[IC] Athalia Academy: Season Two - Finding Bael

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Save

Save felt pretty good after having something to do for a long amount of time she could feel herself all hyped about doing something fun. Zivon however... didnt seem that happy to see her ,he didnt seem to be okay his eyes were wide open and he breathed really heavily what could be wrong with him. Being in shock of suddenly being suprised could be it but epilepsy or an attack could also be it ''Are you all right, you seem a bit pale maybe you should rest for a...'' Save found herself in the phone again not being able to do much about it since he ran. The only thing she could see was the ground going up and down and Andromeda in the background 'It might be better to let him be alone for a while'

The camera suddenly seemed to stop trembeling and she could actually see what was happening. He was humming a tune, Save recorded it to keep it for latter as it might come in handy but she needed to help him with whatever he was doing. The sound of the phone still didnt seem to work so using images would be smart. She got out one of her favorite animes and played it on the phone she was in so Zivon would calm down a bit. She was playing one of the last episodes of clannad where tomoyo and his daughter where going on vacation with the train. Save felt always that it was really calming and touching episode, It was the only thing she could do for him at the moment.

[Theobromine]

– Kathy

“Me?” Kathy asked, surprised by Crash’s returned praise. Raising a hand to the back of her head she ended up copying his signature gesture of embarrassment or awkwardness. Perhaps it was a result of hanging out with the shapeshifter on such a regular basis. After a small pause to collect her thoughts, she lowered the hand and jested, “Did that shoe give you false memories of heroism that I did not commit?” Unless he counted her volunteering to go scout, only to return pretty much empty-handed. Perhaps he was giving her credit for the effort?

She let out a hearty laugh when she saw Darwin express his endearment for Crash by squeezing the shapeshifter’s body like a tube of toothpaste. “Easy Darwin! He has some bruises from training!” Though her words were ones of concern, she was laughing too much to be taken too seriously. Then hearing Crash’s question she answered, “I want to, but Maria didn’t exactly explain how to play. I hope someone will tell me the rules before it actually starts.” A faint blush returned to her cheeks as she looked at Crash and returned the question in a quieter voice. “You’ll participate too won’t you?”

Then turning to Mercy she also asked, “Will you play the game as well Mercy? From the sound of what the principle said it seems like teachers can join in as well.” As soon as she finished asking Mercy this, Kathy seemed to realize something. “Wait… She couldn’t have possibly called a mandatory meeting for the entire student body for this right…?” She wondered aloud. Glancing back at where the woman had been standing to make an announcement, the feeling that the entire purpose of the meeting really was to play this game began to grow stronger inside. ‘That was possibly the most innocent ‘abuse of authority’ I’ve ever encountered.’

[Destinyfailhorror17]

–Zivon-

Zivon was still humming the lullaby, trying to calm himself down; this was too much of the poor kid. He looked down at phone and saw a scene, he was surprised to see that even though he didn’t click anything, it probably the girl Save who might have clicked it. It was a scene with a man with his daughter… his heart ache, that scene made him think of his dad again. “…D-daddy… I miss you…” He cried out, he was like a little kid who fell and was injured on the knee; he just wanted his daddy that’s all. “d-daddy…” He sniffled as he cried harder; the memories are hard for him.

Zivon curled up even tighter like a hedgehog trying to block the sounds of students and focus on crying about missing his dad. ‘Daddy… I want to go home…but I know you want me to stay and be brave… I am trying… I am…’ He said to himself as he continued to cry, this was really hard on the little teen itself to be alive.

–Garden-

Garden as she gave the shorts she felt a wet thing presses to her arm it was Sir Lion. He was asking to calm sunflower that seemed to be frighten of the weird cat guy licking him…”Oh sure! Thank you for informing me Sir Lion” She curtsied to the Lion as she picked up the little shaken kitty. “There, there, its okay Sunflower…” She said a kind, smooth tone, trying to calm down the little kitty, Sunflower mewed and yawn, the voice sooth him as he felt calm again.

“See Sunflower, nothing to be scared of” Garden petted the kitten and petted Sir Lion. “You are like a big papa to Sunflower, that’s very kind of you Sir Lion, maybe I should let you baby sit if you don’t mind?” Garden suggested, of course it was till a school and thus she did need to learn… or that what they say… Sunflower looked at Lion and bops the nose. “…Pwapa Lwion…”

–Seven-

Seven continued to scratch his ears and body, he grew bored and secretly went of, he stayed on the floor and curled up, he was getting bored once more… oh how he wished he could eat that rabbit when it was squirming and alive. He loved it how it somehow pleaded for its life. Seven then gave out a loud yawn and jumped, he was now floating in air, watching the students and faculty talking… it was a fun sight… eh even wander if it will be fun to try and hunt them… He licked his lips just watching the movement, like he had found a new prey on, his cat eyes never stopped looking.

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Liam

Liam tried to cover the wet apot on her trousers with both arms as a girl that she had met before walked up to her. She also seemed to know Dani since she stood at the table just now. The girl gave her some shorts made out of organic materials. Well it was better then nothing, She didnt want anyone atyention for only a brief moment as she walked over towards the girls rest room. After a minute or so she dumped her own trousers out of the window of the toilet and pulled the petal shorts on. It seemed to fit perfectly but it still felt weird knowing that at any moment the whole thing could just break.

She walked back again in full confidence past the shovel armour man and a blond haired girl. Liam could also see little feather sitting somewhere in the back with another guy in front of her that seemed to be rather close to her 'Does she have a boyfriend? Meh' She gave a shrug and continued on towards her table as an announcement was made about the kings game. It would be kind of fun to join that event and she probably would get to know more people. As she arrived back at the table she sat down and gave a wink towards garden letting her know that she thanked her. Liams eyes glowed green from the darkness a bit but she didnt notice it herself.

[HylianRose]

- Xanthus -

He sat on the beach, watching the waves roll onto the beach, the moonlight shining brightly on the water. God, he felt like an old man. A lonely old man. He let out a long sigh and shook his head. What was he doing, sitting here feeling sorry for himself? He'd heard the announcement earlier but elected to ignore it for now. Though, now... he felt like he might have should have gone... But... She might be there and if she saw him... He'd ruin everything for her.

Xanthus let out a frustrated groan and fell back on the sand. What was he supposed to do? He felt like he should just leave and let her be... let her move on like she seems to want to. But he didn't know how to move on. She was and had been everything to him. His entire reason for anything and everything. Maybe he should just take a chance on it. Just... start over with her. Be a friend and see where it went from there...

With that decided, Xanthus made his way to the lounge.

---

- Maria and Brako -

She took her cup of papers and went over to the large bed area to sit. She sat quite comfortably too, motioning for Brako to follow her with a sly look in her eyes. The old man who didn't look very old rolled his eyes but followed her, sitting close by her. He took this time to lay back and take a cat nap, resigned to his fate at this point. Maria chuckled at him and then turned to look at the students that were still standing around post-meeting. A wide grin formed on her face as she shouted, "If you're staying for the game, come have a seat. We'll be starting in a few minutes."

---

- Alex -

He sat in his room, staring at the wall, no really sure what to do with himself. Where had Kathy gone? He hadn't been able to find her all afternoon. Maybe he was just bad at looking or maybe she didn't want to be found. He didn't know. He probably never would. Maybe he should just leave her alone... He didn't need another mother like that... He sighed and fell back against his bed, looking up at the ceiling now. Where was his roommate anyway? Derek? He didn't even know him... Although he guessed that was the point. He didn't know anyone here. He felt like a small fry among all of them, which he probably was. He was like a grain of sand, barely there.

He stood up and shrunk down to his pixie size and let his wings grow out. With in a few seconds, he was at the lounge but the meeting was over. He noticed Kathy talking to Crash but elected not to go over there. He wanted to leave her alone. Though... what was she thinking right now? What would happen if he did? Alex shook his head and flew over to Maria when he heard her announce something about a game. What game? He flew over and sat down opposite the two adults and waited for something to happen.

---

- Xanthus, Maria, and Brako -

He made it just in time to see the end of the meeting as Maria walked away and went over to a huge bed looking thing. He searched the crowd but didn't see high nor tail of Lily. He did see a flash of red but it wasn't her. He wanted to mingle but he almost didn't feel like it. People were always too tight nit in their own friend groups. It wasn't their fault it was just the way things were.

He made his way over to where the principal sat and sat down next to her. "Evening." He greeted her and then nodded at the young man next to her. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Not at all, handsome." Maria returned, grinning from ear to ear. Brako simply groaned in reply, not moving.

"Is he tired?" Xanthus asked, a bit curious.

"Oh, that old man? Oh, he's just pouting. You can ignore him. Focus on me instead." Maria replied, winking at Xanthus. Xanthus laughed and shook his head.

"I'm afraid I'm not after that sort of thing." He spoke, his voice strong and firm.

"Oh, no one's ever looking for it. But okay. I'll leave you alone. For now." She replied, teasingly.

---

- Lily -

She chuckled at Carmen. She would have to get used to it. This was all new to her but she liked it. She liked it a lot. It was a lot better than living in that abandoned warehouse with everyone. Not exactly what she needed at the time but she'd survived. And now she was here... picking out clothes for her super diva roommate. She giggled at Carmen's speak of science. "Well, they can just call us Fashion Scientists then. Make a real career out of it." She said, half jokingly.

She watched Carmen pull out several dresses, sampling them and then placing them on the bed.

"I am at your disposal." She told Lily.

Lily chuckled, "You shouldn't have said that..." She said, laughing, as she stood up and looked over each dress. She picked up a few of them and handed them back to Carmen. "Take these back..." She mumbled, focusing on her task at hand. She now had four dresses remaining. Red, tan, purple, and pink. Smiling, she picked up the red one and took it over to Carmen. "Wear this one." She told her, smiling warmly, truly happy for once in a very long, long time. She was at ease with this person. There was no drama, and for once she could forget about everything that had happened to her. She felt like all was well with the world because what else existed besides what was going on right now, in this room. She didn't want it to end. It was kind of funny... She'd never felt this way with Xanthus. Sure she felt loved and protected but she didn't feel such ease like this. She felt like she was truly able to be herself, whatever that may be and that maybe this person could help her make more friends...

As she waited for Carmen to begin changing, a thought occurred to her. "Carmen... You know people around here... Do you think you could... help me make friends? I don't like being alone and I'm not very good at putting myself out there like I used to be. I mean, years ago, I would have already spoken to everyone and made friends with them but... I'm just not who I was 5 years ago... Think you could help me?" Lily asked, feeling weak for asking but she'd never get herself better if she didn't try.

[Driving Park]

Carmen

Carmen happily took the red dress from Lily, noticing her radiant smile that hadn't quite been there before. Evidently she'd helped Lily out in some way or another. "Good choice, of course," she said, smiling. She began to disrobe to change into the dress without a second thought, and her ears perked up as Lily asked her to help her make friends. It was an odd request, for sure, but Carmen felt that she might have a chance at helping.

Pulling the dress over her head, she responded. "Oh Lily, of course I'll help." She pondered a moment, thinking about all the people she knew that qualified under "you know people around here". She had met a few of the other students and of course gotten close to the other two musketeers, but it wasn't like she was the social butterfly of the Academy. Well, maybe she was. But she wasn't trying to be. Sophistication doesn't require lots of friends, she reminded herself. Still, her blunt, in-your-face way of socializing with people hadn't seemed to garner a negative reaction yet, and the couple of times she had gotten Lily involved she had really gotten her involved. At least, that's how she remembered it.

"Just stick with me and you'll get friends," she said with a little smile that had a hint of slyness...and smugness. "And with the new look you have going on, who'll be able to resist?" she continued, clearly enjoying herself. "The answer is nobody," she said, clearly proud of herself. "Well, nobody with any taste, anyway." By this point she had her dress, jewelry and every other accessory imaginable on and ready to go. "Speaking of which," she continued, "We should probably get to this meeting thing soon. There's a definite window of time that can be considered fashionably late, you know?" Of course, she wasn't really in a hurry, and sat on the bed with her legs crossed looking over with a tilted head at Lily.

[Scallop]

Darwin

Darwin was grinning at Crash, ignoring his pleas for air and his obvious pain. Darwin just loved that everyone was back and having a good old time, and his best friend Crash was here to play the new awesome game that the amazing Maria had just announced. Oh...Headmaster Maria. But Darwin always considered everyone his freiwends and called them by their first names! He was prety sure everyone was okay with it, cos he was! But right now, he didn't even seem to notice the chaos he had just borught to Crash and Kathy, and it didn;t seem they had either.

"yeah! I'm gonna beat everyone! I mean, I've eaten over a million skittles in the last ten minutes, I've got some weird feeling in my stomach, but I'm gonna ignore it. It feels like a xenomorph ready to burst out. Hopefully that feeling will let me win the game!" He burst into laughter and noticed Mercy as well. "MERCEH!" He screamed and hugged her tightly. "I NEVER KNEW YOU WERE A TEACHER!" He giggled again and turned to Crash and Kathy. "So.. I found some awesome valentines edition skittles if you guys want some. I hear they increaselove...and it looks like you guys need it!" He laughed again and his hair turned orange suddenly.

[HylianRose]

- Lily -

Wait... Why am I blushing?

Lily sat on the bed watching and listening to Carmen as she put on the dress. After a few moments, she turned her head away because she could feel the heat on her cheeks.

That's not supposed to happen... What's wrong with me?

Her brows furrowed for the young angel was confused. Why was she blushing at another female? It didn't make sense. Why was she embarrassed to see another female? She didn't really know. Maybe she was just embarrassed because it'd been so long or maybe it was because no other females did this with her.

She stood up from her stupor when Carmen asked about being fashionably late. Lily smiled and shook her head. "No. I think we're ready. And honestly, with the way we look? I think an entrance we make would be fashionable." Lily told her, laughing at herself. She was actually having fun despite her little episode just there. Hell, maybe she was bipolar. No... definitely not.

She walked over to the door and opened it for Carmen, motioning for her to go first. She looked over at her roommate, a rather bold smirk on her face. Maybe she really was... Bipolar, that is. But, she just wanted to make the most of this moment, right?

[Driving Park]

Carmen

Carmen smiled at Lily's entrance comment. "Now you're getting it," she said with a smile as she got up from the bed, taking her trumpet with her. Walking over to Lily, she stopped on the way momentarily in front of the mirror, adjusting her hair, dress and accessories to make sure everything was Just So. Looking over to see Lily motioning for her to go through the open door, she practically strutted her way over. As she walked through she flipped her hair and looked at Lily, saying, "Oh, why thank you," with an almost seductive smile on her face, whipping her head back in laughter as she walked out of the cabin.

"C'mon, Lily, let's go make an impression," she said, starting to walk towards the lounge. "We'll walk in side by side. Oh, I can't wait to see everyone's reaction. This is the best part about my line of work, you know," she explained, twirling her trumpet around her index finger as if it were a key ring. "You're going to love it."

[Theobromine]

– Leroy

“Aaah, Zivon.” Leroy’s smile grew a little wider as he recalled that. “To be honest that was quite unusual. His reaction was a lot more interesting than I would’ve expected.” At the time he had been uncharacteristically irritated and stressed at the whole situation. Otherwise he wouldn’t have really thought to use his ability with so many potential witnesses around. And rather, instead of studying Zivon’s reaction he had been more focused on getting the guy to stop going into a panic attack.

He let out a laugh at Little Feather’s blush and unexpected honesty. “If you know already, then you should work on keeping your guard up more.” Looking back into her eyes, he actually let his smile drop. Speaking to her in a tone was bored and monotonous as the expression he had on now he commented, “You only need to be betrayed once to really regret it you know? Do you have so little that you value that you don’t mind going around trusting dangerous individuals?” In all honesty, he was probably the last person that should go around lecturing others about ‘trust’ and the like. But he already knew he was a hypocrite and contradictory about almost everything.

His usual smiling mask returned as Little Feather explained what the colours meant. “Alright, if you don’t mind getting face paint that’s different from usual, let’s just go with some simple lines of blue and red.” Leroy let out another laugh when Little Feather finally showed signs of worry. “Great, you’re finally seeming more like a human.” It was a rather odd phrase to say, but he didn’t elaborate any further on it.

He took the yellow bottle first and placed it back inside of his pocket since he wasn’t going to use it. “Owe me if you’d like. I’d personally wait to see the results first, but I’m not one to refuse a blank cheque from a lovely girl.” Starting with the blue bottle, he opened it and used the dropper to place a small amount on the tip of his left little finger. Though the drop looked rather big, surprisingly enough it just stayed right on the tip of his finger and showed no signs of running off. “Last chance to back off.” He told her.

If she still trusted him and didn’t move, he painted 5 lines on her face with the blue and red ink. Suspicion would be painted on with blue and using his little finger, one line on each cheek. Excitement was added next by placing red ink on his ring finger. He would draw out one line on each cheek just below the blue line and one more horizontal line on the bridge of her nose. Leroy knew that the effects of ‘excitement’ would be stronger if he used a bigger finger and placed more ink for that emotion, but he wasn’t sure what this combination would do exactly since he had never tried it before.

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Save

O god what had she done now. She made Zivon cry now it was something about his dad he missed him. Save needs to handle this with care now knowing that he is mentally really weak. She popped up out of the phone directly next to him. It almost looked like she was really there except for that she couldnt touch a thing. She kneeled down onto the ground right next to him and wanted to place her hand on him to calm him down but she couldnt do that "Zivon are you alright? Im not so good In comforting people so please bare with me" she gave a small akward laugh and tried her very best to calm him down

"I hope I didnt scare you or anything, and you said something about your dad just now. You can tell me more if you want to lighten something of your mind. Im just aome digital program so you dont need to worrie about me saying something towards other I cant go very far." Her voice became softer and softer while she looked away from him. She was to afraid to look him directly into his eyes he might shout at her or cry even more.

[Destinyfailhorror17]

-Zivon-

"Da-ddy...I-I mi-ss yo-u.." Zivon cried, still crying over the fact he sill missed his dad like a cry baby he is. In a way he did look a child from crying a lot. As he was to busy crying her heard the girl Save saying something. She really wanna comfort him yet Zivon was to busy in his emotional breakdown to even actually say something. "Da-ddy...Da-ddy... D-on't le-t th-em g-et me..t-hey hur-t..." Zivon muttered out, he...was having flashbacks about his past.

It was still hard on him to even remember it, even worse when he experience the flashback he could easily feel the pain that he experience there happening to him now. His arms and neck hurt suddenly like if he being strangled and pulled as he shuddered from the pain, it wasn't painful really it just it made him scared to remember it. Zivon remember when that pain happen to easily, it happened so fast. He hugged himself and wiped away his tears. "...s-orry..." He whispered as he felt once again he was being to over reactive and not even bothering to talk to Save who was willing to help him calm himself down. He stayed quiet for a bit, he felt like his selective mutism was coming back. "...T-ha...n-k...yo...ou.." Zivon stuttered out as he thought Save was trying her best to help him.

[FaithsRose]

– Crash & Mercy –

Crash's face split into a grin as he watched Kathy lift a hand to the back of her head, it made a fresh swirl of happiness course through him returning warmth to his cheeks. "Yes you" He chuckled lightly, as she took a small pause before lowering her hand. He raised an eyebrow at her his smile degrading at the mention of the dreaded shoe, one side of his mouth remained up in a lop sided smile a rather affectionate look taking a hold of his expression. "No you-" Unfortunately for Kathy, Crash cut himself off before finishing his sentence as he noticed Darwin approach, shifting the conversation to another track.

He wasn't overly convinced Kathy's concern outweighed her obvious amusement at his current situation as he was enclosed in the unicorns death grip. Rubbing his abused chest he released a puff of air once he had been released, that had been a rather painful experience in all but he was sure he'd recover quickly, he grinned firstly at Kathy before Darwin. "Good to hear, I'm sure they'll explain it when we start...I've never heard of it before" Crash admitted with a small shrug, he glanced back at Kathy catching the slight blush tinting her cheeks as she quietly returned his question. "Well...since you asked so nicely how can I not?" He boldly teased her, deliberately wording his reply as if she had personally asked him to play. He waited to watch Kathy's reaction though he turned to Darwin as he mentioned beating everyone as well as admitting he had eaten a lot of skittles...not that the red haired shapeshifter was surprised by this information. "If a rainbow colored Xenomorph bursts out of your chest...I would have seen everything" He commented, though he did give the unicorn a rather cautious look failing to mention if that actually happened he'd probably end up clinging to the ceilings light shade.

Mercy had been watching the exchange in muted amusement, she was a little surprised as Kathy turned to her...almost as if she'd forgotten she was a visible person. Hearing Kathy question the origin of the meeting, a devious smile spread across Mercy's expression it grew in size as she saw Crash glance at her warily, she patted his shoulder and answered. "Absolutely, I can't wait to play" She answered, laughing as she heard Crash groan his disapproval.

"You and whatever this is, is not a good combination" The shapeshifter muttered to the silver haired woman, grimacing as Mercy flicked his ear. "Be shh'd you" She grinned. "Knowing Maria this meeting could well have been for both. This way she can address the serious stuff and then loop you all into a completely...harmless game" Mercy put forward in answer to Kathy's wondering before she glanced at Darwin barely able to prepare herself as he screamed and enveloped her in a hug which she returned happily. "Hello Darwin!" She greeted him with a warm smile, laughing lightly as he admitted he hadn't been aware she was a teacher. "Surprisingly, no-one was aware of it apart from Red over here I believe" She told Darwin, poking Crash as she said 'Red' he didn't seem to react to her his gaze having already shifted back to rest on Kathy.

He instantly looked back at Darwin as he begun to talk again, he didn't want to appear rude his eyebrows hitched up at the mention of valentines skittles...was Valentines day close or something? He hadn't paid attention to the day in the past...he could have missed it this year though considering he hadn't been around the mundy world as much, he usually relied on the world of retail to tell him when most holidays were. He was dragged from his fast paced thoughts as the last part of Darwin's sentence caught his attention.

Say what? Increases love?! He was unable to stop the flush that swept across his face, 'Code Red' or 'Redlining' as Carmen liked to call it was in full swing at that comment. "E-excuse you?" Crash stuttered out, blinking at Darwin as if he was utterly confused as to where on earth that comment had come from, he glanced at Kathy to warrant her reaction to the unicorn...as well as to see whether he was perhaps overreacting right now, he felt this area was not something he wanted to breach right now. Mercy raised an amused eyebrow at Darwin's antics, deciding to enjoy how uncomfortable the shapeshifter had become...had he failed to tell her something?

"As great as this is, if you guys want to be involved in this game might I suggest we all go and sit down?" Mercy suggested with a smile pointing over to Maria. Crash nodded his head sliding off of his chair, turning to Kathy with a smile he lifted a hand to the back of his neck. Mercy had glided past them, patting Darwin's shoulder and attempting to guide him towards Maria. "Would you sit with me?" Crash murmured to Kathy he waited for her answer before moving any further, sure to follow if she accepted or to make his own way over if she didn't.

- Lion -

Lion bowed his head to Garden. "You're welcome, My lady" He murmured, lifting his mouth in a grin as she picked up the small shaking kitten. His ears flickered as he watched her calmly sooth the timid animal, he tilted his head to the side watching for a moment before he looked over in the direction Little Feather had gone, stress lines had begun to appear on his muzzle. Although they didn't have to be together at all times, there was a reason the lion was protective of the girl...he looked back at Garden as she spoke to the kitten, he purred appreciatively to Garden as she petted him. He blinked in surprise however as she called him a big 'papa' and mentioned babysitting duties, the king of beasts flicked his tail behind him blinking up at the girl. "If you require my assistance I'd be more than happy to help you out, my lady" Lion answered her with a small dip of his head, offering her a lion-ish smile. He wiggled his nose as it was bopped, flicking his large tongue out to lick the kitten up the face. Papa Lion? It makes me sound old The Lion rumbled at the small cat.

- Little Feather -

"Perhaps...but I don't know how" She shrugged at him. "It’s been so long since I've had to...feel anything" She pushed her hair behind her ear nervously before he lectured her. Little Feather noticed his monotonous and bored tone, it irritated her so she leant a little closer to him, her gaze remained soft but there was a slightly harsh undertone to her voice "Leroy, I am what I am. It is my duty to trust others and in turn help them to trust me...you can tell me off for it as much as you want it won’t change that fact...Why exactly are you so concerned about my feelings anyway?" She bit back against his lecture, there was even a slither of sarcasm in her tone she wasn’t sure. This was in fact the first sign of confrontation the young Lakota had shown since she had arrived; of course it wasn't the most convincing of displays she looked even more flustered than before.

She had calmed down again after explaining her view of the colors to him, she nodded her head at him with a small smile though it faded as he laughed at her vulnerability she looked perplexed by his rather odd phrase for a moment before her cheeks flared up in force, she found the term to be oddly complimentary despite...why she'd received it. She had managed to appear human! Did this mean she was becoming more like one each day? Less...dead? Her momentary elation lessened as she listened to Leroy continues to speak. "Regardless of the results, I'll owe you...hmm, what's a 'blank cheque'?" She asked tilting her head to the side, curious confusion apparent in her expression.

She was distracted yet again as he dripped blue ink onto his finger, she tilted her head to the side studying it curiously. “Wow...” She commented, she knew he manipulated ink but she hadn’t really witnessed it first hand...apart from with Zivon perhaps. She took in a breath and nodded at him staying still as he warned he of her last chance. “No, I’m good” She murmured, though she was starting to feel quite anxious now. She swallowed a lump in her throat, her cheeks flushing as his finger made contact with her skin, she focused her eyes on his shoulder to keep herself from getting anymore flustered.

“A-are you going to say anything?” She asked, as he drew on the lines already beginning to feel a shift in her emotions. Her anxiety was slowly whittled away by an emotion she wasn’t accustomed to...suspicion, her eyes drifted back to Leroy. Suddenly questioning why he was doing this? What were his original intentions when he agreed to this? She was still reeling from the application of the first emotion, she was far more susceptiple to the application of the second emotion. She felt the familiar buzz of excitement pass through her, causing her fingertips to tingle as she fidgeted in front of him. “Oh w-wow, what did you do?!” She asked him her excitement apparent in her tone, though her eyes were showing signs of her suspicion. “It’s like...” She started, as soon as he had finished she had bounced to her feet, her confidence had returned as soon as he swept his finger across her cheek creating one of the thin blue lines.

“Oh! Everyone is moving over towards the game...I wonder why...we should do the same! Come on, come on you can come with me!” She practically blurted out, her face was bright but her eyes contradicted her entire expression they were wary and...suspicious. Even some of her speech echoed the suspicion, she bounced up and down on the tips of her toes, holding her hand out to Leroy clearly intent on pulling him along for the ride...should she be so focused on taking him with her? What if this was part of his plan...?

((Excitement and Suspicion xD I think I got it...might take a while to flow :P))

[HylianRose]

- Lily -

She giggled at Carmen, listening to her. they definitely would make an impression. They'd probably be the only people dressed up like they were. Still, it felt good. She followed Carmen out the door and walked by her side. In order to not fall behind her roommate who was rearing to go, she linked her arm with Carmen's and walked on, looking out with a rather proud expression on her face. Every now and then it would break and she'd giggle at all of it.

It wasn't long before they arrived and saw everyone. Some were sitting with Maria in a weird bed thing and the others were by the bar chitchatting. Lily simply smiled and walked around Carmen still on her arm. Without breaking the smile, "What's going on? Do you know?" She asked Carmen, unsure of what to do, now that she was here.

[Theobromine]

– Kathy

Kathy gave Crash a playful shove on the shoulder as the colour in her cheeks deepened. “Since when did I ask you to join?” Despite her embarrassment, it was quite easy to tell that she was quite pleased that he would be participating in the game as well. She didn’t know what the game was about either, but she knew she would enjoy any sort of activity a lot more if Crash was around with her.

‘Valentine’s skittles?’ Now she knew the day was a great one for confectionary companies to latch onto, she hadn’t heard of a Valentine’s versions of skittles specifically. However, before she could question Darwin about it he ended up saying something far more ‘interesting’. Code Red was obviously in full and double effect with both Kathy and Crash sporting a very obvious blush on their faces. She caught Crash’s glance for a moment before she quickly turned to Darwin and stammered, “W-We don’t need something like that. Er, wait! I mean… Not to say that we’re already in love or…” She stopped there and buried her face in her hands. ‘Stop right there Kathy! Not another word! You’re making things worse!’ She screamed at herself inside her mind. Now that this point she wasn’t even entirely sure which was more embarrassing: saying that they didn’t need it (which could be taken as they didn’t need to increase their affections), or just accepting Darwin’s offer (which was pretty much a self-explanatory trap of its own).

Luckily for her, Mercy decided to give them a chance for a breather instead of letting things spiral into a red feedback loop of embarrassment. Lowering her hands, she quickly nodded back to the female teacher in agreement, grateful for a break in the current conversation. Kathy looked back at Crash with a warm smile, noting that his hand had found its way to the back of his neck again. “Of course.” Reaching to his free hand, her fingers brushed his for a moment before she hesitated and retracted it away. ‘There’s a lot of people around.’ She thought nervously. ‘But…’ She looked up into Crash’s eyes for a moment before making up her mind. Checking and giving him a moment to retract back if he wanted to, she closed her fingers around his wrist. Though holding onto his wrist probably always gave people a certain impression about them, for Kathy that was an acceptable amount of contact she could easily have between just friends. Before she hesitated she had actually been intending to hold his hand this time. Unfortunately she couldn’t quite muster the courage to take that leap herself, even if Crash had already gotten them to hold hands already.

Kathy guided them over to where Maria was and took a seat. She let go of Crash’s wrist (provided that he had let her take it) once he sat down beside her. Noticing Alex nearby, she called out to him and gave him a welcoming smile. “Alex! It’s good to see you again.” Then remembering how she had ended up neglecting him at the training area she added, “And… Sorry for leaving you alone like that. I’ll make it up to somehow, I promise.” Then trying to find something brighter to talk about, she pointed at her hair. “Oh, and look. My hair colour’s back to normal again.”

---

– Ara (B)

“Stupid A… I should’ve checked the map first.” Even though it should have been a very short distance to the lounge area, Ara had accidentally gone off in the wrong direction until she turned around, knowing that it couldn’t have possibly taken her this long to get there if she was really going the right way. And A hadn’t actually done anything worthy of being insulted. She had just thrown that in there because she could.

Finally coming across the crowd of students she let out a small sigh of relief. Whatever they were gathered for, it didn’t seem like she had missed it because of her detour. Going up to a random student she tried asking what was going on. “Apparently the principal called us in for something called the ‘King’s Game’.” The student told her. “King’s Game?” Ara repeated, having absolutely no idea what sort of game that was. It wasn’t surprising really. With her broken up memories she sometimes found she didn’t even know about common card games that everyone should have played at least once by her age. “What’s that about?” However, this time apparently she was not the only one clueless as to what it was about. The student she talked to shrugged and told her that he didn’t know either, and that Maria hadn’t explained much yet. He pointed in the general direction where the principal had gone. “If you want to play you’re supposed to go and sit there.”

After a quick thank-you, Ara made her way through the crowd to go over to where the game would start. Judging from the snippets of conversation she caught on the way there, some people were still debating whether or not to join in. Reaching her destination, quite a few things caught her eyes. First, the sight of principal looking very comfortable sitting around waiting for a game among the young students. Something even she was sure wasn’t exactly a common sight to see in any other educational institute. Next, was the group sitting opposite of Maria and an unfamiliar young man (Brako). “Hmm~!” She hummed, clearly amused to see them. ‘Crash, Kathy, and… Don’t know the blue-haired one’s name, but I’m pretty sure he was the one that blocked the balloons aimed at Kathy during the Beach Olympics.’ As tempted as she was to join them over there, instead she chose to sit somewhere else where she could keep an eye on the group. Her voice would travel well-enough if she chose to heckle them at any point, so she was in no rush to try to go directly over to where they were.

---

– Leroy

“Just be glad you can feel something.” Leroy commented back, just before he began the ‘lecture’ and got a surprisingly harsh reaction from her. It had been rather unexpected given his impression of her so far and… ‘Interesting.’ He became highly amused by it. Completely unfazed by her biting back, he just smiled at her with a look of delight in his eyes. “What? Did you want me to be concerned for you?” Instead of pulling back as most people would have, he actually leaned in closer himself until their faces were just a few centimetres apart from each other. “Now if I was really concerned about you, I would stop being one of the suspicious individuals that you should be wary of. So in answer to your question: I’m not. I just offer people grains of advice they can ignore or take in.”

‘I only offer potential victims advice though.’ He thought to himself. ‘If any of them had paid enough to the signs they could have easily avoided going crazy at my hands. Perhaps this was why? Did they think I was lecturing them out of concern or something?’ It was an interesting idea. For him it had been a way to warn them that he was probably going to do something bad and see if anyone caught on, but now he could see a potential reason behind by no one had so far. “A blank cheque,” He patiently explained, “Is used in this case to say that you’re giving the other person an advantage in being able to ask anything of you later on.” Though it had been the perfect time for another tease, he decided to let this one slide and focused on the work at hand.

Noting her flush, Leroy couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. Either she was really easy to embarrass, or she was not very used to people of the opposite gender. He would have personally put his money on the latter. Now just because she asked about it, he decided to remain silent the whole time. Looking at her, he just shrugged and continued to paint the lines on her face in silence. Finishing up, he let wiped away any residual ink on the nearby shrubbery before closing the bottles tightly and returning them into his pockets.

Getting up, be brushed away the dirt on his pants before smiling at Little Feather. His latest experiment, and the first one since he arrived at the academy. “Interesting, isn’t it?” He asked her before accepting the hand she held out to him. Leroy allowed her to lead him to the game area, intending to follow wherever she went. He kept his eyes on her, not wanting to miss anything she did after being affected by his ability.

((Good, since the emotions are supposed to get stronger over time anyway. xD))

[NaraK]

-Ryuu Yamauchi-

Ryuu wondered why he was walking to the lounge.

Then he realized that the cunning feline of a woman had told everyone to meet up at some mandatory meeting. She probably had something up her sleeves, and he could instantly tell just by reading his manga. There was always something up with these sorts of "meetings," and those 17-year-old-looking teachers in the mangas he read tended to reveal something crazy.

The otaku sighed, mumbling to himself,

"Jeebus Crust, I feel like going Aizen and analyze this entire situation before going into that lounge..."

Truth be told, he felt nervous. Maria Cross always made him feel nervous, not because she was (admittedly) hot, but because she always did something weird to him. Every. Single. Time. And now he felt nervous about meeting more students. He was still unaware of the fact that he looked crazy-evil whenever he got excited under most circumstances, but he fully knew that there would be some women to tone down his hyperactivity in case it got out of control.

Or maybe the women would make him go hyperactive.

Ryuu, he reminded himself. remember, there's always Darwin you can rely on. Just eat his Skittles and- wait, THAT'LL MAKE ME EVEN MORE HYPERACTIVE!!! This is a chance to train my self-control. I must learn how to reap and sow melon farms without being enamored by their Earth-shaped beauties!

And maybe I can get along with some of those other dudes. As long as they don't act like pretty boys, I think I won't break a leg...again.

The otaku raised an eyebrow when some random student closed the bar's door on him. He simply kicked it open, a lollipop stick protruding out of his clenched teeth, as he walked in with his hands inside his red jacket's pockets.

He was being such a gentleman so far. The otaku even used his leg to simply drag out a chair before sitting on it, his hands still in his pockets. The sunglasses-wearing student avoided Maria's gaze, simply staring at the ceiling.

Good God, I hope I don't miss that new episode of Fairy Tail, he thought, thinking about a new show he had begun to watch as of recent times.

He was doing so good like any gentleman would. And like any gentleman, a dark aura of an evil(?) gangster emitted from him. The chair he sat on made him feel quite comfortable, for some odd reason.

[Driving Park]

Carmen

Carmen happily accepted Lily's arm intertwined with hers, variously letting Lily lead and leading herself. She was having a wonderful time, and could tell that Lily was too. They were off to a great start. Now...for that impression thing.

She smiled back at Lily's question "What's going on? Do you know?"

"Shall we find out?" she answered, leading Lily towards Maria where everyone else seemed to be gathering. Maria was the principal, after all. And, she called the meeting...after all. Strolling up to the area with Lily in hand, she stopped and looked around at everyone, grinning, before taking an empty spot next to - who else? - Crash, gesturing to Lily to sit next to her with a smile. Noticing Kathy next to him (predictably), she turned her head and spoke, making sure to lean back to keep Lily "in frame".

"Well, if it isn't my two favorite musketeers," she said with a playful smile. "What have you two been up to, eh?" she asked as she nudged Crash's arm. "Don't worry, it's nothing I need to know." With a wink and a whipping back of her head and thus hair, she concluded her tease. "Anyway, have you two met Lily? You're really missing out if you haven't. She's wonderful," she said, looking back over at Lily with a smile. She stood up and sat on the other side of Lily, gently nudging her to sit closer to Crash and Kathy.

With the expansion of Lily's social horizons assured, Carmen turned to face the principal in front of her. She'd never really talked to Maria before, but that didn't deterred her.

"Pardon me, Mrs. Cross," she said, more formally than usual. "Would you mind explaining what's going on to me briefly? My accomplice and I [gesturing to Lily] arrived a little late, you see. But fashionably late, of course," she said, flaunting her dress a little. "Surely you understand."

[Scallop]

Darwin's big grin stuck on his face, beaming straight at Crash and Kathy like nothing awkward just happened. He didn't really have an eye fir awkward moments, but apparently he caused a lot of them. Then there was Crash getting all flustered and stuttering, what was going on? He didn't care, he just let out a small little giggle at them. "Nah...I just thought it'd be nice for you two!" He laughed.

Next thing he knew they were already walking off. Was it something he said? Had he offended them somehow of somehow commented on their relationship status. Nah...that couldn't be it. Maybe they just hated Valentines? He then got patted on the shoulder by a Mercy and he began to skip after her towards Miss Maria. When he got there, he quickly took a seat and began eating skittles by the handful. "Hey Mercy." He whispered totally inconspicuously. "Want some?"

[HylianRose]

- Maria -

"Of course, I understand!" Maria shouted at Carmen, smiling from ear to ear. She looked around the area to see that most of the students had arrived. "Why don't I just explain it to you all at once, hm?" She told Carmen before standing up. "Aright. If you're playing this game, I need all of you to come over here and sit down. Otherwise, we'll start without you." She shouted, a hand on her hip. "The King's Game is a game where everyone picks out a slip of paper and each paper has a number on it. Now, your number is a secret. Don't tell anyone, alright? One of you will get the paper with 'King!' written on it. If you do, tell everyone. The King gets to make a command. Something like, '#5 and #3 must hold hands for 3 minutes!' I'll be the ref and if the King makes a call that goes over the line, I'll tell him or her to change their command. So don't worry, and play!" She explained, making wild gestures with her hands. She went around an let everyone pick up a paper. "When you get your number, go ahead and look just don't tell!" She continued as she handed out papers.

- Lily -

She followed Carmen, well... She was kind of pulled around but she didn't mind. She rather enjoyed it. When she began to introduce Lily to her friends, Lily gave them a small wave before blushing as Carmen said more then she needed to. Lily could only mouth out a small 'Hello.' before turning away. When did she get this shy? She shook her head and turned back around.

"Hi." She said, probably a bit more forcefully than she meant to but before she could apologize and explain herself, Maria was explaining the... game? Lily blinked as a paper was given to her.

A game? Wasn't this mandatory?

She looked down at her number, still a bit confused.

[Sukui]

Dendus
"Good god, that put a lot of strain.", he thought. "Still, at least i've progressed further with my Shadow Tendrils. Better tired than unprepared and dead. Now, i've heard about this King's Game, and it sounds like strategy stuff... but again with the nature of Athalia's populace..." Dendus made a step forward to the trail back to the main resort. "the game's mechanics might be unpredictable, at least to me."

The road back seemed rougher than before, with some spots of mud now littering the path and a heavier hail of falling leaves. With his arm covering his face and his foot being all muddy through the entire 3-minute trip, Dendus returned to the resort looking a bit untidier than before, more notably on his foot. A frown covered his face, and a sigh breathed out of it. His eyes scrolled through the entire place, and there in the bar a fairly large crowd was there. Walking over to the place, Dendus looked again left and right to identify whoever were in it.