@Lemons
Noelle watched the other boy approach and didn't get up at first. She just watch him...not at all startled by his mutation did to him. The pain he is going through may not be as bad as mine, but couldn't have Vlad made it less noticeable? At this point the only one here that looks major different is the dragonfly boy. Getting up she walked over to him but hid behind Luke (@Helo) and barely peered around his side. "Hello, I am Noelle," she said in whisper, "You look interesting, but not in a bad way."

@medalliah

Jakobe continued to look at the smaller woman while noticing the other getting to know each other. He didn't notice before but there was another boy there with them who began talking to the tattooed guy. Soiner or later, Jakobe knew he'd have to meet everyone who was there. His eyes went back to the feamle who was speaking to him and gave her a nod about being dangerous.

To him, she looked too kind to be in an imprisonment like this which makes him wonder, what is she capable of. When she introduced herself, Jakobe took note and introduced himself. "Im Jakobe Jefferson....and you really think so huh? That I'm no more dangerous than anyone else here?" He asked. When mentioning that the guards thought she escaped and then felt her hand on his, he looked at her hand and he thought to himself that this was the first time someome was being friendly and gentle to him and he appreciated it. But he also remembered joining a program that could make him special..in fact, gain abilities.

Jakobe gave a slight smirk. He remembered he gained the DNA of an elephant amd asked "My animal DNA Is that of an elephant. Looking at your hand and you saying they thought you escaped, what DNA do you have?"

@King Tai

"I think we're all dangerous in someone's eyes" Becca turned to look at the guards again before turning back to Jakobe "but at least we're not alone, right? I do feel kind of lucky though...I mean.." she lowered her voice "compared to some others here, I had very little appearance changes."

She let go of his hand after a moment, nodding to the food. "Nobody has collapsed yet, so I guess it's safe to eat the food? And I...hoped it wasn't as obvious as it felt. An elephant, huh? Don't trample me at least!" she laughed "well, mine was a chameleon, so I guess I'm a reptile, but it means I can blend in quite well."

@medalliah

Jakobe looked over at the guards when Becca looked over at them speaking about hem being dangerous to the guards. He agreed a little about not being alone but he was concerned if they could all get along and work together. Jakobe looked around "Hm...I didnt change too much except for the bulk I carry abd thicker skin."

Hearing about the food, Jakobe was hungry and thr 6'6 teen stood up from his seat. "Chameleon....you probably have the most useful ability to blend in and rob somebody blind or even escape. I ain't interested in trampling anyone unless they piss me off but I don't think you'll do that. Giving her a smirk. "Don't know about you but Im eating. You know about the others and their abilities?" He asked and motioned his head towards Roxy "and what about her?" He asked beckoning Becca to follow him to the food on the table

@KatherinWinter

@King Tai

"Yeah, I think that's the idea. I've always been trying to blend in, now I can do it by thinking hard" Becca nodded, standing up as well. She'd had her plate nearby already, but hadn't dared to eat before she'd approached the big guy. "Well, let's eat then. If it's drugged they'll need a lot of it I think to drug you?"

She shook her head as he motioned to Roxy. "I don't know her. I don't really know anyone here...I lived on the street before coming here, so a bit of a loner to be honest. Maybe we should ask?"

Gavin didn't really know why Noelle was whispering, but he didn't at all mind. He didn't much feel like talking himself. "You look interesting too," he whispered back as a sort of half-compliment, giving the barest impression of a smile. "You probably heard already, but Gavin. So," he continued, "what did they do to you?"

Privately, he was still seething at Luke's attitude, especially toward his mutation. It was so...casual. It felt wrong, somehow. Noelle seemed alright, though. Even though since his mutation Gavin had become exceedingly paranoid—partially from his own fears, partially from new genetic coding as a being near the lower end of the food chain—he felt a bit less horrified somehow, and though something about Noelle made him strangely alert, he didn't feel any particular urge to scream, cower, or bolt. Quite the novel experience.

@Kit DewStein

@medalliah

"Well by far, your abilities are better than mine. You can slip through anywhere. You can't help spot me with my size and strength." Walking up to the table and grabbing an orange, bananas, and cantaloupe, Jakobe didn't realize but he was avoiding the meats as he grabbed his plate and while looking at the spread, he placed his plate down and grabbed the entire tray of muffins that had a variety. He placed the fruit he grabbed and placed them with the pile of muffins that was on there. Seemed he got what he wanted while looking back and over at Becca.

"Nah, I don't think they'll drug me....yet. It probably will take a lot." Hearing her about being on the streets, Jakobe almost didn't believe her. "You....from the streets?" he chuckled slightly for the first time. "You don't look the street type. I'm from the streets...the ones where I fought for money. I take it you stole?" he asked and looked over to Roxy and the others. "Yeah guess we do need to mingle a bit with everyone here...but after I eat." he said taking his entire food tray.

@King Tai

"Well...yeah" Becca agreed, pulling her plate over and sitting down next to the larger man and watching him claim all of the fruit and nuts "but in a fight, I bet you'd be more useful than I would." She eventually gave in, picking at a few pieces of the bread and eating slowly. Thoughtfully.

"I'm not the street type. Been on the street since I was ten though. Hiding, stealing where I could. I've always been good at hiding, but I've always been small enough to fit into places to hide, which helped." She nodded, looking at the mountain of food on his plate, adding "want me to leave you to finish your food?"

@Lemons
Still behind Luke's back Noelle looks down at the ground. "I am combined with a bat. Sorry if I talk in a whisper but my hearing can get a bit over sensitive at times," she said in a whisper again. Gavin is interesting for sure...bit too jumpy but another ally possibly. He doesn't know how to react to which is a little funny in its own way. She covered her ears and winced in pain. All these conversations are starting to give me a headache, crappy echo-y room.

@medalliah

"Yeah...maybe so." Jakobe said while taking a few large bites of the muffins he claimed. He then started to peel the banana. He listened to her explaining what she did while being in the streets for the short period of time. Jakobe couldn't help but respect what she had to do to survive. "I see. Well if you and I ever met on the streets, I'll have your back. You ever had a problem, you let me handle it." he mentioned.

He looked over when she asked if she should leave him. "Nah, you don't have to. You can sit and chill with me or you can mingle. It's up to what you wanna do. In a few minutes, I'm gonna meet the others."

@Kit DewStein @Lemons
Luke noticed that Gavin avoided eye contact with him, he wondered if he had offended him. It was likely, a lot of people found Luke’s looks and attitude to be more than a bit much. He watched the guy free his wings from where they were trapped underneath a hoodie. He felt a little jealous about the wings, he imagined being able to fly would be incredible. Gavin mentioned that the mutations were painful, and Noelle, who mentioned she’d been spliced with bat, also mentioned the added sensitivity to her hearing. When he woke up he had felt a deep ache in all of his muscles but pain was something he got used to feeling a long time ago.

“Maybe the pain will fade once you get used to it. Like your muscles just have to get used to their new usage with the mandibles and wings, and once they get used to it you’ll feel normal again.” Luke suggested, making an effort to keep his voice lower now that he knew Noelle’s ears were pretty sensitive. “It’s kind of weird smelling things with my tongue.” He said with a shrug. He flicked his black forked tongue which picked up the scents of the food, other people, and the hints of fear and anxiety that mixed in the room. “But I guess I lucked out some, nothing really hurts too bad on my end.”

@King Tai

"Thank you" Becca said quietly at that - having someone this big having her back made her feel a lot safer immediately - although she was still wary. She went quiet after that, allowing the big guy to demolish his food but staying near him as she ate slowly. Even daring to take a few of the remaining fruits; an apple and an orange. It was a tiny meal compared to the mountain of food that Jakobe took, but it meant she could eat slowly and think.

She watched those around her, curious. Listening to their conversations, but not interrupting. They'd all changed so much, and all she had was scaly skin. Did that mean they were all stronger? Maybe the bigger your transformation the stronger your powers...

Her eyes finally finished on Roxy (@KatherinWinter) and she studied the woman for a little longer than the others. She seemed to be the most knowledgeable, maybe it was worth getting to know her? If she wasn't so terrifying at least.

A bat. That makes sense, I guess. Wonder if she has wings too, though I guess she would've mentioned them.

Gavin looked at Luke as he began speaking. He found himself desperately envious of the boy. What a lucky guy, to have something that didn't hurt. He shrugged, loosening up slightly, though the appearance of the forked tongue did make him jump a bit. "I hope so. Honestly, it's not really the muscles that hurt with the mandibles, though they do hurt. It's mostly the cheeks, because occasionally they—"

Before he could even finish his whispered sentence, the mandibles caught a scent of something and once again expanded and contracted in his mouth, first stretching his cheeks painfully wide again, then slamming together with a clicking noise that he was pretty sure was audible through the entire room. He grimaced, a tear beading in his left eye as he massaged his bulging cheeks again. "—do that. It hurts my cheeks a lot, and I can't really control it."

He didn't mention his mental anguish. He'd picked up pretty quickly that this program was of the variety that chose people who didn't have much to go back to and much to notice their absence. Talking about his parents' death would most likely not go over very well with the genuine hard cases here who hadn't had parents at all.

@medalliah

Jakobe looked over to give her a nod as he continued to eat. He could at least say he found an ally here. She was useful and he could protect her. Usually he wouldn't pay her no mind but the fact that she didn't fully fear or hate him intrigued him that he felt he could befriend someone or make an acquaintance without wondering if they'd be too scare of him and tremble at his presence or try to fight him. He just wondered how the others were? If they wanted to talk, he wouldn't mind. If they ignored him, so be it, he agreed to gain new abilities, not make friends.

taking out most of his food, Jakobe stopped eating with a handful of muffins left and no more fruit from what he picked left, Jakobe sat back to place his hands behind his head looking back over to the three who were talking among themselves and looked back at Becca who was looking Roxy's way.

@Helo@Lemons
"I don't really hurt physically. I just have adjusted to my new hearing levels yet," Noelle said not whispering this time. Crap why can't I talk without my head pounding? I'll get used to it after a bit...I may stick with whispering though. Don't want people to hear much of what I say at this rate. She giggled at Luke's forked tongue, then looked at Gavin who she could tell was highly uncomfortable with his transformation. "Hey Gavin, you may want to try exercising your new muscles," she said whispering, "You aren't used to them and they aren't used to being used yet. I mean you don't have to do a lot at once but little spurts at a time could help a bit."

@Lemons@Kit DewStein
Luke tilted his head to the side as he watched Gavin’s mandibles in action. “Yeah, I’m sure that definitely sucks, but skins pretty stretchy, right? I’m sure you’ll adjust, just give it time. Maybe try focusing on something else. Me, I’m no stranger to pain, that’s usually what I did. Hey, how strong you think those mandibles are? Think you could bite through stuff?” He said shifting the subject around a bit, he made a conscious effort to keep his voice low so he wouldn’t bother Noelle too much. If they were trying to make super soldiers here they must all have some useful skills.

“See, way I figure it, we’ve all got to have something useful, something that would qualify use to be “super soldiers,” ever since I woke up I can tell my reflexes are fast and I’m guessing,” he paused for a second to open his mouth wide enough for his fangs to pop forth, “that these are venomous. So, you gotta have some strength in those bug jaws, right?” He said taking a second to size up Gavin, nothing else besides the wings immediately stood out as being weaponizable.

He then glanced over at Noelle. “You’ve got super hearing, right? You think you can do that echo thing bats do? Or any other cool new powers? I mean we freaks gotta stick together now. I don’t know what you guys are thinking but I’ve got a real bad feeling about this place and if I’m right, well then if we stick together I think we have chance at gettin’ out, not right away of course, but our moment will come and I think we should be ready to take it when it does.” Luke said softly as he studied the expressions of Noelle and Gavin as he spoke.

Gavin grimaced. "Oh, they're strong, all right." With that somewhat mystifying statement, he picked up one of the plates the food was served on. He wasn't sure what exactly it was, but it was some sort of metal. It was heavy and dense, though more than that, he didn't know. He held it in front of his mouth, looking back and forth between the eyes of Noelle and Luke. Then, with a single inhalation, he snapped his mandibles forward. With a sound like a car crash, they slammed viciously into the dish. The noise made his ears ring, and he winced. Sorry, Noelle. Didn't know it would be quite that loud.

His jaw ached anew, and as the mandibles sprang back into place, he showed off the plate. It was marred by a long, clean slash where his insect jaws had bitten clean through it, cutting it nearly in half.

He consider what Luke had said. There was no way he was staying here. A prison was a prison, no matter what shape it took, and he had no interest in being anybody's weapon. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and turned jerkily, quickly making his way back to the corner, newly uncomfortable at being known.

@Helo@Lemons

"I can do the echo location that bats do sorta. I just have to listen and the sounds do the rest. I pretty much have everyone identified by the sounds they make when they walk now," Noelle informed Luke. She turned to watch Gavin in confusion not entirely sure at first how he was going to damage a metal plate. She was fine until the moment the sound was made. She let out a screech noise before covering her ears and buckling to the ground. Her forehead was touching the cool metal floor and her knees pressed into her chest. Holy bat dung! Will I even be able to hear after this? Am I deaf now? Well if my headache wasn't bad before it is killing me now. She stayed in her position before letting her hands off her ears hoping that she would be able to hear sound. Finally she heard the foot steps of soldiers walking around their new "home". She let out a sigh of relief and got back up slowly not fully on balance.

Becca stayed as she was for a few moments, building up the courage to talk to Roxy. She looked at Jakobe and smiled softfly - he had her back - before turning back and speaking softly.

"Hey...Roxy, right? How long have you been here?"

@KatherinWinter@King Tai

@medalliah
Roxy looked up at the sound of her name. She had been mostly ignoring the group. She was suppose to be the 'leader' because she had been here the longest. But she didn't feel like a leader. She knew jack about these teens. She wasn't going to be held responsible for them. She didn't care and she wasn't going to care. She had built her walls and she was staying being them. Panthers were solitary creatures, just like her.

"Yea I have been here longer than any of you. Why?" She answered bluntly. As far as she knew she was the only survivor of the first experiment. But she knew that knowledge might not be right. Vlad wasn't exactly known for being truthful. He was a crazy man who was being funded by even crazier people. The idea of super soldiers was a good one. But Vlad didn't care about saving lives.