Crash nodded his head as he listened, having learnt the bare minimum of procedures himself he had an idea of what she meant. "Mm, books can only take you so far...Sorry I can't be of much help but I could keep an eye out for doctors...since I'm so accident prone" He grinned at her, though he tried really hard to avoid infirmaries and/or any other medical facility that contained nurses, doctors or scientists, he figured he'd brave it if he hurt himself when he was out and about...he felt even more motivated to do so when his peculiar, philosophical moment appeared to make Lily uneasy.

Guilt slithered into his expression as he realised her smile was gone, even after he threw in the jumbled quote. It'd been years since he'd thought on that wisdom...over six years to be exact. As Lily gave him a weak smile he rubbed the back of his neck and nodded his head, unable to think of anything to say. If anything he was eager to move on from it...which is why his face brightened when Lily agreed to walk with him.

Crash's smile grew as Lily shuffled over to his side, he was glad she was willing to come with him. It'd been a while since he'd been in favourable company. He subtly kept Lily on his left side so he could turn to look at her as they walked, which he did every so often...though that probably wasn't a good idea considering his clumsy tendencies. "Really? So many familiar people, I can't wait to catch up with them!" He grinned, a burst of excitement making him hop a step as his face lit up. Catching himself he cleared his throat and calmed himself down...sort of, he was still buzzing at the prospect of seeing them all again.

His mouth opened as if he were going to say something as she pushed his shoulder, instead of words he ended up giving her a bashful smile as color flooded his cheeks and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeaaaah...probably a wise move" He admitted, seeing no point in trying to deny it. Feeling the heat in his cheeks he quickly tried to divert her attention to another subject "So you keep tabs on Carmen, hmm?" He asked trying to even out his smile but failing miserably as his eyebrows rose. Usually he wouldn't have noticed such a subtle hint but he was on top form today, focused even. Nothing was going to take him by surprise.

"Why? Is there... someone you're looking for?"

...except that. His eye widened for a brief moment as his brain scrambled for a response, he'd convinced himself that his question had been subtle. He'd even hid the disappointment at not hearing her name among those Lily could sense. "N-no, I was...I was just asking" He stuttered out, turning to watch her reaction. "Well...sort of...I-I was hoping that" He was so focused on what he was trying to say that the 'focus' he'd had a minute ago had now completely dissipated, he wasn't even looking where he was going any more..."Maybe you had...heard from Ka-aaah!" As he finally got to the point of his rambling, the toe of his boot caught in a rut on the path and sent him head over heels. Anybody else would have probably been able to recover from such a thing...but Crash...

As it was this was the starting point of another Crashtastic accident...as he jerked forward he realised that he was in danger of landing face first in one of the carefully tended flower beds, so in an attempt to save them, he threw his weight to the side, rather than backwards (which would have helped a normal person recover). Doing, this meant he now threatened the life of an innocent rose bush. With a muffled exclamation, the shapeshifter exploded in a puff of purple smoke and disappeared between its branches, the bush wriggled from side to side with a volley of high pitched squeaks before a tiny ball of red fluff rolled out of the back of it and straight into the trunk of a tree behind it hitting it...head first. The ball of red fluff, that was in fact a Crash version of a dormouse flopped backwards onto the grass with a thud before exploding in another puff of purple smoke, leaving a groaning shapeshifter in its wake.

"Okay..." Crash complained, lifting a hand to his head to touch a small gash on the left side of his forehead. He got to his feet with a small hiss and turned to look at Lily...though he wasn't entirely sure which Lily to focus on. "...that one hurt" He admitted, grinning sheepishly as he slowly picked his way back over to her, trying not to appear too wobbly.

@HylianRose

---

Rain smiled at Ara's response, the idea of that was appealing and rather refreshing. "Your chances are improving already then" She stated. 'Even bad impressions can work in your favour' She envied her for that, for purely selfish reasons of course. Rain's eyes dropped to take in Ara's appearance as the girl looked down at her own clothes, she had 0 knowledge on 'fashion' but whatever Ara was wearing seemed...unique and well fitted. Nothing like Rain had seen before, she'd started to think that everyone here lived in jeans. Still she was probably being bias on the situation but she had a feeling she wasn't going to forget Ara all too quickly...admittedly if she had been blonde, that would have been a definite.

Her eyebrow quirked up as the list of abuse broadened 'Boil him...what kind of place is this?' "So I've been told...I'll bear that in mind if I meet him" She decided on saying. Avoiding the idea of killing, even in her world that had become less acceptable.

Despite being preoccupied with Ara, Rain did notice Aurelia's movement. Particularly the way she shrink away and eventually edged herself to stand behind her. 'Move towards the werewolf...what an odd reaction' She was amused by the thought of it, though she figured neither of them knew what she was anyway. Still Aurelia's movement had effectively placed Rain between her and Ara, much to the werewolf's surprise. 'I'm not going to protect you...' She thought, turning her head to look at Aurelia for a moment before turning her attention back to Ara. It wasn't that she disliked Aurelia but she wasn't a part of her pack, so she saw little need to put herself in harms way...mind you, she couldn't be bothered to move out of the way either.

Rain smiled as Ara nodded her confirmation and turned her head just in time to catch Aurelia doing the same. "Okay then...lets move out" She shrugged, turning to lead the trio down the corridor...of course she hadn't a clue which way to go but she figured someone had to start them off. "I have no idea where I'm going by the way, so feel free to chip in with directions" She told them both providing they went with her, if they didn't she only walked a few paces away before waiting for them.

She kept pace with the other two girls, subconsciously trying to stay even with them, resisting the urge to step out in front and adamant she wouldn't fall behind. Until this moment she hadn't realised how much thought went into such a simple movement...or rather how much her people read into it. She glanced at Aurelia again as Ara directed a question at her'Well, something we have in common...that's a first' She thought on Ara's comment, wondering whether she should mention the similarity.

Inwardly grimacing as Ara decided it was time for someone else to contribute to the conversation...she was rather enjoying just listening, it was far easier than talking. 'Fun?' She tried not to frown and failed miserably. "Fun..." She murmured trying to recall the last time she'd experienced such a thing. "I suppose hunting is fun...though it's more of a necessity than anything" She mused more to herself than Ara, it was a job at the end of the day but she was hoping it would hit the bar...now she thought about it, she'd sworn not to mention it 'What does it matter now...'. "This is the first time I've left home and it's been a while since I've talked to other girls" She admitted after giving Aurelia a chance to answer first. "I wasn't given the chance to have fun at home, responsibilities and all that" She ran her fingers through her fringe and unless Aurelia piped up she stated "Besides I haven't the faintest idea what would be considered fun here" with a small shrug of her shoulders "What about you Ara? What do you do for fun?" The werewolf asked, turning to look at Ara carefully avoiding her eye as she did.

@NarayanK @Theobromine

Lily blushed at Crash's remark about Carmen. Her hands came together as she nervously rubbed her ring finger. It still felt like they'd only just started dating for real and she still felt flashes and pangs of heartache when she wasn't with Carmen. Being able to sense her help though. She knew where Carmen was should anything happen to her or should Lily need her.

She raised her brow as Crash began to come clean about who he was really looking for and her eyes went wide as he suddenly disappeared from her sight. She looked around to see his form crashing towards the garden. With a puff of purple smoke, he'd changed and then changed back once out of the thorn bush.

Graceful as always. She mused.

She covered her mouth to suppress the laughter that threatened to tarnish her image. She tried to compose herself, not able to wipe away the grin on her face and the random grunting noises she made when trying to hold back the laughter. "You certainly have a way of living up to people's expectations of you." She told him, suddenly letting the laughter out. She chuckled for about 30 seconds before calming down.

"Come on, Mr. Accident Prone. Let's get you to the infirmary. Some pain meds and bandaids should fix you right up." She told him, holding out a hand for him. When he did grab it, he'd feel a warm feeling wash over him as Lily extended her energy to heal him ever so slightly. She felt the waves of dull pain seep over her as she took bits of it from him. She'd learned this trick over the years. Before she couldn't control how much she healed and now that she was in an important position, she had to look out for herself too.

No more healing burn victims and then getting hospitalized for them. Those days were... ehm... over.

@FaithsRose

Ryuu Yamauchi

"W-Wha... Me?" Ryuu muttered at Oliver's reveal. "You need me? For what...?"

Right before he asked another question, a tiny girl took over his train of thoughts.

The small girl asked if she could sit on his shoulder.

His shoulder.

The smol and tiny girl.

A smol girl on his shoulder.

The very thought made him turn around to hide his eyes from the precious girl; his eyes shined for a split moment as his sunglasses reflected the flash of light. Covering his face dramatically with a hand, he threw his head up in the air and barely managed to prevent himself from screaming out loud.

And as he barely managed tear his hand away from his face, he answered the girl, his back still turned to her, as he slowly lifted his other hand to her direction with a peculiar expression and aura that masked all kinds of emotions.



Continuing to maintain his stoic(?) and manly(???) expression and tone, he also told Oliver, "I'll be there in a sec."

---

Aurelia Triniel

Aurelia flinched when Ara asked if she said anything offensive to her. Did Ara come off as offensive to her...? That did not seem to be the case. Rather, she felt intimidated by Ara's personality in itself due to the lack of knowledge she had on the woman filled with a confident spirit.

So she shook her head ever-so-slightly as she followed Rain.

She took note that she should avoid being with two thick-skinned men for a long time if she wanted to maintain a reserved personality. Being reserved helped her stay in the background, after all.

At Ara's question, Aurelia flinched again.

She still managed to put up a thoughtful look despite her concerns.

"Ah..."

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but fell silent. Soon Rain decided to answer first, stating that she enjoyed hunting. The word "hunting" stopped her heart for a split second, a bad memory resurfacing deep in her thoughts. She silently took a breath as she washed away the particular memory from her train of thoughts, and she quietly regained a bit of her composure back.

Not that she had much composure in the first place.

"I... like to read," she whispered. And that was all she said. The girl pressed her lips against each other a bit as if she wanted to say more, but her tense expression loosened when she figured that she could not find the words to respond with another sentence.

The dark-haired girl continued to follow Rain and Ara, the distance she kept from them remaining the same.

Eric's arms reflexive lifted up to try and catch her, hesitating as she caught herself. Lucy, meanwhile, was grinning from ear to ear and happily jumped from Eric's shoulder to Ryuu's hand and began her climb up to his shoulder. Eric swallowed as Andromeda asked him to help her. "It's no problem." He replied, his voice small. He walked up closer to her so that she could wrap her arm around his neck and if she did, he'd start walking with her towards the infirmary. "Y-You should b-be more... careful." He told her, pausing to reflect on what he was saying to her. He might have sounded like an asshole... She probably knew she should be more careful... He was such an idiot.

Meanwhile... Lucy grinned up at the floating man before realizing he was a floating man. "WOAH! What the heck are you?" She asked, staring up at Oliver. She'd seen some weird stuff when Eric doodles sometimes but he'd since stopped since it usually ended badly. She shivered at the thought, though Ryuu would probably think the shiver was in fear of Oliver.

@Animelover_princess@NarayanK

The shapeshifter noticed the blush rise in Lily's cheeks, he even noticed the way she nervously brought her hands together. However before he could really say anything more on the manner, her question caught him off guard and then...well.

Crash's face was emitting enough heat to warm a room as he looked at Lily, noticing how hard she was trying to stop herself from laughing...though failing miserably. "Yeah, yeah let it all out" He sighed as she finally succumbed to hysterics. Despite the fact he was extremely embarrassed by it all, he had a smile on his face. Even if it was at his own expense, making someone laugh like that was priceless. He carefully stepped around the rose bush, pulling thorns from his clothing with one hand and trying to hold back blood with his other. The cut wasn't deep it was just poorly placed.

"Mr. Accident Prone?" He repeated, raising his eyebrow at her and instantly regretting it as it made his head sting. "I suppose it beats clutz" He murmured, keeping his hand on his head he reached for hers with his other. Blinking in surprise at the warm feeling that washed over him. "Whoa...okay that was weird" He stated, though the pain in his head and shoulders did lessen. "Don't waste too much energy on me, when you're as clumsy as me your body gets used to getting battered after a while" He grinned sheepishly, retracting his hand if Lily released him or allowing her to hold onto him...holding onto him meant he had less of a chance of escaping a trip to infirmary. "Thank you though" He smiled gratefully, before shuffling nervously on the spot. "We really don't have to g-go to the infirmary though...honestly...I-I think I'm fine" He stuttered, wiping at his forehead with a wince.

"For the most part..." He mumbled, despite his hesitance he knew if Lily insisted, he'd comply. At least if he was with Lily he couldn't get busted for being late for orientation...right? In a bid to strike up conversation again he asked "What were we talking about before...was it Carmen?" Even if he wanted to run he wouldn't have been able to so for now he accepted that wherever Lily went he would follow.

@HylianRose

"Ooooh no, Mr. Accident Prone. You aren't getting out of this one." Lily began, laughing at his attempt to bring Carmen back into this. "Trust me when I say, you'll be fine. Kiwi isn't here, it's just me. And I won't do anything nasty to you, promise." She added, grinning at him.

"Besides, just because you're accident prone doesn't mean you need to get used to scraps and bruises. Come see me. If I find out that you've had an accident and you don't come see me, then you should be worried." She told him, narrowing her eyes at him. "You'll see a side of Lily Brightendale you might not like." She added cooly. After a few moments of letting that sink in, Lily's face brightened with a smile as she pushed Crash around and ahead of her, suddenly pushing him towards the infirmary. "Now, come on big man. This shouldn't take very long." She told him, chuckling.

@FaithsRose

- Oliver -

he was quite amused with just how flustered Ryuu was getting. "I'll be there in a sec." Oliver smirked at that and nodded. "whenever you're ready Ryuu, it's not like i'm in a hurry or anything"
then the small girl asked "WOAH! What the heck are you?" and he chuckled and said in his best spooky voice "I'm a ghoooooost!" then he winked.

- Andromeda -

Andro blushed a little when he came closer but smiled and carefully wrapped an arm around his neck, which was challenging considering the height difference but she managed, it certainly kept her weight off her ankle. then he started towards the infirmary, she called a quick farewell to the others as they left.
"Y-You should b-be more... careful."
she chuckled slightly "yeah, i know, i've got two left feet or something," she tapped the rim of her glasses with her free hand "these certainly don't help my depth perception, i should have worn my veil" she muttered the last part. she glanced up at him 'it was very kind of him, to offer to help me like this, i'm sure he has much better things to do but i doubt i could make it to the infirmary on my own without hurting myself worse' she looked forward again as she thought 'Lily would have killed me for that, i'm sure'
"thank you" she muttered "really, you didn't have to help me, you don't even really know me..." she stumbled slightly and almost over-balanced, the height difference was certainly making this difficult as she had to almost be on her tip-toes in order to keep her arm around his neck. she blushed at him "sorry"

Eric was very, very aware of Andromeda's warm body resting against his. Very, very aware. His face was red hot and he tried very hard not to look at her. He didn't say very much as she spoke, afraid he'd mess something up if he did. But when he noticed she was having an even harder time trying to balanced with him, reaching up with her tiptoes, he panicked inwardly.

At this rate she was going to hurt her foot even more...

Uhhh...

Without a word, Eric slowly stopped and turned to look at Andromeda. "S-Sorry, Andro-m-meda. E-Excuse me." He stuttered. Slowly he reached his arms around her back and then bent down to put his other arm under her legs and lifted her up, princess style. "H-Hold on, please...." He told her, his voice barely above a whisper.

His face was still beet red and he could feel her body against his, flames... He took in a deep, shuddering sigh and began walking, swallowing hard as he did. This... This was going to end poorly, wasn't it?

What if he dropped her? His brows furrowed as he walked, his worries growing.

Lucy, on the other hand, was standing on Ryuu's shoulder, staring up at Oliver. "Wow! A ghost! That must feel weird. Does that mean you're... dead?" She asked, wide eyed.

@Animelover_princess @Narayank

Despite how much Crash had changed over the years, it was becoming increasingly obvious that he hadn't changed all that much on the inside. He was clearly still spectacularly clumsy...and he was still unable to hide his feelings, they danced across his face with ease and often speed. As Lily assured him that Kiwi wasn't there, suspicion, fear and guilt crossed his expression before he finally settled on relief. "Hey, I trust you, I really do its just I really don't think this is that bad. I've handled worse, honestly" He tried, putting a little more pressure on his wound, it stung but it was superficial "Are you sure you don't want to let me off the hook just this once?" He asked her with a light hearted grin.

That quickly slid off his face as he resisted the urge to sulk. "I just considered them an occupational hazard..." He told her though he trailed off as she narrowed her eyes at him and cooly added in a threat, that spooked him more. The color left his face as his mind raced through several thousand scenarios, involving a mad Lily and a medical facility. He inhaled sharply as she suddenly smiled and started pushing him towards the infirmary, he complied though there was definitely hesitation there. "Remind me to never get on your bad side...because I will forget and I know I'll regret it" He told her, reaching up to rub the back of his neck as he finally gave in and walked like a normal person to the infirmary.

Well as normal as Crash could, he kept his hand on the wound on his head and watched where he was putting his feet. With the infirmary in sight, Crash's nerves increased. He glanced back at Lily, turning his head to the side so he could see her. Forgetting that without his other eye he couldn't really see where he was going..."So...these old fashioned medicines you use, are we talking natural herbs or?" He asked to strike up conversation, considering mentioning Carmen hadn't worked earlier...although he was genuinely curious as to how the skylark was doing.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side...because I will forget and I know I'll regret it."

Lily leaned in as she pushed him along and spoke in a calm voice, "I'll drill it into your head everyday if need be." Her voice was soft and almost sing-song as she smiled. When he finally walked along on his own, she straightened up and walked up to walk along side him.

When he asked about her medicines, she chuckled. "Natural herbs, medicines from the mundane world, magic medicines from Elaniel and Oasari. A little bit of everything. Maria has her hands in a lot of pockets, you know." She explained, hoping Crash would catch her drift.

It didn't take very long for them to reach the infirmary and Lily was still talking about her medicines when they reached it.

"...and the blue stuff will stop wounds from bleeding on the spot however... Oh... We're here!" She rambled, stopping abruptly when they reached the door. She blinked as she stared at the door and a slow, mischievous grin grew on her face. "Crash, you go in first. I need to go to the nearby closet and grab a few things. Go on, nothing will bite you in there. Very hard, anyway." She told him and without waiting for an answer, walked over to a nearby door and stepped inside.

She felt her stomach tighten with anxiety as she waited. She tiptoed her way to the back of the room she'd entered, the infirmary's storage and opened the entry towards the infirmary. It was a small bathroom that linked the two rooms and it was there that she listened to the encounter she knew would soon ensue.

- Andromeda -

Andro had been focusing on her feet when he stopped and looked at her. "S-Sorry, Andro-m-meda. E-Excuse me." he said. she looked confused until his arms went under her knees and swept her off her feet. she let out a little yelp of surprise. she stared at him (not that he could tell), wide-eyed. a blush worked it's way back into her marble colored cheeks. one arm was still around his throat and her other hand had closed tightly around the fabric of her skirt. 'he's strong' she thought 'though i guess this isn't much of a test, i don't weigh much'
"H-Hold on, please...." he said, and she carefully un-clenched her hand and clasped it with the other behind his neck, inadvertently drawing herself closer to him, and darkening the blush on her cheeks. 'get yourself together, Andromeda!' she chastised herself 'he's just being nice, calm down'
"thank you..." she muttered, her ankle already felt slightly better now that it was off the ground."we're uh... we're almost there" her voice was quiet, she almost suddenly became aware of her 'just this side of decent' clothes. everything indecent was covered but her dress didn't exactly cover much else. she was acutely aware that there was no fabric between her skin and his arms in either place they were holding her but she made no comment because she was very flustered and wasn't even sure she'd be able to talk to him.

Crash gulped at her words, it would probably be necessary but that just sounded painful. He was relieved when she happily answered his question regarding herbs, a smile lit up his face despite how worried he was about going to the infirmary. He didn't seem surprised by what he was told though he gave her a small nod to signal that he understood what she meant by that.

By the time they reached the infirmary his head was swimming with information about medicine, some things he'd already known or picked up whilst travelling, others were new and exciting. He'd been so focused on what Lily was saying he'd completely forgotten where they were going until she announced it. He started as they reached the door, giving it a distrustful look, he didn't notice Lily's mischievous grin. "Wait, what?" He asked turning to look at her as she started to walk away from him, his face fell and he lifted a hand as if to reach for her "Wait! Lily don't just-" but she was gone before he could do anything about it "...leave me here" he murmured, looking back at the door.

"Okay, come on you can do this...it's not as bad as you think it is" He told himself, though a shiver passed down his spine as he thought of Kiwi and her army of bugs. He looked back the way they'd come wondering how far he'd get if he simply made a run for it 'Not very far, you'll probably fall over and knock yourself out' he told himself. No. He had to do this...it wasn't that hard, a simple open the door and walk in job. "Besides Lily wouldn't lie about this" He assured himself and reached for the door, opening it slowly he focused on the ceiling above him as it opened.

Once the gap was wide enough for him to fit through, he literally threw himself through it and stumbled into the infirmary, only taking his eye of the ceiling once he was clear of the door he looked forward just in time to realise there were three people in front of him. With a yelp of surprise, he threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding a collision and falling on his face...again. As he went down he managed to smack the edge of a silver tray holding sterilised implements and sent them flying across the room in all directions, as well as pushing the table they were on across the into a cabinet, causing its contents to rattle dangerously. With a groan, Crash rolled over onto his back and pressed his hand to his aching head "...that one hurt too" he grumbled, focusing on the ceiling above him as he tried to gather his bearings.

Ryuu Yamauchi

The otaku stiffened as he slowly turned to Oliver, Lucy on his shoulder. He maintained his peculiar expression as he remained deathly still. At this point, he had forgotten all about Andromeda because she seemed to be having a fun time with Eric.

But oh, they did not know the fun of having a tiny girl sitting on one's shoulder. It was just fabulous. Amazing. And ka- no, he dared not to think of that cursed word... But... she was cute.

Truly precious.

Shiny.

Maybe not shiny, but she seemed to look like that in his eyes. His instincts told him "I MUST PROTECT HER" like crazy, and he did not deny his instincts; they were the truth, after all.

"What is it that you need?" Ryuu asked in his epic(?) tone, preventing himself from saying 'You're already dead.'

"I have no idea where I'm going by the way, so feel free to chip in with directions"

“No worries, I have no idea where anything is either.” Ara laughed, and walked alongside Rain. “Hunting? Cool. I don’t have much experience in it, but let me know if you feel like going for a hunt sometime. I’m good with a gun.” Surprisingly enough, she had never actually shot anything alive with her gun before. Her teacher had been able to make plenty of moving targets to practice on, so she had never had the need to try to shoot an animal. And although Ara had picked up on the strange way Rain had mentioned that hunting had been a necessity… She did not comment on it. Yet.

She took on a thoughtful expression and looked slightly upwards, though she continued to pay attention to their surroundings as they walked. “Responsibilities huh… I guess I never had much of those. It sounds troublesome.” Looking to Aurelia, she ended up responding to both the girls at once. “I like to read as well. Sometimes there’s… Nothing else I can do but read.” She frowned and narrowed her eyes, thinking about the Fractal World. But then her expression brightened up again as she pushed the thought aside. Or pretended to.

“Other than that, I like to go around and just visit random places. Cafes, restaurants, game centers, a strangely sketchy-looking pawn shop… I like looking around exploring.” Apparently having thought of an idea, Ara piped up, “In fact, after the boring assembly’s over why don’t we go around and explore this place? Since everything’s newly built, I belt they’ll have some interesting stuff around.”

Sporting a mischievous grin, she abruptly halted for a moment and walked right up to Aurelia. Placing her arm around the quiet girl’s shoulders she asked, “You’ll be joining in, right?”

@NarayanK@FaithsRose

As Edric watched the boy fall into the infirmary, he tried his hardest to suppress a laugh. He failed. Miserably. Once he had gotten a hold of himself, he immediately felt guilty and mumbled an apology under his breath. Then, he began thinking about the pink-haired woman, Lily Brightendale.

Hey, Azamor.

What?

What do you think about this whole situation?

God, you can be so thick-skulled sometimes. Think about it, who sealed me in this God-forsaken pendant?

My mother?

Exactly, Lily Brightendale. You never once thought to ask me if I knew anything?

I didn't think you'd tell me.

Christ, I don't hate you that much, kid.

So, the woman with the pink hair is her?

Oh, it's her, alright. I could sense her from a mile off.

The sudden realization that his missing mother was somewhere in the school proved to a bit too much for Edric to handle. He had a sudden need to throw up, and so he ran into a room at the back of the infirmary that looked sort of like a bathroom. He tore into the room and threw up in the toilet. Once he had finished, he looked up to find...

Lily Brightendale.

Unsure of how to react, Edric turned back to the toilet and threw up. Unbeknownst to him, his wallet had fallen out of his pocket while he ran into the bathroom, conveniently landing so that his picture was displayed.

Kathy had thought that she had heard a muffled, but familiar, voice. Turning to the door, she didn’t have to wonder long whether or not she’d heard correctly. The flash of red hair and the chaos that quickly followed afterwards… There was no doubt about it. But more importantly, at the moment anyway, she had to duck to the side to avoid a pair of scissors flying in her direction.

“Cra-” Just as she tried to call out to her though, Edric suddenly ran away to a different portion of the infirmary. ‘Just what is going on here..?’ She wondered, feeling utterly confused and lost. Normally she would have chased after him to see if he was alright, however…

Looking back at the shapeshifter on the ground, she found herself frozen in place. Having lost her initial timing to call out to him, she wasn’t sure what to say anymore. ‘ Naturally… Just approach him like you normally would…’ Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure what would be normal anymore. They had lost contact years ago and a lot of things could have changed since then.¬

“C-Can you stand?” Finally gathering up her courage, she walked up to Crash and knelt down beside him. After some hesitation, she offered her hand to help him up and whispered, “… It’s good to see you again.” She gave him a faint smile, unable to give her usual bright smile due to her nerves and… Due to the fact that the eye patch on his face had caught her eyes.

@Nevix@FaithsRose@HylianRose@chukklehed

Eric, throughout the walk, look straight ahead, trying his best not to look down at her. Everywhere he touched, he felt warm skin and with this came the realization of what Andromeda was wearing.

It's okay, Eric. Just... keep calm. It's... just her skin. It's fine.

It's fine...

He stopped as they closed nearer to the infirmary and stared at the crowd that stood just outside of it. Hi brows furrowed. Of course when he wanted to get someone to the infirmary, it would be full and active. Whenever he went by to see Lily for something, she was almost always alone and working on paperwork.

"S-Sorry... We may have to wait a bit..." He told her, already walking over to lean against the wall, still holding her for fear of touching somewhere he didn't need to when putting her down. He'd rather just kill his arms and keep holding her...

Yeah, that was the reason. No... other reason.

He felt his cheeks grow red again and he breathed in.

Lucy simply sat on Ryuu's shoulder, staring up at Oliver as she waited for a response to Ryuu's question. As she did wait, however, she leaned over and placed her head on Ryuu's neck, smiling at the warmth.

@NarayanK@Animelover_princess

---

Lily blinked as the young boy from before rushed into the bathroom, nearly knocking her down in the process. Well, that's what she got for being nosy. She bent down to lay a hand on his back to comfort him but when he looked at her and threw up again, something in his eyes told her not to. She could also tell that there was great turmoil in his aura. He wasn't feeling well because of sickness but because of nervousness or... something of the sort.

She noticed his wallet on the ground and quietly picked it up, noticing the picture that had fallen out.

"Hmm...?" She quietly murmured. That certainly looked like her but she didn't recognize anyone in the photo except for the boy she'd just met. Her brows furrowed for a moment, before she turned her attention back to the boy puking in the toilet. "What's wrong, Edric? Are you not feeling well?" She asked. Unable to keep herself from trying to console him any longer, she placed a warm hand on his back and began rubbing it up and down very gently. He felt very tense but otherwise unharmed. The soul that was with his, however, upset her very much. She could feel it, dark and brooding and something about the aura made her feel sick to her stomach as well but she kept that at bay, wanting to make sure the boy was okay before doing anything else.

Kathy and Crash would have to wait. "Edric, what's wrong? I don't see any damage to you or any sickness in you. Did something happen to make you upset?" She asked, her face looking almost pained.

@Nevix

"My God." Edric began to tear up. "You don't remember me? You don't remember any of it." He saw her holding the picture. "You don't know who the man in the picture is either?" And Edric stopped crying. He started laughing.

Edric?

Not. Now. Aza.

For once in their time together, Azamore listened.

"Lily Brightendale,"He looked at the Angel. "I don't know what the hell happened that made you forget me. I'm your son, Lily."

@HylianRose

Crash heard someone flee the room as he tried to arrange his thoughts and blink the stars away from his eyes. He wasn't quite ready to move but he was acutely aware that there were other people near him and he was almost sure that he had heard...then again he'd hit his head twice.

“C-Can you stand?”

A second time, he blinked as Kathy came to kneel beside him. 'Definitely given myself concussion this time' he thought to himself "I think I can" He replied with ease, focusing on Kathy's face with his good eye he looked a little confused. "...it is?" 'Wait a minute...' Crash took a moment to take in Kathy's appearance, noting that she looked a little...different. "You look-" He started, reaching past her hand he touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. "-real"

All at once several emotions flooded across his face along with a huge amount of blood as his cheeks flushed a spectacular red. 'REAL! YOU IDIOT, WHAT ARE YOU- He jerked upright and promptly hit the top of his head on the edge of the table. "Ow!" He winced pulling back from the table and clutching his head. "Fiddlesticks, I-I" he stuttered, pulling his hair down over his eye patch as he looked back at Kathy, the green in his eye turned back to ruby color returning to his visible eye. "I-I'm sorry I...err..." He trailed off as his hand sought out the back of his neck and a bashful grin crossed his face. "I-it's good to see you again too" He finally decided on saying his smile softening for a moment before his memory kicked in. "Ah, I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked, looking down at the silver tray.

Before looking around him with a guilty expression "I shouldn't have shot in the door like that...definitely should have been looking where I was going" He apologised making a move to get to his feet, carefully avoiding the table as he did, once he was up, he offered Kathy his hand. His face was still bright red from his blunder earlier, but he seemed to have mostly recovered from his tumble minus the wound on his head.

---

Rain heard the change in Aurelia's breathing, though she missed the skip in her pulse...there were just to many people around and she hadn't been concentrating. She glanced over her shoulder at the shy girl curiously before refocusing her attention on Ara 'Good with a gun...' she gave Ara a questioning look "I personally avoid guns, but each to their own" She shrugged, though her shoulders tensed "I could probably give you a few pointers on tracking though" She told her with a small smile "Do you think we'd be able to hunt here?" She asked, surprised and noticeably excited by the prospect. Even thinking about hunting caused her eyes to change color, though they glowed faintly it was debatable how noticeable it was in the daylight being as her eyes were now a dark purple rather than blue.

"It is troublesome" Rain confirmed with a small sigh. Her ears pricked as she heard Aurelia's whisper, an unreadable emotion crossed her eyes as she recalled the last time she'd read a book. 'Father would have been furious if he knew' She thought glancing at Ara as she confirmed she also enjoyed the peaceful activity '...not that I didn't pay the price for it anyway'. Rain's eyebrow rose as she registered the change in Ara's expression before she was able to recover. Looking back at Aurelia she noticed the change in her expression "What books do you like to read?" She asked directing her question at Aurelia with a look though it was open ended enough to include Ara.

What was said next all but flew straight over Rain's head 'Cafes, games centers...sketchy pawn shops...I feel like I'm from another planet. Why don't we know any of these things?' she chewed her lip as a wave of annoyance passed through her "I have no idea what any of those are, but they sound interesting enough...what kind of games do you play?" She asked looking Ara over as she tried to peg what the other girl would play '...maybe tail snap? Definitely not knock out...' She mused until the word 'exploring' popped up.

Exploring was something she understood well, she nodded her head and smiled "Count me in" She piped, watching Ara curiously as she dropped back to walk next to Aurelia. She frowned as Ara looped her arm around Aurelia's shoulders, internally questioning her motives. "It'll be fun, come with us Aurelia" She encouraged, either waiting for them to start walking again or continuing to walk at a slower pace in front of them.

@Theobromine@NarayanK

She blushed as his fingers brushed over her cheek, but it hardly compared to how red Crash’s face looked immediately afterwards. And then of course, more chaos ensued. In a truly Crash-like fashion, he somehow managed to hit his head again in such close succession… Although it looked painful, she couldn’t help but laugh. It was… It was such a relief to see him again.

Kathy shook her head. “I’m fine.” Her eyes trailed momentarily to the pair of scissors she had dodged, but she quickly glanced back at him. “I’m surprised, actually. That you would be so enthusiastic about coming into the infirmary.” She wondered if that meant Crash was finally over his fear of Kiwi?

She looked at his hand and reached out for it. As soon as her fingers closed around his, she couldn’t help but think back to a very distant memory. Back when he still had both his eyes. Both of them were 5 years younger… At the beach, where she laughed and agreed on a date before accepting his hand to get up from the sand…

She bit down on her lower lip. Trying to keep herself from crying. ‘No! This isn’t how I want to greet him again!’ Accepting his help, Kathy got up and felt a few tears fall down her face. But before he could see it, hopefully, she suddenly rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him. “I missed you.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she buried her face into his shirt. She could understand why Crash had reached out to her now. Even though she had recognized him, the reality that he was actually there hadn’t hit her until she hugged him.

… The touching moment lasted an impressive 3 seconds before Kathy realized what she was doing and jumped away, her face the exact same shade of colour as his hair. “I-I’m so sorry! I-” Stepping back even further, she felt her foot slip momentarily on something cylindrical (which turned out to be a pen), but managed to catch her balance in time to prevent another accident.

Feeling even more blood rush to her cheeks, she straightened up and cleared her throat. “S-Sorry Crash… I…” She didn’t think she’d ever hugged him before, actually. At the very least, she had no recollection of it in the past. “Sorry… More importantly, are you alright?” She laughed, more because she was nervous than because she found something funny. But luckily her whirling mind actually managed to come up with a good reason to change the conversation. “Did you need something from the infirmary..?”