It was quite the... strange morning.

The first thing she did, like always, was get up to brush her teeth and shower. The hot summer air made her sweat under her sheets, and it was a relief to get rid of the stickiness of the humid night. The weariness that plagued her did not stop her from slipping into a red cotton sundress; her choice of attire would probably help her with the unusual heat that had launched an assault against Darkwell City.

As she sauntered into the living room of her decently sized apartment, her arms were stretched above her head, tying her damp black hair into a messy bun. Even her fingers felt clumsy and heavy... she wondered if it was because she played too much last night. The fingers on her left hand were hurting the most, so she wouldn't be surprised it was due to the fact that she mashed the Q, W, E, and R keys way too many times.

Her stomach grumbled as she stepped out of her apartment, turning around to lock the door. Making sure that no one would be able to break into her humble yet beloved home, she placed her keys into her purse before striding down the halls of the apartment complex. Whitney sighed as she finally walked out onto the streets, blinking in the hot summer sun. Even though it was hot, she needed her breakfast... it wasn't like the diner was too far away.   My blueberry muffin and lavender tea are waiting for me!

With a determined grin, Whitney sprinted down the white cement street and crossed the black asphalt road. A car almost hit her as she leapt onto the other side of the sidewalk, but she didn't care. She wanted to finally get something into her stomach, for if she didn't... well, she wouldn't be someone pleasurable to work with.

 "Mornin'!" Whitney chirped as she stepped into the diner. Another pain struck her abdomen, making her she wince and rub her stomach. Well... that was new.

One of the waiters walked up to her, his brownish eyes dry and dull as always. Whitney recognized him as Garrett; while he usually worked and attended to her in the diner, he wasn't one for small talk or jests... which was pretty upsetting. "The usual, I suppose?" he said, moreso to himself than to her. Without another word between them, he guided her to a booth by the window. She sat down, grinning as she watched Garrett walk off, before allowing her gaze to flicker over the diner in search of other familiar faces.

Her eyes rested on a man at a corner table. She recognized him as Mr. Ravello, and he came to the diner more than she did-- and that was impressive. Whitney smiled as his green eyes peered over his newspaper at her.  "Hi, Mister," she greeted him as always.  "Enjoying your coffee, today?"

The man quirked an eyebrow. "The usual," Mr. Ravello answered her. "A little too dark for my taste, to be honest."

Whitney's smile didn't waver.  "You seem like the 'dark' type to me, though."

The man sighed, rustled his newspaper, and didn't answer. A few moments after, the grumpy waiter came over with a small white plate and cup. Garrett placed the muffin and cup of tea in front of her, along with a silver spoon. Before he left, she took a bite of the pastry.  "Delicious as always, Garrett," Whitney commented on its sweetness.  "Why don't you become a cook or a baker? Better than being a waiter, eh?"

Garrett blinked down at her with a blank and tired expression. "Yeah, yeah," he said, beginning to walk away. "Don't 'forget' to leave me tip, this time."

As usual Noelle woke up in the morning with heavy headache after a night of nightmares. She never could forget her past and it haunted her every moment she was asleep and sometimes even her waking hours. She had to spend her time playing games and generally occupy her mind to even have some breather of not feeling the sheer terror in the back of her mind. Last night though… things were different. Those were not her usual nightmares and this was not the usual headache.

Her entire body felt like it was put through a meat grinder and them spewed out to be beaten by a hammer or something. She didn’t believe there was a part of her body that didn’t hurt. “ Agh… what time is it…” She thought, reaching over to her mobile and giving it a nod. It was time to head to get her pay for the month from her job as a janitor. With a soundless sigh, she slowly got out of the bed and went to the tiny bathroom to prepare.

Half an hour later, she was clean, dressed up and ready to go out. She took her small backpack which housed stuff like documents, IDs and etc… With everything done, she left her tiny apartment, locked the door behind herself and started making her way over to the bank. She couldn’t hail a cab since she couldn’t speak… so she was always forced to either walk or take the metro. In this case she chose to walk for the sport of it. She was dressed in a comfortable tracksuit because most her clothing now consisted of tracksuits as she was short on money and had to be very prudent with her spending.

Finally reaching the bank office she usually visited, she headed to the cashier whom she usually worked with. Being mute made things difficult and that woman already knew about it so she knew what to do when Noelle shows up.

“Ahh, miss Noelle, please I’ve already prepared the paperwork.” The cashier said as she saw the blue haired girl approach. With a smile and a nod, Noelle quickly walked over and smiled, preparing to sign the papers.’ You have no idea how thankful I’m to you…’ The girl thought, her lips barely opening, and felt something strange happen. The air as if stirred… suddenly the girl behind the counter put her hands to her ears. She looked in pain… ‘Are you alright?’ Noelle asked in concern, her mouth opening, but no words coming out. What happened was that the air around stirred up even more as even more people put their hands to their ears, muttering something about a deafening screaming noise. Noelle could even see the cashier’s nose starting to bleed… The cashier screamed, other clients screamed in panic and Noelle also screamed. Her mouth opening in a soundless scream, but the air vibrated, high pitched noises spreading in the surroundings, causing people to fall to the ground. Hell the monitor of the cashier in front of her even cracked.

Panicked, unsure what had happened, but knowing it was her fault probably, she put a hand on her mouth and started to run. The money was already transmitted to her account and the paper was signed so… she didn’t know even what to do right now. She just hurt people… how did she do it. Were the police going to lock her away now… were they going to kill and dissect her? WHAT WAS GOING ON!?

In fear she ran to the only one place she knew where to hide right now. The diner where she cooked. ‘ Alright… I’m just going to hide there and cook for the day… yes… this is a dream… might wake up if I do something boring… ‘ She thought, without daring to even open her mouth in the slightest.

Reaching the diner, she stormed inside from the employee entrance and straight into the kitchen after changing into her work uniform. She kept her eyes to the ground, least someone sees the panic in them.

A slice of sunlight cut through the blinds and caught her right in the eye. With an annoyed groan, Xhen rubbed her face and stretched her arms and legs; her back arched which earned her a satisfying crack. Yawning, the dark haired female slid off the bed and dragged her feet to the bathroom to wash up. After slipping into a fresh sundress, she made her way around the desk to her laptop to print off some copies of the posters she had made last night. They were advertising her availability as a dog sitter/walker and Xhen was planning to post them out around Darkwell on her way to the college. Awaiting the stack of ads, she fixed up an egg and munched away on an apple before gathering her things and heading out of the complex.

Aside from her dress, the mixed race girl wore a cheerful smile and a twinkle in her eye. She had just recently moved into the city and planned to explore it after her last period. For now, she was on the hunt for more jobs besides being a barista at the quaint little cafe down the block. As she walked, a brunette wizzed past her and almost got nipped by an oncoming vehicle. Clasping her hands over her mouth, she let out a surprised gasp before blinking in surprise, seeing that the lady was unfazed as she swooped into the diner across the street. Wow. That was close. Sighing in relief, she strolled into Tea Leaf Cafe and waved at Obachan, the elderly woman who owned the shop- also her boss.

"Why good morning Xhen! You look awfully cute today," Obachan croaked pleasantly as she served a customer some chai tea.

Xhen smiled and pinned an ad onto the board by the door. "Well, it was nice out so I decided to wear a dress," she replied with a bright grin. "Headed to class. I'll be in for work a little later ok? Bye!" Hurrying down the road, she waved down a taxi that brought her to UO just a few minutes away. Thanking the driver, she handed him her fee before maneuvering through the campus for her first class. It was English Composition I, a gen ed. Hooking her backpack onto her seat, she laid out her notebook and fished out her favorite pen to prepare for the lecture. Huffing contently, she sat down on the cushion and propped her chin up onto her hands. I sure hope someone responds to my ads.

Dropping the bag of kibble, Jason ran a hand through his long, messy locks, still damp from his steaming-hot shower. Already, he was regretting the way he spent his night. Usually, he'd get a nice seven hours of sleep, so that he could wake up early, do his morning routine, and maybe even get in a quick jog before work. Today, however? Only four hours of sleep. Combine that with an unnaturally pounding migraine and muscle soreness, and one could easily tell that Jason wasn't in the best of moods.

The previous night, he'd spent hours playing League - solo queue, since his online friends were either across the country, or busy with school. The first hour or so was Ranked - Diamond III, since he couldn't really muster up the try-hardiness to make it to Challenger. After that, it was simply playing whatever striked his fancy. ARAM, Draft and Blind Pick, the works. It was one of the biggest gaming binges he had this year, and he so, so regretted it now.

Falling back into his rolling chair, Jason popped another aspirin into his mouth, pushing his bare feet on the floor so that his chair slid over to the living room's coffee table, where a glass of cold water was waiting for him. He took his time sipping the cool liquid, relishing in the temporary relief. It was six A.M - his alarm clock hadn't seem to realize that he didn't have the correct amount of sleep. Work was in...an hour? Two hours? He had to be up there at 8, but he generally got there a bit early so that he could get started on the dishes.

Damn, maybe I should call in si-

The sound of tiny, galloping footsteps interrupted his inner complaint, Jason barely opening an eye just in time to see a brown and black blur jetting straight to his face. "Gnar-!" He was cut off as the bullet slammed into him, causing his beloved leather chair to tip back, betraying both Jason, and gravity. There was a brief second where Jason was stuck between grabbing Gnar off of his head, and trying to re-balance himself. In the end, motherly instincts took over, and he grabbed the pupper and held him in his arms, even as the chair completely fell backwards.

The wind was knocked out of his chest at the impact, and Jason simply lied there, his headache pounding at a constant pace. Crystal blue eyes closed once again. His head was really pounding now, and the soreness in his body wasn't fading away. Dying here, on his floor...it didn't seem too bad.

...

...

"Woof."

"Bite me."

...

"Ow! I'm up, damn it."

Ignoring the pain, Jason rolled backwards, wincing as the cold floor touched his bare skin. In his own home, he never really saw any reason to dress up, so he only wore sweatpants. It's always quite awkward whenever the owner came for his rent. He carefully stood, his hand, once more, coming up to pass through his black hair - a nervous habit he picked up years ago. It was becoming about time to head out. Normally, if he was feeling this bad, he'd just call in sick. But, considering this month's rent was due in a week, and he wanted pocket money for groceries, he just had to suck it up and get in his hours.

Gnar, the troublesome dick, was lapping at his water bowl happily, as if he hadn't just caused Jason to nearly die. After picking up his chair, Jason flipped the puppy off, while backing up towards his bedroom. As he made it past the doorway, Gnar turned around, and the happy-sounding bark it let out sounded condescending as Hell. Jason scowled and shut his door, making his way to his closet.

---

Jason locked his door behind him, before bending down and sliding the spare key underneath the welcome mat. Usually, before she went out for work, the old lady in the room next to his would check in on Gnar and make sure the puppy wasn't summoning Satan or something - which Jason offered to pay her for, but she always waved him off. Still, he was hoping that someone would put down an ad for dog-sitting soon. Hell, baby-sitting, too. He was sure he could convince them.

Standing, Jason turned around, ready to head downstairs and out to the diner. While some would say that his clothing choice wasn't really suited for a bus boy - a black, collared jacket with the sleeves rolled up, a dark gray shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers - but Jason wasn't really interested in wairing a butler suit everyday to work. The manager, an old man by the name of Jerry, didn't seem to have a problem with it as long as he wore an apron, so Jason wore what he wanted.

He began making his way down the stairs, two steps at a time, when a sudden wave of...something hit him. It was like dizziness...but his limbs felt like they were coated with iron, and his heart skipped a beat. For a second, he felt, and saw, nothing. And then...he was cognitive again, only his body was already tilting forward, head-first, at the top of the long staircase. His body froze, even though his mind was screaming to move.

And then, he was falling. His body decided to wake up, at this moment.

Jason's eyes opened, and he acted. Unaware of the visible wisps of wind circulating his form, flowing through his hair and clothing, Jason slammed a palm against the concrete stair, just before his head could make contact with the stone. With strength and agility he didn't even know he had, the young man pushed off of his palm, flipping once through the air before he landed, softly and almost silently, at the bottom of the staircase, one foot at a time. As soon as he made contact with the ground, the wind dissipated. Along with his adrenaline. And, with that, Jason fell on his ass, staring at his hand.

"What...the Hell?"

---

Jason entered the diner through the back employee door, after clicking the 'lock' button on his keyring. The black Camaro beeped once in assurance, and Jason hooked the keys to his belt, before taking off his jacket and lying it near the spices rack. After the little event at the apartment, which Jason simply summed up to dumb luck and adrenaline, the headache had abated just a tad - more of a constant knocking, rather than someone banging on the walls of his skull. Good thing, too, since the diner seemed to be pretty active this morning.

As he grabbed an apron from it's rack, Jason felt someone bump into his side, causing him to take a step back. Raising an eyebrow, he threw the apron over his shoulder and looked down, noticing the cook - Noelle, he thought - with her face facing the ground. That wasn't a good sign. Plus, her shoulders seemed hunched, and her over-all body language seemed spooked. Thank you, Psychology 101.

"Hey, Noelle, you okay? You look scared." He asked carefully, temporarily looking away from her to grab a dish-towel from the shelf above the aprons.

With a large thump a woman with big, black combat boots flopped into a booth. Her eyes, still seeming bleary from a late night, sluggishly found a menu. The woman snatched it up and reclined herself into the most comfortable part of the booth and heavily brought her boots to rest on the table. Many eyes turned to look at this rude behavior, to which the woman would flick up her gunpowder and charcoal smeared eyes for a moment to stare at them in turn, only to look down at the menu again, unconcerned. It didn't seem like anyone was going to tell her what to do, yet, and if anyone did they'd be in for a very unpleasant time.

This punk rock woman was named Sam -- short for Samantha. She had picked out a Green Day American Idiot shirt and some ripped up, skin tight, black jeans as well. The black matched her somewhat emaciated looking black hair that held in the bangs streaks of deep plum purple. On her fingers appeared chipping black nail paint and on her eyes a smear of blacks and grays. Her aura screamed something of, 'don't mess with me', especially being that she wasn't in the best of moods this morning.

The woman had hid them as best she could with concealer, but her eyes wore deep dark circles beneath them that revealed that she had not slept well. Her night had been filled with fiery aches and pains in her muscles and a sweat the persisted through the night. Sam was sure she was sick with one thing or another and she considered going to a doctor's this morning, but that would have been too pricy. She didn't pay her health insurance this month because she had wanted to by some new albums. However, luckily, it seemed as if the sweating and the pains had passed for now, a fact that she was very thankful for. She was still weak from the endeavor so she longed for some breakfast.

Sam spotted someone who looked waitery and called him over with a very courteous, "Hey, you, waiter dude. Can ya get me some black coffee?" She paused for a moment as her stomach gave a small roar. "And uh... croissant or whatever."

@Ambra (Garrett)

Ben woke up in his apartment sitting in his chair with his laptop on his lap with a dead battery and a half cigarette in his mouth. The air was very hot in the whole house."What a night...". Ben yawned and put his laptop away on the charger.
"I should get dressed and eat something. Cause I am STARVING!" He exclaimed and made a tired stretch. He got out to the bathroom and took a cold shower to wake him up. After getting dressed in a Black T-shirt with the number "13"on it and black jeans he checked if he has everything he needs on him. He grabbed his backpack that had most of his things in it.Tobbaco, rolling papers filters and some private stuff. He went out and locked the doors. Just when he stepped out on the streets he felt like things were diffefent. His whole body had cramps and ached as he moved but he liked it.
As he walked on the streets he made little stretches on his limbs and joints, feeling amazing in his body Ben just couldnt wait to bite into something. He was supryzed that everything he smelled felt a bit different, the flowers, the people, the food. Everything had a stronger scent. Arriving at a diner he walks in with a smile on his face. Being happy to finally eat. He looks around the place and sees some people already eating. He didnt even look at the time today. He saw a punk looking girl and sat in the same booth as her and said: ""Good mornin, mind if i join you?" he put his backpack on the ground near his legs.

@Kiroue@Ambra

There was, in her mind, no reason to really be in as much pain throughout the night as she felt. She constantly woke up at assorted hourly intervals, where she tried to sleep earlier due to her relatively earlier classes the next morning. It was a bit of a boring night, just doing a bit of a ranked grind (and failing somewhat), and she stayed in for most of the night. No drinks, somewhat surprising for a ranked night, no night runs, no hanging out a few rooftops away listening to podcasts, no blazing down the street on her bike, only a few people in voice comms, a short stream, and a few bottles of coke. So there really wasn't too much explanation for her pain.

Groaning, as her phone was buzzing for the sixth time this morning, Alexis had to get up at this point. Or be late to her class. She could bail, probably, she knew a few people who recorded the lectures. And she could just pull the sick card. There wasn't really any reason she couldn't, but she figured she might as well go. She'd just call Ross at the shop to bail on him. He didn't really care as long as she pulled some overtime and met her due dates. She adjusted her sitting position, legs hanging off the side of her bed. She pulled her arms over her head, then turning to crack her back. That didn't entirely help the fact that she felt like she had been torn apart from the bone, then repackaged improperly and just at random, along with her head killing her. Damn. She was hoping for a little bit of a good day. The girl stood up, stretching once more to try and fix herself up.

Popping open a bottle of assorted painkillers, she pulled out the first two that matched. She just figured it was more space efficient on her desk, where she put really everything she needed, except for food. As she got her shower ready, she popped the pills in her mouth, then letting herself relax in the steaming heat of the water. It was temporarily relaxing for her, as she attempted to let all the pain flow while getting herself ready for the day. After she stepped out, however, that temporary relief was replaced with a painful reminded that today was probably going to be a long, long day.

She figured that, in the spirit of Nova, she might as well tough it through. Maybe after class go to that diner. She got herself dressed in dark jeans and a red tee, along with aligning her rings on each of her fingers properly. Fixing up her hair, she went around her apartment, double checking each bit for her morning checklist. Laptop, headphones on, pen, notebook, wallet, water, all tossed in her messenger bag. Keys and phone in pocket, headphones plugged in, and bag over her shoulder, she headed out the door of her apartment, double checking the lock. Figuring she could read it all later, she pulled all of the mail in the box into her box, before heading out.

Her apartment wasn't that far out from the campus, so she figured she might as well just walk, despite how sore she was feeling. The walk itself didn't last for too long, but considering how bad the girl was feeling, Alexis felt like it took a lot longer. When she got to the class halls, she almost got lost due to her being pretty out of it. She eventually made it to her English class, plopping down next to one of the girls she sometimes talked to in passing. She slowly pulled out her book and pen from her bag, adjusting her headphones around her neck, as she groaned towards the sky. Long day so far, and it's only been a few hours. "Shit..."

Claire looked at the reflection of her back in the mirror, frowning as she recalled the events of last night when she had suddenly sprouted blue wings. She looked at her body in the mirror, checking for any irregularities or any signs of those wings sprouting again. None.

All was normal.

Even her apartment, which had been turned into her own personal winter wonderland didn't show any indications that it had been frozen over last night. No ice, no snow, nothing. Nadda. Zil.
After thoroughly checking herself again and showering. Claire quickly chomped on a piece of toast and a banana before donning the minty-green t-shirt of Darkwell's Diner and a black skirt. "Food that'll really make ya' kick!" Was the slogan of the restaurant, printed in black on the back of the shirt. A nametag adorned her chest.
"Hello, my name is Claire! c:", it read.

Hmm...Leggings or no leggings? She asked herself, eying the black leggings in her dresser. Because it was a little warm that morning, she chose to forego them today. After brushing her hair out and getting herself organized, she looked in the mirror and gave herself a thumbs up before proceeding to the diner.
Go get 'em, tiger!

---
Darkwell Diner

Claire gazed at the punk girl who had signaled for her coworker, Garrett. She looked like someone she might've met before, but Claire didn't think too much of it. She saw a lot of people day in and day out throughout the city yet never really made the effort to talk to them. The girl was probably another one of those faces she had seen before. Her eyes darted to Garrett, whom she also never really talked to but that was more attributed to his seemingly irate and tough personality.

Before another thought crossed her mind, a couple more customers came in. The bell rang as the door swung wide open, revealing two more hungry denizens of Darkwell. Claire immediately approached them with a pleasant smile, guiding them to an unoccupied table for two.
"Hello and good morning! Welcome to Darkwell Diner. My name is Claire." She chirped excitedly, "and I'll be serving you this morning. Shall we start you off with a drink?

"..."

"Okay, sure! An orange juice and a coffee, black, no sugar or cream. I'll be right back with your drinks!" Claire bustled into the back, starting on her drink order.
"Wow, it's so busy this morning!" she muttered, taking stock of the patrons inside the diner.

@DFA@Gikel@Kiroue@Jake@rivaan@Ambra

Normally the feeling of cool water running down his body after a workout would have been relaxing for Liam Schwer, if it wasn't for the goddamn migraines he had. He rubbed his temples as he felt another stab of pain shoot through his brain, before closing his eyes and dropping his hand and let his forehead rest on the cold tile of the shower.

He had been up for nearly three hours, and the sun had risen for only half that time as Liam prepared for his day. He had woken up after a late night of gaming when he had his first headache. Thinking it was just from the hours of playing League of Legends, he had taken some medicine and had gone for his morning run.

Of course, it hadn't gone so smoothly. Halfway through the run, he found himself feeling ill and began dry-heaving over a trashcan. Even stranger was his new-found aversion to the streetlights that illuminated his path to the gym he worked at, his instincts screaming at him to avoid the artificial lights like the plague. Forcing him to stay on his path, he eventually made his way to his workplace.

Champion's Gym and Training Center was a three story tall brick building that was situated in the downtown of Darkwater City. The name was proudly shown on a large, vertical neon sign, which Liam thanked God was off. The red brick interior sported a number of large Industrial windows which offered a view into the interior of the building. Jogging to the back of the building, which was noticeably less attractive than the front, Liam ran up a small flight of steps and began unlocking the employee entrance when the second migraine hit him, making him nearly drop his lanyard of keys. The pain was quickly followed by another surge on unfamiliar instinct, and he turned his head to see one of his fellow employees approaching. It wasn't until Liam let go of the breath he hadn't known he was holding did he also realize that he had gone into a defensive stance.

Shaking off the strangeness, Liam awkwardly opened the door and held it open for his colleague before slipping in himself. It was then he also noted that there was only a single pair of footsteps clicking off the linoleum floors of the gym's office space. His own feet were silently gliding over the polished floors with nary a sound, unnerving him even more. Throwing the strangeness to the side, he threw himself into his morning workout.

And that was where he found himself now, naked in the shower with a splitting headache. With his eyes till closed, and his ears covered by the sounds of the shower engulfing him, he was still aware of the new group of people entering the changing room. He could hear their mumbled conversations, the slight squeaking of sneaker on tile, and the scritching of clothes being removed and replaced over the roar of water. He felt the movement of people moving past his stall, as he counted the amount of footsteps they took to make it from one end of the room to another.

Turning the water off, Liam felt his headache subside as he was once again alone in the locker room. As he dried himself, he couldn't help but wonder what the hell was happening to him.

---

Liam sat behind the receptionist desk, having been assigned there since none of his classes were scheduled until later in the day. He hadn't had anymore migraines since his shower and was prepared to act as if nothing weird had happened at all that morning. He wore the black t-shirt uniform of the gym with a pair of grey and black splotched wrestling shorts and had on a pair of old, but well maintained sneakers. The morning was slow, as expected since the majority of people were at work, and Liam was silently reading a gaming magazine he had found laying around. The other employees were milling around, taking advantage of the lack of gym-goers to exercise or chat.

With the formless noise of the gym in his ears, Liam found himself engrossed with an interview with one of the developers at Riot explaining the reasoning behind the controversial round of nerfs, most of which were centered on Irelia. Snorting to himself, he stopped as he felt another migraine coming on and his mind racing as he spun in his char, with the magazine suddenly rolled into a club and-

Oh, wait it was just one of his co-workers, the same one who was in the alley with him that morning. She was one of the new hires, a yoga instructor if he remembered correctly. She was standing in front of him, wide-eyed at the magazine poised to smack her. She let out a small eep of relief as the improvised weapon was lowered and Liam began to awkwardly and profusely apologize.

"Gah, I'm so sorry, umm you surprised me. I was really engrossed in this article and you surprised me, and...I'm so sorry. I didn't hurt you did I? This doesn't happen normally, well I say normally, I mean never." Liam could feel himself rambling and mentally facepalmed himself, but he was still shaken by his actions. He had begun mentally plotteing out a chain of attacks that would have incapacitated his co-worker and left her spasming on the ground with a crushed wind-pipe before he had realized who she was.

As Liam was quietly being horrified with himself, the woman found her voice again and began addressing Liam, "Umm, Mr. Schwer? I have a foavor to ask of you." This directed the young man's attention back the young woman, who shivered when he looked at her, which surprised Liam more. "Umm, ummm, I forgot my purse at the diner I had breakfast at today. I have a class soon, so I can't go and get and since you're manning the desk I wanted to ask if you were wiling to go and get it for me. I left in the Darkwater Cafe."

Liam smiled at the young woman, before replied, "Sure, I know where that is. Give me a minute to find someone to watch the desk and I'll head out soon."

Getting out of his chair, he brushed past the shivering young woman, he really needed to learn the names of the new hires, he approached one of the table set up in a corner of the gym next to the vending machines. Seated at the table was a singular man who was nursing a small cup of coffee. He was older than Liam, and had a slight beer-belly ad thinning hair. His brown eyes glittered cheerfully as he saw Liam approach.

"Hey Parker, I need to head out for an errand, mind taking over the desk 'til I get back?" Liam asked the seated man.

"Sure, sure." Parker replied lazily as he finished the last of his coffee and got up.

"Kay, owe you one man."

---

Liam entered the diner and noted how busy it was. He could feel another headache building, and his wariness increase in close proximity to large number of people in the room. His eyes drifted calmly over the occupants of the establishment, noting the two waiters, a punk chick chatting with a sleepy looking guy, and a older man talking with a younger woman.

---

Aliron sat up with wide eyes and rapidly looked around him. No one was whispering at him. There were just people going about their business. Maybe it was because of this infernal headache he had. Or maybe he was just being paranoid because he thought for sure some cops would've found him last night. Luckily it was warm so he hadn't even needed to get his sleeping bag out, his gray sweats and sweater covering his red shirt more than sufficing for the night. For some reason his muscles felt all achy. Which was weird considering he hadn't done much more than ride some dingy old bus thing here and play League off his laptop and wifi hotspot. Then there were those little things that were randomly appearing at the edge of his vision. Like one of those grids where the little black dot kept moving around and you could never keep your eyes on it. Gargh it was frusterating. Whatever, he would just ignore it. First thing he needed was breakfast. Aliron grabbed his suitcase and walked a few blocks, looking for someplace to eat that didn't seem too expensive. The Darkwell Diner eagerly presented itself and Aliron walked in, ignoring the odd glances towards someone walking in with a suitcase. It wasn't that weird. Just because he'd never seen anyone else do it didn't mean he was weird. His circumstances were just... Different that was all.

Still mentally muttering justifications to himself Aliron took a seat somewhere, parking his suitcase right next to him, not noticing that he'd chosen to sit next to a pretty black-haired girl. After a few moments of staring at the menu Aliron heard a loud whisper right next to his ear and he slammed it down and turned to face the source of it, only to find himself looking at the girl he'd sat next to. "You- you didn't whisper at me just now did you?" He asked, his suspicious green eyes staring at her for a moment, wondering if she was with them. Then sanity returned and he realized that he was acting like he was freaking insane.

"Ha just kidding. I'm Aliron. Hope you don't mind me sitting next to you. I certainly don't mind you sitting next to me." He said with a chipper grin and a wink, then he turned back to looking at the menu, his normal friendly aura replacing the slightly odd and menacing one he'd had only moments ago. Hmm, he wanted to get something cheap but filling. Pancakes. That should do the trick. Although bacon sounded really good right now. Of course what was bacon without eggs. Right? Argh, but he needed to save money. This was hard. "Heya, got any recommendations for what to eat here? First time and I'm looking for something good but not too expensive." Aliron said to the women with hopeful eyes, guessing she was a regular here for no other reason than that it'd be convenient for him. Really making decision was so much easier when someone else told you what to do.

@Ambra

(underlined is written replies on a notebook)

Walking around, Noelle didn’t even see Jason before she bumped into him. She nearly fell backwards because he was simply bigger than her. She nearly opened her mouth in an attempt to apologize by habit, but remembered what had happened just about half an hour ago and quickly put a hand on her mouth. She still feared what would happen to her from now on… there were cameras and witnesses… she didn’t know what she did back there, but she feared what would happen to her.

She then just shook her head and pulled a very small notepad from one of her pockets, before writing on it.” I’m fine…” She wrote on the notebook, showing it to Jason. Her hands were trembling, clearly showing she wasn’t fine, but she feared to even mention what happened to anyone. Then she tore the page from the notebook, crumbled it before writing…” I’m in trouble… There was incident… people got hurt…” She wrote with trembling fingers.

“I just… tried speaking and they started to get hurt…” She wrote, placing a hand on her mouth. She knew it wasn’t making any sense, but was so shaken that she couldn’t write a better explanation. ‘I just wanted to speak again…’ She barely opened her lips again without realizing it. The air shook once more, but what Jason would hear is just a tiny quiet sad voice.

He didn't even know why he was here in the first place. The headaches that struck the inside of his skull were far unlike the ones that he suffered during a hangover; they were extremely more painful and consistent, almost as if someone was drilling a hole into his skull. Garrett could hardly focus on what he was doing--as he carried plates to and from tables, they trembled so much so that the cups and saucers rattled in his grip. What happened last night, he didn't know... All he remembered was waking up and seeing countless pairs of red eyes gleaming down at him expectantly. When he cried out in shock and fear, the curious faces all dissipated into nothing.

He almost walked into the back room with the set of dirty plates when he heard someone call him out. Garrett glanced over his shoulder at the punk chick that asked for a coffee and a croissant. Well, even though he was in serious pain... he still had to work to keep his shitty job, right?

The black-haired male entered the back room, setting the dirty plates in the sink and simply giving his coworkers, Jason and Noelle, a glare. He was working while they were chatting like sparrows... great. With a hefty sigh, he groggily prepared the dish for the punk girl before once again exiting the area without a word. Striding over to the table again, he placed the black coffee and pastry in front of the woman before glancing over at the new face.

"You gonna order something?" he asked, raising his eyes towards the other man near the door. Garrett clenched his jaw. More people... this place was suddenly really busy.

 @rivaan @Jake @Kiroue @Gikel @Bourgeoisie



Whitney was distracted, staring at the flat-screen television at the corner of the room. The news was blaring about a corpse recovered from one of Darkwell City's deepest alleyways. Her eyes remained on the screen as the news anchor described that the victim had been covered in deep lacerations, probably the outcome of a gang-related knife attack. Strange... ever since she moved here, she never heard of someone getting killed in this sleepy little town.

As she swallowed the sweet tea that had begun to cool, someone suddenly yelled into her ear. Whitney yelped, jumping slightly and nearly spilling the drink. Her heart raced frantically as she turned to the new apparition. It was a guy, someone that she never saw before.

"Uh..." that was all that she could say. Whitney didn't even know what to make of the weird young man that had decided to sit next to her. Even Mr. Ravello was peering at him over the edge of his newspaper with a questioning glimmer in his eye. Yet, she gave him a light giggle as she decided it was best to answer his question. "The coffee that they serve here is the best in town, y'know. The muffins and croissants are the best too, 'specially the blueberry muffins!"

@Eklispe

The waiter guy seemed to acknowledge her demands for a croissant and some coffee and with that, Sam looked down at her nails and started to pick at them. Her fingers, she noted, smelled ashen from the cigarettes she liked to smoke. Sam examined the mysterious gunk under her nails and used one of the tools at her disposal, a fork, to help extract it. It looked primitive, but the action gave her a great deal of satisfaction. Then she noticed a bit of skin rising from the sides of her nail and she meticulously began biting and tearing at it, eager to get rid of the imperfect annoyance. She succeeded though the area seemed close to bleeding. This wasn't the first time she'd done this either. The sides of her nails seemed, at close inspection, to be show more callused and healing areas where she had mauled at them.

It was when she was done with this did Sam hear the sound of a man joining her in the opposite seat. Her muscles tensed at the sudden interaction and was added with the man asking her if he could sit where he was. Perhaps he should have asked that before he actually sat down. Her charcoal smeared eyes leered, just peeking over her boots to get a look at the intruder. He was just a random Joe Schmoe who was in a chipper mood. The 'good morning' grated at her nerves and his excited tone made her very annoyed. There was a long moment of Sam just leering at the man, hoping that the uncomfortable silence and the glare would be enough to make him go away. As this went on heat could be perceived to slowly rise in the small space. It wasn't much, but it was very noticeable. His departure didn't happen though. He wanted an actual answer, as if her chilling look hadn't given him an answer enough. She took in a deep, long breath as if to gather the strength to deal with this unwelcome person. "Uhm, yes, actually. I do mind." She paused for a moment, her malicious tone sinking in. "There's, like, a billion open seats in here, so buzz off." Sam rolled her eyes and it was just at that moment that her food got here.

Her stomach grumbled at the bitter smell of black coffee and the buttery goodness of the croissant. To this she actually let slip a smile as she moved her boots off of the table and eagerly sat up to get her food. Sam's eye's flicked to the waiter who asked what the other man would want and she interjected. "I don't care what he gets, but he's not eating at my table. I don't even know this guy." It was at this point Sam hoped she had been a bitch enough to force the man to grumble away and leave. She just wanted her peace and quiet to eat her food and drink her coffee. Hell, she hadn't even had her first cup of coffee yet. Who could blame her for not being exactly happy about being confronted with social interaction this early? It was just a chore and an anxiety she didn't want to deal with right now.

@Ambra @Gikel

There was definitely something wrong with Noelle, that was for sure. Once the young woman pulled out a small notebook with hands that were shaking quite vigorously, and turned her eyes up towards him, Jason felt a pang of concern. He had never really interacted with her one on one before, considering he worked this job as part-time, and he was usually out of here for University as soon as possible, but that didn't mean that he'd never seen her around before, usually with a happy smile. She seemed like she was a genuinely happy and sweet person despite her being very quiet, and although Jason definitely wasn't a white knight, he didn't much like the thought of her being so afraid, either. Looking down at the smaller female, he decided, then and there, that he would help her with whatever was troubling her.

” I'm fine. ” was quickly written on the notebook, before she tore out the page and crumbled it up. Odd...so, it had something to do with her voice? She seemed intent on keeping her mouth covered, after all. Actually, he'd never heard her speak a word. Odd...maybe he was just very, very dense. Wait...oh shit.

” I’m in trouble… There was incident… people got hurt…” Jason rose a confused eyebrow, his concern increasing slightly. People got hurt? That was definitely more serious than her losing a tooth, or her having strep throat. He leaned back against the sink as he watched her continue to write with trembling hands, his own arms crossed over his chest. The guy with the bad attitude...Garrett, he believed his name was, shot them both a glare as he came back into the kitchen to put down some dirty plates. Jason only stared back with cool, piercing blue eyes, before grabbing the plates and setting them in the sink. What was the dude's deal?

Noelle had finished writing once he turned his attention back towards her. “I just… tried speaking and they started to get hurt…” Speaking...what was going on? She couldn't talk? Maybe...no, she wasn't a super-hero. Jason was at a lost. ‘I just wanted to speak again…’

Jason suddenly flinched, his hands reaching down and gripping the sink's edge as he almost tripped over himself. His eyes, once piercing and calm, took on a more confused look as he cleared his own throat, trying not to sound spooked. "Noelle...did you- your mouth wasn't even moving, and you spoke to me." He explained before she could come to the conclusion that he was insane. This definitely wasn't normal, whatever was going on. She seemed to be able to speak her thoughts...? Or maybe, she was in his head? But that was impossible, in the real world, wasn't it? He lowered his voice, glancing around to make sure no unwanted attention was focused on the two.

"I can hear you....I think. In my mind..." A small pause. He'd already made up his mind to help her figure this one out, and he never backed from his promises. This was quickly becoming more odd. Only two minutes ago, he'd come to the conclusion that she was mute, something he didn't know because he spent too much time not bothering with this diner and its' staff. Now, she could suddenly talk without moving her lips...?

"Were you thinking your words when the people became hurt?" This was an odd predicament, but Jason wasn't stupid - far from it, actually. And, he wasn't close-minded. And this was becoming more and more likely that it's telepathy.

@rivaan

"Hey Nova!" Xhen greeted the red head cheerfully although the poor girl didn't look too good. "Hmm, Monday's not treating you well huh?" She said with slight concern. Reaching over, she gave her peer a nice back rub to try and loosen her up a bit. "Let's hope for a speedy class and I'll treat you to Darkwell Diner? It's across from my work and I haven't tried it out yet," she offered with a smile before turning her attention to the front of the class as the professor stood up and began writing things out on the whiteboard.

~~~~~~

"Phew. See? That wasn't so bad," Xhen commented as she put her things away. Motioning for Nova to come to her side, they strolled down the hall together and out the building. The professor had given an assignment that required them to write a fake biography over a fictional character and Xhen knew exactly who she was going to do it on. "Who are you gonna do for your assignment?" she asked Nova, turning slightly to direct her gaze towards the exhausted looking female. "I'm doing mine on Ahri. She's this character from League of Legends. Do you play by the way?"

Eventually arriving at the diner after a few minutes walk and a lot of cutting through neighborhoods, Xhen and Nova took a seat inside one of the booths. There were plenty of customers at the moment and almost everyone looked to be getting their breakfast. Fluffing out her dress, she fished out another copy of her dog sitting ads and promptly hopped out of her seat. Approaching the board near the entrance, she picked out a pin and secured her ad onto a vacant spot. "Hm, looks good," she whispered contently before heading back.

Her eyes scanned the menu eagerly and she wasn't feeling a big breakfast, but the food seemed to be really good. Heck, the place was even filled with an intoxicating aroma! "Oh, I think I'll get the hash-browns with eggs and sausages," the dark haired girl said, her mouth beginning to salivate at the thought of the meal. Popping her head up, she glanced around the diner to locate a waiter, but also didn't want to rush Nova with her choices.

The girl groaned once more, flipping her pen around her fingers. Alexis slightly relaxed a bit on the girl's gentle back rub, smiling to her. "Ah, thanks Xhen." The red haired girl gave Xhen a bit of a nod, before flipping open her notebook. She figured now wasn't really the time for a game of League, and besides, in this state she might feed. So notes it was, maybe halfway through the class some music to calm her nerves. "That diner sounds great, I'm bailing from work anyways."

---

The class itself was dragged out almost as long as possible, yet Alexis felt it was a lot shorter than she thought it would be. Probably wasn't that bad then, but it just felt longer than it should be. She stretched her arms upward, hopefully releasing some of the pain from earlier. Her headache wasn't as bad as earlier, but the rest of the pain seemed to be pulling at her continuously. Brilliant. Though it was a start, wasn't it? Nova flipped her pen into her notebook, then tossing it into her messenger bag, looking up at the mention of League. "Are you kidding? League's pretty damn fun. It's where 'Nova' came from. I stream from time to time. I might have played an ARAM in class last week. Not all too sure yet. Maybe Vi."

Nova followed her way into the diner, pulling one of the cups of her headphones over the ear not pointed towards Xhen. "Didn't know you played." She started some conversation, not entirely realizing that they were already at the diner at this point. She raised an eyebrow at the distance, it was barely fifteen minutes, which is somewhat surprising considering her headache. Her body was slightly easing itself up, though not by that much. Alexis sniffed the air, to inhale the scent of all the food being prepared inside.

Stepping inside to the diner, she realized she didn't actually eat breakfast at home. Might have been why the pills hadn't kicked in properly. Of all her time out or gaming, she sometimes forgot about her hunger and thirst, though the migraines indicated the latter. She sat over at the other end of the booth, looking at the menu quickly. Not much, that's just how you make some impressions. "Maybe just some toast with eggs. And a coke." Alexis pulled out her phone, remembering that her lock screen at the moment was a picture of a chibi Jinx and Vi messing around, showing the other girl.

"Last night wasn't all that fun, really. Kinda felt like I was wrestling something through the night, my arms are killing me." She relayed her order slightly mindlessly to whichever server showed up, digging through her bag for her laptop, pulling it out and gently placing it on the desk. "Excuse me, ah, do you have wifi here...?" The Nova waved her hand out to one of the waiters or waitresses, before asking the question. She turned to Xhen, giving her a bit of a nod, before pulling out her wallet from her bag. Nova handed the other girl opposite to her a five, nodding to her. "Thanks for the food. Here.

“Here is good, Mark,” Iris said, pulling at the child-proof lock tab on the door and grabbing at her backpack. Mark jumped as if he had forgotten that she was there, but complied quickly enough.
“Have a good day, Mistress,” he advised her, and she nodded, waving at the car as he pulled away into the slight morning traffic through Main Street. She shivered from the odd sensations that continued to plague her since last night.

“First time I’ve ever gotten high off of Tylenol,” she muttered to herself, mentally commanding herself to stop feeling so excitable, and stepping toward the diner.

It had been an eventful night. She’d had a hard time falling asleep, full as her mind was of hopes for buffs to Bloodrazor, which she had expressed in an eloquent forum post that had been quickly downvoted to oblivion. Even so, she’d woken up after just a few hours, feeling simply awful. Her vision had been swimming, her head aching as if it were the locale of a nasty rodeo, and she’d this awful pain crawling along her skin and in her bones. And she knew that one wasn’t supposed to take asprin, Tylenol, and ibuprofen at the same time, but sometimes a girl just had needs. Like a good night’s sleep. She’s still only managed to knock herself back out for a few hours before the pain woke her again.

And now she could still feel that pain, perhaps even worse than before, and like some crazy person, she almost liked it. Well, actually, for some reason it felt nice, but she wasn’t willing to admit that.

Her father’s local diner was the first place that had come to mind. He might have been there, and when she had problems, she still had a childlike way of going to her parents to see if they could make it all better. Yes, she could have done research online on her symptoms, or perhaps gone to a clinic, or something nice and independent and mature, but she really wasn’t feeling in the mood.
She managed to slip in without getting noticed, and staked out a booth in a darker corner, her normal place whenever she came to eat, or just to bother her father at work. A collection of clowns (okay, they weren’t actually clowns) paraded in one by one after her, and she took the chance to observe them as she sat and waited for service.
One thing she noticed, which also stirred weird feelings in her, was that every one of them seemed to be in visible pain. That one pinched her eyes together as if fighting a headache, that one wrinkled his forehead and glared as if… fighting a headache? Actually, they all seemed to be dealing with headaches, at least. And for some reason, that made Iris giddy. Giddy was not a word that she ever used to describe herself, but there it was.

Something was definitely wrong with her.

And with the staff. She’d been sitting for a few minutes, and yes, they were busy, but she was the owner’s daughter, and she’d been here first! Surely she deserved some service! She decided to take matters into her own hands, waving at the nearest waitress with a quiet, “Claire!” The waitress had obviously not seen her yet, so hopefully calling out would break her seeming invisibility.

@DFA

The waiter asked Ben.
"You gonna order something?"
Ben looked at the waiter and replied in a friendly matter: Yes, I would like to have some pancakes and a Coffee as well, and some milk please. Thank you!

After ordering Ben turned to the Girl who seemed like she got up on the wrong side of the bed. Hearing her offensive reply, Ben did not feel like he should leave from the table, this little part in his day excited him a bit. He just made a friendly look and introduced himself than offered her that he'll buy her a coffee. He didnt have to worry about paying for small things, the money he gets from his work was more than enough for him."If you dont know me. Let me introduce myself, Im Ben. Now dont be so grumpy, I'll buy you a coffee
He smiled at the girl a little. Seeing that she was angry made Ben put some more wood on the fire but he decided to try it the more peacefull way. "Well, we dont necessarily have to talk to each other. I dont see why we couldnt drink our coffee in the same booth with peace.
As he spoke to he girl he seemed like he was enjoying the little resistance she made. She looks cute when she's anrgy.
While Ben talked to the girl he noticed some rise in the temperature near and also had some awareness from instinct to it.

At some point Ben started to feel like he should take a bit back from his normally big mouth. Feeling like his confident nature annoys the girl. He could already see the girl bursting out in rage if he would be trying just a little more. "Look, im not trying to get your number here. I was just feeling like i want eat with you
Waiting for the reaction of the girl. Ben' eyes started to look like a stronger shade of green with the outer circle very slowly fading into a bright purple color.
Normally he would have no intention of making someone mad but with this girl. It was different.

@Kiroue@Ambra

Noelle didn’t even notice Garett coming buy. Her panic, shock and concerns about what will happen to her had completely overtaken her. She was barely containing from breaking out in soundless cry because of all of this. Still mist the chaos in her mind, she heard Jason talk.

In a panic she pulled her hands by her mouth, fearing she was just going to hurt him just like she did all those people in the bank. After the initial surprise and panic, she realized something, he wasn’t holding his ears or looking hurt in any way unlike the other people.

At first she was about to start writing in her notebook again, but then realized this was probably her first chance to talk with someone in years!

‘Yes, but it seems more like sound…’ She tried saying slowly so she can stop if Jason showed signs of being hurt from her words. A thing that didn’t seem to happen. Still she could also hear herself talking… kind of. It wasn’t exactly normal speech. It almost seemed like whatever she was thinking got turned into sound…

‘You aren’t being hurt from it…?’ She asked with concern, but she also felt happy that someone could hear her, a thing that also filled her with fear about what was happening with her.’ The people from the bank said they couldn’t understand the very strong noise and their ears even started bleeding…’ She said, keeping her hand by her mouth just in case. She had no idea what was happening anymore, but the relieve of having someone who can hear her talk made her eyes swell with tears.

Sound...that actually made sense. Every time she 'talked', it was like he could feel the very wind around him shifting...something he felt intimately familiar with, for some reason. No reason the innocents were hurt...but that still didn't help him figure out exactly why he seemingly wasn't affected by it. Maybe- Wait...those were tears. Oh no...he did not know how to deal with sad females. Angry females, sure. Overly-romantic females, sure - he had his fair share. But sad females? The last time a girl cried in front of him, it was because he wouldn't ask her to prom, and even then, he had awkwardly excused himself. He couldn't really do that in this situation, now could he?

"Noelle, it'll be fine. Really." He said, rather awkwardly - his voice wasn't exactly used to being all soothing and whisper-y. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Jason gave her a half-smile and gestured towards a booth that was thankfully free of distractions, a fair bit away from the otherwise populated side of the diner. "I won't lie; I don't know what's going on, but we'll figure it out."

Dropping his hand, Jason grabbed two mugs from the clean dishes and began walking backwards, eyes still focused on Noelle. "First, let's sit. This is my unofficial break time." He finally turned around, easily side-stepping a waitress with her arms full of croissants and a beaker of coffee. With a quick 'thank you', he nabbed the piping hot beaker with one hand, while holding the two mugs with the other, before finally making his way to the empty booth.

Setting both mugs down on the wooden table and feeling them with the steaming liquid, Jason slid into the booth and sighed, running a hand through long, messy black locks. As he closed his eyes, feeling the wind blow the steam into his face, the young man had a sudden epiphany. The whole near-death thing at the apartment...what if that was linked to Noelle's whole sound-mind thing? Well, who better to share the story with, than someone who also experienced something weird and traumatizing as Hell.

@rivaan