Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Everyone (Dir)

“That one? Alright!” Cal beamed widely as Aries asked for one of the bandaids before him. He peeled away the wrapper and smiled down at the bandaid in his hands. “You know, I woulda picked the star one. Very scientific. Super awesome too! Out of this world actually.” Cal chuckled after correcting himself, snickering like a maniac at his own small joke. Cal nudged Aries’s hands away from his head, shooing them like you would a dog trying to eat food off the floor, before placing the bandaid on one of the cuts. It did practically nothing to heal them, keep them from getting infected, or help in anyway shape or form. Cal put the spares away into his leather jacket pocket. Maybe it would make Aries scratch it less though? You never know. “There. All done. How does it feel? It is not in the way, is it? Well, it looks very fashionable with your fancy hair!~”

Aries’s hair was always incredibly fancy to Cal.

Aries kept scratching anyways though. Luckily for Cal, TJ was quick to grab Aries’s wrist. Yeah, Cal shouldn’t have let go. He realized just how stupid it was to do that and felt guilty. As if he was the one who was to blame for Aries’s scratching and in part, it was his fault. It didn’t matter. TJ was holding and stopping Aries from scratching himself which would hopefully calm him down. Cal smiled appreciatively at TJ, sighing with relief as he still kept an arm around his friend.

Now about Ethan. Ethan had always been… sassy to say the least. That was the best part about him too! When you first see the mute, you see his shy grin and his awkwardness, but Cal knew him better by now. Ever since he discovered that they both knew Morse Code, their conversations went from essentially nonexistent to holy fuck it is great to have someone like you to talk to. Their conversations were so goddamn amazing. They really were. Especially when he got on Ethan’s nerves. The only problem was that the more he annoyed Ethan, the more he said, and the harder it was to translate everything.

Wow, he’s got a lot to say...

Cal listened very closely to each of Ethan’s taps, translating the whole message slowly in his head. The more he listened and translated the more his cheeks grew a bright red. Cal’s cheeks were usually pretty flushed, but after awhile, you learn to see the different shades of color in his cheeks when he gets embarrassed or angry. He couldn’t have translated all of it right though. There was no way Ethan just said- or even thought- about that. Cal just chuckled awkwardly at first, glancing to the other side of the train cart. Ethan couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t be serious, right? Cal turned back to study Ethan’s face and posture.

Ethan is totally serious about this.

“First of all, Leroy is definitely straight,” Cal tapped, sticking his tongue out playfully at Ethan to show off his tongue piercing. “Second, she is abso-fucking-lutely is type. Those two would be super badass together, like a cool power duo!! Like in those movies. Like Mr. and Mrs. Smith or whatever the movie is. Thirdly,” Cal had to pause for a moment as he awkwardly glanced to Axel and Aries, “we are just friends. Aries is probably straight too. We’re friends. Amigos. Bạn bè. Homies. Homies!” Cal spelled out the word slowly and loudly just to sell his point. “They don’t even like me like that. If you want to talk about crushes though-” Cal smirked evilly, glancing to TJ before back at Ethan- “let’s talk about you và-” Cal was quickly interrupted by Axel which pulled his attention back to a more important topic.

“More than one colorful bandaid?” Cal murmured, pretending to be deep in thought. “I don’t know… Aries, can you handle that many colorful cartoonish things?? Well, I trust that you can because Ima ‘bout to bombard you with colorful bandaids like a goddamn nuclear explosion!!” Cal giggled maniacally before pulling the bandaids back out of his pocket and starting to put them on. Cal hummed softly, nodding his head to the music that played in his head. He liked to listen to music sometimes. He had basically remembered some of his most favorite songs and would always play them in his head on repeat, but this time, he had only a part of a song he was playing in his song. It was a song he couldn’t remember the name of either. He’d probably remember which one it was later. “Ta-da!! Look at my fabulous work!!” Cal bragged a bit as he smiled brightly, but you could tell his bragging was sarcastic.

Cal’s work with the bandaids looked like shit.

Cal’s eyes wandered to the bear and he audibly gasped. It was so cute! In a way, it reminded Cal of his favorite stuffed animal. It was gone now though. His name was Wolfie, an amazing name for a fox stuffed animal, of course. It was a dull orange after all the times Cal had dragged it to school, chewed on it as a baby, and accidentally dropped it in the mud and had to wash it like crazy to get the dirt out. It had a black plastic nose and black paws, the back right one stitched close after he and Olly ripped it one time with green string since it was all he had at the time. Cal loved Wolfie so damn much. He nearly cried when his mom burned it.

When Leroy prompted a question, Cal was tempted to answer, but out of pure spite and devilish intent, Cal smirked like a demon possessed him and was about to take over the goddamn world. Cal turned to face Ethan, giggling again as a twisted idea popped into his head as he started to tap Aries’s shoulder. “Leroy and Evie are far better than Leroy and Nabih.” Great! Now it was just a race to see who is pissed off more and who would react sooner. This is why Cal seemed more like an annoying little brother than a friend.

January 10th, ???? | 10:55-11:05 PM

G.A.F. 'KhorneAriethous'/N.R.V. | 16/17 | AB/B+ | Male | Pain Adren/High Intel | Both | C Demi(HML)/Pan | Mentions; The Others(Ind. & Dir.)

Nabih gave Axel a small smile and nod when the bag was passed over to him, taking out the first aid and replacing the toilet paper with actual bandages.

--

Doing this without help? While not the easiest, it was a much more comfortable thing for him. He hadn’t gotten help in the past, so getting help now… While nice, it would be awkward. Just like how Leroy still hadn’t asked for his jacket back. But that was fine, the jacket was nice.

--

It’s wrists were grabbed. But they weren’t pulled away, not like how the last times they had been. The grip was tight enough to cause it to go slightly away from its scalp. It flinched at the fact, knowing that even a second of stopping would make the voices worse. Make absolutely everything worse.

--

“Shhh...shht. You...in...train. Exposing...skull...not...help anyone...make you...vulnerable...attacks. You...unable...defend.... You...more susceptible...distraction...affect everyone.... Focus...pressure I...put...wrists.”

--

At the same time though, the voices were yelling about how it had to pull away. How it had to rip its wrists away before the one holding them noticed how thin the wrists were. How it had to get its wrists away from the one holding them before they noticed the raised skin caused by scarring, either recent or not. It wasn’t sure what the voices meant, it wasn’t sure who to listen to.

--

So it listened to the loudest one instead, which was the voices. Pulling at its wrists to get them away from the one holding them proved to be harder than expected. The one in front of it had at least some strength, though if in a fight… It was almost certain it would end up winning. It moved to try again, but a voice and a blob coming into its field of vision stopped it.

--

“T-this...Mr. Fluff….got him...was l-little,...helped me...panic attacks….didn't feel....want you...h-have..., A-Aries! He's...ruffled, b-but...soft...nice...hold!”

--

It stared at the blob… It wasn’t sure what to do, except for the fact that it still needed to get its wrists away from the one holding them… So, it pulled its wrists away as quickly as possible, and took the blob from the voice that had spoken about the Greeks before, pulling it close to its chest. The blob was far too soft to mess up with its… Well… With its self. With its blood. So, it kept its nails facing away from the blob, not wanting to ruin the soft perfection that the blood had.

--

How it was forced to hold the blob also made scratching completely impossible, but it didn’t want to ruin the blob. Not when they smelled nice, not when they were soft, not when they were warm, not when they were from someone who acted like it was a king when giving them to it. Not when they smelled like a far off promise, home, and dea…

--

Its vision blurred and the voices screamed for it to let go of the blob, to destroy they blob, to ruin the blob- It simply held the blob closer though, it didn’t want to get rid of Mr. Fluff, it assumed that was the blob’s name since the one who had given it the blob had said that.

--

After having finished with the bandages, Nabih had picked up one of the eight notebooks he had brought with him and a pencil, flipping to a page. Ignoring the other notes on the page, he wrote.

--

‘01/10/????; ‘Ariethous’ has had his first mental breakdown in front of us today. The issue with the gifts is happening again as well. This time with Axel being the giver.’

Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Everyone (Dir)

Aries playing with Mr. Fluff was the cutest goddamn thing he had seen that day.

Well, it wasn’t cute. Of course it wasn’t cute. That isn’t really a word you would use to describe Aries. He was definitely… something else. He guessed Aries would fall more into the hot category, but this wasn’t his area of expertise. Anyways, the scene wasn’t necessarily ‘cute’ but more wholesome. Like when a pitbull gets to splash in the water on a hot day. Aries didn’t seem to be better though. Despite Cal, Axel, and TJ, he didn’t seem better at all. At least Mr. Fluff was helping. God knows how long that’ll last.

Back to Ethan. Okay so, maybe Cal couldn’t help Aries out as much as possibly, but at least he could distract Ethan. It was good to see Ethan happy too. It was a great thing really. After Ethan got hurt because of Cal’s fault, Cal felt a little better about distracting him from whatever Nabih had been doing. Hopefully not Leroy so Cal didn’t lose the bet. But what happened with the alcohol… It seemed… God what was he saying? What was Cal thinking? Leroy wouldn’t… Leroy wouldn’t actively lie about Nabih’s wellbeing, right? Why would he even do that to begin with? Leroy was a great guy!

And just like that, the day went from horrific to somehow worse.

Leroy was yelling after Cal had just been joking around. That was normal. Cal somehow always managed to piss him off so he was used to Leroy hating him. He had grown kinda numb to it really.

“Trấn tĩnh, trấn tĩnh, trấn tĩnh!” Cal laughed, putting his hands up to show he surrendered. “I am just pullin’ your leg, muchacho!! Just nice to see ya happy and-” That was when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Ethan who looked totally distraught. The world kinda blurred around him and he actually stood, taking his arm away from Aries as Ethan was the only thing clear to him. He had to help him! He was just so- Jesus had he done this?

Cal reached out to him, but he just kind of froze, his hand slowly retracting to his side as he swallowed harshly. Axel brushed past him and went over to Ethan but a loud ringing grew in his ears. Cal just seemed to be zoning out as he stared at Ethan. E. Lil’ E. He looked like he had been tortured. He heard the name ‘Val’ and instantly put together only what he could assume to be the truth: Cal had made Ethan feel this. Cal had made Ethan feel that shitty because of whatever it was he said seconds ago that for some reason his brain decided to forget because that was how stupid he was. Cal made Ethan have a goddamn panic attack because of his own immaturity and lust for attention. Cal had reminded Ethan of that sick twisted bastard, Val.

Did that make Cal just as bad as Val?

No. No no no no. He- Cal didn’t- Cal couldn’t have possibly done that, right? Right? Cal swallowed hard again, and shut his eyes to try and get his- Why were his ears still- Focus! He needed to focus!!

“I am so… I’m sorry, Ethan,” Cal mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He had so much more he wanted- he had- to say, but when he opened his mouth to do so, nothing left it. Not a word. Cal felt so goddamn pathetic. He really fucking did. It felt so depressing to hurt someone like this. Cal took a step closer, hoping to give him a hug, a pat on the shoulder, and… and a… an anything to help Ethan feel better! He knew Ethan didn’t like to be touched a lot of the time though. Not when he got like this. Cal just mumbled another few ‘sorry’s under his breath and plopped down on the seat next to Aries again with a deflated sigh.

Great going, Cal.

January 10th, ??? / 10:55-11:10

Leroy Hall/Ethan Brimstone/Axel Founte

16/B-/O/A/Male/Trans male/Water/Aura Sensing/Quicker Healing/Both/Pansexual/Gay/Asexual Panromantic

“I am so… I’m sorry, Ethan,” Cal kept repeating it over and over, obviously unsure of what else to do. Axel's eyes were soft and worried as he looked between Cal and Ethan, he felt bad for both of them, especially because it was obvious Cal was blaming himself for something that wasn't really his fault. Still, there wasn't much Axel could do.

Ethan looked at Cal as he apologized and, after a moment of hesitation, he walked forward and hugged him, trying to communicate that he didn't blame Cal at all.

It wasn't Cal's fault, it wasn't even Leroy's. It was Ethan's. He shouldn't have reacted the way he did, Leroy had never hurt him before, and, truthfully, he wasn't one to attack out of nowhere. If he had attacked it would be because E deserved it. The only reason anyone would hurt him would be because he deserved it. Scaring everyone and making them feel guilty like he had was unacceptable. Especially when Aries was already struggling. He shouldn't have reacted at all, Leroy raised his voice all the time. It was normal. But E just had to mess up and upset everyone.

Leroy clenched his jaw tighter when he saw Ethan hug Cal out of the corner of his eye. How could he be so stupid to raise his voice like that?! He knew E was sensitive and he yelled anyway! On top of this, he made Axel, one of the very few people that didn't completely hate him, mad at him. He hadn't meant to. He hadn't meant to scare anyone, but of course, he did. Leroy only ever managed to scare people or hurt them. He'd hurt his siblings and now Ethan, everyone that he swore to protect. He was failing as a friend the same way he'd failed as a brother.

Ethan clung to Cal a moment longer before finally pulling back and tapping lightly on the chair. "It's okay, it's not your fault, I promise. You're still wrong though." He smiled weakly at Cal before turning and limping to sit next to Tyler.

Axel smiled, glad that the tension seemed to relax slightly, and he walked over to Cal and Aries again, smiling wider at Aries, who was still hugging Mr. Fluff. At least he had helped someone. After a moment of hesitation, Axel simply settled himself on Cal's lap, looking ridiculously small compared to him. "Y-you look like you n-need comfort." Was his simple explanation, he continued watching Aries with Mr. Fluff, feeling calmer and safer being close to the two of them and actually sitting down rather than moving around.

His worry and amount of movement had affected his breathing slightly and his heart rate was faster than it should have been, but, being used to it, Axel didn't really notice it much. Besides, they were almost to their destination, so it didn't matter anyway. He could do what he needed once he was at the hotel.

Leroy, noticing Axel's movement, wondered if Nabih would let him sit next to him. As soon as the thought came though, Leroy shoved it away. No, that would look suspicious, besides, after the way he'd yelled at Ethan, Nabih probably hated him too.

Just like everyone else.

There was no point in getting close to someone you were just going to lose, and Nabih probably wanted personal space anyway, he was writing in that notebook of his again. Leroy had no idea what he used that thing for, but he sure did use it a lot. It seemed like anytime any of the group did something slightly off Nabih had his notebook in hand again. Hell, he may even be writing down the interactions happening now!

Whatever it was, Leroy decided it was best to just stay away. No one would want him close anyway, unless it was in a fight.

January 10th, ???? | 10:55-11:05 PM

G.A.F. 'KhorneAriethous'/N.R.V. | 16/17 | AB/B+ | Male | Pain Adren/High Intel | Both | C Demi(HML)/Pan | Mentions; The Others(Ind. & Dir.)

Nabih watched the scene play out with a sort of look in one’s eyes that could only be described as that look someone had when they realized they had just run over a small animal. Well… Kind of.

--

His eyes were wide and filled to the brim with concern. Especially when Ethan stumbled onto the seat he was sitting in. And him, realizing what was going to happen and not being fast enough to react- Froze. Froze, as he knew that Ethan was going to have a panic attack and flashback to Val and the smell of alcohol would be the final straw that did it.

--

He watched as Ethan raised his arms protectively, knowing he’d been right. Wishing that he hadn’t… Watched as Axel went and actually got mad at Leroy, as if the situation were the man’s fault. Watched as Leroy apologized and backed off, going to a seat and glaring as if he thought it was his own fault too…

--

Nabih knew better than to think that though. Because if you really thought about it, it wasn’t anyone’s fault but his own. He hadn’t had to go and take the vodka back, knowing very well that he’d end up downing it. And if he hadn’t done that then Leroy wouldn’t have had to come and find him. Leroy wouldn’t have had to worry about him. Leroy wouldn’t have gotten defensive. And he wouldn’t smell like alcohol causing Ethan to have a flashback to Val doing something.

--

And he hated that as he realized this, the first thing he was thinking was of how he wanted another drink.

--

He gritted his teeth at himself, his shoulders hunching automatically. He knew that focusing on this wouldn’t fix it though, so he simply flipped to Ethan’s page and made sure that this episode was noted down, then flipped to Axel’s page and made sure to write it down, then flipped to Leroy’s and wrote it down.

--

Seeing Tyler make like a Tyler and start going into what Nabih had dubbed ‘Humans Are Stupid’ mode, he made sure to flip to Tyler’s page and write it down. Then, he checked on Cal with a glance and wrote it down for them too.

--

It’s mind was starting to clear up as the chaos had started, yelling that he could make out completely being the first thing it’d heard.

--

And instead of paying attention to the whole scene, clung onto the words, and at some point… It’s eyes cleared up, everything having sounded akin to what things sound like underwater.

--

Everything seemed calmer now though, the chaos seemed to be gone, at least. And the voices were much quieter. It looked down at the bear, Mr.Fluff, it was holding and glanced at Axel. Had Axel really…?

--

No, that couldn’t be. Axel wouldn’t have given it a gift… Given it…? Given it?

--

He tensed up, swallowing vomit as he felt i- As he felt the way to remove food poisoning coming up. He shouldn’t have let that happen. He shouldn’t have let a stupid threat pull him under.

--

Gwyar felt a sting in his eyes too, and moved his hands(There was blood on them… He doubted anyone cared too much though) so that Mr.Fluff was held with one instead of two, he reached up and wiped at his eyes, pulling them back to see the start of tears.

--

He gritted his teeth at that and blinked them back. He looked down at Mr.Fluff again and then looked at Axel. He held the stuffed animal out to him, keeping his eyes away from their eyes. “Thanks…” His voice sounded terrible, so he guessed he’d been in the state for awhile… He didn’t know for sure how long that was, but he knew no matter how long- The situation definitely wasn’t the best.

--

He could see out of the corner of his eyes that Tyler was pacing the room… (They were in a train car too, so that was something. How long had they been on the train? He wasn’t sure.) The pacing was much like one would do in the ring, and he hoped that would be the last time he’d have to think something like that. He didn’t want to think about the ring right now.

--

The tension in the air was obvious to him now though, and he tried to think of something to do to try and ease said tension…

--

Nabih watched the group, waiting for the moment when Ethan would put everything together and realize it was his fault for this happening. Waiting for the moment when Ethan would realize that he and Leroy had lied. But all he found was tension and relative peace.

--

So he looked at Leroy, the one person that knew his secret and wouldn’t judge him for it. The one person that wouldn’t get someone to comfort him unless Nabih did it himself… He bit his tongue, certain that Leroy had already figured it out along with Ethan by now too.

--

Still, it’d be stupid not to try and comfort Leroy. Especially since it wouldn’t harm anyone, seeing as how Leroy had chosen the farthest seat from absolutely everyone.

--

So… Nabih stood and went over to Leroy, sitting down without a word next to him. He flipped to a new page in his notebook and began drawing something. After finishing it, he held the notebook out to Leroy, a sudoku puzzle newly drawn on the page. He didn’t know if Leroy actually enjoyed them but it was as worth a shot as any as a way to comfort him.

--

Gwyar grinned as an idea came to him, and he looked at the group. This would quiet the voices a bit too, so this would hopefully hit two birds with one stone. Lower the volume of the voices, and ease the tension.

--

“So… Story time. Have any of you heard about ‘The Myth of Daedalus & Icarus’?” He gathered his thoughts, thankful that at the name of the story that the voices had quieted enough to allow him to do so. He glanced around at the people in the room and then began reciting the story, practically knowing the entire thing by heart.

--

“Prince Minos, while fighting with his brothers for the throne, had prayed to the sea god, Poseidon, for his blessing. Poseidon, amazed by the devotion that the Prince had, gifted him a white bull that secured him the throne. In thanks, the new king had promised to sacrifice the bull for the god. But due to reasons… Mostly hubris… King Minos had taken and kept the bull for himself. Of course, Poseidon wasn’t gonna have any of this- So the god cursed King Minos wife, Pasiphae, to fall in love with the bull. Which was how the Minotaur was born!” The voices roared at the mention of the beast, they always did. He paid them no mind, like he always did. “Now, any sane person would want to keep that family secret just that, a secret. So, King Minos did the only thing he could and hired Daedalus, supposedly the greatest inventor and architect of their time, to construct a labyrinth that the Minotaur couldn’t escape. And construct one he did. Only, since Daedalus now knew about the Minotaur, the king had him and his son put up into a tower surrounded by water so that they couldn’t tell anyone. And what would any amazing inventor decide to do in that time period? Build wings. Obviously. So Daedalus constructed two pairs of wings for his son, Icarus, and himself. One was smaller, that one for Icarus, and the other was larger, for Daedalus. Before the two flew away from the tower though, Daedalus gave his son, who was somewhere between 10 and 15, a warning. Do not fly too close to the sun or the wings will melt, but also do not fly too close to the water or they’ll get wet and wont work anymore. Of course though, Icarus forgot all about his father’s warning due to how much fun he was having with the wings, and after flying too close to the sun, fell into the water and drowned to death, his father unable to do anything to stop this from happening.”

--

He paused, looking around the room, smiling lightly. “Moral of the story? Don’t trust a king that literally betrayed a god. I mean, come on, Daedalus! What were you thinking?”

Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Everyone (Dir)

Cal was an emotional guy. He really was. Cal just didn’t cry a lot. He gets super clingy over objects and such. He still clings to anything he gets an emotional attachment to. Which is pretty much anything. Hell, he still had tickets to the most god awful movie he ever damn saw still somewhere in his bag. The only reason he kept them was because that was the time when he met one of his best friends: Lemmie. Well, his name was Lemeradian. It sounded so goddamn made up so everyone just called him Lemmie. You know, a normal name.

Focusing back on something more relevant, there Cal was, being hugged by Ethan. God, he almost did cry then. Cal hated that he wanted to cry so goddamn much that day. Why was today so damn depressing? Cal was finally, finally, getting to go to a safe place. A place where he and his friends could- where they would- be happy. They would get a chance to be happy! That idea that they could be happy is alone enough reason to be grinning ear-to-ear. And yet… It was just so depressing.

“Thanks, E,” Cal said, his words more like a sigh and his soft chuckle more like husky breathing. He did appreciate this so damn much though. The hug at least. He always got so… excited? Emotional? Joyful? Jubilant! That’s a real fucking fancy word for you! He was always jubilant to have someone give him a hug for a change. Cal was always giving hugs to people. He was used to being the one roughing his friends’ hair, playfully punching them, and giving them any sort of physical aid or mental aid. But to get a hug? One time, he remembered that he got hugged out of nowhere from either Peppy or Sarah, Cal couldn’t remember really, back from when he was still at Pency. Cal cried. He fucking cried at the hug. That was so damn depressing to think that Cal cried at a hug.

Cal finally got to translating Ethan’s message and laughed, this time much louder than before. You would have expected him to throw back his head like a goddamn super villian with a laugh like that. Pffft-wa-hahaha! It sounded similar the start to Disturbed, Down with Sickness. It really did. The more Cal thought about it. The more Cal wanted to laugh at it. Once Cal got laughing at one thing, he would just keep going. Pffft-wa-hahaha! You would have thought he was hysterical or something. It wasn’t even that funny. A goddamn madman is what Cal is.

Ever since he read Catcher in the Rye, he loved the word madman. Almost as much as he loved the words ‘helluva’ and ‘shithole.’ He didn’t know why, but the word alone just felt so unique to him. So cool. The book itself was amazing too and Cal related to it in a big way. Sure, Cal’s family wasn’t great with cash or that Cal had grades lower than the lower mantle of the Earth, but in every other sense, Cal could relate to him. To Holden Caulfield. A guy that was completely made up. Cal and Lemmie used to read tons and tons of books together and this was one of them. Sad thing was, that was one of the last books the two of them had read. Cal lost it too. The book. One of the greatest books he had ever known. Right before he could finish the last two chapters. That was a real kick in the gut. What was even more sad is that he lost the book right after he lost Lemmie.

It is really depressing to realize that half your old friends are six feet under.

After a minute, Axel sat on his lap. On his lap. Yeah, that really killed him. Cal’s cheeks went a bright red and his ears too, but he chuckled awkwardly and brushed this off as just a friendly kind of thing. Cal’s depressing thoughts just went right Axel said something about how this was supposed to be comforting him and whatnot, but Cal just nodded sheepishly, not really able to form words. Hell, he barely heard a word of what Axel said as Cal’s brain just about died on him. It really did. Cal still couldn’t get over the fact that Axel was sitting in his lap. He didn’t know why exactly, Axel had done this all before with him, but it just really got his mind screaming this time.

Hesitantly, Cal put a hand around Axel and one back around Aries. Cal had definitely calmed down a bit. A lot less depressing thinking. Cal slouched a bit and rested his head on Aries’s shoulder and pulled Axel a bit closer. Yeah, this was nice. A small smile graced his lips as he sighed. It felt so damn nice just to be a little bit happy. Not fake happiness. Real happiness. The best kind. Hell, the only thing that would make him happier was if the others were happy too, even for a moment. That would make this so much better.

Aries started talking again. That was the moment when you could tell the real Aries was back. Hearing him gush about Greek Mythology was just… amazing? That was the closest thing to describing how it made Cal feel. It was so good to see Aries smile. It was really seriously good. Today had just made Cal worry a helluva lot for Aries so it was good that, for once, he seemed genuinely happy. Note to self, Aries seriously likes Greek myths. Cal felt terrible for not seeing this sooner if he was being honest. But then again, Aries was like the opposite of Cal in the sense that unlike him, Aries rarely shared anything. Hell, he didn’t even know where Aries lived. Everyone knew where Cal lived, despite him being reluctant to say anything. It was the pale eggshell colored house with the broken gutter and decaying blue roof where two adults were always shouting, drinking, and smoking the hell out of the place at night but always happy fake fucking smiles in the morning. But nevermind that now.

Cal was happy now and he wasn’t going to think about all that bullshit.

“God, I feel like I just learned so much about Greek mythology today!” Cal laughed, a wide grin on his features. “Like seriously, where do you guys even learn all this cool stuff?? I feel like I learned a whole textbook’s worth of stuff from just ya guys!! Man, I wish I knew about as much of this stuff as you all do. Waaaaaait…” Cal sat up slightly. There was an ever wider grin on his face. “I know we are super close to the hotel or whatever, but do guys have any more stories and stuff to tell? Please? Pleaaaaase??”

January 10th, ??? / 10:55-11:10

Leroy Hall/Ethan Brimstone/Axel Founte

16/B-/O/A/Male/Trans male/Water/Aura Sensing/Quicker Healing/Both/Pansexual/Gay/Asexual Panromantic

“Thanks, E." Ethan smiled weakly as Cal started laughing, glad that he'd at least been able to do something to make things a little better.

“Thanks…"

Axel smiled warmly at Aries in response. "N-no problem, you can k-keep him, you need h-him more than me." He leaned closer to Cal when he adjusted, happy to be close to both him and Aries. His cheeks were slightly flushed, but he didn't mind for once.

Leroy was glaring out the window, doing his absolute best to avoid listening or looking to the others, Cal was laughing, Axel was comforting both Cal and Aries, Ethan seemed to be calming down, and even Aries seemed to be calming down.

Of course, everything was better when Leroy left. As soon as he backed down tensions died down and people were happy again. He dug his nails into his palm and shut his eyes, pushing away the pain and attempting to hide the fact that his hands were shaking. He wasn't supposed to show emotions. Emotions were a weakness. He shouldn't even care what the others thought about him, he promised himself he wouldn't get attached to anyone. Not again. Getting attached meant losing people.

Leroy flinched in surprise when he felt someone slip onto the bench next to him, blinking in confusion when he realized it was Nabih. Still, he returned his attention to the window when Nabih started writing again, only to look back when Nabih handed him a notebook with a freshly drawn sudoku puzzle on it.

For a moment Leroy just stared, disbelief in his eyes. There was no way that Nabih was actually trying to comfort him right? Comfort him? Why?

A small smile touched Leroy's lips, a genuine smile. God, he hadn't smiled since... when? Honestly, he couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled, two years ago? Three?

"Thank you." Leroy breathed, not thanking him for the puzzle, though he did accept it, but rather for the fact that Nabih seemed to actually care. The fact that he was actually willing to get up and come comfort him when no one else would when he didn't have to. The last time someone had cared about Leroy was... Never, really. No one had ever really cared. Until now, it seemed.

“So… Storytime. Have any of you heard about ‘The Myth of Daedalus & Icarus’?" Axel's eyes lit up and he leaned forward on Cal's lap. He really did love greek mythology.

Prince Minos, while fighting with his brothers for the throne, had prayed to the sea god, Poseidon, for his blessing. Poseidon, amazed by the devotion that the Prince had, gifted him a white bull that secured him the throne. In thanks, the new king had promised to sacrifice the bull for the god. But due to reasons… Mostly hubris… King Minos had taken and kept the bull for himself. Of course, Poseidon wasn’t gonna have any of this- So the god cursed King Minos wife, Pasiphae, to fall in love with the bull. Which was how the Minotaur was born!” The voices roared at the mention of the beast, they always did. He paid them no mind, like he always did. “Now, any sane person would want to keep that family secret just that, a secret. So, King Minos did the only thing he could and hired Daedalus, supposedly the greatest inventor and architect of their time, to construct a labyrinth that the Minotaur couldn’t escape. And construct one he did. Only, since Daedalus now knew about the Minotaur, the king had him and his son put up into a tower surrounded by water so that they couldn’t tell anyone. And what would any amazing inventor decide to do in that time period? Build wings. Obviously. So Daedalus constructed two pairs of wings for his son, Icarus, and himself. One was smaller, that one for Icarus, and the other was larger, for Daedalus. Before the two flew away from the tower though, Daedalus gave his son, who was somewhere between 10 and 15, a warning. Do not fly too close to the sun or the wings will melt, but also do not fly too close to the water or they’ll get wet and won't work anymore. Of course, though, Icarus forgot all about his father’s warning due to how much fun he was having with the wings, and after flying too close to the sun, fell into the water and drowned to death, his father unable to do anything to stop this from happening. Moral of the story? Don’t trust a king that literally betrayed a god. I mean, come on, Daedalus! What were you thinking?”

"I-I love it!" Axel exclaimed. "And h-honestly, that's a great l-life lesson." He stated, smiling.

“God, I feel like I just learned so much about Greek mythology today! Like seriously, where do you guys even learn all this cool stuff?? I feel like I learned a whole textbook’s worth of stuff from just ya guys!! Man, I wish I knew about as much of this stuff as you all do. Waaaaaait… I know we are super close to the hotel or whatever, but do guys have any more stories and stuff to tell? Please? Pleaaaaase??”

Axel thought for a long moment. "W-well, I can't think of a-any more right now, but I-I'll definitely tell you if I-I think of any later." He said.

When TJ leaned on him, Ethan leaned back, feeling slightly comforted by the protective way the other boy was positioned. "I believe that the ride has almost finished." Ethan nodded in agreement, they would probably be entering the train station soon, then they'd probably have to go shopping for basic supplies and head to the hotel. E wished he'd brought money, then he could actually be helpful for once, but he didn't. For two reasons, one, he didn't have enough time, and two, he didn't have any money of his own. Val had it all, so...

So much for being helpful.