With Lauden's departure from the scene, the second guard returned to the common area, giving the corpse-like man a good, almost cautious, look over as they crossed paths, studying him in a way, really, before turning his attention back ahead of him. With a shake of his head, he made his way over to the small gathering of people composed of the other guard, Bezaliel, Dr. Gate, and Sabriel. He and the other guard exchanged something that was halfway between a high-five and a handshake, holding each other's hand for a moment before letting go as the returning guard gave a heavy sigh.
Sabriel's attention tore from whatever response he had prepared for Dr. Gate and locked right onto the two guards. He smirked and gave a light laugh, crossing his arms over his chest as he jutted his chin toward the pair in a directive gesture, "What's truly cute here is how these two continue to go on pretending like they aren't shacking it up in the galley while we're all sleeping," he mused and focused on the returned guard, "Remind me again about that girlfriend you said you have? Is she aware you play around with your buddies from work? Or is this just some fucked up 'just between us' sort of thing? My, my, I do wonder how she'd feel about this."
"Go suck a dick, Sabriel," the guard spat.
Sabriel only grinned at that and leaned toward the man, "Are you volunteering?"
It was the other guard who stepped in at that point, stepping between the two men and pushing them apart, "That's enough," he said, "I'm going to go get the snacks I promised. Can you two at least try not to kill each other?"
"Oh, but darling!" Sabriel started, his tone overly dramatic as he brought the back of his hand to his forehead and set his other hand over his chest, "Don't you realize? I'm a serial killer, killing people is in my nature!" the act was barely held as the white-haired man grinned widely, showing off his upper set of overly sharp canines as he slumped and stumbled a few steps back, keeping up the dramatics as he plopped to the floor, "How ever could I go on in life without killing someone? You may as well take away my ability to eat! To drink water! To sleep! How ever am I to cope in life without murder?" By that point, Sabriel has completely fallen back on the laminate, theatrically sprawled out like a corpse from a bad crime show.
The guards watched him, unamused, and the smaller of the two turned and headed for the galley, "Again. Just try," he said as he went.
Sabriel frowned, watching the man leave from where he was on the ground before looking up at the other guard, "You really find something enticing enough in that man to cheat on your girlfriend?" he questioned dully.
The guard simply ignored him and walked away, making his way toward the other side of the common area where the rest of the lot was congregating on the couches by the door to the courtyard. Sabriel watched him go, then turned his head and looked at Dr. Gate with a coy smile, "Looks like it's just you and me now, love~"
Meanwhile, in the entertainment space of the common area, Casey finally shifted to sit up as ne watched Donovan, finding him only somewhat more entertaining than listening to Pine mention plants being better than humans for the umpteenth time. Don't get it wrong, Casey cared about Pine as much as ne did any of the Hounds, which was actually quite a bit. Ne made a lot of effort a lot of the time trying to get everyone hanging out and talking together, after all, they were supposed to be a team, right? But even Casey had to admit that, despite how much ne and Pine had in common when it came to their individual relationships with the human race...Pine could get really old really fast. It wasn't him per se...just...his repetitiveness?
Ne listened to Donovan explain to Bezaliel that the Uncrustables were not meat and nodded in affirmation to his mention of there being one with honey, "Yeah," ne said, "There's a PB n' honey one, n' then there's those fucked up reduced-sugar ones on wheat. What they should give us are Lunchables! Then Bez could have some meat n' cheese! Though let's all be honest, the pizza ones are the best, seconded only by the nacho ones. The cracker ones are mostly jus' good as a nostalgic snack."
And so the time went, everyone conversing and debating on the topic of best snacks and other foods from various brands and just in general. It wasn't long before the smaller guard returned with the snack cart stacked with chips, cookies, pretzels, and of course, Uncrustables in both strawberry and hazelnut. Drinks on the cart included milk of various flavors as well as different kinds of juice and bottles of water. The time passed by until the golden rays of the sun began peeking in through the lattice roofing of the courtyard, streaming in through the patio door and filling the mock living room of the common space in a crossed pattern across the rug and furniture. Eventually, the larger guard turned on the projector, which was connected to a television and cable box in the galley, and switched on the morning news. Everything was more or less normal on the report, with simple stories about pet adoptions, crafts and recipes, coffee shops dedicated to workers with Down Syndrome, and, of course, the weather.
By the time the first run of the news was coming to a close, it was just about eight in the morning, and finally, finally the main doors to the unit opened as in came the morning crew. Two new guards for the day, a couple of nurses carrying binders containing medications, and a nutrition worker wheeling in the meal cart, stacked with styrofoam boxes, each marked with a name. However, there was one addition to the small fleet of personnel.
Agent Roy Vega. Project Supervisor.
The shorter man walked with a certain level of importance, head held high and hands clasped behind his back. He nodded toward one of the day guards as they were heading into the galley, and a few moments after they disappeared, the projector faded off, leaving the screen blank and white and the room silent aside from scattered chatter. He made his way around the room, nodding to those he approached and wishing everyone a good morning, before asking each Hound to join him by the couches.
Sabriel had long since pulled himself off the floor again and taken to sitting at the dining table while he played a game of solitaire where he was obviously cheating by digging through the cards to find ones he needed to continue. With Roy's request, he reluctantly got up with a roll of his eyes and swept his cards onto the floor as he started over to the seating area. He was stopped though as Rubber walked up to him.
"I am finally having to be solving the puzzle of your own, witchy one," the alien announced, "Depending on the sizing of the cup in question, the number of quarters that which the container is to be of holding is to be ranging anywhere from ten to an exponent of fifteen to the twelfth degree!"
Sabriel stared at the creature, dumbfounded by its stupidity, then just shook his head and brushed by it, "The answer is four, you idiot," he muttered, "There are four quarters of a cup in a full cup. It's the unit of measure, dumbass. Fock, I don't even use the imperial system and that much is obvious to me!"
Rubber stared after the man, holding up its hands again and counting on its webbed fingers in confusion, "It is being of a unit of measure...?" it mumbled, head tilting to the side.
Still sitting on the couch, Casey closed up nir journal and shoved it between the cushions as ne turned nir attention to Roy, curling up in the corner of the couch with nir cloven-hooved feet pulled up, knees hugged to nir chest, "Sup Royboy!" ne called, "What brings ya t'Casa de Hounds so early?"
Roy gave nem a wave and smiled, "I have an important announcement to make," he replied, "Hence why I'd like to bring everyone together."
"We goin' t'Disneyland 'r somethin'?" Casey asked jokingly.
"Something like that," Roy returned, a playful light flashing in his eyes.
"I call first seat on the Matterhorn!" Casey laughed.
Roy laughed along and gave the hybrid a questioning look, "You'll get soaked," he pointed out.
Casey's ears perked and nir crest lifted into a fanning slope on top of nir head, "I love getting soaked!" ne responded, "Tha's the whole point'a the Matterhorn n'ways! Y'don't go on a water ride 'specting t'stay dry!"
"I supposed that's a good point," Roy chuckled, then looked around to see how much of the crew had joined so far.