Garvin | M | N/A (25) | N/A | Brin/Ambi | Catecholamine Rush-Envious Typhokinesis | Mentions; Akira, Nico, Briar (Ind/Dir)

*~*~*~*

“I really do, and I’m quite good at it too, which means if you want the title ever you’ll have to work for it. There! That’s it!”

--

He widened his grin a bit, keeping up with what Star was saying as well as he could, gaze following where Tune was pointing and—

--

For a split second, he wasn’t sure what was happening or where he was but there was a growing pressure at his chest and a voice that he just couldn’t make out. Everything seemed foggy, dark in that way that made his lungs ache. In that way that made it far too hard to breathe, and he couldn’t tell if he was coughing or struggling or simply lying there. He almost hoped, in the back of his mind somewhere, that he was just laying there.

--

—And the split second passed, the sound of Pavo’s voice snapping his focus and whatever had been on the edge of his mind drifted out. His shoulders were tense, just a bit more than he thought they should be, and his breathing seemed ever so slightly off. But those were easy things to fix, so he let himself focus on what Lyra was saying, trying to figure out if he’d missed anything.

--

“Oh, sorry, Vinny! I didn’t mean to kick you, I just got excited.”

--

He glanced up, and for a moment, he wasn’t sure if he was actually the one being spoken to. But the moment passed and he held back an annoyed groan at the fact that he’d forgotten his name. Again. Really, how hard was it to remember that his name was Garvin? Well… Probably harder than he felt it should be.

--

He held back on shaking his head, and made sure he was grinning before responding. Whatever was going on wasn’t that important, it hadn’t caused him any trouble yet. So it was fine. “Yer fine, Coco, I don’ mind. I wouldn’t’ve let ya up there if I did.”

*~*~*~*

Simon ‘Cye’ Omiros Stewart | M | 25 | A+ | Ace-Recipo/Ambi | Deceit | Mentions; Ingall, Sol, Kano (Ind/Dir)

*~*~*~*

“Yes! She doesn’t ever go where she can’t see me, she’s very good. And she does love exploring, and meeting new people! She’s very social! Right, Rosemary? Maybe we can explore more today since we’re with you guys? Me and Rosemary typically just stick to the same path because I get lost easily. But since you and Ingall are here now, I don’t have to worry about it, so we can go wherever!”

--

Simon smiled, following Sol out of the room easily and filing away anything that he could potentially use later on. If there was anything he’d learned, it was that one could never have enough in ways of advantages and any kind of advantage was better than none. So even if neither Ingall nor Sol really seemed like much of a threat, he’d take what he could get.

--

Sol stopping, for example, in the middle of the hall, was something he quickly noted and put away. If it turned out that he was correct about Sol having hallucinations, then how they interacted was more important than someone simply stopping due to an idea.

--

Even more, as Sol turned quickly, suddenly, was Ingall’s reaction. Damage control would very likely be necessary later, given how his roommate flinched and seemed to move behind himself ever so slightly. That detail, however, would’ve warranted a smile if he didn’t already know how terrible that reaction would be to give. So, instead, Simon listened patiently as Sol spoke.

--

“Oh, can we maybe go outside? Not far or anything, just, like… Around? Kano doesn’t like me to go outside without them much, but you’re here, so it should be okay! I just want to see some flowers, you know? Sa- Rosemary likes flowers!”

--

He noted the near slip with ease, and filed it away for when he had more time to go through everything. For now, he had to decide whether or not going outside was a good idea. Ingall was, frankly, in no position to be going outside given how anxious he already was. However, the more he could see of everything the better the chance at figuring out more.

--

The idea came to him quickly though, with enough experience to think of things that were likely to work out for most everyone involved. So, Simon hummed in thought as though he were still thinking it over before giving a small, friendly smile. “I don’t see why not. Though, on our way out, we should still be checking to see if anyone needs any help with cleaning first. If they don’t, I know where a small and rather secluded cafe is nearby that we can go to. I believe they allow for animals, as long as they’re well behaved.”

*~*~*~*

Garvin | M | N/A (25) | N/A | Brin/Ambi | Catecholamine Rush-Envious Typhokinesis | Mentions; Akira, Nico, Briar (Ind/Dir)

*~*~*~*

“Okay, Vinny, you can let me down now, I got this!”

--

He nodded, still having to half remind himself that he was Vinny, and lifted Pavo off his shoulders to the ground. Who immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him through the door. He almost felt like laughing at it, at how little she seemed to even need to think about it. He didn’t, not quite willing to draw their attention to it. Lyra let go on his own when they reached a desk anyways, so he shifted back, letting them handle whatever he needed to, looking back towards Aquila and Tucana for a second. Just to see if they were both still there, just so Coco wouldn’t have to worry about it.

--

“Excuse me, four pairs of skates, please!”

--

Looking back over in time to see Starry passing cash to the lady behind the desk almost seemed wrong. But maybe it was just him... He should’ve snuck another plate earlier. Or finished the bottle. He blinked a few times, just to clear his head. The hangover didn’t seem nearly as bad as it had earlier. Which was good enough for him. Whatever it was they were doing, he probably needed to actually focus on it.

--

“Sure! Hey, you're a Cosmos, right? Haven't seen any of you in for a while, how are you?”

--

“Yep! That's me! Call me Nico, please! I'm good!”

--

He tried not to grimace, watching Niki wince at the sound of, what he assumed, was their last name. Brightening his grin, he ignored it in favor of the woman taking the money and messing with the register. Besides, whatever was going on with Lilt, it’d be fine whether he reacted or not. Probably. No need to risk ruining what he’d managed to get here just yet by making it a bigger deal than it actually was. It’d only ever be a big deal to him anyways. The sound of the woman responding closed any chances he would’ve had to bring it up.

--

“I'm glad. Brought some friends this time, hm? Welcome in everyone! I just need shoe sizes for everyone and then you should be good to go!”

*~*~*~*

Simon ‘Cye’ Omiros Stewart | M | 25 | A+ | Ace-Recipo/Ambi | Deceit | Mentions; Ingall, Sol, Kano (Ind/Dir)

*~*~*~*

“Rosemary's very well-behaved! The best behaved! Yay, yay! Okay, let's go, c'mon Rosemary, let's see if anyone needs help cleaning so we can go to the cafe!”

--

Simon noted Sol’s enthusiasm easily, watched as Rosemary took off from their shoulders and seemed to wait for her owner to start walking. As little as he wanted to be paying attention to a cat at the moment, she was obviously very well behaved. Which was almost a nice change of pace. He’d hardly even noticed that Sol, and Ingall for that matter, had started walking. He did notice, however, when they stopped and Ingall flinched back behind him. He forced his eyes away from the feline back to Sol as they spoke.

--

“Wait, which way should we go to help? What people need more help? The ones in the cafeteria? Or somewhere else?”

--

The question was a fair one, in all honesty. One he wasn’t actually too sure on. Usually he ended up drifting around the base, doing as minimal tasks as possible so he could pay better attention to everything and everyone. The tasks he did were really just a sort of cover. The cafeteria would be a good starting point, he supposed. Though, breakfast was still happening... So they may not need help until after breakfast, really. What he really wanted to get to was where they kept whatever weaponry they had. Knowing that about the rebellion would help a lot more in deciding if the arena would help or not. But that was certainly not an option of what to bring up. He’d do that on his own at some point. It would probably be the best choice to just go with the cafeteria.

--

What looked like pure fluff passed by his feet, dragging him from his thoughts and into watching as Rosemary sat right next to Ingall. Of course, the cat knew who was trustworthy. He took a moment to take in that his roommate seemed to not be nearly as tense as he had been before. Still tense, he was always tense to some extent it seemed, but not as badly. Damage control and prevention would be easier then, at least.

--

“She likes you! You must be a good person, Kano said Rosemary likes good people.”

--

Simon watched Ingall smile as he began to pet the cat and, well, if that wasn’t a slight surprise... He certainly wouldn’t have guessed him to enjoy fluffy cats that undoubtedly shed an awful amount of their fur. Animals in general had seemed like too much of a mess for his roommate to actually enjoy being around. Maybe the café he’d recommended wouldn’t need as much damage control as he’d thought. He’d already counted on that with the seclusion of it, of course. But this would certainly help.

--

“Oh. Thank you.”

--

“Good people are good. Good people are friends. Rosemary says you're good. You're my friend now. Like Simon and Kano!”

--

He blinked and forced his attention over to Sol. The words were a bit odd, so he filed them away for later. Really, he shouldn’t be paying so much attention to his roommate’s reaction to a cat. There were better things to keep an eye on. He couldn’t give a report on how someone reacts to a cat to anyone in the arena, after all.

--

“So, which way, friends?”

--

Simon smiled as Sol’s eyes found him, and he kept his voice leveled. Polite was better than friendly, polite easily came off as friendly without being overbearing. “We can check the cafeteria first, Sol. I’m not sure how much help they’ll need since they’re still serving breakfast, but it’s certainly a good starting point.”

*~*~*~*

Garvin | M | N/A (25) | N/A | Brin/Ambi | Catecholamine Rush-Envious Typhokinesis | Mentions; Akira, Nico, Briar (Ind/Dir)

*~*~*~*

It didn’t take long for all of them to get what he was almost sure he’d heard Tweet call skates, and he took the time Niki was thanking the woman again to look at the.. Boots with blades on the bottoms of them. That was all they were. He... Wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. The word skates didn’t really give much to work with. Starry started to move, catching his focus before he had a chance to laugh, either at himself or the skates, and he followed along as the group went on their way.

--

There weren’t many people around, was the first thing he noticed. Lockers placed around benches was the second. Clef gesturing at the benches, already wearing the skates, came next and he sat down with a glance back towards the way they’d come. He couldn’t see the desk from where he was sitting, but he’d been wrong about that sort of thing before. He shifted for a second, about to reach for his pack of cigarettes and lighter before stopping.

--

He didn’t actually have his cigarettes on him, did he? He didn’t remember grabbing them earlier. He didn’t remember much of anything from earlier. The slight headache he had probably wasn’t helping. It was fine. He glanced over at the sound of Lyra’s voice. He’d figure something out later.

--

“Okay, so just put the skates on, they’re meant to be a little tight so they don’t fall off! Then you’ll just want to stand up like normal, I recommend getting the feel of just walking around on the solid ground before actually getting on the ice, you’ll probably be a little wobbly at first, just try not to panic!”

--

He looked at the skates again. He still couldn’t get past the fact that they were basically just boots with knives on the bottom of them. Who thought that was a good idea? Not like he knew how they’d work on ice. That was probably why. Right? Knives on boots because ice. That made sense, sure. He wasn’t willing to question it at the moment. If it worked, then it worked. This time looking at them though, he managed to catch sight of the white laces that had apparently blended in with the white boots when he’d looked at them before.

--

“Ya didn’t warn me ‘bout the cold, Nico, woulda brought a blanket or somethin’.”

--

He looked over at Key when they spoke, taking in the fact that they’d already managed to put on and tie their own pair of the damned skates. Which. Great. Good for them. He needed a smoke.

--

“Well, I kind of assumed you’d figure out that it was going to be cold, Riri, it is called ice skating, after all!”

--

He blinked, looked back at the pair of skates he’d been given. How much would they be worth if he could somehow sneak them out? Bail’s would probably take them. How the fuck was he supposed to sneak them out though? If he had a smoke it’d be easier...

--

“Right, well, ‘m slow.”

--

He found himself blinking again, and then blinked a few more times to try and keep from yawning. The headache was not helping at all. He didn’t need Lilt thinking he didn’t want to be here. He wasn’t even too sure why he was as tired as he was. It was probably fine though. He’d done plenty of more difficult shit while less awake than this before anyway.

--

“It’s fine, you’ll warm up once we start moving, promise! First, though, make sure you leave anything you’re worried about falling on and leave it in a locker, you don’t want to break anything!”

--

Pavo’s voice mentioning the lockers grabbed his focus enough for him to look over, watching her walk and open one before putting their phone down into it. He snickered lightly towards himself at their actual words though, trying not to roll his eyes too much at the thought of having something to put in one of the lockers. Star putting his phone in one made the idea of looking through each of them more tempting.

--

“And next, a quick first lesson! When you’re on the ice you’re going to want to bend your knees slightly, if you lock them, you’ll probably fall on your ass. Just put one foot in front and push off with your back one, but be careful not to stick the front part of your skate into the ice or you’re going to faceplant. And don’t be ashamed about using the wall for support! You’re new, there’s nothing wrong with needing something to hold onto! They even have walkers if you need some extra help!”

--

He kept his eyes close enough to Star to let them think he was looking at her as he stared at the lockers. He couldn’t really trust that no one would try and stop him if he just went over and started looking through them. Which wouldn’t matter too much if he was leaving soon after. There was a chance he wouldn’t find anything either though, and making the other three wait just for him not to find anything would be kind of shitty. Then again... Coco probably had an idea of whether he’d find anything or not, given how they seemed to know the place. He could always go find a smoke if he had to. And put off failing at fucking shoelaces for a bit too, that’d be nice.

--

“Right, any questions before we start, or should we get on the ice?”

--

He grinned, and before he even really noticed, he was speaking, his tone light, “Yeah, uh- ‘Ow much change ya think’s been left in ‘em lockers, Clef?”

*~*~*~*

Simon ‘Cye’ Omiros Stewart | M | 25 | A+ | Ace-Recipo/Ambi | Deceit | Mentions; Ingall, Sol, Kano (Ind/Dir)

*~*~*~*

Simon watched as Sol nodded and gestured for Rosemary to start walking again in the direction of the cafeteria. He had to admit that the cat did seem to be rather well behaved. He followed Sol, carefully noting Ingalls’ footsteps behind him, and allowed himself a reprieve from his smiling, a small breath to keep himself from losing track of what he was doing as he listened to Sol begin to ramble. Anna would never condone what he was doing. His eyes narrowed a moment. It didn’t matter if she wouldn’t. Not when it secured their lives. He wouldn’t let it matter. The rebellion here could use the help even if the reasons the help was given weren’t right.

--

“Okay, the cafeteria! I like the cafeteria, it makes it easier to remember to eat, which is good because I forget a lot and Kano doesn’t like when I forget to eat, he says it’s not good for me. But it’s usually okay anyway because Kano keeps food for me just in case, they’re great like that! Oh! We should all hang out sometime! Do you two know how to bake? I love to bake! We should bake together with Kano! They pretend they don’t like to bake, but they like being around me when I bake. They pretend they don’t like people too, a lot, but that’s really just because they think I’m bad about choosing what people I like, which isn’t even true, and then they end up liking my new friends anyway! So we should hang out and bake together! But I’ll have to write down plans somewhere so I don’t forget.”

--

The pause of silence from Sol speaking gave him enough time to put his smile back up and process what all had been said. He’d have to find a way to get out of baking with them but otherwise, he put the words away to look through and think on later.

--

“Sorry if I talk fast, I do that sometimes. You can stop me if you need to, I don’t mind, Kano does it all the time!”

--

He allowed his smile to soften ever so slightly at that, nodding along and putting away whatever could be important. It was better to keep them talking, keep them distracted and ranting. They were more likely to give him information he could use if they weren’t thinking as much as they spoke. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Sol, though I doubt it’ll be a problem. I quite enjoy listening, actually. What are your favorite things to bake?”

*~*~*~*

Sol ‘Sunny’ Loyal Clie | Genderfluid | 28 | A- | Demi-Andro | Ambi | Astral Projection | M: Ingall, Simon, Ginny, Kano, Savannah (Dir/Ind.)

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Sol, though I doubt it’ll be a problem. I quite enjoy listening, actually. What are your favorite things to bake?”

Sol smiled at that and bobbed his head gratefully before pondering their answer, eyes focused ahead on their furry companion. "I like baking most pastries! Especially sweet ones! Pies are fun, eclairs too, though those are harder if you don't know what you're doing. Kano always messes up eclairs when they try to help me with them so now they say they hate them, but I don't think that's true because they always eat some when I make them!" He chuckled. "It's kinda funny because I don't remember much on my own, but I never mess up a pastry, even without a recipe in front of me. Maybe it's my second power! Do either of you cook or bake? I've always wanted a baking buddy!"

'I always help you in the kitchen, silly!' Savannah protested, a small pout forming on her lips. 'I'm your baking buddy, aren't I?'

They nodded slightly, humming in recognition. It was true, Savy always did lend a hand... Or, as much of one as a ghost could, which honestly mostly consisted of vocal encouragement and jokes. At least that was something though.

Ingall ‘Angel’ Dara Featherlight | Male | 22 | B- | Demi-Pan | Ambi | Enticing Voice | M: Sol, Simon (Dir.)

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Sol, though I doubt it’ll be a problem. I quite enjoy listening, actually. What are your favorite things to bake?”

"I like baking most pastries! Especially sweet ones! Pies are fun, eclairs too, though those are harder if you don't know what you're doing. Kano always messes up eclairs when they try to help me with them so now they say they hate them, but I don't think that's true because they always eat some when I make them! It's kinda funny because I don't remember much on my own, but I never mess up a pastry, even without a recipe in front of me. Maybe it's my second power! Do either of you cook or bake? I've always wanted a baking buddy!"

Ingall trailed slightly behind the other two, eyes on the ground as he absorbed the conversation. His heart had slowed a little as he traced the familiar path toward the cafeteria, but his hand remained firmly wrapped around his necklace, thumb brushing over the leaves of the small but detailed tree. However, at Sol's question he glanced up for a moment, both to nod a quick indication that, yes, he did bake a little, but also to examine Sol again. The question was rather repetitive, after all, closely mirroring the one asked only minutes before.

And yet, Sol didn't seem to be paying much attention, nodding and humming to himself before throwing another swift smile toward the Ingall and Simon. Confused but unwilling to question anything, Ingall directed his gaze back toward the ground and let Simon handle the talking.

Nico ‘Niki’ Cosmos | Agender | 24 | O- | Queer | Ambi | Sound Manipulation | M: Garvin, Akira, Briar (Ind/Dir.)

“Yeah, uh- ‘Ow much change ya think’s been left in ‘em lockers, Clef?”

Nico's eyes flicked toward Garvin at the question and he smirked. "I mean, you can always check, but probably not many if I had to guess. They clean pretty well. You'll have more luck in the lost and found, they keep the new stuff locked in the back, but anything more than a week old is up for grabs!" She winked, not missing how Akira seemed to straighten up at that too. "We can stop by on the way home, yeah? It tends to be mostly coats and gloves, which can be helpful too, but there's the occation of finding something nicer, and if you check coat pockets you'll find at least some spare change more often than not."

"Sounds like a plan." Akira stated, beaming. "Spare cash's always good."

Nico nodded in agreement and Briar smirked, tugging on their shoes. "Sure."

"Alright then, anyone need help with their skates? They're kinda hard to get on the first time, they're made to be rather tight."

Garvin | M | N/A (25) | N/A | Brin/Ambi | Catecholamine Rush-Envious Typhokinesis | Mentions; Akira, Nico, Briar (Ind/Dir)

*~*~*~*

“I mean, you can always check, but probably not many if I had to guess. They clean pretty well. You’ll have more luck in the lost and found, they keep the new stuff locked in the back, but anything more than a week old is up for grabs! We can stop by on the way home, yeah?”

--

He shifted, blinking, and almost laughed before realizing that Lyra probably meant the base. And then he almost laughed again anyway, the idea of referring to the rebellion as home something that was just… Absurd? Fucking hilarious? Whatever it was, he didn’t end up laughing, kept from doing so just because Tweet was still talking.

--

“It tends to be mostly coats and gloves, which can be helpful too, but there’s the occasion of finding something nicer, and if you check coat pockets you’ll find at least some spare change more often than not.”

--

“Sounds like a plan. Spare cash’s always good.”

--

“Sure.”

--

He nodded along, eyes drifting back towards where he knew the front desk was at. Really, he’d rather be doing it right then. Or, well. Really, he’d rather be finding a cigarette and a lighter so he could smoke. Or matches. He didn’t really care how he’d be lighting it, as long as it got lit.

--

Especially since Bri was managing to get their fucking skates on already too. He took a breath, and glanced back at Star as they started talking again.

--

“Alright then, anyone need help with their skates? They’re kinda hard to get on the first time, they’re made to be rather tight.”

--

He looked at the skates again, gritting his teeth as subtly as he could. Given that Thistle and Tucana had already gotten them on, Coco was really just talking to him. Which. Fuck that, he could manage to put on some damn skates. Everyone else had. He’d figure it out. He didn’t need the help. He hadn’t ever needed it before, he didn’t need it now. He barely even heard himself as he smiled past subtly gritted teeth, his tone kept casual, “Nah, I think we’s all good.”

--

For a moment, it was true enough. Getting them on wasn’t an issue, after all. It was, as per fucking usual, the damned shitty laces that wanted to give him trouble. Either because his hold on them kept fucking slipping or because he somehow kept losing his place. It still didn’t take too long, at least. A line of knots in the laces from every failed attempt that came before him accidentally managing to finally tie them. Which was funny enough to make up for how fucking stupid he felt. Maybe. He really needed a fucking smoke.

*~*~*~*

Simon ‘Cye’ Omiros Stewart | M | 25 | A+ | Ace-Recipo/Ambi | Deceit | Mentions; Ingall, Sol, Anna (Ind/Dir)

*~*~*~*

“I like baking most pastries! Especially sweet ones! Pies are fun, eclairs too, though those are harder if you don't know what you're doing. Kano always messes up eclairs when they try to help me with them so now they say they hate them, but I don't think that's true because they always eat some when I make them! It's kinda funny because I don't remember much on my own, but I never mess up a pastry, even without a recipe in front of me. Maybe it's my second power! Do either of you cook or bake? I've always wanted a baking buddy!”

--

Simon let himself fall between the two, careful to make it seem natural. Acting as a barrier for two people only worked well if the one who needed him to be the barrier knew while the other one didn’t, after all. Not that he particularly cared, but keeping them both happy at the moment would have a better outcome for him. Would yield better results, better opportunities, better advantages. And he needed as many as he could get.

--

At Sol’s question, he filed away the repetitiveness to think through later. Disorganized thought and speech patterns were easy enough to handle anyways. So he simply smiled politely, “Admittedly, I don’t tend to cook or bake all that much. I could never quite find the time to really get into either, unfortunately.”

--

It was true enough of a statement. He’d always had other things to worry about. He still had other things to worry about. Anna was the only one of them that had ever taken any time to learn how to really cook. She was good at it. If he managed to get the arena to work with the rebellion, maybe she’d cook with Sol. She’d probably enjoy that idea.

*~*~*~*