Jinxer

Attack on Titan: Somnium

@LetMeDoStuff

I'm only usually on in the evening and sometimes when I'm travelling to/from/at work. My days off I stay up late but most of the time I miss much of what's on there as well.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

@LetMeDoStuff

No need to rush. I feel like we'll be in the Mess Hall for a bit.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Well Grant'll be one of the last to arrive so go from there, I guess?

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Lauren Jones

@wolverbells@HecateProxy@Ambra@LordVoldemort@Solace

She seems to have a surprisingly high bar for cleanliness... or maybe it's just because they're boys?

Lauren frowned as Olivia waved towards the boys, all but one of whom she recognised from Shiganshina. It was odd how many of them had joined the cadets after all that they witnessed and experienced on that day; it would be more normal for them to permanently scarred and seek to escape even the remotest chances of encountering Titans again. Even by entering the MP there was a chance they might be deployed one day whereas civilians would always be allowed to evacuate at the expensive of soldiers' lives.

Refocusing, Lauren followed Jade towards where food was being distributed and looked over the options on offer. Spotting a relatively thin looking gruel, or soup, she couldn't really tell and the server looked too grumpy to ask, she got two portions and handed one bowl to Mora. As they turned away, Lauren caught sight of Gabriel and Reese again and felt it would be rude to continue to ignore them. She knew that all the reminders around them was tougher on Jade and Mora than it was on her, so she gestured for them to continue to the table.

"I'll catch you up in a moment."

She headed up to the two boys and smiled, waving to catch their attention and also in greeting. "Hey Reese, Gabriel. Long time no see." Gabriel was taller than she remembered, towering over her and everyone else around him. The last time she had seen Reese was on the hill during the attack, Gabriel she had parted ways with when a more experienced medic took over his treatment. She glanced down at his leg, gesturing towards it. "Looks like you healed well, I'm glad."

She paused, shuffling her feet a little as she worked out how to express her thoughts properly. "Listen, I don't know how it is for you guys but seeing everyone from back then here has been... pretty tough. For Mora and Jade more than me. We're not trying to ignore you or anything it's just... still pretty raw, y'know?" She smiled, feeling awkward but glad to see them nonetheless.

"Well, I'm sure it'll pass. We're in this together for a good while and I'm glad to have seen you again, it kind of gives me a little more hope. Nice to meet you, by the way, I'm Lauren" The last part she directed at the third boy whom she didn't recognise and then she turned to go, waving briefly as she did so. "Don't forget, I'm now the designated Cadet Medic so any ills or injuries, you come and see me. Apparently not at the girl's cabin though. Otherwise we'll get in trouble."

She plonked herself down at their chosen table with a sigh, feeling some tension wash away. She began to dig into the soup, as it turned out to be, suddenly discovering how much of an appetite standing in the sun for half the day had worked up.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Lauren Jones

@wolverbells@HecateProxy@Ambra

With some reluctance, Lauren let the two chastised boys be led out of the cabin. She desperately wanted to protest, to go and speak to the Instructor about how they had been invited in, but she sensed that it would help nobody. It was still the first day and they were being shown how disciplined they had to become if they were to be turned into proper soldiers. She may have gotten away with helping Mora before but these boys were hardly injured, just exhausted from what had probably been intended as a punishment; trying to take the edge of said action would take away from its original purpose and the Instructor would just double their sentences as an example.

Thus, she watched resentfully as they were led out. It was unfair to blame the boy who had been sent to take them, the one who had helped Jade, but there was something in his demeanour that suggested he agreed with what was happening and that concerned a little. She'd be keeping an eye on him but for different reasons to before. With a sigh, she put the water skin down and sat on a bed. Maybe she was being unfair and judging people too soon, it was only the first day and it would natural for everyone to be on edge, even without the Instructor publicly abusing every single cadet and destroying any sense of self-confidence they had.

Just as the door closed it then swung wide open again, a small girl entering with some exuberance. Pausing for the briefest of seconds as she realised the cabin was already open, the girl glanced between the three of them before her eyes lit up in recognition at Jade. She chirped away, Lauren stiffening at the mention of Shiganshina and the inevitable effect it would have on Jade and Mora, let alone herself.

"I'm Lauren, this is Mora. Her throat's still hurting from earlier so she might not talk much for now... we're all from Shiganshina." She was hoping that would bring an end to things but, just in case, she decided to hurry things along so that no one would dwell on unwanted memories. "We should head to the Mess Hall though. We could all do with something to drink and some food after today." She helped Mora up and half guided, half pushed her and Jade out of the cabin. "Come with us if you like, it'd be good to get to know our cabin mates better." She said as she passed Olivia with a grin.

The Mess Hall was still fairly empty for the most part, not many more people having come since Lauren first fetched water from the kitchen. They had their pick of the tables with very few occupied. Conscious of Mora's inabiltiy to speak very loudly, Lauren pointed to the rear of the room where it would be a little quieter. It'd also allow her to see the entire room from one place, a paranoid preference she'd picked up, from where she knew not, in the last two years.

"Let's go over there, I reckon we can talk without having to shout over there."

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Lauren Jones

@wolverbells@HecateProxy@SheriffLlama

Jade was out like a flash, light on her feet and always alert almost to the point of being jumpy. If Lauren didn't know better she'd have thought Jade was looking for danger, but she did know better; her little friend merely wanted to protect people more than anything, especially if that entailed killing Titans. It was the same for Ra, they both had that burning anger nestled within them.

She heard her name called and followed the two girls out, finding Mora picking up the collapsed boy. He was plainly exhausted, drenched in sweat with his chest heaving from his excessive exertions. Lauren stepped out of the way as the other two carried the boy into the cabin and out of the heat of the still blazing sun, although it was now cooling slightly as it completed its daily descent.

"Just put him down on the bed. I'll grab some water." She sprinted across to the Mess Hall, heading straight to the kitchens and grabbing a skin of water before heading back to the cabin and placed it on the bed besides his head.

When he inevitably began to glug the water down as any parched person would do, she snatched it from his hands with an admonishment. "Slowly. You won't do yourself any good to drink it quickly, no matter how much better it feels. Take small sips over time."

She returned the skin to him and let him take another drink before speaking again.

"I'm Lauren, or Cadet Medic, apparently. This is Jade and that's Mora. What's your name?"

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Lauren Jones

@wolverbells@HecateProxy

"That's a shame, I think he has potential!" She teased although she then let the matter drop. They were friends, and because of that rather than in spite of it, Lauren knew not to push Jade's buttons too much. Especially since it would actually be nice to see her interact with others a little more and making this occasion a negative experience would only cement the girl's isolationist nature. They followed her towards the cabins, Mora communicating mostly be facial expressions than speech with her throat still raw from her strangling.

She didn't respond to Jade's out loud musings, not having anything much to say on the matter. True, she felt the instructor had gone to uncomfortable extremes to break them down but it was fairly common knowledge that the process by which ordinary civilians could enter the military was tough, even more so after the fall of Shinganshina. Still, she couldn't quite forgive the physical abuse her friends had received for relatively minor transgressions, at least sending the boys running or forcing Jade's rescuer to do push ups were constructive punishments. Maybe it was her being too soft, her healer's side warning against the causing of unnecessary injuries.

They passed other cadets and Lauren recognised a few and it was clear Jade and Mora did too, both struggling to hide the painful memories and the emotions they evoked upon seeing faces from that day. For Lauren it produced an emptiness, a sense of disbelief. Of course that day had been traumatic, or else she wouldn't be struggling to cope with the memories and the nightmares, but the fact that she had never seen her Ma killed made it difficult to accept. There was simply no way she was alive, logically Lauren could accept that, but it was difficult to force her emotions to acknowledge that. She had already diagnosed herself as deluded, in denial about it all, but that did not help in shaking the void that she felt whenever thinking of that day.

Forcing herself to the present, with her two friends who had miraculously survived everything and were beside her now, she turned to those they passed and waved with a genuinely pleased smile on her face. She recognised some more than others, having only met them very briefly before. Gabriel she remembered better, having spent a little time patching his leg up and then reporting to a proper medic his condition. After that... she had been too occupied with her Pa's job and spending time with Ra and Jade.

"Heya guys, we'll see you at tea!" She called, moving on past.

They found their cabin relatively quickly and walked in, the place was clean but was certainly not new. It was better than the conditions they had lived in immediately after they escaped Wall Maria but there was little space between the two bunk beds set against the walls and even less space for personal effects of any kind which concerned her; it was going to be more difficult keeping her shameful secret from the others here than at home.

"Sit down for a second, I think I have some things in my bag..." She sat Mora down on a bed before rummaging through a satchel separate from the rest of her very few belongings. She finally retrieved a small glass bottle and a little tub of ointment and returned to the injured girl's side. "Drink this, it might just dull the pain a little and help you with food, at least. That's going to be the main struggle. I'll rub this on your neck, it's going to hurt but it'll reduce any swelling and might stop the bruises from being so visible." She didn't wait for permission and gently, but firmly, applied a light coating of the ointment before returning it to her small supply and then brought out a roll of bandages, looking over at Jade.

"I haven't forgotten about you, either. Before you go to sleep we'll wrap these around your chest, just in case any of your ribs were damage. For now, we should get something to drink. We were standing out in the sun for hours and my throat is as dry as a desert. I should probably check up on those running boys too, just in case..."

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Lauren Jones

@wolverbells@HecateProxy

Schulz continued his abuse rounds, stalking down the lines of cadets and screaming spittle and insults in their face. Sometimes he'd add a physical hit, usually based on the initiate's response, and even sent another young lad running. Throughout, Lauren kept staring ahead and tried to ignore the itch to go check up on some of the more aggressively hit cadets. She had got away with helping Mora because her friend had genuinely been hurt and need attention but she feared doing something similar would merely draw the instructor's ire.

The moment they were released from their torment, Lauren rushed to check on Mora. Her friend had stood throughout the rest of the instructor's initiation ceremony, if that was what it was meant to be, but was clearly struggling with a damage airway. Lauren gently slapped Ra's hand away from her neck with an admonishing look.

"Don't keep touching it, you'll just hurt yourself. We need to get you something to drink, that might help with the pain a bit and will let me know if it's going to be more than a little sore. It's going to bruise but that won't last too long."

Lauren looked up at Jade's approach, reading the plain concern on the small girl's face. Her practised eye noted the way Jade was rubbing her abdomen and the slight hunching over the girl was exhibiting, the punch from earlier still making its aftereffects felt. She smiled reassuringly, wrapping an arm around Mora to help her up.

"She'll be okay, something like this won't slow her down much." She glanced pointedly down at Jade's hand, still resting on her stomach. "You'll need to come see me later too, I doubt he intended to do any real harm but it's worth checking now rather than when it becomes an issue. I'll take Ra back, you shouldn't carry too much weight for now." Standing slowly so that Mora wasn't rushed into any uncomfortable movements, Lauren looked around to find their cabin, or at least the Mess Hall.

Unable to rush off to find the answers she needed, Law sighed and decided to wait to see what others were going to do. Someone would know, that or one of the instructors would come to guide them on, so to pass the time she spoke to Mora as they watched the others mill about. There were a few familiar faces in the crowd from what felt like a lifetime ago, older now but still recognisable. She waved at a few when they glanced over but made no move to interact, not wishing to drag Mora about unnecessarily.

"What am I going to do with you two? One day in, we haven't even started training, and you've both got yourselves hurt. I love spending time with you both but I'd rather it wasn't always when I'm having patch you up." She was joking, of course, to try and raise Mora's spirits. Knowing well enough the anger that burned in both of her friends, and understanding it well enough, she was nevertheless concerned that their headstrong natures would land them in trouble.

To take her mind off it, she focused her attention back on Jade who was talking with the boy who had spoken out on her behalf and then been punished for it. "It's unusual for Jade to speak to someone, y'know, other than us. Maybe we should keep an eye on him." She winked suggestively at Mora, a mischievous grin spread across her face, before returning to search for any clues as to where they should be moving off to.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

@Aquanthe Could always be the Instructor.

That'd be interesting.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Lauren Jones

Lauren breathed a sigh of relief, she had escaped any serious hazing by the Demon Instructor and the 'impossible task' he had set her fell well within her existing remit as it was. She daren't let her feeling show, however, in case the man was just waiting for such a thing and returned to rain hell's fury down on her. Instead she continued her staring match with the stage although with the sun still blazing down on her from above, the stage was beginning to win.

"I want everyone to take a good goddamn look at this recruit in front of me!" She wasn't sure whether that was a rhetorical order or not and cast her eyes sideways, to see the Instructor circling Mora like a rabid dog its prey. Closing her eyes, she offered a silent prayer up to whatever beneficent deity was looking down at them that Mora wouldn't do anything to raise his hackles any further. God only knows, he didn't need someone else to do it, he was quite good at sending himself into a spite filled spiral of apparent rage.

"To take back my town! To protect humanity!" her voice rang out with pure conviction. Lauren breathed a sigh of relief but, then, Mora's stubbornness kicked in and she could only listen in horror as her friend, the prey, baited the rabid dog. "And to keep you from being eaten."

Soon, Lauren found herself standing at attention mere feet away from her friend, her closest friend after all that had happened in Shinganshina, being throttled to within an inch of her life. And she could do nothing to stop it. If she stepped in and protested then Ra's punishment would only be extended, with Lauren inflicting similar on herself with nothing to show for it. So she stood, watching as Ra's lips turned blue and her struggles got weaker until finally the instructor threw her nearly limp body to the ground and then stared at the result of his efforts.

Apparently satisfied, he moved on. As soon as he had passed Mora, Lauren dropped her salute and rushed forwards and knelt by the gasping girl. Heaving her into a sitting position, she braced the girl with one hand on her shoulder and used her right to tilt her head up so that she could look into her eyes. There was still clarity there, although a little befuddled from lack of oxygen, so at least there wouldn't be any lasting damage. The Instructor clearly knew how far he could push them without ruining their potential as soldiers completely.

"Come on Ra, I'll help you up." She heaved one of Mora's arms over her own shoulders and then wrapped her arm around the smaller girl's waist to lift her up to her feet. They were a little unsteady, Lauren too small and weak to really carry Mora by herself without carrying the girl on her back which would surely draw the ire of the Instructor who had already turned his gaze towards them. He looked ready to march over and throttle Lauren but she calmed her nerves and threw his own instructions to her into his face.

"I'm performing my duty as a medic, sir, as you ordered, sir!" She kept the glee she felt at subverting his own hazing out of her voice, that would surely give him cause to do her damage, but this way Lauren hoped she was protecting the two of them without making anyone look a fool. After helping Mora back to her place, within the allotted thirty seconds, Lauren nodded quickly to her friend before returning to her own place and resuming her staring match with the stage.

We'll talk later, Ra. I can't have you going and getting yourself hurt for no reason.