Eggs and berries would probably be best then. Right? Maybe toasted wheat bread? But that was more so carbs. Protein and fruit… Poached eggs and berries would be good. Yeah. Definitely. So that’s what he went with, poached eggs and berries. Poached eggs had the most protein and berries were fruit. So he didn’t have to worry about Horatio thinking he wasn’t listening to him. Because he was! Gwyar definitely was.

--

Plus, if he listens well enough then Tio would probably be more likely to actually answer the questions that Jay told him to ask… He really didn’t want to have to tell Jakob that he didn’t have any answers.

*~*~*~*

Gen’ya Hiei Hikari | AMAB Demi-Boy | 17 | Apresexual Demiromantic | Ambi | Trust/Truth - Lie Detection / Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

“Thank you, I appreciate it! How are you this morning?”

--

Gen’ya smiled lightly, “Still a bit tired… How are you, Micha?”

--

If there was anything that they were thankful for when it came to not being able to lie, it was that they didn’t just start spilling everything as soon as a slightly connected question was asked.

--

Either way though, the air was still somewhat tense. Probably because the two didn’t have Briar and Coral as buffers… Times like this, he really did wish he could be more social. More outgoing. More confident. But, alas, that life wasn’t meant for him. It was meant for those who didn’t look as outright disgusting as him.

*~*~*~*

Revan Rafe-Hassen Rowland | Male | 18 | Gay | Ambi | Space - Alter Gravity | Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

As soon as Revan had reached the coffee machine, he had set on making the pot. And as subtly as possible, using the counter as support, eyes flicking between the screen of his phone and the coffee machine.

--

His breathing was still too heavy, his vision too blurry, hands still duly aching. His eyelids felt heavy too, as did his shoulders. He kept them squared, kept his posture as confident and straight as possible. He couldn’t slip here of all places.

--

“Morning! You feeling alright?”

--

For a few seconds, Revan didn’t even hear the words. But then his mind caught up and he was looking over despite himself, he hadn’t heard them come over.

--

He processed the words, repeating them in his mind until they clicked. He couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes once they did, checking the coffee machine to see if it was done yet. It was, and it took all of his self restraint to not just grab the pot and down it. Instead, he poured some into the cup as he answered. “I’m feeling fine, thank you.”

--

His voice didn’t sound very good either… Had he burnt his throat that much? He ignored it, he’d be fine. His hand rubbed against the cup a bit, and he held back a grimace as the burn was rubbed with it. He took a drink of the coffee, not really reacting to the heat of the drink.

--

He looked at his phone, trying to get his vision to focus enough on the words on the screen to actually get something done. “And how are you this morning?”

Gwyar ‘Aries’ Ariethous Fraoch | Male | 17 | Demisexual | Ambi | Physical - Weapon Knowledge | Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

Beginning to eat was a somewhat slow endeavor. The food was good, better than anything else that Gwyar had ever eaten. But… Well, he tried to not shovel the food into his mouth. Training would suck if he did. Plus, more likely for the food to be taken away if he ate too quickly. Same for if he ate too slowly though, which was always a nightmare to figure out how fast and how slow to eat. Not to even mention how he didn’t deserve the food in the first place. He hadn’t done anything to earn the meal, after all. But, well, Horatio had told him to eat. So he had to eat. Obviously.

--

“Of course, and, for future reference, you don’t need to wait for permission to eat. Eat whenever you like, I promise it won’t offend anyone. You didn’t do anything wrong, just letting you know for later!”

--

And the words made him pause. Frankly, he hadn’t been expecting Tio to say anything. Which seemed stupid. Of course Horatio would say something, why wouldn’t he? Tio was free to speak as much as he liked.

--

But other than that- The idea that he didn’t need permission to eat was confusing. Weird. Definitely wrong. But Gwyar wasn’t supposed to question him, and here he was calling Tio wrong. That wasn’t his place. He didn’t know how things worked here. Maybe that was a test? See if he listened? What was supposed to be the right answer? Apparently he hadn’t done anything wrong but…

--

Gwyar shook his head lightly, he’d figure out what he was supposed to do later. Whenever that came up. Right now, he had to listen to what Horatio had said about eating. Which was fine, and he’d managed to eat a good amount of what was on his plate as he saw Mira and Juno make their way over to Tio, and Briar make their way towards him. He gave a nod in greeting as the judgment holder walked over to him.

--

“Mornin’! Aries, isn’t it? How’re you?”

--

The words gave him pause, the confusion barely keeping himself from flinching. Briar was asking how he was. But also… The words replayed in his mind a few times, trying to work out just what he’d been asked. The name that he’d given… A name. People had names, Briar probably knew that. But other stuff didn’t. Stuff like tables didn’t. Briar probably knew that too… That word was confusing him. That had been a question that Briar had asked. Were they asking if Aries was his name, fully aware that only people had names? While also trying to say that they knew that he shouldn’t have one? And then also asking how he was doing?

--

…Gwyar realized that he’d probably hadn’t responded for a good moment. Maybe Briar knew but was showing that they were willing to play along with his falsehood in front of the others..? He almost shuddered at the idea, swallowing dryly instead.

--

He definitely needed to answer. That was for sure. What to say though? Was he supposed to acknowledge the idea? Was he supposed to thank them? He wasn’t sure. He should definitely apologize at the least, given how long he was taking to answer.

--

“Okay everyone, let's head to the training room, thanks to Juno's genius we have a gift of sorts for you all before we begin actual work. Here, Juno, I can carry that now if you'd like.”

--

His head snapped over to Horatio as the leader spoke. He definitely had taken too long to reply. He stood, slow and steady. He definitely needed to answer, and to apologize.

--

So he bit his lip lightly, and cleared his throat awkwardly, beginning to walk with the judgment holder. “Uhm… Sorry. Uh. Morning to you too, Briar.. Yeah, Aries, is uh… Yeah. I’m good. Uh. How are you?”

*~*~*~*

Gen’ya Hiei Hikari | AMAB Demi-Boy | 17 | Apresexual Demiromantic | Ambi | Trust/Truth - Lie Detection / Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

“Yeah, that’s understandable. I’m okay! A little nervous, I guess.”

--

Gen’ya simply nodded in agreement to that. There was a lot to be nervous about at the moment, unfortunately. This entire situation would probably be incredibly stressful for a while.

--

“The stuff's ready, Tio!”

--

Glancing over to where Mira and Juno had walked to Horatio, Gen’ya raised an eyebrow in quiet curiosity.

--

“Thank you, Mira.”

--

“I managed to finish three of each, so each member can choose the one they prefer now and we'll have extra in case something happens. Me and Mira both have one too.”

--

Well, consider his interest peaked. His eyes narrowed onto the box sitting on the table Tio was seated at.

--

“You never fail to impress me, Juno. Thank you, and amazing job.”

--

“Tio! What right do you have to make MY girlfriend blush like that?!”

--

“Mira!”

--

“What? You're cute when you're embarrassed!~”

--

“Shut up!”

--

The interaction was rather nice, and they watched as Horatio stood, turning to address the group.

--

“Okay everyone, let's head to the training room, thanks to Juno's genius we have a gift of sorts for you all before we begin actual work. Here, Juno, I can carry that now if you'd like.”

--

Gen’ya nodded curtly, standing up and hoping that whatever the gift was that it wasn’t something that would make training harder than he already suspected it would be.

--

“Well, uh, I guess we should go then. Any clue what we might be doing today?”

--

Looking over at Micha, Gen’ya shrugged with a small smile as he began to walk. “No, I don’t think anyone but those three know. Hopefully nothing too exhausting.”

*~*~*~*

Revan Rafe-Hassen Rowland | Male | 18 | Gay | Ambi | Space - Alter Gravity | Mentions; Everyone(Dir/Ind).

--

Revan had managed to do absolutely nothing before hearing a response. He really needed to focus. He really needed more coffee. And Tylenol. And whatever else that would let him get his work done. Was it all really that much to ask? Apparently so, given how the response meant they were still trying to have a conversation with him. Which was not what he needed or wanted.

--

“Good, good, still adjusting and whatnot. Nothing too extreme though, I guess.”

--

And… Well, there wasn’t much to say to that. Not that Revan could think of. Not that he wanted to think of. He was busy. He had better things to do, more important things to do. So he simply hummed quietly in reply, decidedly ignoring the discomfort that caused his throat.

--

He turned his attention back to the work on his phone, taking another swallow of the still steaming cup of coffee. The shadows that danced in the corners of his vision were annoying, the blurry screen was frustrating, and the way his eyelids felt like they were going to collapse under the strain of staying open was a huge inconvenience.

--

Revan took another long sip of the coffee. He was really getting close to just grabbing the pot, public image be damned. He glanced up and over at the pot in question, before regretting it practically immediately. He felt nauseous, and his vision swam, the room spun. He placed the coffee cup and the hand holding it onto the counter, trying to subtly get his bearings. He didn’t close his eyes, didn’t do more than stand there for a moment. And then he took a drink of the cup of coffee, somewhat annoyed when he looked back at his phone and saw how little he’d done so far.

--

Even more annoyed when the next drink he took ended up being the last one that cup, so he poured the rest of the coffee in. Taking another sip, looking at the screen that showed just how worthless he was… He blinked and resisted the urge to look over when he actually managed to hear words being said to him.

--

“Ooo, gifts! I love gifts! Let’s go, Mr. Rowland, I’m sure this’ll be fun!”

--

Revan blinked again as the words actually processed, and glanced at the time on his phone. And then barely kept the surprise and confusion off of his face. Five minutes definitely shouldn’t have already passed. But it had. So he forced himself to start walking, trying to focus on his work, trying to focus on not falling.

--

“What do you think the presents are?”

--

As soon as his mind understood the words… Revan resisted the temptation to shrug, to roll his eyes. Shrugging showed immaturity, and rolling his eyes was dizzying to even consider. Instead, he kept his focus on walking, on trying to work, and forced out a simple reply. “Sincerely, I don’t care what they are.”