January 10th, ??? / 11:20-11:45

Leroy Hall/Ethan Brimstone/Axel Founte

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

“Umm… this isn’t normal right? I’m not going crazy am I?” Axel looked over at Cal worriedly. “This isn’t the first time today he’s been all- This isn’t the first time he’s gone all- ‘I don’t care about my well-being for some reason and I will freak the flying fuck out of Cal!’ Not that he’d admit the first thing out loud ever… I mean, this is Aries. He talks just about as much as Ethan, and… And yeah! You get what I mean…, right?”

Patiently, Axel nodded. "I-It's not normal, and I-I understand." He said calmly. Axel was typically a very anxious person, but when it came to medical issues, mental or physical, he was almost always the calmest and best person to be around, he understood injuries well, for the most part, and had a good idea of how to treat a lot of them, as he'd practically grown up in a hospital. Not to mention blood didn't bother him in the slightest, and he was able to keep a cool head around patients and worried family or friends. "B-but sometimes all we c-can do for someone i-is help with what we have. M-maybe we don't know w-what happened, but that's okay for now. We j-just need to try t-to stay calm and treat h-him as best as possible." He smiled comfortingly.

“I think he did this to himself, I mean… I still can’t figure out why he’d do this and I don’t have any concrete proof… Jesus, Axel, it’s crazy, but it’s got to be the truth! The burn it- you saw it too, right?- feels too helluva personal to just be some random guy… It wouldn’t make sense unless someone he knew popped up outta the blue! What the hell could have been goin’ through his mind to do that? It doesn’t make a damn lick of sense… Somethin’ had to have happened to make him do this, but- I’m just worried that something helluva shitty happened and he felt the need to do all of this because of it…"

The sickly boy's smile faltered slightly, he'd feared, and expected, this much himself, but hearing Cal say it out loud made everything more real.

“Sorry for not answering your question though, I think it looks great on him! It really goes good with his eyes!~” Axel's smile returned and he giggled softly.

"I-It does, doesn't it?"

“Just think for a second, Axel… We’re fucking free now… I don’t get why everyone is so sad right now. God, we’re free, Axel… I’m finally fucking free. Why can’t we just celebrate this?”

This time, Axel's smile stayed set, but he directed his eyes to Aries. He found himself unable to meet Calvin's eyes at the moment.

Free.

That was... One way to put it. Axel could think of many reasons why not to be happy though. He'd left his parents, and, in a sense, he'd left Apollo. He'd left behind his home. And though, yes, he'd also left behind the bullies, he couldn't help but feel bad. His parents had given what little they had for him and he'd just left. He wasn't sure if he'd ever forgive himself for that.

Axel was also aware of what Ethan was leaving behind, he remembered looking at the mute in the mornings when they'd meet in front of the school to walk to class together. He remembered the pain that he'd seen in E's expression, the dark circles under his eyes, and the bruises that he hid beneath an oversized sweatshirt. Axel also remembered, though, the way he's smiled when Axel questioned him about Val. His expression had changed from dark to almost sympathetic, loving, even. A look that told Axel he just didn't know. Axel had despised Val even more for that because he could see his friend's pain when Ethan couldn't even see it himself. He'd been glad when Ethan agreed to leave, but he also knew that he was leaving everything he'd ever know.

They all were.

Axel's thoughts were disturbed when he noticed Aries gripping the blanket tightly, his breath moving swiftly. The smaller boy's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Hmmm." He murmured to himself, obviously, the blanket wasn't working how it was supposed to. He thought for a moment, then an idea struck. "O-oh! Cal, want to h-hear a story?" He questioned, that had helped Aries earlier, and Cal had seemed to enjoy it too. "I k-know, I've got a s-story about Achilles! S-so, Achilles was well known as t-the bravest, most handsome, and greatest warrior at the t-time of his life! A-at some point he w-was dipped in the River Styx b-by Thetis, which made him almost completely invulnerable, e-except, that is, for his heel, which is what Thetis was holding h-him by to dip him in the river! W-well, Achilles was fighting in the Trojan War, w-which was a battle t-to get the beautiful Helen back after s-she was taken by Paris of Troy. Anyway, his m-mother, Peleus, got an oracle that h-her son would die fighting in the Trojan w-war, so she sent him away to the court of Lycomedes on Scyros, w-where he was made to dress as a girl and be with the k-kings daughters. However, the greeks looked everywhere until t-they found him because they believed they could n-not win without him. Eventually, he went back with them, though after fighting f-for a while he quarreled with one o-of the leaders who stole a slave of his. Because of this, t-the greeks suffered greatly. So greatly in fact that Patroclus, Achilles said lover, came to him and begged that he c-could impersonate him to scare off the enemy if Achilles would not fight himself. Achilles agreed. I-In the end, Hector, the son of Priam of Troy, killed Patroclus, angering Achilles so much that in his grief and rage he slew Hector dragged his body behind him on his chariot. Then, he was s-struck in the ankle by an arrow guided by Apollo, and killed."

When he was finished, Axel looked to Cal again and smiled, this time a little sadly. "I-I guess some people will do a-a lot for love, huh?" He questioned. "I-It's a sad story, but I l-like it, it shows how much Achilles cared. H-He could have had anyone he wanted, a-anyone at all, and yet he chose Patroclus, a boy with no importance, m-money, or recognition to be seen. He was only recognized at a-all as Achilles' lover, and wouldn't be seen as anyone other than a peasant without Achilles, b-but he died for Achilles and Achilles for him, because Achilles didn't care about Patroclus having wealth or recognition, h-he loved him for who he was."

Axel then looked to Aries, wondering if he was listening. If he had heard anything that he'd just said. He hoped he'd helped, at least a little.

---

“Before you begin anything else. Let me clear some things up for you. Eva did have one, but she’ll be alright, it was a small one. I’ve seen her at worse. Ethan most likely did have a panic attack, but put some trust into Tyler. I’m the one that sent him, and I did that because while TJ is prone to arson, he’s still protective and loyal to friends. Axel was comforted by Cal when you both returned, and is now helping Aries, I think that’s proof enough that he’ll be fine. At least for now. As for Aries, all we know is that he left for a walk and then came back injured. We don’t know the extent of the injuries yet, we don’t know what happened. And we had no way to know that it would happen. Out of everyone, Aries told us the least about himself. Even compared to you, Leroy. We had no way of knowing.”

Leroy looked at Nabih with tear-filled eyes and tried to calm himself, listening silently as the other spoke.

“Next, you are not only here to protect us, and you’re not worthless if you’re unable to do so. You’re here beside you’re our friend, Leroy, and your job is just to stay safe and be here for us when or if we need you. If that. But not even that much is necessary, you just have to care. Anything else is just a bonus. As for not knowing what to do, you don’t need to know what to do. Everyone will be fine, I’ll make sure of it. Lastly, I don’t know what happened with your brother, but I'm sure that whatever happened won’t happen to Aries. And I’m sure that you are good enough. At least for me.”

Leroy took a moment to process everything that had just been said. It wasn't exactly the reply he'd been expecting, but it was a logical one, one that made sense, and Leroy could appreciate that. Maybe he didn't believe everything, but he had that logic to lean on, that was better than nothing.

He closed his eyes a moment and gathered his thoughts. "Thank you, Nabih." He said finally, taking another breath. "And... uh, sorry you had to see that. I'm kind of a mess right now." Leroy blushed slightly. "I really appreciate it, I'll try to keep what you said in mind and everything, but... There is still one question you didn't answer. What about you?" The larger male looked up again, he'd calmed down and his eyes were clear and sturdy, more like normal, examining and questioning, but still softer than usual. "A lot of shit's been happening and I know you just lectured me, but have you been doing that yourself?"

Leroy hesitated, then decided it was probably best to just ask straight up. He knew Nabih, like him, wasn't the most skilled with emotions, and he figured, like him, Nabih probably tried to either block out or find a way around his own problems, and, like him, he probably didn't expect anyone to care what he thought or did, instead just keeping to himself and figuring it out on his own while helping others along the way.

"Are you doing okay, Nabih? Really?"

As Leroy asked it he watched for a reaction, his good eye carefully examining his friend. He watched with true affection and worry. Nabih did matter to him, really. This wasn't just something to make sure he kept secrets or something. He genuinely cared, and he wanted Nabih to see that. He was safe.

Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Axel, Aries, TJ, and Ethan (Dir)

Axel dogged his question, not answering why they couldn’t be free, as he asked if Cal wanted to hear a story. Cal understood why. Cal sounded like a damn maniac when he asked, but could you blame him? All he wanted was for everyone to A) stop acting like this is going to be the end of the world and B) for everyone just to smile for once. It wasn’t a huge task either. Just one day. Of course today was the day that his dad decided to search his closet and found the stash of clothes, food, and other things he was going to use to run away which made him late. Of course today was the day Aries and Leroy decided to pick a fight with each other, again, which got more violent this time. Of course today was the day that Cal had forgotten to take his pills earlier and was reminded constantly of just how much of a failure and fuck up he was.

Cal loved Axel’s stories though. Well, Cal didn’t really like it if he was totally being honest, but it was nostalgic in a sense.

Back in middle school when he actually had a good literature teacher who took time to work on him with grammar, Cal had started a reading club. It was just him and Lemmie in the club, but all of the books were recommended by Cal’s favorite teacher in the history of teachers: Mr. Moxx. Mr. Moxx- or as Lemmie loved to call him- Moxx Man, always recommended the most depressing things imaginable. They were all awfully depressing and Cal always hated them. But he loved them too. Especially getting into heated debates with Lemmie and Mr. Moxx on if they characters were gay or not. Cal would always roll his eyes and inevitably let Lemmie and Moxx Man think whatever they wanted, even if Cal thought they were both over analyzing everything.

Axel’s stories always seemed to capture the depressing part, but somehow triggered a pocket of serotonin in him. Maybe it was just the way he told them, getting all excited about each word he uttered, or just that good ol’ nostalgia, but it was good. Cal had been so focused on why he liked Axel’s stories so much that he almost forgot to actually listen.

Cal sat up a bit as he listened to the story. Another sad one. Whooo could have expected thaaaat? Oh woe is Cal who had to listen to such a sad tale! Cal couldn’t help but chuckle to himself because of his inner dialogue, yet he still rested his chin in his palm as he listened intently. Axel’s words crafted a wonderful story that sounded like a sad melody with the beautiful dancing of fingers on a lone piano. It was the kind of grand piano-like noise that sounded regal and thunderous but was quiet at the same time as if it was far away. If it were a song, the only way it could properly be played would be before a grand audience for everyone to hear. But the singing words were just for Aries and Cal, alone in a vast and empty room with the stage lights focused on a large midnight piano and Axel. Okay, maybe that’s a bit too into Axel’s story telling, but Cal’s point still stands: Axel’s story telling is incredible. Especially since he does it all on the spot.

Cal caught Axel’s sad smile as Axel had finished, frowning a bit. Cal closed his eyes as he thought about what Axel had said. Cal realized a long sigh as some happy memories clawed at him, turning bitter briefly. Cal chewed his lip for a moment as he looked to Axel.

“Don’t ya think that’s a little too depressin,’ Axel?” Cal asked softly with a faint chuckle. “I mean, I get the message, but still. Love is worth sacrifice and what not. I get, but I don’t.” Cal sighed softly. “They shouldn’t be dying for each other if there were other options, you know?” Cal chuckled again as he shook his head, fiddling with the sleeves of his leather jacket. “Love makes people do so many stupid things sometimes. Honestly. I sure as hell hope no one is stupid enough to sacrifice their life for me! That’d just be a waste. I mean, the jealousy, hatred, the pizza slices that are thrown at you like missles for trying to be a gentleman and breaking up politely-” Cal smiled at the memory of that one girl Cal had dated about two months ago and told Axel the story of- “I get that, but carelessness?” Cal laughed bitterly, as his fists clenched. He released his grip with a sigh, his eyes dull with an unsatisfiable loneliness as he smiled. “I guess that’s why relationships with me never last. People shouldn’t be sacrificing their lives all willy-nilly or be so deeply in love that they can’t think about better options. That’s when all the helluva depressing shit happens.”

Cal jumped as he heard a loud bang! Sitting up and his eyes going wide with momentary fear, Cal was quick to notice TJ had opened the window of the apartment. Ethan was back, standing by TJ which was a clear sign that Cal had something to tease E about later, and he seemed to be happy. Letting out a small laugh, Cal’s whole demeanor changed in an instant as he stood.

“Hey, you two chaotic shorties!” Cal chirped with a sly grin as he approached them, giving Axel and Aries some time to talk if they needed it. “Glad you both are back! No dead bodies to report? Any baby kittens or birds??”

January 10th, ????

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.)

“Thank you, Nabih. And... uh, sorry you had to see that. I'm kind of a mess right now. I really appreciate it, I'll try to keep what you said in mind and everything, but... There is still one question you didn't answer. What about you? A lot of shit's been happening and I know you just lectured me, but have you been doing that yourself? Are you doing okay, Nabih? Really?”

--

Nabih had been listening intently, but that shocked him. He froze, and thought. Eventually, he closed his eyes, took in a breath, and then started. “I.. I’m better than I was when I was on the train. I’m not completely okay, as you put it, just yet. But that’s fine, and honestly? Expected. There’s bound to be an adjustment period for all of us right now, but after that I’m sure everything will be a bit clearer.”

--

Okay, so maybe he didn’t answer the question completely… Maybe he’d rounded the question back to something else… But that was fine. He shouldn’t be thinking about what happened on the train too much, it would cause him to think about his old habits again. And he’d already seen what that caused, that’s what happened on the train.

--

“Achilles!” It tensed, trying not to flinch as noise made its way into its head. “Achilles… t-the bravest… and greatest warrior… his life! …River Styx b-by Thetis…”

--

The voice was wavering in and out, and what it could hear sounded muffled. Underwater. “Trojan War… beautiful Helen back… by Paris of Troy… Peleus, got… Lycomedes on Scyros…”

--

It didn’t understand. Who? Where? Trojan War… That’s a war, a battle… Troy… City. Trojan War took place in Troy? Paris took Helen? Lycomedes… Lycomedes harbored… Someone. Peleus? Achilles? It couldn’t.. It squeezed its eyes shut, it hurt. “Patroclus… impersonate him… Achilles agreed… Hector… Priam of Troy, killed Patroclus… Achilles… arrow guided by Apollo…”

--

In the midst of it’s pain, it strained to hear more. Mostly because the story was something to take its mind off the pain, to its mind take off the eventual loom of The Room. “Achilles cared… anyone he wanted… chose Patroclus… no importance, m-money, or recognition… peasant without Achilles… he died for Achilles… Achilles for him… loved him…”

--

There was silence again then, and it strained for if it were just missing whatever was being said. But nothing else came… And then a different voice started up. “too depressin,’ Axel?… Love is worth sacrifice… shouldn’t be dying… other options… Love makes people… sacrifice their life for me!… jealousy, hatred, the pizza slices… gentleman and breaking up politely… but carelessness… relationships with me… sacrificing their lives… think about better options… helluva depressing shit happens…”

--

It almost smiled at the words, almost. And then there was a loud bang as something opened and closed. And all thoughts were knocked away from its head. It looked up even with the soft covering obscuring its view and…

--

Fresh air reached. The covering smelled like blood. Or… His head hurt… What happened? He forced a hand up to the covering and began to pull the (now obviously) blanket down precariously, only to stop and hiss in pain. Okay, so his head then. How hard had he hit the ground? How many times had he hit the ground? If he were back in the apartment now then everyone was… Well… Were they worried?… Or had they just thrown the blanket on him and left him like that..? Did the answer matter.?

--

“Glad you…back! No dead bodies…? Any baby kittens or birds??” He blinked and looked towards the space that Cal’s voice was coming from. Close by. Very close. He’d probably freaked out then, and they hadn’t known what to do… He hoped he didn’t hurt anyone, he hoped he didn’t cause a fight, or panic, or too much worry… Everything still felt mushy too, like he was on the edge. Or maybe he was just tired. That seemed more likely.

Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Axel, Aries, TJ, and Ethan (Dir)

While Axel’s reasoning was far from wrong, Cal couldn’t force himself to respond. Cal just felt overcome by a bitter jealousy at how innocent Axel felt about the idea of love that his lips didn’t work. How could he- How dare he be so oblivious to how terrible love can be? Axel didn’t deserve to realize that ugly truth though as much as Cal envied his purity. Cal was seriously glad Tyler and Ethan showed up when they did because he did not wish to continue that conversation.

Cal was snickering like a madman as he was finally able to translate Ethan’s words. He loved Ethan so much on a brotherly kind of level. He was a sassy, smartassy, and funny guy. What wasn’t to love about him? The funniest thing was that no one but Cal could understand him like this. It was the best. They could be talking about anyone right in front of their faces and they wouldn’t even know if. That conversation being a prime example of that principle. Cal tapped the side of his leg as he tried his best to repress his snickering in his response.

“Well, I am glad you were there to keep your pet under control!~” Cal teased through Morse code, a cat-like and almost devilish smirk on his face as he patted his leg a bit harder when spelling ‘pet’ to emphasize his point. “Be honest though: you would definitely love birds for brains to bring you a severed body part only if it came from him. Don’t even deny it.”

Before Cal could continue on his rant in an effort to fluster Ethan, a goddamn bird showed up. That’s right. A motherfucking bird. Cal’s mind was absolutely blow as he looked from Tyler, who the bird was perched on, to the bird, who was in fact a very large bird. Cal had to restrain himself in every non-kinky way imaginable to not pet and giggle like a dork at the sight of the very fluffy bird. Shifting from one foot to the other, heel to toe and back, Cal dug his nails into his palms. The bird was so pretty and Cal had never seen a bird this up close since the time a pigeon flew into his face while riding on a broken scooter down a hill or when a duck at a petting zoo attacked him during a third grade field trip.

Cal took a deep breath as soon as Tyler finished talking.

“Can. I. Please pet them?!” Cal squealed, acting like a child as he was practically jumping in place. “I-I promise I’ll be gentle but oh my God are they so pretty and fluffy and ahhhh!!” Cal looked like he was being physically attacked by all the cuteness. Cal looked away as his excited voice slowly turned into mumbling to himself. “I mean, an African Crowned Eagle lives way more than 8,000 miles from here.” His voice started to climb in volume again as his wide goofy grin and glimmering eyes appeared. “Isn’t that nuts?! Like- a) how’d this happen and b) can I still pet them?! Please say yes to b) because that will make my day!”

Cal realized a mistake he made as all of the color drained from his face as he slowly turned back to face Axel and Aries. Cal was supposed to be quiet. He failed his one job. He felt like such an idiot. Only an idiot could fail so miserably.

“Sorry… Forgot I needed to be quiet,” Cal chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. Cal bit his lip and rubbed the side of his arm. He refused to look at Axel and Aries for a moment before he faced them with a small smile. “I’ll stop being a nuisance now I promise.” Cal smiled sheepishly and instantly shut up after that, not wanting to make Aries upset again because of something he did.

January 10th, ????

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.)

“Of course, time can be a good healer at times, I suppose. And, uh... Nabih? I know this is like, not what I usually do, but if you ever need to talk about anything at all, I'm always willing to listen. I know it's not much or anything, and I don't know how much I can ever help, but, I'm here if you need me.”

--

Nabih nodded, “And the same for you, Leroy. I’m always here to talk and try to give advice when I can. I probably can’t beat up your problems, like I’m sure you’re hoping you could do for everyone… But that’s less because they’re not physical people that are problems and more so because I’m not exactly the most physically strong person so even if they were actual people I probably wouldn’t be able to beat them up but uh… I can at least give some advice, or a sudoku puzzle. Those usually help take someone’s mind off of their problems long enough to be an adequate distraction.” His tone was completely serious, despite the obvious jokes he’d thrown in just to get rid of any leftover tension.

--

He crossed his arms and promptly remembered he was still in Leroy’s jacket. Perfect subject change. “Ah, right, the jacket. Do you want this back yet?”

*~*~*~*

“Aries…better yet?”

--

He squinted his eyes and slowly lifted both hands to give two thumbs up. No need to continue the worry, plus the fact that he could remember what those meant was probably good for everyone to see. They were some of the only gestures he knew that were good, after all.

--

And then tons of bird sounds that he couldn’t really catch were going around and he decided that he should really, probably, take off the blanket. The action would hurt but… Well, not like Gwyar had never dealt with pain before.

--

So, with that decided, he reached up and like he would do with any bandage- Pulled the blanket down quickly and harshly. Pain seared and if the wound had closed, he was certain that the wound was definitely reopened now. He just hoped that wasn’t a concussion one. That would mean serious, even for him. Though would explain why his hearing was still terrible.

--

And- Holy cow is that a full grown bird?! He stared at the bird on Tyler’s arm and suddenly the bird noises made more sense. “This… Fateflawed… African… Eagle.”

--

Well, Fateflawed gave a bow and he was definitely confused. Cal seemed not too confused though, which was good. “Can… pet…?! I-I promise… gentle… God… pretty and fluffy… ahhhh!! Isn’t… nuts?!… a) how’d this happen and b) can… pet…?! Please… yes to b) because… make my day!”

--

He winced at the volume at the end, though he was glad that Cal seemed happy and that the attention wasn’t on him. And then Cal was looking back at him and Axel with a guilty look on his face and mouth moving. No, no, no- Whatever he was saying was definitely wrong. Unless if Cal felt guilty about trying to help Gwyar which would totally make sense but- That wasn’t likely.

--

He, unfortunately, doubted he could speak to tell him this though. Oh well, he could drag himself over to Cal and poke his leg though. So, he forced himself to stand, immediately finding that his balance was wonky with his vision swimming. Whatever, this was fine. Cal mattered more right now, always did. He placed an arm on the wall to keep from falling over and took a step once his vision cleared. Immediately, his vision swam and black spots tried to obscure what didn’t. By the mere mortals of this land, he was tired.

--

He was tall though, so he was luckily fairly close to Cal after that one step. Now that Cal was within arm’s reach, what to do? He could probably manage to poke his shoulder, or arm, or face. So, with the arm that wasn’t trying to find purchase on a wall, he reached out and poked Cal’s shoulder. Or, well, he was pretty sure he did. Hard to tell with his vision swimming and all, but felt like he did.

--

His head hurt, but he ignored the pain as he shook his head at whatever Cal had said when he looked guilty. He could manage to say some words, right? Maybe not completely coherently but- Tyler could speak to birds! One of them would have to understand what he said! So, he settled on just saying that he was fine.

--

He opened his mouth, and tried. “…’m ‘ne…” He was fairly certain he failed, but he’d probably managed to say some mumbled, jarbled sounds sooo- That was good enough for him right now. He was tired, and in pain, and his memory was foggy. Not like he was going to tell anyone any of that though, they shouldn’t have to worry after all.