[IC] The Curse of Sonina

[Otterpop]

_{Location; Cafeteria
Time; Morning
Mentions; N/A
Interactions; Open}

---

He could feel it again...he might not be able to see it but he could feel the ominous presence that it radiated every-time it got near. How long had it been since he'd first seen it? Two weeks, three? Felix had begun to lose count, the only thing he knew for certain was that it was appearing more and more, lately he was even afraid to sleep, he was scared that if he opened his eyes than it would be waiting for him. He hadn't told anyone about it yet, who in the world would believe him? If someone came to you saying that they were being haunted by a ghost wouldn't you think they had a few loose screws?

A sigh slipped past Felix's lips as he leaned back in his seat, he was currently spending his time in the cafeteria. He felt more comfortable there than his dorm room, at least in the cafeteria there were people. But he wasn't a very sociable person so he felt a little lonely, all the friends laughing and joking around made him envious. People always thought he was a thug or something because of his piercings and tattoos, was those things that were supposed to define what a person was like? He didn't know but it sucked, even in a place like this people were all the same.

"Hey have you seen Liz? I don't think she ever came back to the dorm last night?"

Felix couldn't help but overhear the conversation going on nearby, it looked like two girls. "No, we were at the library until 7, she said she was going to head right to bed because she had a headache." The other girl had a worried look on her face, if they were talking who he thought they were than it was Elizabeth Thatcher, she was pretty well known around the campus due to being one of the top students, though she kinda had a bad attitude. "That's weird...I think I'm going to tell a teacher or something, it's not like her to just...disappear. Plus kept talking about how she felt like she was being watched, though she could never find who it was."

That last tidbit caught Felix's interest. Liz thought she was being followed? It made him think about his own paranoia...though was it simply him being paranoid or was someone, something, watching them all? A shiver ran up the boys spine, there was something happening around here and he didn't know if he wanted to know what it was. Rumors had been flying around all over campus about people seeing shadows, hearing voices, lights flickering, mundane stuff. He didn't want to believe it, or rather couldn't, that anything other than paranoia was being passed around. After all this school was placed next to a pretty old town with a pretty creepy forest.

As the dark-haired boy sat there thinking that feeling of intense fear settled over him, the hairs on his arm rising. Out of the corner of his eyes he thought he could see a dark shape peering from around a corner, staring at him. He turned his head quickly too look but just like last time nothing was there. "I'm totally going insane...I have to be." He thought, picking at the salmon-colored sweater he was wearing.

[Inertia]

_{Location: Class -> Cafeteria
Time: Morning
Mentions: Felix Ivanov @Otterpop
Interactions: Felix Ivanov @Otterpop, Open}

---

Jason's early morning class had just ended and he felt a tad hungry. Today he was too lazy to make his own lunch and figured he'd grab something in the cafeteria. He had an a few hours before his next class anyway. That particular class was draining to sit through. The professor flew from concept to concept at blinding speeds, luckily he managed to keep pace with his teachings. As he ambled through the halls he let out a heavy sigh thinking of the class. The group ahead of him, who had been shooting him leery glances, stopped and parted to the sides.

The group of people refused to meet his confused gaze as Jason sauntered pass them. The confusion wouldn't last as his thoughts wandered back to the class, his mind was back on autopilot. A few minutes would pass before he suddenly felt a chill run up-and-down his spine. It felt creepily familiar somehow, nostalgic even. Ah, it clicked in his head. It was a fight-or-flight response, the kind he gets just before a brawl. As adrenaline coursed through him he pivoted his head around, looking for something- anything. The hallways were oddly empty and deathly silent. His gaze fell over his shoulder, and he could see long fingers wrapped around a corner.

"What the fuck." Jason spat out unconsciously, his heartbeats grew louder with every thump. His right shoulder began aching. He rubbed his eyes and like that, it was gone and sound of idle chatter slowly returned.

Jason would be lying if he said that that wasn't a frequent occurrence. He always tried to dismiss it as stress overloading his mind, but it felt less and less convincing the more it happened. The dull, throbbing pain of his shoulder was a sobering reality check; it reminded him that he wasn't just hallucinating. He rested his arm on a wall and let out a few panicked breaths. He felt like his heart run a mile a minute, he let it settle before he began moving again. In fight-or-flight scenarios he always chose fight, however in this scenario, his primeval instincts blared one continuous warning; RUN.

With a final drawing breath he collected himself. His hunger seeming to have faded. Despite this he arrived infront of the cafeteria and since he was there he may as well eat and settle his nerves. Entering the cafeteria, he found it slightly packed. Most tables were full. A student holding a tray bumped into the inattentive Jason, causing him to drop his food and splatter some of it on his jacket. The student looked incensed and turned towards the offender, likely with a few choice words. His figure shrank back as he recognized who it was.

"Sorry that was my fault. Mind was somewhere else. I'll pay for-" Jason stopped himself as he realized the boy had already ran away after hastily picking up his wrapped food and tray.

Left standing on the floor with mashed potatoes dripping off him, Jason shrugged and continued to the counter. With a handkerchief he cleaned his jacket. He had more troublesome thoughts to worry about. Finally arriving to the counter he ordered a simple wrapped garlic chicken bread with soda. He scoured the room for an empty table. Luckily he spotted a student sitting alone. He wasn't entirely sure of the etiquette, as he didn't use the cafeteria often, but he figured asking would be best.

"Hey. May I take a seat?" Jason asked the student- Felix, who had a panicked looked about him. "Actually, are you alright?"

[Always]

Luke Mayfield

_{mention:@Inertia@Otterpop}

Luke stood outside against the wall, taking in the last few breaths of his cigarette. A small cough followed one of the heavy intakes. If he sucked on the cigarette too much he realized what happened, but sometimes he felt that he wasn't getting enough. Yet, he knew every other student that was on nicotine was using vapes, he didn't understand the appeal of all of it. Not that he was old schooled, but he didn't need some cherry flavored pod to get it through his system.

Taking another deep breath, he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, flicking it onto the ground. He looked at the waste, watching the smithereens put themselves out against the walkway. He watched it, twisting the edge of his lip as he did. He then decided to turn around, leaving it on the ground and walking into the school where he made his way to the cafeteria. He hoped he hadn't come too late. Missing the guys hang out time would not be a great topping to the day.

As if the world wanted to turn against him that day, was exactly what happened. With a quick scan of the caffeteria he could already identify their absence. Yet, instead of acknowledging it, and maybe changing his mind, instead he went up and got the food. He slabbed some pasta on to his plate, grabbing a fork and looked around for a table. There was no way in hell he was sitting alone or was going to look alone. That would be awful to what he wanted everyone to see him for, but would hang out with the two weird kids be better?

Before even considering the answer to the question he walked to the table, sitting down without any invitation. He placed his bag down waving at them. "The names Luke by the way" He grabbed the fork devouring a bite into the pasta before realizing the two's expressions. It was the first time he actually looked at the two's faces. He finished chewing his food. "I'm sorry, did I disturb some romantic breakup? Didn't mean to do that, but hey bud," He placed his hand on Felix's shoulder-rubbing it supportively. "Don't worry about him, there is plenty of other fishes in the sea, this doesn't have to be the end of the world."

[Killy]

Mikhail Afanasyev

_{Location: Class -> Cafeteria
Time: Morning
Mentions: None
Interactions: Open}

---

Drowsily Mikhail exited his class, he hated morning classes because he would spend his time trying to not fall sleep rather than on paying attention. While grabbing his phone, he saw one of the strange creatures behind him. If he had to describe it would be a mass of black flesh sporting creepy long thin arms and seemingly no legs, dragging itself by using its arms at an amazing speed, soon followed by one of his classmates passing him by. Mikhail looked back at his reflection on the phone, he hadn't really thought about it until now but adding to the pile of mysteries it was weird that he saw his reflection just fine instead of seeing a shadow monster as the others had. Thought even the creatures that made up that twisted world changed day by day instead of being permanent counterparts like he had thought on his first few days here. Nothing about the situation made sense, and it was honestly too early to be wracking his brain thinking about it.

Mikhail went into the cafeteria to grab some coffee to wake himself up. Now with a bit more energy, he was thinking about skipping his next class to go to look for info in the library again. If he didn't find anything today he might have to go ask one of the locals about the shadows, as much as he disliked the idea. Some of them didn't seem too fond of foreigners and might just think he's mocking whatever myths they have, or do worse and feed him bullshit so he stops bothering them. Still, his last visit to the library hadn't been completely worthless, he had found the abnormal amount of people that went missing each year here. People going to work and never arriving, a camper's belongings being found without a single footprint or sign to point out their whereabouts and even one case of a kid just vanishing inside his room one night.

He felt a chill on his spine when recalling those cases. Mikhail had done his best to treat the things around him as mere topics to investigate and solve. It did distract him from the fact that if he wasn't just crazy and seeing things, these creatures were all around him and just like with that kid they can just snatch him up and no one will hear from him again. He shook his head, there was no need to make himself panic. There was no way to stop seeing them and fearing them will just make him go crazy sooner rather than later. In the end, it was a better plan to go to class, it'd put the topic off his mind for a while and it may be a better idea going to the library when there are more people around.

[Liv]

Elena Kozlov

_{Location: Office -> Break room
Time: Morning
Mentions: None
Interactions: None (open)}

---

Elena sighed. Yet another evening working late hours causing her to be exhausted the following morning. She was sitting in her small office grading assignments before class, very routine work she performed on a daily basis. After spending a decent amount of hours the previous night reading papers, the words started to become a blur and she decided to stop. Now she had come into work early to finish her job, but her lack of sleep was an indicator that her day was going to be a rather long one. With such thought in mind, Elena grabbed her mug and headed out for her second cup of tea that morning

"Rough night?"

"Maria, you startled me!" Elena laughed, turning around to greet co-worker and friend. She had known the woman for about six months, but they had become pretty close in that short amount of time. "I stayed late last night, you know, the usual."

"As always. Are you still coming over for dinner?"

"Oh, that's right...Yes, I'll be there."

After some back and forth chatter on random topics, the two quickly said their goodbyes as Maria had to go teach. Elena, on the other hand, wasn't due in class for roughly another hour, and she was planning to make use of every last free minute if she was to go over to Maria's for dinner. Whenever the two couples would get together, their night would extend beyond regular hours. They would talk, eat, drink, play some card games, watch a movie, etc.

Elena looked at her watch as she continued on her way to the break room. She wondered whether to call Alexei now or later. When he'd woken up earlier, he went on about a trial that would take up most of his morning, and she wouldn't want to interrupt him in the middle of his job.

The call can wait, she thought to herself, turning the corner to where the break room was located.

[shylarah]

Maxwell Thomas
morning
cafeteria

It had been an early morning as usual for Maxwell, who'd gotten up to jog his daily mile before breakfast. The track was mostly clear, just a few other early-morning joggers, not enough to be considered a crowd. That was fine with Maxwell, who didn't care to talk much until he'd gotten his mile done. Then it was back to the dorms for a shower and to get ready for the day.

In the cafeteria Max looked around for folks he knew. His gaze landed on Jason Pierce, the so-called "delinquent", but actually a pretty nice guy. Maxwell threaded his way across the room to Jason's table and slid into an open seat. Two others were there, apparently having a conversation about a breakup, so Max politely focused on his friend.

"Jason, how's it going? ...Is that mashed potato on your collar? What happened this time?" Maxwell hoped it wasn't another fight. The two had met when Jason was in a fight. Max had tried to intervene, but ended up making things worse and needing protecting himself.

[Kautalya]

‧˚₊*̥˚₊*̥ T H E O D O R A O P A L ‧˚₊*̥˚₊*̥
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗

_{location: cafeteria
interaction: open}

‗‗‗‗‗‗

"There." The girl stretched her fingers out, following after a slight yawn. Her eyes fluttered close as she leaned back, resting her aching back on the wooden chair that stationed itself by the windows of the cafeteria. It was a tough week. Considering she was busy with schoolwork, struggling to find what to film, and of course--the one thing she wanted to forget about--the entity she met with.

Her eyebrows crinkled, she puffed out a big sigh. Forget about it.

"Are you serious!?" A shout lingered in the cold air, "you want to do all the work?!"
She stared up at his face, an expression of frustration crossed his face.
"You know.." He rubbed his temple, "I let it go when you left that other night, but--"

She gripped her arm tightly, avoiding eye contact; she wanted to avoid this whole discussion more than anything.

"--I don't know what the fuck happened for you to run off like that--" He balled up his fist.

"--But for you to give me that shitty excuse. A-About a damn ghost well-" He latched his hand onto the bag that was toppled onto the bench.

"Then fine! Do it yourself for all I care."

Forget about it Theodora.

The girl reopened her eyes, darting downwards to her fingers, fiddling with them. She knew that he wouldn't have believed her, but just anyone--somebody needed to know. Squinting her eyes, Theodora recounted the experience once more. The black figure digging its stare into her, it's arms at it's side and the body, elongated and stretched out. Her head slowly rose upwards, pressing her palm down on the laptop and closing it off. She lifted her fingers up and brought the ends of her turtleneck to her mouth, slouching lower into the seat. It wasn't easy avoiding mirrors but, Theodora experimented(it was more like a game to her)with the entity. She noticed--after hours of pep-talk--that it didn't seem to appear when she fully looked at herself in the mirror; In fact, she could only ever see it when she passes by the bathroom mirrors, from the corner of her eyes.

One time, however, Theodora managed to catch a clear glimpse of it when she was fully staring at herself in the mirror. The entity was at the corner of her bed, its fingers clutching the hem of the blanket, it's head uprooted to glare at Theodora.

She turned to face her bed.

It was gone.

Shaking her head, Theodora scanned her surrounding. She noticed a group of students sitting at a table, her eyes, hidden under her unruly bangs, noticed a few of them. Theodora was never good with names but she knew who was who by the side conversations some students would have(that she would easily eavesdrop on). Felix, her eyes moved to the other one, Jason and the other two, Luke and Maxwell.

Her stare drifted to her laptop, it's color chipped and the stickers from her favorite games slowly falling from their place. She dropped her grip on her turtleneck, her hands reaching towards her small purse, pulling out a small snack. Bringing the bar to her mouth and taking a bite, Theodora wished for the entity to leave her alone.

If you have telepathic powers and are currently listening, please leave me alone.

She spoke--in her head--for the hopes that the "mirror ghost," would once and for all listen and leave her alone.

It's not easy trying to sleep and catch a shadowy figure peeking from the ends of the mirror, watching her.

Ugh, Theodora.

Forget about it.

[Kosm]

ADRIK KAMENEV

_{Location: Break Room
Time: Morning
Mentions: @Liv
Interactions:Elena Kozlov; Open}

---

"Hmmm...coffee's a bit cold today."

The seemingly innocent comment escaped Adrik's lips shortly after sipping the latest brewed up batch from his mug. He was leaning with his back against the edge of a counter in the teacher's break room, a coffee mug in one hand and his phone loosely held in the other. He'd been idly scrolling through his newsfeed before taking a sip, but the surprising chilliness of his drink had stolen his attention. He actually didn't mind iced coffee at times, but his cup was just plain cold and bland, as if it had been sitting out for awhile.

"You sure about that?" An older man asked, another professor at the school much like himself. The man, Dima Krupin, was pouring himself a cup of coffee as well from the same pot Adrik had used, but it was clearly piping hot as steam could be seen emanating from it.

"Huh. I suppose 'hot' is just a little too cold for me these days." Adrik joked with a tired smile. Subconsciously, however, his hand gripped the handle of his mug tighter. The coffee wasn't warm at all, it was damn near frozen. For several days now, he'd experienced bouts of chills like this that honestly made no logical sense. Ever since that night with the car...damn it, what the hell was going on? It worried him, but it wasn't like he could tell anyone what was happening to him, and he didn't have the faintest clue of what he could do anyway. Though, perhaps he deserved it. This could all very well be the start of a punishment he believed he'd had coming to him for years now.

"Ah, so tough," Dima responded dryly, "You know, my first class will up be up soon. I'll have to ask the kids in it when they decided hot coffee was the new iced coffee."

Adrik just shook his head.

"I don't know how a man in his mid-thirties is still considered a kid," Adrik scoffed. He took another sip of his coffee, but grimaced, then made his way to leave. It would be for the best if he showed up early to his own class, he figured. Though once exiting the break room, he found himself nearly running into another person who was about to enter, though he was aware enough to stop before they could crash into each other.

"Sorry, seems I'm in the way...oh, hello, Mrs. Kozlov. Or do you prefer Elena?" Adrik's tired smile returned as he nodded at his fellow teacher to greet her. He noticed she seemed...about as tired as himself, actually. Which was strange, in a way he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"...Tired as well, huh? Long night?"

[Roseate]

_{Location: Outside -> Cafeteria
Time: Morning
Mentions @Killy
Interactions: Mikhail Afanasyev, Open}

---

Normally, Cassidy would have gone for his run first thing in the morning before most people were even awake. Being up at the crack of dawn was never difficult for him unless something kept him up all night. He was a decent sleeper before coming to this school. His schedule was flawless down to the minute. And yet somehow he ended up with problems sleeping seemingly out of nowhere. Except he knew it wasn't out of nowhere. He could pinpoint the moment it started without fail. He knew it was that night, that song. it seemed the dreams were becoming more frequent and far more bizarre as time carried on. Last night had been one of those nights when he'd woken up in a cold sweat with a lullaby playing through his head. It gave him chills just thinking about it, so he decided not to think about it. He would just do his run after his first class.

The route he took was the same as every other morning, but at dawn, there weren't nearly as many people running around trying to get to and from class. At dawn, he was virtually alone jogging around the campus along his route. Now he had to swerve around other people that refused to get out of the lithe dancer's way. He wasn't exactly imposing. Cassidy completely ignored them, to the best of his ability. He didn't bother shooting apologetic glances as he bobbed and weaved around bodies to keep the proper pace. The rock music blaring in his ears helped distract him from any rude looks from narrow misses. He was graceful from his years of ballet and didn't assume he would actually run into anyone. Not that it was impossible. He was pretty distracted. Even with music being blasted directly into his brain, that song somehow managed to permeate through.

As he reached the cafeteria, Cassidy slowed to a stop. He looked up at the building for a moment. He should probably stop and get a bottle of water. He didn't bring any with him this time and hydration was important. Pushing a hand back over his sweaty blonde hair, he sighed and made his way inside. He was practically done anyway. With his earbuds still in, Cassidy made his way to one of the counters to get a simple bottle of water. Before he reached it, though, an earsplitting screech emitted from his right earbud for a split second before the rock and roll song morphed into that fucking lullaby.

Tearing his headphones from his ear by the cord, the blonde stumbled back a few steps and directly into another student. The impact to his back sent chills straight up his spine and he spun somehow perfectly on one heel to face them. "Sorry." He breathed, clearly disturbed. Despite no longer having his headphones in, he could still hear the song playing lightly, as if on a faraway piano. His green eyes glanced in the direction it seemed to be coming from, and he took in a table full of students that were chatting. They didn't look like they belonged in the same place. It was bizarre. He contemplated approaching them and asking if one of them was playing music on their phone, perhaps. But no... that was ridiculous. The song in his head didn't exist. It was just something his mother made up for him when he was a child...

Glancing back at the boy he'd collided with, Cassidy was suddenly aware that his behavior had caused him to spill his drink. The blonde's eye widened slightly and he tucked his earbuds away in his pocket. "Please, let me buy you another coffee." He insisted, a winning smile replacing the disorientation he'd just exhibited. It would be a welcome distraction from the ringing that continued in his ear.

[Liv]

Elena Kozlov

_{Location: Outside the break room
Time: Morning
Mentions: @Kosm
Interactions: Adrik Kamenev}

---

"You may call me Elena, and tired may be an understatement, Mr. Kamenev," she stated, readjusting the grip she had on her mug. Elena noticed that her colleague, much as herself, looked beyond exhausted as well. She hadn't heard much about his personal life, if anything at all, but word had it he'd gone through some tragic event in his life not that long ago. Of course, Elena did not dare bring up the subject given that they didn't know each other beyond the confines of the university. "If I may, it appears that you have been extensively grading assignments as well. The joys of professorship, I suppose," she smiled, making light of their lack of rest.

Elena was just about to wave her goodbye when she remembered one of the upcoming lessons.

"Before I leave, Mr. Kamenev, I was wondering whether you had any opinions on a book. It's Psychology and Philosophy...with time--no, in time?" she cocked her head to the side, a little embarrassed she had forgotten the title. "I don't think that's it either. My apologies, I can't seem to recall...but let me see if I still have the link."

Reaching into the front pocket of her slacks, Elena pulled out her phone. She went into her e-mail application and started scrolling down her inbox when the screen turned black. At first, she thought it was one of the many malfunctions of her older phone, but then the screen came alive again, although this time, it displayed a feed of the back of someone's head. It took her a second, but soon enough she realized the blonde in the video was her. She could see Kamenev's shirt within the frame, the same one he was wearing while standing in front of her. Startled, Elena immediately turned around, though no one was there. How was that even possible? Elena looked down at her phone, but the screen portrayed her inbox once more.

"You know what? That can wait...," she whispered. Elena was about to leave, although when she took her first step she felt extremely faint. At that moment, the young woman placed her back against the nearby wall to steady herself. "I'm sorry, I--I don't know what happened just now."

[Scribe of Thoth]

_{Cafeteria ⚜ Morning}

---

Leo trudged into the cafeteria, humming some inane upbeat tune that he wasn't quite sure where he picked up. He really wasn't a morning person, and where others may have had lunch on their mind, Leo's only concern was where they kept the coffee. Moving on toward the counter, he narrowly missed a collision; some kid got splattered in mashed potatoes and the other one ran away. Mashed potatoes guy must be threatening; Leo would have to file that away for later.

Leo maneuvered around the scene expertly and ordered his coffee, taking his sweet time loading the cup with cream and sugar until it was hardly recognizable as coffee anymore. In his opinion, it wasn't a morning beverage unless the last few sips were little more than a slurry of undissolved sugar at the bottom of the cup.

When he turned around, he was just in time to witness another collision. That was too much; this place was clearly where clumsy people went to kill each other, and quite frankly, Leo was nowhere near good enough at dodging people to like his odds. He looked down at his cup warily before clutching it to his chest with both hands. It was a short walk to the nearest table, and Leo spent the majority of it huddled over his coffee like a paranoid weirdo before he noticed he probably looked like an idiot. The boy glanced around for anyone obviously staring, then sat down and started drinking to cover up and embarrassing facial expressions he might've been involuntarily wearing.

Great start to the day.

---

[Otterpop]

_{Location; Cafeteria
Time; Morning
Mentions; N/A
Interactions; @Inertia and @Always}

---

Felix silently sat at his empty table, nervously picking at his sweater as he listened to his surroundings. Girls gossiping at a table nearby, students laughing at some corny joke, jocks being textbook assholes. It was all made for a lively environment, one that would normally seen on a college campus but the dark-haired boy just couldn't shake the feeling that among all those laughs and jokes there was something more dark and sinister. He let out a heavy sigh and laid his forehead on the cool table, "Maybe I should go see the student counselor." He thought grimly.

What he thought was just going to be a quiet, boring lunch turned into something different when a boy he didn't recognize plopped down at the table. Felix's grey eyes scanned the student, taking note of the dull stain on his jacket. He briefly wondered what it was before looking to the boy's face. "I mean your already sitting down, kind of takes the away the point of the question." He said with a small tilt of his head, sitting up straighter and laying his chin in the palm of his hand. He expected the guy to get offended but it didn't seem like he was, instead he asked Felix is he was alright. Most students got put-off by his "edgy" aura. He was just a brutally honest person who didn't like to hold back his thoughts or opinions.

"I like to look a little crazy to keep people away. Though it doesn't seem like it worked." Felix grabbed his fork and began to pick at the Alfredo that was on his plate, he wasn't quite sure why he had grabbed it in the first place since he didn't feel all that hungry. Dropping the plastic utensil onto the paper tray, he pushed to food back and leaned back into the hard cafeteria chair. Felix opened his mouth to speak but was once again interrupted when some large dude in black made himself comfy at the table. Did he really seem like he was that approachable today or something? The boy didn't know how he would feel about this new addition, at least the first guy had the decency to ask...even though he'd sat down without an answer. This dude just say and started to introduce himself without any invitation.

He let out another sigh, his so did not have the energy for all this at the moment. He didn't say anything in regards to him telling them his name but he did raise an eyebrow when he assumed that him and whoever this other was were a couple. Felix narrowed his eyes when Luke touched his shoulder, he really didn't like to be touched by people he didn't know. "I don't know what gave you the idea this was a breakup, but your not even close bud. I've just met him and he's only been a minute longer than you." Felix said, crossing his arms over his chest, giving an obvious glance at both of them. "Besides, neither of you are my type." He couldn't help but grin to himself at that.

[Inertia]

_{Location: Class -> Cafeteria
Time: Morning
Mentions: Felix Ivanov @Otterpop
Interactions: Felix Ivanov @Otterpop, Luke Mayfield @Always, Maxwell Thomas @shylarah, Open}

---

A student in sore need of a haircut introduced himself out of the blue and joined them. He simply gave a curt nod to the long-haired fellow. Next he shot him a confused look at his comment about breakups and Jason wondered if he was talking about him and Felix. Seemed very touchy and physical, he wasn't entirely sure what to think about him.

"Jason." He replied in one, introductory word. Surely they'll get what he meant.

Jason cracked his soda open and began lazily unwrapping his sandwich. Before he could take a bite a familiar face joined him on the not-so-empty-anymore table. It was Maxell, one of the few people who go out of their way to associate with him- not that he mind. From the few interactions they had he seemed like a decent guy; if a bit nosey. In their last meeting he had to defend the doctor-in-training when he tried to optimistically intervene.

"This morning has been tiresome." Jason said in-between bites. He'd rather avoid another reprimand from Maxwell regarding fights. "Nothing like that. Just a very dumb misunderstanding that I don't care to fix."

Halfway through his sandwich he noticed a few students now eyed the peculiar mix of outcasts. It was definitely a weird lineup, he'd say only Maxwell was 'normal', if, again, too nosey for his own good. He'd only heard bits and pieces about Luke, mostly that he had a temper and was a party animal. Felix, well, he may be more of an outcast than Jason.

"Eh." Jason replied to Felix with a blank face, assessing that he was fine if he was that snarky. "Seems like you're not doing a good job; you look more rattled than 'crazy'."

"Maxwell what's your diagnosis on that student over there?" He said half-jokingly, pointing his can towards Felix."He's grinning at his own joke so he may be fine."

[Killy]

Mikhail Afanasyev

_{Location: Cafeteria
Time: Morning
Mentions: Cassidy @Roseate
Interactions: Open}

---

Too busy spacing out, Mikhail didn't pay attention to his surroundings, which meant that he didn't have to react crashing against another student. With a thud he was jolted back to reality, he lost his balance for a moment but managed to take a quick step to not fall on his ass, however, the suddenness of it had made his weak grip on the coffee cup slip, so the drink spilled over the floor. Mikhail wasn't sure who he was supposed to be more annoyed at, himself for not paying attention to his surroundings or the other guy for probably doing the same. At the very least he hadn't spilled the coffee over himself, though his money still had gone to waste.

Mikhail looked at the spill and sighed, it wasn't done on purpose so getting mad was pointless, and the guy had offered to buy him another cup so at least he had some manners. Taking a look at him, he noticed that he seemed slightly unsettled, and it probably wasn't about the little crash they had. The more time Mikhail spent in this town the more he realized he wasn't in a normal place so something bizarre could have happened to him on his way to the cafeteria. Or maybe he was looking too much into it, seeing weird things in reflections tended to make one's imagination go wild.

"...Sure, please do" There wasn't any reason to refuse the offer, Mikhail still needed that coffee to get through the next class. "Were you busy listening to music to notice your surroundings?" Mikhail asked as he pointed to his ears, referencing the earbuds Cassidy had just put away. He had asked sincerely but the deadpan tone probably made the comment come off as curt or sarcastic.

[Kosm]

ADRIK KAMENEV

_{Location: Outside the Break Room
Time: Morning
Mentions: @Liv
Interactions:Elena Kozlov; Open}

---

Adrik nodded when Elena told him that referring to her by her first name was fine, and chuckled lightly when she joked about their workloads. Right, that was one thing that he was still getting used to. Not to say he hadn't had long nights before with other jobs, but teaching was turning out to be a whole other monster entirely. But it did keep him busy, and the more preoccupied he was with work, the less time his mind had to wander and focus on other things. Things he just didn't want to think about anymore.

"Hm?" Adrik hummed when Elena, surprisingly enough, asked for his opinion on a book. All things considered, they didn't really know each other too well beyond being fellow teachers at the university, and he didn't socialize all that much to begin with. But he also had no problem giving a recommendation if someone wanted one, so he nodded once more at her. Though it seemed she had trouble remembering the full title.

"No worries, it's understandable considering our workloads," he assured her, raising his coffee mug in solidarity before taking a sip. He once again grimaced, he had no idea why he kept trying to drink something he clearly wasn't enjoying.

"It's gone cold," he explained as he shook his head, in case she thought he'd made the face at her. But it didn't seem like she'd noticed anyway, as she was staring intently at her phone. He knew she'd taken it out look up the book, but something seemed...wrong. He only barely caught the startled expression on her face before she suddenly turned around to look behind her.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Adrik asked curiously, looking past her but seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He looked back at her, but she seemed thoroughly off-put by something, and in a whisper he could barely make out it seemed she'd decided against looking up the book at all now and looked ready to leave. For a moment or so, he wondered if maybe he'd said or come across a certain way that pushed her away, and was prepared to apologize.

"I'm sorry if I- Elena?" He cut himself off partway through when she suddenly leaned against a nearby wall for support. He approached her quickly, unsure if he should take the initiative to help support her, but figured as long as he was close enough she could lean on him or hold onto his shoulder if she decided to. "You really are exhausted...do you need help? I can get you some water, the break room's right here. Come on, you should sit for a moment, catch your breath."

As he offered her a hand, he caught her expression again, and something about what she'd said clicked.

"I'm sorry, I--I don't know what happened just now."

She wasn't just confused, it was bewilderment towards something that was unnerving her. Something he knew all too well, as of recently.

"...You saw something."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement without a hint of doubt in it.

[Always]

Luke Mayfield

_{mention:@Inertia@Otterpop @shylarah}

Luke lifted his head with a light chilling laugh as he watched the two's response. "Oh hoy, glad we're on the same page. It's not like you would have said no." He said as he grabbed his spoon off of his tray, and began diving into his food like a man who has never ate before.

Luke half laughed at Felix's response of looking like he wanted to appeal people away from him. Finishing up on one of his bites he shrugged. "Feel like that's exactly the opposite vibe your giving out right now." He bit another piece of his food before hearing the other comment he had to say. He placed his finger up, his eyes wide. He even stopped chewing for a moment processing what Felix had said. Before not so long- he swallowed down the anchoring food in his mouth, looked directly at Felix.

The first few seconds, it felt like his mouth was dry like he couldn't speak. "Hold up- I'm not gay, and I better not be your type, because you know sure as hell I need a restraining order if I was." He felt the tension in the air that he created, and he knew it was there, but there wasn't a way he could let the school begin thinking he was gay, that would hurt his relationship with the sports guys and he wasn't for that. "I don't have any problem with you being whatever, but you can't go around saying whatever you please. People actually know me, ya know? But it's aight, I know you didn't mean it."

He turned away, trying to loosen up a little bit, but how can you really do that. He let out a sigh, taking another bite of his food before turning to Maxwell. "Hey, I never caught your name."

[shylarah]

Maxwell Thomas
morning
cafeteria

"Replace 'tiresome' with just 'tired' and I'll agree," Maxwell told Jason, taking a deep drink of his coffee despite the temperature. "I was up late studying. Almost skipped my morning jog, but doing that once only leads to doing it again and before you know it you've stopped jogging altogether."

Max looked across the table at Felix when prompted, but just shrugged. "I'm a physician not a psychiatrist, but I'd say from the sound of it he's not really interested in talking. Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes a man just wants to enjoy his breakfast in peace, y'know?"

The fourth guy at the table -- had he said his name was Luke? -- went and made some ridiculous comment that had the table feeling tense. Maxwell didn't understand what the big deal was. From the sound of what Felix had said, Luke was intruding where he wasn't wanted and now the guy was making a fuss about being verbally fended off?

Oh and now he was talking to Max, asking for a name. "I didn't give it, but I'm Maxwell," he replied mildly, before taking another drink of his coffee. There were a lot of things he could have said to Luke, but in the end he just let the man's ridiculous behavior go. It was too early in the morning for drama.

[Liv]

Elena Kozlov

_{Location: Break room
Time: Morning
Mentions: @Kosm
Interactions: Adrik Kamenev}

---

"You saw something."

His statement caught her off guard. What did he know, exactly? Elena would have never guessed Kamenev was on to something. Hell, she would have never guessed anyone there was on to something. None of the other professors or staff she knew ever brought it up to her, and it's not like she had said anything to anyone else either. But that was because she was a little hard on herself, and people might assume rather unpleasant things about her going off of previous experiences with rumors about some of the staff.

"I did..." Elena finally responded, unsure whether she should be honest or lie to him. If she was going with the latter, then she would simply fabricate a family emergency. That would get him off her back. But on the other hand, maybe Kamenev knew something, or better yet, he himself had seen something too. "But you're right, I need to sit."

In her mind, Elena juggled some theories for the strange occurrence she had just witnessed. She was steady on her feet, slowly making her way inside the break room and passing another professor she'd seen quite a few times in between classes and office hours. Elena greeted him with a half-smile and a nod, figuring it was polite enough since the two were crossing paths for only a couple of seconds. Seeing as the break room was empty, she headed for the nearest table. Elena's face displayed traces of confusion as well as anxiety. She still didn't know what to make of the incident, despite her being a rather pragmatic person. A logical answer would be that her phone somehow picked up a security camera's feed transmitting live to her device, but that wasn't feasible as there was no security camera in that hallway. Elena sighed, taking a seat to address Kamenev.

"Something popped on my screen. When I checked my phone, I was looking at myself--or rather, at the both of us. It's as if someone was standing behind me recording a live transmission. I know it sounds crazy and you probably think I'm losing my mind, but I can't really explain what happened."

She stopped for a moment, her eyes glued to her colleague.

"That's um...not the first odd episode I've had here. But, with that said, this job has had me exhausted beyond imagination, so who's to say I'm not hallucinating?" Elena grimaced, not sure whom she was trying to convince.