After holding her smile for a little bit, Esther closed her mouth and instead decided to see who exactly was in the room with her. There were only a handful of them; apparently not many people had decided that something like this was worth the risk. Though the waiting room could fit many more people if needed.
Either they expected more people to sign up, or we've got more poor sods on the way. Speaking of, let's see who else is here...There was a young man in one corner of the room who was staring off into space, and another young man seated near Esther who seemed like he was running a fever; his face was flushed quite badly. There were also two older (comparatively) women sitting in another corner, who seemed to be... together? Maybe? Esther was getting mixed vibes from them, to be honest. They seemed like they knew each other, at least. Finally, there was a pale boy who couldn't have been older than 14 or 15.
I think he's actually shivering, poor thing. Hopefully the person talking to him, a young woman with deep bags under her eyes, would be able to help in some way.
At some point while Esther was taking stock of her soon-to-be co-workers, she noticed that she had started using her new eyes to look at multiple people at once. She grimaced, but kept them open. Sure, they creeped her out, and probably creeped other people out too, but it wasn't like she would go back to being a normal person any time soon. Best to get used to these new changes while she could.
At that moment, another person entered the room that Esther couldn't help but notice. Mostly because of the bright yellow jacket, though the fact that he was also amazingly tall and pale (though his cheeks were a startlingly bright red, almost as if they had had red paint applied to them) also helped.
Despite a small start when he entered the room (
Because of my giant spider ass I bet), the newcomer quickly recovered and strode towards her with a grin, showing off a menacing set of shark-like teeth. Esther just rolled her eyes; even here was she not safe from fuckboys.
“So,” he began, drawing out the “oh”, “gonna take a quick stab here and say...fear of lawsuits?”
...Okay, that had
not been what she expected.
Esther gave a surprised snort that quickly morphed into a chuckle, with a hand held over her mouth delicately. (Esther went through a major princess phase that had lasted well into middle school; she had thought the hand thing made her look more "prim", and the habit had stuck.)
"I wish. Then I wouldn't have to deal with all the extra legs. You've definitely not got fear of lawsuits, either; if we gave you a clown outfit and a red nose you'd be a dead ringer for Pennywise." Alright, so maybe this guy was less of a fuckboy than she had thought. Anyone who used jokes as a coping mechanism like Esther did was someone she liked immediately.
Unfortunately, after a little while their conversation was cut short by a scientist walking in, holding a young girl who was evidently out cold. She was also bleeding a fair bit, which was worrying. Esther managed to get out
"D'you think she's-" before the door opened again, and a lady doctor walked inside, shepherding a woman about Esther's age, who looked as though she had just gone for a swim, into the waiting room. The doctor walked over to the unconscious girl and handed her over to the pale boy, who was apparently her brother.
Well, at least she's alright. Probably.The doctor moved to the middle of the room and began to introduce herself, only for someone to come
flying through the door and land right in between Esther and the fevered boy. Esther jumped backwards instinctively, and was just about to calm down when the fevered boy, who had also been quite shocked, spawned flames in each hand! Since jumping backwards farther would be hard, as she'd just about end up in clown boy's lap, Esther just looked back at him and made
an exaggerated "yikes" face.Everyone calmed down after a bit, and the flying boy, as well as another girl with cat ears who had come in earlier (
She's cute, but also ????) took seats with everyone else. The doctor introduced herself as Jane Williams, and the other two as James and Miriam, respectively. At this point, the two ladies in the corner both got up and stood directly in front of Dr. Williams, with one requesting that they get straight down to business.
Now, on one hand, I can understand being kinda snippy, but also, dude, she was just about to tell us stuff anyway. Chill. Dr. Williams seemed to echo Esther's thoughts, as she told the two women to take a seat.
Of course, what she said next was a very bare-bones speech that left just about everyone confused, including Esther.
After Dr. Williams said her piece and took her leave, everyone was left to their own devices. One guy just left the room entirely without saying anything. Esther glanced around the room, unsure of what exactly to do, and noticed a couple of new arrivals: a blond, kinda sporty-looking young woman, and a small... (Girl? Boy?) person who had concealed themselves in the corner closest to the door.
"...Spider Woman."
Esther heard the high-pitched voice before she saw the owner, and turned back to see that the KO'ed girl from earlier was back on her feet. She was still bleeding a fair amount, but it didn't seem to bother her much.
"Oh, good, you're awake! I was worried-""...Pedo Clown."
...Well alright then. She certainly didn't waste time. After the girl left, Esther nudged clown guy and said
"Damn, unconscious to bitchy in .2 seconds. That's gotta be a record of some kind." She turned more fully to face him, an act that required a fair bit of shuffling around and quiet cursing. You'd be surprised at how hard eight legs are to manage when you're not used to them.
"Well, since we're here, we may as well introduce each other." She stuck out a hand for him to shake.
"Esther 'Spider Woman' 'Walking Copyright Violation' Al-Mubarak. Nice to meet ya." @EchoicChamber