Chile ‘Kyle’ Guerra Seymour | M | 20 | AB- | Pan/Ambi | Reindeer Shifter | Yes | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

Chile watched Ingall for any reactions, anything that could tell him if that approach worked better or not. If Gall would take the opportunity presented to talk about himself or not. If not, he’d have to be even more direct, which he wasn’t sure if anyone wanted that level. But, well, it might be the only one that worked with Ingall. Given how he nodded hesitantly, paused, and then eventually spoke.

--

“Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks. I'm glad Aries is okay.”

--

Focusing just on Aries being okay definitely wasn’t going to cut it. Kyle still nodded, quick to try again. Adjust the approach. “Yeah. Aries will be…” Well, he couldn’t really say okay or fine without it being a lie. He wasn’t sure if his friend would ever really be okay. But… “He’ll survive, at least. But how are you, Gall? I wanted to check up on you, not just talk about Ari. As much as I care about him, I care about you too.”

--

He paused, searching for what else to say. Searching for a way to get Ingall to trust him enough to open up. Trying to find the key that worked for him. It’d taken months of knowing, or at least knowing of, Aries to get anywhere close to finding that key. Sometimes he still wasn’t sure if he had…

--

Oh. That might work. “I get what it’s like for someone to be on edge at the mere sight of me, and I know it isn’t easy. Doesn’t help the psyche, if you will.” He chuckled lightly a bit, somewhat trying to keep his own nerves down. “So I wanted to check up on you. Make sure you know it isn’t your fault. Sometimes, people’s brains will trick them, make them bite at a hand trying to help because they don’t know what a hand trying to help looks like. Because the only thing they know is the opposite.”

--

He stopped short, biting at his tongue. That was probably too much. Right? He hadn’t named the person as Aries, but given how Ari was the one who was on edge around Ingall? He was more likely to think that Aries was who the person in reference was… Right? So that was too much. He needed to get back on track. Ask Gall how he was doing. Make sure he could trust and open up here. Make sure he knew that his thoughts and emotions were valid. He needed to tie it back in though… Continue the analogy just long enough to get back to asking how Ingall was doing… “And I know that those bites can actually land, actually manage to bite the hand trying to help. And I know that those bites can hurt. Sometimes a lot. So, how are you doing, Ingall?”

*~*~*~*

Garvin | M | N/A (22) | N/A | Brin/Ambi | Catecholamine Rush | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“Hell yeah, dude! Old ladies are the easiest targets on Earth! I can imagine, I've never actually seen a high-ranking Koda though, I don't think. Not sure which place I wanna hit first, there are plenty of stores in the mall! I may just run around 'til I find shit that looks cool! Oh, should I bring a bag? That might be good, so I can hold more shit. Eh, I'll figure it out! Not too worried, this'll be fun!”

--

Garvin rolled his eyes, huffing a bit. Mostly sarcastically, amusement lacing his tone. “Man, bags are lame. What ya got ta do is snag some clothes with lots of pockets. That shit looks more natural, less likely ta be checked. Plus, if ya got enough, then there’s plenty of room for stuff too.”

--

He should probably grab some new clothes anyways too. When was the last time he had made a stop to get new clothes anyways? He had, what, only a few outfits total? And most of his shit was starting to tear more than even he could get away with. And a lot of it was either too short or too tight. Which, damn, maybe he wouldn’t get rid of it. As long as it didn’t have too many holes and tears. Stains, he couldn’t give a shit about those. If he got a new coat though, then he’d need a needle and thread too, so he could make the patch… He could see if anyone else wanted the patch too then, and make Levy’s honorary one…

--

He paused for a moment then, taking in what else Agni had said with a drag. The high ranking cards. Codas? Cudas? Kodas? Kudas? Something. The cards. A grin split his face. “As for ‘em high ranked cards, man- Let me tell ya. If ya get one of ‘em with a like, a gold star or somethin’ I think, those are great. Ya find ‘em in the jewelry stores, mostly. Or in the biddin’ areas. I snagged three before, and- And, damn. If ya team with a good group- Ya can sell ‘em for high prices as like… Upgrades to whatever card someone already has. Replace the name and everythin’. If ya lucky, the group’ll split the money up in ya favor, since ya the one who grabbed it. Otherwise, it’s usually split evenly. But pocketing extra without gettin’ caught ain’t too hard anyways. So I usually get paid in favor no matter what the deal was originally.”

*~*~*~*

Oculi ‘Opal’ Aisling Belmira | Apagender | 23 | A- | Cupio/Pan/Ambi | Sight | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“If you wanna grab something for Ingall, go right ahead, but I ain't wasting time and stuff on him. Hair dye is definitely a good idea though! You, Sky, and Aki go through a shit ton of that stuff! I might go for the candy store too, just some simple stuff. It's not worth much, but it tastes good! Oh! We could totally look through the clothes too, we always need more of those!”

--

Oculi nodded along, getting that familiar sense of uncertainty in their chest about whether or not they’d missed something happening. Ingall didn’t seem terrible to them, but most of the group didn’t seem to be big fans of him… They shrugged lightly to themself, pulling back to the topic at hand. “New clothes would be nice, yeah. Candy would also be great, it always tastes better when you steal it for some reason. Maybe some oil for Gall’s flute? I know you don’t want to get him something but, I mean… Clio and Maya love when he plays, so it’d kinda be a gift for them too? Get Maya some more pens, maybe some colored ones? Some more notepads too.”

--

And, alright, yeah. Oculi was much better at coming up with stuff to get for others rather than themself. They’d always been better at that though. It was just how they were. They didn’t know themself well enough to come up with stuff for themself. Which, okay, yeah, maybe that was sad. Or weird… Or pathetic… They shook that last one off. Regardless of what it was, it was also the truth. And they weren’t exactly keen on changing. Too much change was bad, after all.

Chile ‘Kyle’ Guerra Seymour | M | 20 | AB- | Pan/Ambi | Reindeer Shifter | Yes | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

Again, Ingall nodded. Looking just as tense as before. Chile tensed a bit too, trying to think of what he’d done wrong in this approach. Was he too direct? Too vague? Was it something else entirely? He needed to change his method, but what had he said that didn’t work as well as it should have? His eyes narrowed in thought.

--

“I’ll be fine, Chile. Thank you for your concern.”

--

But Gall didn’t look fine, in fact- His hand was tightening around his necklace, a sure sign that he wasn’t. Ingall was tense, anxious, and definitely not fine. Chile could tell that much. So what had he missed? What had been said that should’ve been said differently? What had been misunderstood?

--

“I was just worried about accidentally hurting Aries, as long as everyone is okay, I’ll be alright.”

--

…And that explained it well enough. Ingall was still focusing on everyone else. Ingall had assumed he’d been hinting towards Aries in that spiel. And, sure, he had been. But he also hadn’t been. Besides that though, whatever Gall was thinking due to that was probably the entire opposite of what he’d been trying to convey. But, Kyle wasn’t sure if he should try again. To explain better, to try and dig.

--

For one, Ingall wasn’t really emotional anyways. He probably didn’t want to get into emotional territory right now. Small talks here and there would probably work better with Gall, so that he didn’t feel pressured or threatened by Chile. So he had time to relax or recover before another one. And secondly? Kyle still needed to talk to Maya, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he had until Aries was done with the pancakes.

--

So, he took a breath, smiled, and nodded. “Alright, Gall. If you ever aren’t, or you ever need or want anything, just let me know okay? I’ll help any way that I can.” He paused, and then continued, “I do need to go talk to Maya too. Check and see if Clio’s awake yet. So, feel free to relax. I’ll be out soon, probably.”

--

And with those words, Kyle hoped he’d done the right thing, and made his way to the girl’s room, opening the door slowly. Quietly. And then lightly, as lightly as possible while still alerting Maya, rapped on the doorframe, closing it behind him.

--

“Hey May, do you have a second?” He smiled softly at her, glancing at Clio to see her still asleep. He took a seat nearby to Maya on the ground, noting that her notepad was opened already. Had seemingly been open for a bit of time.

*~*~*~*

Garvin | M | N/A (22) | N/A | Brin/Ambi | Catecholamine Rush | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“Yeah that sounds good, actually! Might do that. I could also steal one of those old lady bags, I’d practically Mary Poppins then, with how much I could shove in there! Be great if I had a shape-shifting or illusion power though, then I could actually be the old lady! Oh, well, I’ll work with what I got. And, hell yeah! I might go for those cards, then, that much money could help out a lot!”

--

Garvin snickered a bit himself, nodding along and taking periodical drags of the cigarette in his hand. Crushing it in his hand whenever it was basically gone, ignoring the slight bit of painful heat as he did so. “No clue who or what ‘Marry Poppins’ is but, aight then. Sounds fun enough ta me. The money totally helps a lot, ya can get lots with it. Man, I’d say stealin’ one of those high rank ones are extra points, for sure. Yeah?” Frankly, the cards should probably be extra points anyways. People bought those left and right if you had the right people working with you to sell them. It really was great.

*~*~*~*

Oculi ‘Opal’ Aisling Belmira | Apagender | 23 | A- | Cupio/Pan/Ambi | Sight | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“Yeah, sure, why not? Flute oil would be fine. And, yeah, I think notepads and pens might be a good thing to get May, especially when she tries to kill us!”

--

Oculi nodded in tense agreement, “Yeah, haha… She is definitely going to try and kill us. You think I’ll still be able to convince her not to after this one? The notepad and pens will hopefully help. And the flute oil too, honestly.”

--

They paused, shaking their head softly. Honestly, only a few of them didn’t seem to ever be afraid of Maya. The ones who never did anything, like Chile or Ingall. And then the three who did that just didn’t seem to care at all about what Maya thought. Or what look she gave them. Garvin, Devery, and Quincy. To be fair though, Quincy did care once she started hitting him upside the head. Devery and Garvin really didn’t, though Devery didn’t do as much to get on her nerves as Garvin did it seemed. Oculi huffed, almost pouting. “Man, how is Garvin just not afraid of her at all? That’s definitely not fair.”

Chile ‘Kyle’ Guerra Seymour | M | 20 | AB- | Pan/Ambi | Reindeer Shifter | Yes | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

Chile watched as Maya nodded, smiled, chewed at her lip, and looked at the notepad. Out of habit, he followed her gaze, seeing those two same sentences from earlier. Two sentences, innocent and harmless. Only one instance of the forbidden word in this apartment, that he hadn’t actually told anyone about. Because Maya wrote, Clio usually didn’t speak due to her throat, Aries was the one who needed that word to be forbidden, and Kyle already knew. Well, Quinn used the word, but Kyle had sort of removed himself from trying to deal with all of that. He didn’t know how to help there.

--

He sighed quietly, and then noticed that Maya had written something else on the page and passed the notepad to him. A question mark above the sentences. He stared at the question mark for a moment, before looking at May who was tilting her head in question.

--

Kyle looked back at the notepad, staring at it. Narrowing his eyes, worrying at his lip. He didn’t want to out Aries, didn’t want to make Maya feel bad or think she had done something wrong because she hadn’t known. He didn’t want to be at work one day and come to Aries having been dragged to the edge due to seeing the word. Due to hearing the word. Or worse, being completely over the edge.

--

That thought had him frozen cold to the bone, and he had to focus all his willpower to not physically react. He couldn’t. Not right now. He had things to do, people to talk to, a sister to watch over. He could stop that from happening, he just had to tell Maya. He didn’t have to tell her about the arena, just not to use the forbidden word. So he steeled his nerves, took a breath, and looked back up at May, smiling softly. Sadly.

--

“You didn’t do anything wrong, May. You’re not in trouble.” He paused, how was he supposed to explain? What was a good way to do this? He glanced at the notepad, at the word.

--

Then, he had an idea. He took one of the pens from the ground, and underlined the word at fault. The forbidden word. It. A simple, two letter word was at fault. Forbidden. He felt his skin crawl, he ignored the feeling as much as possible. He looked back at Maya, setting the pen back down, and began to explain. “Aries… Doesn’t react well to ‘it’. I try not to say, well, ‘it’ around him. Or any variations, really. ‘It’, ‘it’s’, ‘its’. The whole assortment of them. He can usually ignore when people say them, but written versions are harder since he can actually see the word and all. He probably didn’t even read anything else of what you wrote, probably just saw that word and honed in on that…”

--

He paused, sighing lightly, glancing at the notepad, looking right back at May. “Like I said, you didn’t do anything wrong and you’re not in trouble. Honestly, I should’ve told you sooner.”

*~*~*~*

Garvin | M | N/A (22) | N/A | Brin/Ambi | Catecholamine Rush | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“Marry Poppins is a movie character. Never actually seen the film or whatever, but she's known for bein' able to fit literally anything in her bag. At least, I think that's right. As for the extra points? Absolutely! Quite a few, probably, that money could do us all some good, hm?”

--

Garvin nodded, grinning. “Huh, the more ya know, I guess. Funny name for someone though, ain’t it?” And, yeah, he probably didn’t have any room to talk. After all, he was the only one of them without a fucking last name. What did he know about names anyways, right? He pulled another cigarette out of the pack, lighting it as he continued. “Totally quite a few extra points. ‘Em high rank ones would do us all wonders ‘ere.”

*~*~*~*

Oculi ‘Opal’ Aisling Belmira | Apagender | 23 | A- | Cupio/Pan/Ambi | Sight | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“Yeah… I hope so, the gifts will definitely help, but who knows, honestly. I mean, there's a fifty percent chance that Skylar's gonna kill me anyway, sooo. And I got no idea how the hell Garvin's not scared! He's insane or somethin', I mean, I love May, but damn, she can be terrifying! It's the worst when she and Sky team up, I've never been more terrified in my life than when they were both scolding me.”

--

Oculi nodded along, honestly- They wished that Maya and Skylar getting mad at them was the scariest thing they’d seen. It wasn’t. The two were definitely scary! But they’d been more terrified before. Either way, they wouldn’t be speaking about that stuff. That was for certain. “Mhm. Yeah. I wish you luck with Skylar, hopefully he isn’t too merciless. And, agreed, Garvin just has got to be crazy. There’s no way a sane person wouldn’t be afraid of an angry, disappointed, and worried Maya. Especially one that’s directed at you.”

Chile ‘Kyle’ Guerra Seymour | M | 20 | AB- | Pan/Ambi | Reindeer Shifter | Yes | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

Silence stretched after he’d finished talking, and Chile watched as Maya picked up her notepad to begin writing. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting from her. On some level, he hoped she blamed him, if only because that would make it easier to avoid talking about the arena. To avoid outing that bit. On the other hand… He knew, he hoped, she didn’t. He hadn’t told her sooner, that’s true. He should’ve, that was also true. But– Well… He also wasn’t the reason behind Ari’s problem.

--

He still should’ve told her sooner. That was still the biggest fact. He’d messed up. And, yeah, sure, he hadn’t wanted to tell anyone anything without Ari’s permission but he also knew Aries. He knew that this would happen eventually and– He’d gotten lucky. Very lucky. What if it had happened while he was at work? Or if he hadn’t been able to talk Ari back? Or if Gall had said that darn word?

--

…Maya was handing the notepad to him. He needed to read it. To address any concerns she wrote. To make sure she understood it wasn’t her fault. To make sure everyone was taken care of. He took the notepad without a word, inwardly preparing himself for whatever she had written.

--

‘You were protecting a friend by keeping a trauma confidential, there’s nothing wrong with that at all. I’m glad you told me now, and I’ll be more careful in the future to avoid that word, but you shouldn’t blame yourself either. This certainly isn’t your fault, the only one to blame is whatever asshole put that idea in our dear friend’s head. You’re a good friend, Chile, a very good friend, and an amazing person. Thank you for everything you do for us.’

--

Somehow, it wasn’t at all what he’d been expecting. He ended up reading it twice over, trying to see if he had missed anything. Because… Well, he wasn’t actually sure why. But his eyes kept scanning over the words anyways, searching for blame or responsibility that wasn’t there. Searching for some sort of accusation for him to defend against. And then he caught himself searching for just that, and stopped himself. Because wasn’t that what he got onto others about? Wasn’t that hypocritical of him?

--

Instead, his eyes scanned over the thank you again. The comfort in the words. The assurance. He shifted, handing back the notepad and trying to ignore the slight lump in his throat. He cleared it, and gave Maya a smile. “Thanks May, that means a lot to me. You’re a great friend too, you always try to help everyone. You even managed to get through Gall a bit.”

--

He paused, sighed, and nodded to himself. “Speaking of Ingall, I tried talking to him before I came here… Not sure how well that went though, don’t think he took what I told him the way I intended him to. D’you think you could help? I’m going to try again too, I’m thinking smaller talks spaced out will work best with him. Not too sure though.” He paused, shrugging a bit. “He isn’t big on emotional talks and all. I don’t want to overwhelm him but… I want to help, you know?”

*~*~*~*

Garvin | M | N/A (22) | N/A | Brin/Ambi | Catecholamine Rush | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“It is, isn’t it? What do ya think her friends would call ‘er? Those nicknames ought to be fun. Yeah, I say they should be at least a couple hundred extra points, ‘specially if we manage to get multiple, there’s no telling what all we could do with that sum of money! It’d be great!”

--

Garvin took a drag of the new cigarette as Agni spoke, humming along before he answered. “She’d totally get Pop Off from me, at the least. Hundred of extra points? Man, what’s the point system for the rest of the shit? The money would get ya plenty of food and nice stuff.” At the end, he gestured with his cigarette a bit, a way to better showcase just what he meant, his signature smirk on his face. The last time he’d scored three of those high rank cards, it’d been enough to completely wipe a month from memory while still leaving enough for food. It was great.

*~*~*~*

Oculi ‘Opal’ Aisling Belmira | Apagender | 23 | A- | Cupio/Pan/Ambi | Sight | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“Yeahhh, thanks! That’s the truth, Maya is absolutely terrifying when she’s all that. Never understand how anyone could not be scared of her.”

--

Oculi nodded, “Definitely. She’s crazy scary when she’s like that.” They paused, thought for a moment, and then continued, a small grin growing on their face. “Any other plans for today other than the mall? You know, if we survive after Maya that.”

Agnar ‘Agni’ Solefair | Male | 22 | AB- | Homosexual | Poly | Enhanced Senses | No | Mentions; Everyone (Dir/Ind)

“She’d totally get Pop Off from me, at the least. Hundred of extra points? Man, what’s the point system for the rest of the shit? The money would get ya plenty of food and nice stuff.”

Agnar hummed. "First off, amazing nickname, love it! Second, I think the point system should be something relatively simple. Smaller shit that's not super expensive could be, like, ten points or something, and it goes up in increments of ten the larger it is. More expensive stuff could be equivalent to a medium or larger sized object, based on what it is, and the cards and shit are worth the most." He shrugged and smiled. "We can figure it out more specifically when we see stuff, and if we feel like somethin' should be worth more, we'll just adjust as we go."

Kage ‘King’ Virgo | Male | 19 | B+ | Homosexual | Ambi | Shadow Manipulation | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir)

“Definitely. She’s crazy scary when she’s like that. Any other plans for today other than the mall? You know, if we survive after Maya that.”

Kage snickered. "At the moment, not really, honestly. I'm sure Agni will want to train with Aki some or something though. I'm sure I'll have to cling to Sky for a bit, he doesn't like it when I leave for long. After that, I'm sure we could figure out something entertaining. Maybe, like play a game or some shit. We'll see."

Maya ‘May/Fawn’ Mildred Eniko | Female | 23 | AB+ | Bisexual | Ambi | Blissful Dreams | No | Mentions; Everyone (Dir/Ind)

“Thanks May, that means a lot to me. You’re a great friend too, you always try to help everyone. You even managed to get through Gall a bit. Speaking of Ingall, I tried talking to him before I came here… Not sure how well that went though, don’t think he took what I told him the way I intended him to. D’you think you could help? I’m going to try again too, I’m thinking smaller talks spaced out will work best with him. Not too sure though. He isn’t big on emotional talks and all. I don’t want to overwhelm him but… I want to help, you know?”

Maya smiled warmly and nodded, happy she was able to help out a little bit at least. She took the notepad back and quickly scribbled out an answer to Chile's question. Ingall was complicated, sometimes certain things worked, and other times they didn't. Plus, May found that she could get away with methods that others couldn't simply because of how long the two had known each other and the trust they'd built up over time.

'I can try to help. Ingall's a bit' She paused her writing for a moment, narrowing her eyes as she searched for the right word. 'Well, he's kind of unpredictable unless you know him really well. He has good reason for it, of course, but it makes it a little difficult to help him. You were right about the spread-out conversations, though, it's better to avoid piling a lot on at once, as Gall gets overwhelmed very easily. There are a few tells to look for. I'm sure you've noticed the most obvious, when Ingall grabs his necklace, it's because he feels anxious, paranoid, or threatened. This is pretty normal, honestly, so, for the most part, it's alright to keep talking. The exception is when he starts gripping it so hard he'll end up hurting himself, which will cause more panic on his part since he isn't good with blood, especially if it's his own. He also tends to get spacy when he gets too overwhelmed, he'll start disassociating which often results in a panic attack, so watch for that. Fidgeting is fine, it's just a sign of his awkwardness. If you talk to him, try to be as direct as possible, Gall's lack of social skills will often result in confusion if you're vague, he doesn't pick up on little things that most people might.'

At this point, May had to flip to a new page as she continued, chewing her cheek as she tried to make sure she gave Chile all the information he needed to be successful. 'Try to stick with logic rather than emotions. If you realize he's getting panicky, try to reason with him. Lay out his surroundings (as long as they aren't too messy), remain calm, try to walk through why he might be feeling the way he is, and avoid touching him at all costs. What may be helpful is looking for the logic in whatever you're trying to talk to him about. Anything involving statistics and numbers should work, but if it is something more emotional, try mentioning psychology. Ingall's actually really good with the subject and studies of it, if you avoid attaching the problem directly to what's happening in his own mind and generalize it, he'll usually come to the conclusion on his own. You could even set it up in a kind of quiz or educational form, talk to him about one thing one time, then come back to him later and mention something connected to it but slightly different, I think Gall might actually enjoy that. He likes discussing his own thoughts about subjects, though, I must warn you, he apologizes a lot. He's not confident enough in himself or in others' interest in him for him to actually believe that you care about what he's saying. I found the best way to get past that is just to encourage him to keep talking and stay engaged when he's speaking.'

She examined the paper for a moment. This was a lot of information, so it would probably be best to give Chile this now, let him ask any questions he had, and then add anything that she thought up after. Nodding slightly to herself, Maya scribbled down one last line, flipped it back to the first page, and then handed it over.

'If you need any help or anything, you can always ask me, I'm happy to help out!'

Chile ‘Kyle’ Guerra Seymour | M | 20 | AB- | Pan/Ambi | Reindeer Shifter | Yes | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

Chile watched as May gave a smile and nodded, taking the notepad and beginning to write. At least she wasn’t upset about him asking her to help out with Ingall. He didn’t think she would be, she loved to help people, but he didn’t want to put too much pressure on her. She had problems too, after all. If she took on everyone else’s struggles then her plate would fill way too much, not have enough room for her own struggles. He didn’t want that for her, she definitely didn’t deserve it. He cringed inwardly at the wording, he hated the idea of people ‘deserving’ things. It only ever led to a bad mindset, it seemed. Either towards other people or yourself.

--

He glanced at Maya, she was still writing. Actually, she had flipped to another page. How much information did she have on Gall? How much was she willing to tell people about a friend? …How badly had he messed up by not telling people about a friend? …How badly was May messing up by deciding to tell him everything she was writing about a friend? Was it better to keep things confidential and let everyone decide when they tell others, or was it better to step in and make sure nothing happens? Permission and feelings of the friend being outed ignored for their ‘own protection’ or ‘own good’? When did someone’s fear make it alright to ignore the exact plea of the friend being outed to not tell anyone else?

--

Out of the corner of his eye, worrying at his cheek, he noticed Maya handing over the notepad to him. He blinked, forced himself to stop whatever that had been about, and took the notepad with a small, grateful smile. He wouldn’t add to Maya’s plate. She didn’t need that, he could deal with his own stuff later, by himself. They were having a conversation right now, after all. He shifted his attention to the first page she had written, beginning to read.

--

‘I can try to help. Ingall’s a bit. Well, he’s kind of unpredictable unless you know him really well. He has a good reason for it, of course, but it makes it a little difficult to help him. You were right about the spread-out conversations, though, it’s better to avoid piling a lot on at once, as Gall gets overwhelmed very easily. There are a few tells to look for. I’m sure you’ve noticed the most obvious, when Ingall grabs his necklace, it’s because he feels anxious, paranoid, or threatened. This is pretty normal, honestly, so, for the most part, it’s alright to keep talking. The exception is when he starts gripping it so hard he’ll end up hurting himself, which will cause more panic on his part since he isn’t good with blood, especially if it’s his own.’

--

That was fair, a lot of people were like that. He’d seen his own blood enough, had dealt with it enough that it didn’t bother him too much. Frankly, he’d dealt enough with blood in general that he just couldn’t be affected by it. He wouldn’t survive if he was. He was mostly glad that he’d been right about spreading out the conversations. He continued reading.

--

‘He also tends to get spacey when he gets too overwhelmed, he’ll start disassociating which often results in a panic attack, so watch for that.’

--

Kyle paused, rereading the sentence. That… Was honestly pretty similar to Ari. Though he tended to shut down more than panic, regardless– The similarity meant he had at least a bit of an idea of what to watch out for. That was always good. So, he continued reading.

--

‘Fidgeting is fine, it’s just a sign of his awkwardness. If you talk to him, try to be as direct as possible. Gall's lack of social skills will often result in confusion if you’re vague, he doesn’t pick up on little things that most people might.’

--

That was where the majority of the difference was between Ari and Gall, it seemed. Be too direct with Aries, and he’d end up triggering himself. Be too vague though and he’d end up triggering himself then too. There had to be a balance with Aries. At least with Ingall he could just be as direct as possible, not worrying about being too vague or too direct. That would be helpful, incredibly so. He’d just need to remember to not get them mixed up. Ever. That would end up being terrible.

--

Chile turned to the next page, seeing a whole other page full of information. He honestly hadn’t been expecting this much. It almost seemed like too much. Had Gall given Maya permission? How much was he not supposed to know but May was telling him anyway? How much did he need to pretend to not know in order to make sure no one got hurt? He forced the thoughts down, and focused on reading the page.

--

‘Try to stick with logic rather than emotions. If you realize he’s getting panicky, try to reason with him. Lay out his surroundings (as long as they aren’t too messy), remain calm, try to walk through why he might be feeling the way he is, and avoid touching him at all costs.’

--

That all was fair. The only differences between Aries and him there seemed to be the walk through. It did more harm than good with Ari to try and walk through why he might be feeling a certain way, especially when he was panicking or shutting down. He was more likely to see it as a sort of order instead of suggestion or anything calming. He definitely saw the benefit that someone like Gall would get from it. Besides that though, there was also the touch portion that was a bit different. Certain places were usually fine with Ari, other places were a no even when he wasn’t outwardly obviously panicking or shutting down. Like a pat to the middle of his back was always a no, a shoulder pat was usually fine though. Wrists were terrible, palms and hands were usually fine, and fingers were iffy. Shifting to just no touch at all though wouldn’t be too hard, so he wasn’t too worried about his ability there. Remaining calm and laying out surroundings would be easy enough though, that strategy worked for most people. He continued reading.

--

‘What may be helpful is looking for the logic in whatever you’re trying to talk to him about. Anything involving statistics and numbers should work, but if it is something more emotional, try mentioning psychology. Ingall’s actually really good with the subject and studies of it, if you avoid attaching the problem directly to what’s happening in his own mind and generalize it, he’ll usually come to the conclusion on his own. You could even set it up in a kind of quiz or educational form, talk to him about one thing one time, then come back to him later and mention something connected to it but slightly different, I think Gall might actually enjoy that. He likes discussing his own thoughts about subjects, though, I must warn you, he apologizes a lot.’

--

Again, that was very similar to Aries. Kyle actually had to pause, and reread the sentence, squeeze down the worry beginning to build up. Apologizing lectures definitely needed to just become a whole group thing, didn’t it? Everyone needed to figure out how to tell when something was and wasn’t their fault, when they needed to apologize and when they didn’t. Either because they apologized too much or they didn’t apologize enough. He just hoped that Ingall wasn’t apologizing a lot because of the same reasons as Ari, he really didn’t want to have to start using ‘punishments’ with anyone else. The idea alone made his skin crawl. He quickly continued reading.

--

‘He’s not confident enough in himself or in others’ interest in him for him to actually believe that you care about what he’s saying.’

--

He almost sighed in relief. A confidence issue was definitely easier to work around. He didn’t sigh out loud though, because that would’ve been terrible to do. Because Ingall was still suffering, and regardless of reason, that was still terrible. He moved on with his reading.

--

‘I found the best way to get past that is just to encourage him to keep talking and stay engaged when he’s speaking. If you need any help or anything, you can always ask me, I’m happy to help out!’

--

Staying engaged and encouraging Ingall to keep talking wouldn’t be hard at all. Though it was different from Aries, where he tended to move from the issue being apologized about as fast as possible. Move to a distraction, or to something that he could get away with calling a ‘punishment’. Not needing to do that would be nice. Needing to deal with apologies at all wouldn’t be.

--

He smiled lightly at the last bit though, and handed back the notepad quietly. Letting the words all sink in before even considering speaking. “Thanks for all that information, May. It’s definitely going to be helpful. I think the main issue is going to be in the actual implementation of all this. Any certain combination that tends to work well? And what do you think I need to focus on first? One issue at a time might be best, after all.”

*~*~*~*

Garvin | M | N/A (22) | N/A | Brin/Ambi | Catecholamine Rush | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“First off, amazing nickname, love it! Second, I think the point system should be something relatively simple. Smaller shit that’s not super expensive could be like, ten points of something, and it goes up in increments of ten the larger it is. More expensive stuff could be equivalent to a medium or larger sized object, based on what it is, and the cards and shit are worth the most. We can figure it out more specifically when we see stuff, and if we feel like somethin’ should be worth more, we’ll just adjust as we go.”

--

Garvin nodded, grinning. “I am the total king of nicknames, ain’t anyone better at ‘em than me. Good idea ‘bout the point system though, there’s probably way too much shit ta steal ta even think ‘bout how many points each thing should be worth. I’d say we first go off of how much someone stole, an’ then we can start ta decide worth. Seems kinda pointless ta completely ruin someone’s chances at winnin’ if someone else decides ta steal only the largest, most costly shit they can find but only has like… Three items. Ya know?”

*~*~*~*

Oculi ‘Opal’ Aisling Belmira | Apagender | 23 | A- | Cupio/Pan/Ambi | Sight | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir).

“At the moment, not really, honestly. I’m sure Agni will want to train with Aki some or something though. I’m sure I’ll have to cling to Sky for a bit, he doesn’t like it when I leave for long. After that, I’m sure we could figure out something entertaining. Maybe, like play a game or some shit. We’ll see.”

--

Oculi nodded along, humming in thought for a moment before speaking, “That’s fair, yeah. Hopefully Skylar spends time with the others too once we leave, just to better wait for you to get back. I think he mentioned doing that though, so I’m not too worried about it? Agnar and Akira sparring is honestly pretty fun to watch, so we could just do that if we can’t think of anything else to do once we’re back.”

Agnar ‘Agni’ Solefair | Male | 22 | AB- | Homosexual | Poly | Enhanced Senses | No | Mentions; Everyone (Dir/Ind)

“I am the total king of nicknames, ain’t anyone better at ‘em than me. Good idea ‘bout the point system though, there’s probably way too much shit ta steal ta even think ‘bout how many points each thing should be worth. I’d say we first go off of how much someone stole, an’ then we can start ta decide worth. Seems kinda pointless ta completely ruin someone’s chances at winnin’ if someone else decides ta steal only the largest, most costly shit they can find but only has like… Three items. Ya know?”

Agnar smirked. "Hell yeah, you are! Yeah, that's what I was thinkin', that way no one gets screwed over or anything. Ooo, ya know what could be fun? What if we make it so we can steal from each other too, as long as we don't get caught! That would be fun, up the stakes a bit, what do ya think?"

Kage ‘King’ Virgo | Male | 19 | B+ | Homosexual | Ambi | Shadow Manipulation | No | Mentions; Everyone (Ind/Dir)

“That’s fair, yeah. Hopefully Skylar spends time with the others too once we leave, just to better wait for you to get back. I think he mentioned doing that though, so I’m not too worried about it? Agnar and Akira sparring is honestly pretty fun to watch, so we could just do that if we can’t think of anything else to do once we’re back.”

"I'm sure he will, he usually does, I think. Yeah, that's definitely an option! Those two are equally as competitive, so I do quite enjoy watching them." Kage stated, bobbing his head.

Maya ‘May/Fawn’ Mildred Eniko | Female | 23 | AB+ | Bisexual | Ambi | Blissful Dreams | No | Mentions; Everyone (Dir/Ind)

“Thanks for all that information, May. It’s definitely going to be helpful. I think the main issue is going to be in the actual implementation of all this. Any certain combination that tends to work well? And what do you think I need to focus on first? One issue at a time might be best, after all.”

May nodded again and took back the notepad. She hesitated before actually writing though, waving the pen between her fingers as she thought. This was where confidentiality came in. Everything that she'd told Chile up to this point was broad enough that, though helpful, it never actually touched on Ingall's real trauma. Plus, May was fairly sure that Gall didn't even know he did half the stuff she'd talked about.

When it came to actual subjects though? That was different.

Realistically, May should probably at least mention some stuff, just to keep Chile from accidentally triggering Ingall when he tried to start up the conversation. What she'd said about the psychology stuff with allowing Gall to detach himself from the content would take care of most of it, but some stuff... Just shouldn't be mentioned at all.

The real question was, how much information was too much?

Taking a deep breath, she dropped her eyes to the notepad and slowly started writing, thinking everything through before actually writing it down.

'The main thing that's important with actually making progress with Gall is making sure he's in a space where he feels safe. His room is a good place, but he doesn't typically like anyone in there, so I'll recommend somewhere outside, he tends to feel more at ease in nature. There's not really certain combinations that work better than others though, you'll probably just have to poke around a little to find something that works best for you. The more confident you are in what you're talking about, the more willing Ingall will be to open up. It's kind of the same with the order that you want to approach things.'

Maya hesitated, biting down on her tongue as she debated her next words. This should be where she warned Chile of certain topics, right? But how much was okay to say?

Ingall trusted her. He trusted her when he refused to trust anyone else. She couldn't just give away that information when she'd promised not to! If she said nothing, though, that would be worse, wouldn't it? It could accidentally put Chile in a bad position and cause Ingall more harm than good, so what was the middle ground?

Biting down harder on her tongue, May narrowed her eyes, half-aware of the large dark spot she was creating by pressing her pen hard into the paper.

Finally, she shook her head slightly, coming to her decision. Broad but hopefully enough to help Chile avoid what was needed.

'Just avoid mentioning anything relating to relationship stuff and, I know this sounds weird, but don't mention marigolds either. I'm sorry, but I can't give you more information than that. Hopefully it proves helpful though!'

And hopefully, that in itself wasn't too much. "Relationship stuff" may have been too much of a giveaway. Still, she really didn't want to risk Chile saying something that was triggering, so...

Taking a deep breath, May looked up and smiled, more weakly than before, and handed the notepad over to her friend.

All there was left to do know was hope.