Drake was shaken by the recent turn of events, but quickly calmed down as relief flooded his veins. He was alive, and it had never feelt so good. Drake turned to see one of the other pilots, the one that had ran out first, walking off away from the group. After a moment of thought, he followed her, quickly catching up to her. As he fell instride beside her, he gave her a look over before turning his gaze forward. He didn't say a word, just walked beside her, waiting to see if she said anything.

"**Yadda yadda… yadda… you get the jist…**" the doctor said, Leonce instinctively moving away from him as he spoke. He was happy to be given some freedom to roam about the ship now that they were safe, especially if it gave him a moment away from the mad doctor. He had heard the gunshots as he had made his way up the ramp and made the poor choice to look and watch a group of other scientists die for what seemed like no good reason. He could've tried to talk to the doctor about it, but it was no use. There was enough red-tape he had already stumbled through and the prospect of running in to more made his stomach turn. He supposed he would have to pay this Demeter a visit, whoever that was. He hadn't gotten to know many names yet. Just Esther and Drake, which left him at a loss for who Demeter could have been. For all he knew, there could be no Demeter in the first place or if there had been, the doctor could have lied to them about Demeter only having been injured. _What a crock of bullshit that was, not even being able to trust what anyone said to you_, Leonce frowned as his eyes skirted back and forth across the group, catching sight of Esther making her exit stage left, Drake following silently behind. If there was anyone he could trust here, it would be those two, one who he nearly faced death with after trying to run off into battle, the other he volunteered to die with, trying to get sent off into battle. What a neat little trio they could make. The boy with metal in his face, ink in his skin, and hair so blonde it was nearly white broke into a quick jog after the pair, his now flat hair partially hanging in his face obscuring his vision. "Glad to see you two are safe and sound," Leonce said as he made his way between them, always keeping a step or two behind as they walked. Leonce looked back and forth at the two of them and, guessing from the lack of communication going on between them when he arrived, decided to get introductions out of the way, "Drake, this is Esther, Esther, Drake." He looked toward Esther, "I've had the pleasure of volunteering to die with him," then turned toward Drake, "And had the pleasure of nearly dying with her." Leonce slowed his pace a bit and clasped his hands, making a muted clap, "Now that introductions are done, how about we try to find a mess hall and get some grub."

Lost in her thoughts as she absentmindedly wandered, the hair on the back of her neck prickled and stood on end as her sixth sense alerted her to someone approaching. Glancing over her shoulder, she caught sight of the boy whose nanobot creations and arm was destroyed. She didn't have a favorable first impression of him. This being somewhat evident in her frown as she looked away while he walked beside her, uninvited. Looking back over to the boy, she caught him looking her over before he looked away. He just walked alongside her in silence. Not saying a thing or introducing himself before just inviting himself to join her on her little stroll. Thinking about it, for what reason did this boy have prosthetics? Was he injured as a victim of the Cruxi War? Born that way, perhaps? What type of prosthetics did he have and how extensive were they? She caught herself and reeled herself back to reality. Her thoughts had a bad habit of running away from her. Whatever. Needless to say, this boy was giving her the creeps. But, maybe she was wrong to feel that way. Intending to make nice and be sociable, she turned to him and opened her mouth to speak and introduce herself but stopped when she heard the sound of running feet. Stopping, she turned to see who else decided to join the duo's adventure uninvited. Her expression grew hard and stern until she recognized the face of the newcomer. He was the other candidate that joined her in running out towards the jaws of the Cruxi. What was his name...Leonce? Right. She sharply faced about and continued to walk, her head lowering in a feeble attempt to conceal her face. _"Leonce...The boy with the piercings and tattoos..."_ She was kind of jealous. She had always wanted to get piercings and tattoos of her own. It wasn't as if her father prohibited her from getting them, even being as young as she is. She just became kind of a wuss when it came to the idea sharp objects piercing her skin. **"Glad to see you two are safe and sound,"** Leonce said. He walked a step or two behind them. There was a brief moment of silence before he spoke again. **"Drake, this is Esther, Esther, Drake."** She raised her head and looked at Drake. So that was his name. When she looked back at Leonce, she caught his eye on her and immediately looked away. Head and eyes forward. **"I've had the pleasure of volunteering to die with him,"** he said, referring to Drake. **"And had the pleasure of nearly dying with her,"** Leonce said to Drake. Leonce slowed his pace, which caused Esther to slow her pace as well. **"Now that introductions are done, how about we try to find a mess hall and get some grub,"** Leonce said, clasping his hands together. Not a bad idea. They should probably eat. To be honest, Esther couldn't remember the last meal she had. She was probably starving by now, but was unsure of whether or not it would be wise to eat. The prior events and the thought of them churned her stomach and made her feel queasy. Then, her stomach decided to protest and betray her, grumbling slightly. Face reddening, she patted her stomach once and made an angry pout at the floor. As if she were a parent smacking a child's hand found in a cookie jar to tell them, "No!" Sighing heavily, she straightened up and tried to regain her posture. Turning to Drake, she extended her hand for him to shake and cleared her throat. **"Ahem. Nice to meet you, Drake."** she decided to distract herself by finalizing their introduction. Turning back to Leonce, her voice stuttered slightly as she responded to him. **"S-sounds like a g-good idea. I'm _starving_! Ha ha ha!.."** she chuckled nervously as she scratched at the back of her head. Though, where in the hell would the mess hall be? She still had no idea where everything was.

Drake nodded at Esther, glad that Leonce had helped break the silence. He had begun panicing on how to start conversation, as he never had to do much in the ways of social interaction before. **"Thank you for the introduction,Leonce, and it is a pleasure to meet you Esther. I hope that the rest of our stay here is at least marginally better than our first day has been."** He took a moment to glance at his right arm, where he had scratched the name of the Spartan who had sacrificed themselves for them. **"As for lunch, I do second the motion, though locating the mess might be some what hard to do. So, until we find it, take some candy to tide you over."** He reached into his pockets to pull out the candy he had taken from Lorenzo's stash, holding them out with both of his hands. **"Take what you like,but not too much of it mind you, but make sure to make it last, as we don't when we might see such delicacies again, if ever."**

He didn't take her hand to shake. He just nodded at her. Well, that was rude. She made a slightly displeased look as she slowly and awkwardly lowered her hand. Another mark against her impression of him. Maybe he had something against minor physical contact? Whatever. **"Thank you for the introduction, Leonce, and it is a pleasure to meet you Esther."** She wished she could say the same, but merely gave him a meek smile in response. **"I hope that the rest of our stay here is at least marginally better than our first day has been."** Well, at least she could agree with him there. She shrugged and nodded. She didn't feel like speaking to this 'Drake'. Having a bad taste in her mouth. She saw him glance at his arm which drew her eyes to where he glanced. There was something etched onto his arm but she couldn't quite make out what it was without possibly squinting and leaning in closer to see. Whatever, it was probably just some damage he sustained during the whole shit-show. **"As for lunch, I do second the motion, though locating the mess might be some what hard to do. So, until we find it, take some candy to tide you over."** He reached into his pockets and pulled out a bunch of snacks, presenting them with both of his hands. **"Take what you like, but not too much of it mind you, but make sure to make it last, as we don't when we might see such delicacies again, if ever."** She was tempted to take some, but she smiled and shook her head and hands at his offer. **"Ah, no thank you. I'm not too fond of sweets and junk food."** She patted her stomach and grinned, **"Heh, a girl's gotta watch her figure, y'know? Not that there's much to my 'figure' to speak of."** She looked herself over in her uniform and pouted slightly, wishing she had more meat on her bones. Her father always tried to keep her well fed, as hard as that was with her black hole for a stomach. Unfortunately, she seemed to have inherited her father's stomach and metabolism, though none of his musculature. She was still awfully tempted to devour the snacks and Drake had. But, she doubted whether she could control herself. That would be embarrassing to just stuff her face silly, not to mention rude and unladylike. Especially since he was... She shook her head, refusing to finish that thought. **"Thank you, Drake. I'm quite fine."** Lies. Her stomach protested again by growling, louder this time. She squeaked and her face went beet-red. _"Damn it, stomach. Shut up!"_ she pleaded.

Drake head tilted to the side as he stared at Esther, confused. **"What do you mean by keeping your figure, I'm not familiar with this term, and why do you refuse to eat when your body is clearly in need of food. I can understand the need to eat healthy, but I figur that something is better then nothing in this case. Also, why did you make a face earlier, did I manage to offend you, if so I apologize as it wasn't my intention."** Thinking back, he remembered what his father told him to say to pacify women f they seemed to be somewhat mad at some thing you've done. **"If it's any consolation, you are very pretty and are fine just the way you are."** _'I wonder if that will help are relations go over better, or maybe I worsened it.'_ Looking at her a second time. he noticed her face was red, was she okay? She wasn't ill was she? **"Um, do you have some condition, if not then please explain to me why your face is so red at the moment."** His eyes stared into Esther's, a slight amount of concern showing in them for his fellow pilot.

Drake tilted his head, staring at Esther with a confused look. **"What do you mean by keeping your figure, I'm not familiar with this term, and why do you refuse to eat when your body is clearly in need of food. I can understand the need to eat healthy, but I figur that something is better then nothing in this case. Also, why did you make a face earlier, did I manage to offend you, if so I apologize as it wasn't my intention."** Esther's mouth slightly hung agape as she tried to make sense of what Drake said. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she processed his words. **"Uhm...Y-yeah, I'm definitely hungry and in need of food. But, I'd rather just wait a little longer for actual food instead of eating sweets. As for earlier, don't worry about it. I make a lot of strange faces, heh.."** He seemed to think for a moment and then dropped a weight on her. **"If it's any consolation, you are very pretty and are fine just the way you are."** She made a strained, almost choking noise in her throat as her eye twitched. _"Gee, thanks. Not that your opinion was wanted or needed."_ He then seemed to take notice of her fading red cheeks, **"Um, do you have some condition, if not then please explain to me why your face is so red at the moment."** He said, staring at her still. A slight shiver crawled up her spine as she stared back into his eyes. **"Th-...Thank you for your compliment but, um...No, I'm fine. Really, I am. I just have really good blood circulation and get flushed rather easily."** She turned away from him, resuming her walk. Desperate to get away from Drake almost. Speaking with him was rather uncomfortable and awkward. _"Creepy."_ Maybe she was being a bit too harsh on him, but she couldn't shake the odd vibes Drake gave her.

Drake frowned as Esther walked away, he felt like he had failed in his attempt at social interaction. Again. He waited until she went forward, out of hearing range, then he turned to Leonce, a confused expression still on his face. **"What did I say wrong, my dad always said that telling a woman she's pretty always a good way to make amends for anything you did. Was he wrong, did I say it incorrectly? IS their something I'm not getting? Why do people have to be so confusing and difficult?"** Drake let out a sigh, looking a little depressed at his failure, why were people so complex. He wanted to go somewhere and work in his nanobots, they were easy to understand and never made him feel weird, awkward, and out of place.

With every back and forth Drake and Esther exchanged, it became harder and harder for Leonce not to sigh. This was getting more painful by the moment and, if he were a better man, Leonce would have have to put a stop to it. Leonce turned to Drake once Esther began to walk again, hearing his question and contemplating an answer. "Here." Leonce said, reaching out and swiping a bag of candy which he ripped open, popping a single piece of chocolate into his mouth before giving Drake a jerk of his head, expecting the boy to follow, and ran after Esther. He shoved the bag into her hand, slowing down to her pace, "I opened it and had my fill. Eat the rest or you'll waste food." No reason to give her a choice when she was making the wrong one and starving herself. Leonce then snapped back to Drake and grabbed him by the arm, jerking him closer to himself and Esther. "Alright, we're going to try this again. Drake, this is Esther, she's stubborn and quick to embarrassment. Esther, this is Drake, he has a much more severe case of foot in mouth than I do." Leonce shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned back slightly, letting out a long sigh, "I get he feeling neither of you have interacted with folks outside of your families all that much, now have you?" He paused, mulling over his statement, "So, square one. Drake, don't call girls pretty because your dad told you to. Makes people uncomfortable. Esther, we're your team and if we're trying to help you or offer you food, take it with a smile. Drake, you're unintentionally creepy, we'll work on that slowly." A man rounded a corner, his face glued to a vidpad, completely lost in his own little world. "Oi!" Leonce called out to the man, increasing his pace and closing the gap between himself and the man, "Where's the mess hall?" "Uh..." the man said, looking more lost than he had a moment ago, pausing briefly to scratch the back of his head, "right around the corner. First door on your right." "Cheers," Leonce said, clasping the man on the shoulder and turned around, now walking backwards as he looked to his companions, "Let's eat, talk, and become friends, yeah?" While posed as a question, it was anything but.

Drake was surprised by Leonce rather direct solution to the current problem, and thought about what he said. Creepy, is that was his behavior was thought as? Thinking back, people did seem to want to avoid rather readily after just one conversation with him. He only had one question for Leonce, however. **"Okay, I'm getting most of what your saying, but what do you mean by having a case of foot in mouth. My foot is no where near my mouth, and I doubt the action could ever be done, at least not without having incredible flexibility."** As he spoke he put his remaining sweets in his pockets, before bringing out a single bar of chocolate. He unwrapped it and began to eat it, taking little nibbling bites out of it. **"And to respond to your other question, I actually rarely spoke to my family when they were still alive, tending to isolate myself in my room for technological studies after school. It wasn't until recently that I've begun seeking human interaction, but my efforts have been less then successful, as I seem to be missing some important part of the equation that is conversation and humanity. It is most vexing, to say the least."**

More sounds of running behind her, damn it these people knew how to set off her alarms. Rapid movement around her made her uncomfortable. Memories of her father's swift blows during hand-to-hand combat training made her bones ache. Stopping again and turning with an angry expression, she had half a mind to swing a balled fist at whoever ran up behind her next. Thankfully, when she saw who it was she stopped and was surprised when Leonce shoved a bag of sweets into her arms. **"Uh!"** She looked at the bag with a confused expression before looking up at Leonce. **"I opened it and had my fill. Eat the rest or you'll waste food."** She glared daggers at him, or at least attempted to. Her anger simply melting into a very displeased look. It wasn't her decision to open it and only take a single chocolate. She wouldn't be the one wasting food. She wasn't about to eat a damn piece of chocolate if she didn't well please to. She wasn't about to eat one just to please these bull-headed boys. Or, was she the one being bull-headed? Leonce grabbed Drake and jerked him closer. **"Alright, we're going to try this again. Drake, this is Esther, she's stubborn and quick to embarrassment. Esther, this is Drake, he has a much more severe case of foot in mouth than I do."** Again with the unappreciated character evaluations. Her blood started to boil, face reddening again. Though, she kind of agreed with Drake having severe case of...something. Leonce shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned back, letting out a heavy sigh. **"I get he feeling neither of you have interacted with folks outside of your families all that much, now have you?"** Her anger fizzled as she looked down at the ground. That much was true. She didn't have many friends at all growing up. Her only friend being her father. It wasn't as if she didn't want friends, it was more so people had an issue with the Vanhomrigh family for one reason or another. THEY didn't like her and her father. She never understood why, either. Was it because he served in the military? Because of the circumstances of their broken family? Or perhaps the fact that her father was less than 40% organic human? She never understood. **"So, square one. Drake, don't call girls pretty because your dad told you to. Makes people uncomfortable. Esther, we're your team and if we're trying to help you or offer you food, take it with a smile. Drake, you're unintentionally creepy, we'll work on that slowly."** Esther made direct eye contact as best she could, but found it hard and kept glancing to the sides. Unable to keep her eyes on Leonce. Did the good Doctor mention anything about working as a team? She couldn't remember. That would be problematic. She didn't mix well with other people as evident by the current situation. She could appreciate offered help, but if she damn well didn't want to eat some fucking candy, she damn well won't eat some fucking candy. And she sure as fuck won't do it with a smile. Leonce then caught sight of man walking around with a device practically glued to his face and ran off to interrogate him. **"Oi!"** It seems he got directions to the mess hall. As he returned, Leonce commanded/asked **"Let's eat, talk, and become friends, yeah?"** Eat? Sure. Talk? Maybe. Become friends?... Drake looked surprised by the whole situation. **"Okay, I'm getting most of what your saying, but what do you mean by having a case of foot in mouth. My foot is no where near my mouth, and I doubt the action could ever be done, at least not without having incredible flexibility."** Esther half wanted to face-palm. _"Ugh..."_ Surely no one could be THAT clueless? Drake unwrapped another bar of chocolate and nibbled at it, **"And to respond to your other question, I actually rarely spoke to my family when they were still alive, tending to isolate myself in my room for technological studies after school. It wasn't until recently that I've begun seeking human interaction, but my efforts have been less then successful, as I seem to be missing some important part of the equation that is conversation and humanity. It is most vexing, to say the least."** So, they had some similarities. Whatever, Esther was more than done with this 'conversation'. Angrily, she shoved the bag of candies back into Leonce's face as he did to her and stormed off. **"Here's your damned candy back."** She wasn't about to make nice for their sake. If she wanted to make friends, she would. Right now she was too hungry and tired to deal with all of this. Grumpy and cranky, almost. She caught the directions to the mess hall. She would go and eat alone. She sighed, her father would beat her ass if he was here right now. She desperately wanted to hit the gym to blow off some steam and take a nice, hot shower.

"Come on, man." Leonce groaned as Drake went on about not being flexible enough to put his own foot in his mouth, "It's not meant to be taken literally. It's-" He stopped when the boy continued to go on, bringing to his attention that not only was Drake without friends, but without family to talk to. It was going to be a headache to help him become less of a... robot. Robot was definitely a good way to describe Drake. He was awkward, unaware, and painfully literal. He would've been surprised to find that the boy's nanobots didn't control part of his brain in addition to his arms. The candy being shoved into his face caught him by some surprise. He was used to girls throwing things at his face, but candy felt like more of a reward than a punishment. Can't fault her for trying though, Leonce rolled his eyes and popped another bit of candy into his mouth, turning on his heels to watch her walk away. "Thanks for the candy, dear. Save Drake 'n I a seat, wouldja?" Leonce slowed his pace down a bit as he let Drake catch up, whistling to himself as he waited for the nanobot boy to catch up, watching Esther round the corner and disappear into the mess hall. "You know," he said, looking to Drake with a soft smile, "I don't think you 'n I are all that different when it comes to our folks. I was all on my own when I first got to Earth and had been ever since. Though I wasn't blessed with a mind like yours," Leonce reached out and ruffled Drake's hair as he said that, treating him as if he had known him his entire life, "So I had to get a bit better at dealing with people." Leonce looked ahead, confirming where the mess hall was before looking back at Drake, "So how about you and I work with each other, alright? You lend me that sciencey head of yours and I'll help you get along with our squad mates, alright? We'll start with Esther. She might be acting like she's made of thorns, but I get the feeling something's really bothering her and as friends, we oughtta be there for her. Sound good?"

Drake watched Esther walk away, then turned to Leonce as he began talking. Thinking about it for a little bit, Drake nodded. **"Yes, I would very much appreciate that. I feel that attempting to make friends on my own will mostly result in more of the same, and I will always be glad to share knowledge with those eager to learn. I also agree that Esther does seem to be bothered by something, why else would she refuse to eat perfectly good candy."** rake said, eating another piece of candy as he said it. After he spoke, he then went over the last thing that Leonce said. _'We'll start with Esther. She might be acting like she's make of thorns, but I get the feeling something's really bothering her and as friends, we oughtta be there for her.'_ as friends **As Friends** Scratching his rather nervously head as he caught up with Leonce, Drake looked at the him with some confusion, and a small bit of hope. **"As friends? Does that mean we . . . are friends now?"**

**"Thanks for the candy, dear. Save Drake 'n I a seat, wouldja?"** A vein angrily throbbed in her temple. _"Dear!? Who the hell does he think he is calling me by nicknames and baby names?"_ She grumbled and muttered quietly to herself, she half wanted to sprint back out of the mess hall and deck Leonce one. A quiet, rational part of her mind told her that wouldn't make the best impression. She really needed to eat. Like her father, her fuse shortens whenever she's tired or hungry. Thinking about it, she hoped it wouldn't become a problem in future team exercises. Still fuming, she walked through the line with her tray and utensils. Piling an assortment of starchy carbohydrates, proteins, and vegetables onto her plate, she found a seat by her lonesome in a corner of the mess hall. Nearly slamming her tray on the table, she sat her butt down and crossed her arms. Glaring at her food, she wanted to just shovel the food into her face and leave the mess hall as soon as possible to evade Drake and...Leonce. But sighing, she let her rage fizzle away at the sight and smell of the hot food in front of her. Plus, it would be some embarrassing sight if she was caught chowing down like a pig. Not to mention uncomfortable memories of her father scolding her for her poor table manners and etiquette. After a long day of training with him, she just wanted to stuff her face and go to sleep. She learned real quick that your mood should never be an excuse to be disgusting. Closing her eyes and clasping her hands together, she thanked whoever prepared and cooked the food silently and picked up her utensils. Neatly and slowly, she ate. As she ate, she quickly started to feel better and better. As her mood improved, she rewound the most recent events in her head. Slowly, she realized that she may have acted rather abrasive towards Drake and Leonce. Maybe not externally, but sure as hell in her head. She started to feel rather bad for being rude to them. She would have to make that up to them. Now that she was partially fed and feeling better, she would have to apologize and make nice whenever they would eventually come to sit near her.

"Course we are, Drake." Leonce smirked and patted the nano-boy on the shoulder, "If I didn't consider you a friend, what kinda person would I be?" Leonce offered a shrug of his shoulders as they turned into the mostly empty mess hall, spotting Esther within a moment in the predictable corner of the room. He flashed a grin at her before looking back to Drake, "Shall we?" Leonce led the way, getting into the line, grabbing a tray and a fork and quickly went down the row, dumping a host of roasted veggies onto his plate as well as strips of grilled (what Leonce assumed was) lab-grown chicken meat, and took a moment to find himself a glass of water which his chugged down before refilling it. His whistle wet and his plate full, he called out to Drake "I'll be at the table, take your time and don't get too many sweets." He quickly made his way across the room and plopped down in the seat across from Esther, giving a glance back to make sure that Drake didn't look lost. "Thanks for saving us a seat," Leonce grinned as he put his hands up to his mouth and bowed his head, quietly speaking to himself "Bless us Oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen." He made no attempt to explain what he was doing to her, though he wouldn't have thought it unusual if she found his praying odd. There were fewer and fewer religious people nowadays, his late and great father being one of (what Leonce again assumed) what would be the last few practicing priests. "Your meal help you calm down?" Leonce asked before rolling his bottom lip as his fingers quickly popped out the lip rings and placed them onto his tray by the fork. His fingers wrapped around the fork and the utensil dug into his plate of food as he went on, "Not to say that you weren't calm. Just..." He paused to shove a bit of bell pepper and spinach into his mouth, "Aggressive... Yeah, aggressive." He shrugged and took another bite, rolling his jaw for a moment as he thought to himself whether or not to bother asking too many questions, then mentally shrugged at the notion. He had always been a blunt and forward person; no reason to mix things up now. "You've been starring at me a bit, y'know. S'it the piercings or the tattoos or...?" He didn't bother finishing his sentence, expecting her to either dodge the question all together or go with one of the two he put out.

Esther looked up from her plate just in time to see Drake and Leonce enter the mess hall. Leonce flashed her a sparkling grin, which caused her to drop her utensils. Clumsily fumbling to grab at them, she quickly picked them up. Snapping her head to the side, she ignored his grin. Her 'good circulation' flushing her cheeks red. Turning back to her food, she kept her head low and eyes on her food. More playing with it than finishing what was left on her plate. Leonce then startled her by suddenly dropping into his seat in front of Esther. **"Thanks for saving us a seat,"** He grinned again. Esther shot him a glare that seemed more pouty than anything. She was about to correct him to explain that she didn't intentionally save them a seat when she saw him bow his head to quietly utter something. Blinking, she was confused for a second as to what he was doing. She quickly realized that he was 'praying'. It was rather odd to see someone be religious in times such as these. But, she kept quiet out of respect and courtesy to him. She wasn't particularly religious herself. Her father never really instilled any such beliefs in her, growing up. She couldn't remember seeing any religious objects of any sort during her youth. Did her father even have a religion?... **"Your meal help you calm down?"** Leonce asked, rolling his bottom lip to remove his lip rings. She wanted to angrily retort, but decided against it. _"Right. Be nice.."_ She pouted. **"Y-...yeah."** She huffed, blowing a few strands of her bangs up. **"Not to say that you weren't calm. Just..."** He paused to take a bite of his food. **"Aggressive... Yeah, aggressive."** He shrugged, continuing to eat. _"I'll show YOU 'aggressive'"_ She muttered in her head. **"A-ah...I'm sorry. I tend to get a bit cranky and grumpy when I get tired or hungry. Heh, it's something I got from my father. M-my real one, that is! Not..._him_"** **"You've been starring at me a bit, y'know. S'it the piercings or the tattoos or...?"** His words trailed off, unfinished. His words caught her off guard. Her mind exploded in a flurry of multiple voices screaming at her. She put up her hands and shook her head furiously. **"O-oh, n-no! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude and stare at you! It's just, uhh..."** Quick, some sort of excuse! **"It's just I was...admiring your piercings and tattoos!"** She lowered her hands after scratching the back of her head. Nervous habit. It wasn't a complete lie, maybe a white one. **"I always wanted to get a bunch of piercings and tattoos myself, but I was always too chicken-shit to. Ha ha, sorry..Bit of wuss when it comes to needles and stuff. I hate 'em."** She nervously laughed and resumed to play with her food. She was quite full and done already, but couldn't find it in her to gather her plate and leave. I mean, Leonce and Drake just got here. It'd be rude to just ditch them, right?

Drake was excited by Leonces response, though he kept himself calm and only allowed himself a small smile. Following behind Leonce, he gathered for himself a meal of ham, green beans, and mashed potatoes zlong with a dessert tray of two bowls if ice cream, a piece of chocolate cake and a milkshake to drink. He knew Leonce told him not to get too many sweets, but since he didn't define how much was too much, Drake was willing to take liberties. He sat down on the other side of Esther, catching the last bit of Leonce and Esther's conversation. "While I've never gotten tattoos or piercings, I did replace my arms for the cybernetic replacements. I feel that they suit my line of interest better, plus they allow me to store my nano-queens somewhere close-by and easily accessible." Drake took his fork and began to eat, starting with the ham and quickly moving down the line. While he wasn't being a glutton, he did seem to lack a certain understanding of tableside manners. "Sometimes," he said inbetween chewing, "I did it when I was twelve, and after that people began to look at me strangely. Sometimes random steangers would come up to me and offer their condolences or sympathies. Do you have any idea whynthat might be Esther, as I have found it to be a most perplexing mystery."

She was just thinking it would be rude to ditch them when Drake sat down beside her. She scooted a little bit away from him. Immediately he started talking, joining in on their conversation near the tail-end. **"While I've never gotten tattoos or piercings, I did replace my arms for the cybernetic replacements. I feel that they suit my line of interest better, plus they allow me to store my nano-queens somewhere close-by and easily accessible."** He grabbed his utensils and started to eat. Well, if you wanted to call it 'eating'. It looked more like he was just shoveling food into his face, quite literally. His tableside manners were horrendous and appalling to Esther. She was disgusted, feeling a little sick even. **"Sometimes,"** he said inbetween chewing. _"Eugh, he's even eating with his mouth full! Who the hell taught this kid his manners? Did anyone even try to? Okay, it's okay. Don't hurl.."_ **"I did it when I was twelve, and after that people began to look at me strangely. Sometimes random steangers would come up to me and offer their condolences or sympathies. Do you have any idea whynthat might be Esther, as I have found it to be a most perplexing mystery."** Swallowing hard, she tried to force a pleasant smile. **"W-well, most people with prosthetics are people who get into accidents or are injured war veterans. Like, my father for example. He had to get prosthetic arms and legs after being injured in combat against the Cruxi. So, maybe those people thought you had gotten hurt and felt sorry for you. Not many people would normally and willingly give up their perfectly functioning body parts for prosthetics..."**