It distressed Brain that Tox was so upset. But she understood it, at the same time. She was anxious, too, about this sudden new batch of arrivals as they approached the gathering crowd and Tox pushed his way out in front of everyone else. Brain stayed close behind him, but far enough behind for it to be obvious that he was the one in charge. She didn't say anything as he gave his little arrival speech.
From the crowd, Wire slowly shuffled out, standing next to Brain. The two women shared a glance, and it was clear to Brain that Wire was just as on edge as Tox - she may be new, but she had learned about the place fast, and she wasn't dumb. Brain knew that Wire understood the strangeness just as well as she or Tox.
When Tox glanced at her, Brain took a step forward. She touched his arm gently and gave him an uncertain look before taking another step towards the new recruits. The guy seemed like he was very much on edge. Brain figured, if she were to look behind their ears, she'd best start with him.
One good thing, Brain supposed, was that she didn't have a dominating presence, nor a threatening one. It was with full confidence that she solemnly approached the two new recruits. She gently touched the male's arm, which was down by his side, but tense. "I won't hurt you," she told him softly, as she always did to the new recruits that seemed more on edge than others, and gave him an earnest look.
Then, with a gentle hand, she reached up and moved his chin a little. With her other hand, she nudged his ear forward a bit and glanced behind it. Even if he snapped away from her, she just needed the one glance. "Your name is Steel," she stated.
After releasing him, she took a small step back and took gently hold of the girl's chin. It was obvious that touching her set Steel even more on edge, but Brain gave him another harmless look. The girl tried to jerk out of her grasp, but Brain had seen what she needed to before the girl detached her. "Your name is Physic."
-
Nothing was making sense. Everything was moving so fast, it was like a blur. Ziva could hardly keep track of anything anymore. But then she felt Diego's hands on her, helping her up, and once again, she had to face the scores of people surrounding them. Her heart was pounding in her chest; anxiety was not a welcome companion of hers.
However, in spite of the situation, she couldn't help feeling a tad bit miffed when Diego discreetly positioned her behind him. It was rude, and disrespectful, and forgetting momentarily about the odd situation, she almost scolded him for it right then and there.
But then the leader of the group, an Asian man with rather bright green hair and, terrifyingly, a snake on his arm, began speaking. Ziva missed the first part of what he said, having been distracted by the snake, but she did happen to hear what he said about abilities...
Suddenly, her blood ran cold, and she held on tightly to Diego's arm, stepping out from behind him so she had a better view, but still standing close to him. "Ability?" she asked him softly but seriously, glaring up at him. "Diego, what does he mean? You have an Ability?"
Then, just to make things weirder, she supposed, a freckled woman with flaming red hair approached them. Ziva tensed up, watching as the woman handled Diego and then tilted his head so she could see behind his ear. Well, Ziva also happened to see behind it. ...When had Diego gotten a tattoo?
Things only got stranger when the red-haired woman called him something - Steel - and then she was grabbing Ziva. In a natural reaction, the Israeli jerked out of the freckled hand's grasp, but then the owner of the hand called her something - Physic. "Wh-what? No. That... That's not my name," she sputtered in confusion, though due to fear, it was quiet enough that only Diego and the redhead would hear.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
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Posted: 1/27/2019 at 10:16 PM
Post #332
Whatever their assailants had injected Diego with was still making him feel a bit unsteady. His vision swam in front of his eyes for a moment while he tried to focus on what the Asian male was saying. He was also trying to make sure he kept the corners of his eyes on the rest of the crowd, just in case anyone tried anything. In the back of his mind he knew he'd probably be in for a scolding from Ziva later. She might deal with a lot of anxiety, but his Ziva had some steel in her spine when it came to people underestimating her.
As if Diego really needed another shock to his system, when he heard the other guy finishing his speech and heard the word "ability" thrown out there...well, he was shocked. His whole body seemed, his brain buzzed blankly as it tried to process what had been said. It had been stated so casually, the idea of people having special abilities seemed so normal here. He didn't understand, it didn't compute. It was only Ziva gripping his arm tightly that brought him back down to earth, back to reality.
"We'll talk about it later, Z," he said to her under his breath, definitely not wanting to have a discussion right there and then, "I think thats probably the least of our worries right now." He tried not to be hyper aware of her hand on his arm, but he was finding it quite a large distraction.
When the redhead apparoched them, Diego's attention had lapsed long enough that it was like one second she was behind the Asian guy and the next she was in front of him. He tried to angle his body again to put it between Ziva and the other woman, but it wasn't easy now that she had a hold of his arm. The freckled woman reached up to his face, and he tensed, though he sensed no danger. She checked something behind his ear, told him about his "name", and then moved onto Ziva. He had been so confused by her behavior, that he didn't even have time to protest her touching Ziva.
"It's okay, Z," he said quickly, pulling her tightly to his side, "I think theres a lot going on here that we don't understand. Let them do what they're going to do." He still had no idea what was happening to them, but he was coming to the conclusion that no one in the crowd was directing any hostility at them.
Creativity
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Posted: 1/27/2019 at 11:12 PM
Post #333
They were so young. That was the first thought that crossed Wire's mind when the sudden new recruits were thrown out of the truck. It didn't escape her notice, either, how the two of them stood together, how the boy pulled the girl behind him and how her hand clutched his arm. They definitely knew each other, Wire figured. They would seemingly murmur to each other, so no one else could hear except maybe Brain, who had walked up to give them their names. Being right behind Tox, Wire heard their names.
Steel and Physic. They were so young. It wasn't fair, being brought to this death-hole (as Wire had come to know it within these past four months, far from the paradise she had once seen it as) when one was so young. She would bet that they were still in secondary school, or right out of it.
Slowly, she stepped forward a bit more to stand beside Tox. She gave him a small glance, trying to convey her concern. She hadn't been here nearly as long as he had, or Brain for that matter, but... Even with being formally uneducated, she wasn't stupid.
As Brain conversed with the two quietly, Wire turned around to face the crowds. "They need rooms," she announced. "I can convince a guard to open one of the buildings reserved for later batches, but for tonight, they need rooms. If someone here is able to sleep beside a friend for a night so our new members could have beds, I will personally offer a reward through exemption of chores or extra food."
At first, the crowd was quiet aside from a small murmuring and shuffling of feet. People avoiding her direct gaze. Unwilling to offer up the one thing that the scientists had given them. Wire herself figured she'd sleep in the ditches to let the scared newcomers have a room if no one else did.
-
It didn't take a genius to know that these two newcomers definitely knew each other. They spokes to each other quietly, they touched, and, well, he seemed very protective of her. Brain had almost asked him if she was allowed to touch Physic, but she had thought of how she would feel if someone asked Tox if they were allowed to touch her, and... She knew she wouldn't take kindly to that. Judging by the way she stepped out from behind Steel, Physic wouldn't take very kindly to it, either.
"It's your name now," Brain insisted quietly to her, and then glanced between the two. "Your n-name is connected to your Ability. You don't need to t-tell us your Abilities, but... It w-would help in p-putting you two on the chore list. My name is Brain. That's Tox, b-back there with the green hair. The other w-woman is Wire. Those two are the leaders here. You can find a-any of us, anytime, if you have questions."
It's more than she had said to any other newbie. But, well... These two were peculiar. They weren't a batch. If they were, then another dorm building would already have been opened for them. Brain felt a bit of pity for them, for how close they seemed, and to be brought here, all of a sudden... And they were young. Maybe that was the worst part of it all. When Brain was nineteen, she, too, was wrongly imprisoned. These two couldn't be older than nineteen, if that.
With a small, reassuring (albeit, lopsided) smile, Brain backed off a bit before turning and walking back to where Tox and Wire stood in front of the crowd. "One of them can use my room," she stated, gently touching Tox's arm. "I don't use it all that much anymore." She glanced out at the crowd, then, hoping someone would take Wire's bribe so the two could have their own privacy.
-
It was almost torturous, the knowledge that his daughter was out there, in the wrong hands. But Necro knew a thing or two about pain and death, and he knew that his daughter was still alive, and when he got back to her, everything would be okay. He wasn't one to dwell on pain, that was for sure, and in spite of the worry he had over his daughter, Necro had faith that he'd escape this place. Once he hit the right moment, he would escape. If he wasn't meant to escape, then he would have been killed on any of his previous attempts.
Almost every day, he helped Flora peel the potatoes before dinner. Potatoes being cheap and easy, the kitchens always served them. He made light conversation with Flora every now and then - she was sweet, but she never spoke about that day, when she had to wrestle him down from the fence he was willing to blindly climb. And he never thanked her for it.
There had been a commotion, as soon as the alarms went off, and Necro himself was mildly intrigued. As far as he knew, the alarms hadn't gone off when they weren't supposed to...ever. He had never actually seen or heard of the people that ran this place making a mistake. It was odd, then, that this would be occurring. He wasn't worried, though. It didn't matter to him what happened to this compound or the people in it, only how he was going to get out.
After the mess where the leader - Tox - had slacked on his duties, had caused more chaos than healing, the dark-skinned woman with an authoritative voice - Wire - had stepped in. Necro didn't care one way or another. None of it affected him. He still gathered in the crowd, for the hell of it.
It did affect him a little, when he caught a glance of the newcomers. He may be half-dead, but... He was not heartless. His heart beat slowly in his chest, but it still beat. He looked around, trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of Flora. He wasn't certain why, but he needed to see her, all of a sudden. He caught sight of her, pretty much at the same time he caught what Wire was saying. He debated mentally for a couple minutes, but he knew what she'd want him to do - not that he knew why it mattered. "You're such a bad influence, Engelskuchen..." he muttered.
Then, adopting his cockiest smile, Necro stepped forward, pushing his way to the front of the crowd. Most people flinched away from the unnaturally chill temperature of his skin, and he used that to his advantage. "One of them may use my room," he announced with his chin raised. "I shall valiantly and graciously offer it, as I do not sleep in it."
-
Although the crowd had been, initially, terrifying, Ziva was coming to understand what Diego was understanding; these were not the armed guards. These people... They were dressed in all different kinds of clothing. They were all different ethnicities, skin tones, heights, weights. There was the Asian man - Tox, as he had been called - with bright green hair. There was the speckled girl with flaming hair, Brain. A dark-skinned woman, Wire, who seemed to address the crowd. And then, the palest, most gothic man Ziva had ever seen stepped out of the crowd and spoke.
And then Brain had given their names - weird ones, just like the ones that she and Diego had received. Physic. Directly related to her Ability, Brain had said. Physic. Like a physician, she supposed? It was odd...
But Diego had Steel. What could that mean?
She listened to Diego more than Brain, truthfully. She calmed down some, but didn't loosen her grip on his arm. Rooms. Wire was getting them rooms, and both Brain and the gothic man had offered theirs. Some part of Ziva almost wished the electrically-eyed man had not stepped forward, if only so she had an excuse to spend more time near Diego, in his comforting arms... It did feel nice, when he pulled her closer to him. She really did want him to stay near...
But that didn't change the fact that he had an ability - Ability? Brain had said it with a bit more... Emphasis? The crowd was beginning to disband a bit, thankfully, now that things were being sorted out. In spite of Diego's instructions, Ziva didn't want to 'talk about it later'. "No, Diego," she looked at him sternly, despite him being quite a bit taller than her, and definitely bigger and stronger. "I want to talk about it now. You have an Ability? Connected to Steel?"
Britters
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Posted: 1/28/2019 at 7:56 AM
Post #334
When Flora was younger, her friends and family used to tease her by saying nothing ever upset her. It had always bothered her slightly but she knew they meant well. Things certainly did upset her, but the problem was when people thought that nothing could she felt even more of a burden to be smiling and cheerful all the time. Being so happy was exhausting, but she had learned a long time ago that even if she had to work harder for it, it was still always better than getting lost in the darker thoughts which often plagued her.
Today had been a typical day until the alarm went off, and like most of them, Flora also was very aware of how out of the ordinary that was. She had been braiding her hair with deft fingers when the trucks rolled in and the plait hung half-finiahed over her shoulder when she jogged over to stand with the rest of the crowd to see what was happening. Her heart had immediately ached when she saw how terribly young and frightened the two teenagers who had been tossed out were.
"Oh," she had sighed softly to herself, her hand on her chest, "The poor things." It was cruel and unfair for them to be there, and fact that they clearly knew each other made it all the more heartbreaking. They had their whole lives ahead of them...now what kind of future were they in store for?
When Necro stepped forward, it was the first time Flora had actively paid attention to the conversation. She realized the two who had just arrived needed rooms to sleep in, and she caught Necro's eyes as he stood there doing things with his usual flourish and she gave him a smile. The crowd began to disperse shortly after his proclamation and, with only a little hesitance, she walked over to him.
"That was very nice of you," she told him, her eyes turning soft and sad as she glanced again in the direction of the newcomers, "It's a crime they're even here in the first place."
-----
There were plenty of things about what had just happened to them, and where they were at, that was still a complete mystery to Diego. However, with Ziva next to him he felt better, calmer, more capable of dealing with the situation. It was as though being abducted had wiped their slates clean more effectively than anything else they'd tried since the party. Here in this strange place they were all each other had, and he was grateful to have her with him. Whatever obstacles life had just thrown at them, at least they could face them together.
It was with no small anointing regret that Diego finally paid enough attention to the conversation to realize that two people had offered up their rooms. Perhaps it was for the best that they both would be able to have their own rooms, but at this very moment he wasn't sure he would be leaving Ziva's side for quite a while. Even when she insisted on asking him about his own ability, her sass shining through her anxiety, he only sighed wearily, his one arm remaining stubbornly around her shoulders.
"Alright, Z," he said with resignation, holding up his other hand so that she could see it clearly, "It's nothing much anyway..." He took a deep breath, and glanced around the courtyard.
The crowd had dispersed by now, the thrill of the new arrivals had ebbed, and so it was with no hesitation that Diego concentrated for a few brief seconds on his hand. He was shortly rewarded with the sight of cold, silvery metal spreading across his skin until his whole hand shone brightly in the sunlight. He gazed down at Ziva to make sure she had seen and then let the metal disappear again and let his arm hang back at his side.
"Like I said," he told her, shrugging absently, "It's nothing much." He knew without even asking himself that he would not ask her to reveal hers to him. He had put enough pressure on her this last week, whether knowingly or unknowingly and he was not about to start again now.
Edited By Britters on 1/29/2019 at 6:22 PM.
Creativity
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Posted: 1/29/2019 at 6:49 PM
Post #335
Liminal.
That's the word that Necro found that was the closest to what his existence would be described as. Liminal. He was not fully alive, but he was not fully dead. He was in-between. It wasn't a particularly romantic or ideal existence, he knew, but well, it was the only one he had. And if his liminal half-life was all he had, then he would make the most of it.
He had never let his condition bother him when he was younger. He still loved his mother's shows, even if he wasn't fully alive, and he still loved performing his own shows, even if he was half-dead. Other people in his position might've struggled to come to grips with it, but... Necro understood. He knew that this was not entirely a bad thing.
Truthfully, he was a little surprised when Flora approached him. He spared a glance at her, taking in her sweet features, how she looked out at the newcomers with something resembling sadness.
In response, he offered her a sort of charming half-smile. "I can be chivalrous," he shrugged, head held high in pride. Then, he followed her gaze out to the newcomers, and his smile actually faltered a little bit. "It's a crime any of us are here, Engelskuchen," he told her, his voice having lost a bit of its masking confidence. "But... I see what you mean. Their lives are cut short, so young. Death would be different. If they had death, then they would at least be free. If we all had death, we would be free. But this..." He gestured towards the walls on one side of the compound, and then to the guards standing in front of the C lab, and then in the general direction of the memorial wall. "This is not life, for any of us."
-
Although Ziva had pondered about what sort of Ability 'Steel' would represent, when Diego's hand turned to metal, she knew that it was absolutely nothing like she had been thinking. Her ideas themselves were limited only to - maybe he could lift a lot of weight? - maybe his bones were exceptionally strong? - definitely not...being able to turn his hand into metal.
For a few seconds, she stared at his hand blankly, her eyes wide in shock. She felt simultaneously terrified and, safe? She supposed that was what it was. With a hand of steel, he could easily bash her head in if he so chose, or... Or he could bash in the heads of people that were trying to hurt her, like how he would shoo away Jaime and Tomas and all the other jerks who often shoved her in trash cans and lockers, and teased her for being less muscular than them...
She reached out, to touch the metal on his hand, but then it turned back to skin. That was probably better, she figured. She didn't know if she'd actually touch it. She didn't want to know. "That's... Amazing, Diego. Why have you never shown me before?" she asked softly, looking into his dark eyes, but it was clear by her tone that she didn't actually want an answer.
Diego wasn't stupid. He was a jock, and he was more athletically inclined than academically inclined, but he wasn't stupid (usually). She knew that he'd figure out that she had an Ability, too. She also knew that, after four years, she should probably tell him what it was...
But, it was difficult. She had never told anyone about her Ability, not one person. She didn't know how people would react. So, she had learned a while ago that she would keep her head down about it, she'd help people like she was certain she was meant to do, and no one had to know how. If she told Diego... How would he react? Would he leave her? Would he push her away? Would he turn his hand to steel and crush her bones? She didn't want to find out, not yet.
Edited By Creativity on 1/29/2019 at 6:49 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
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Posted: 1/29/2019 at 10:03 PM
Post #336
Steel. In all honesty, Diego had not paid much attention when Brain had given him his "name" since he had still been more concerned about Ziva. Now, however, as he waited for his friend's reaction to his ability, he was left to ponder on thoughts regarding what he could do. He normally avoided thinking about the ability at all because it made it easier to live with when he pretended it didn't exist, only using it when he had a pressing need.
Which led to the one main reason Diego had never told a living soul, even Ziva, about his ability...
"Well," he said, shuffling his feet self-consciously and kicking his feet at the ground while he hung his head like a child being disciplined, "It's because of football...thats why I never showed anybody." He took a deep breath in through his nose, bracing himself.
Honestly, Diego couldn't really believe he had actually revealed his biggest secret. Maybe it was because of what had just happened to both of them, maybe it even went back to that night at the party, but he listened that he couldn't lie to Ziva. He had never really been able to do so before, but everything was different now. Even he was a different person now than he had been before graduation, but the one thing that wouldn't ever change was their friendship. He knew it just as he knew the sun rose in the east.
"Come on," he said, looking at her with a small smile, "I'm gonna go talk to the guy that offered his room, and I don't want to be away from you yet." He said it so casually as he tugged Ziva along with him, but inside he felt like all of his nerves were on fire.
-----
The strange sort of friendship which had developed between Flora and Necro was still very new and bizarre feeling. He was an oddity, in more ways than one, but even before the incident where she'd had to save him from his own ill-conceived escape plan (if one could even call it a plan...), she had found him to be charming and endearing...in an odd sort of way. He was different, worlds different really, from any person she had ever met in her life. Considering how sheltered most of her life had been, this made his mystique even more appealing to her.
Not, Flora was quick to remind herself, that his appeal to her meant anything at all. He was interesting, funny, charming which all made him excellent company to be around. When you were trapped in the same place, doing the same thing, like they were here, finding people worth spending time with was a treasure. They all had their little cliques, and Flora was social and kind enough to be able to fit about from group to group with ease. However, this never really allowed her to truly get to know anyone.
Really, when it came down to it, Flora probably knew more about Necro than she did about anyone else at the compound...
"Interesting," she said thoughtfully, giving him a solemn look, "I think that might actually be the most sensitive thing I've ever heard you say." Her mock serious attitude was ruined slightly by the mischievous glint in her eyes and the way her lips tugged up in one corner.
It really was rather different for Flora to hear Necro talk in such a way, but she supposed that it was possible she hadn't been giving him enough credit. He was not a heartless man, and that should have been obvious to her from the beginning. He obviously had the capability to love and feel or else she would not have witnessed such an insane outburst from him that one day. She inwardly scolded herself for having been sarcastic in response to his declaration, and she opened her mouth to apologize but saw something which made her stop.
"Oh, I think they're coming this way," she said to him as she saw the two young newcomers walking in their direction, as as a quick after thought she hit Necro lightly in the chest with the back of her hand, "Be nice."
Edited By Britters on 1/30/2019 at 3:34 AM.
Creativity
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Posted: 1/30/2019 at 8:37 AM
Post #337
It was true that Necro had lived his entire life being the subject of countless misjudgments and misinterpretations. People would joke about how he was a 'vampire', or a 'zombie', or, well, a 'walking corpse'. He was called 'goth' and 'emo' and 'morosely dark' in spite of his bubbly personality. Merely based on looks. They didn't bother him, the misinterpretations, most likely because he wasn't really sure who he was to begin with. But he'd hear terms like these, and he'd know that they didn't fit. Still, it didn't matter to him what or who other people thought he was. He didn't correct them, but he didn't believe them. That's what his mother had taught him - that only he could know who he was, even if he didn't.
When he looked at Flora after her comment, though, there was no smile on his face at first. He considered what she said, how it would relate to him and who she thought he was. Well, he wasn't the most sensitive person, he knew, but he wasn't completely insensitive. "Being half-dead does not necessitate heartlessness," was all he told her, and then adopted his charming smile again right after.
At her comment pointing out the coming arrival of the two newbies, Necro glanced over at them. "Indeed, it seems they are approaching." His state, his mood, had switched again, so easily. He favored the fluidity with which he could converse.
Offering Flora a cocky grin again, Necro crossed his arms across his chest. "What do you mean? I am always nice," he teased, only shooting her a brief glance before returning his electric eyes to the young teenagers that slowly came closer.
-
He used his Ability for football. Ziva wasn't really sure how she should take it. On one hand, that was definitely cheating. She realized that that was probably the reason why she had seen him take some pretty hard hits and walk away without a scratch. He could just turn his skin to metal, and he'd feel nothing. On the other hand, though, was it really all that different than her going into the medical field with her Ability, her own Ability possibly being a "cheat" to become an excellent doctor?
Both of them were using their Abilities to help people. She knew how much entertainment could help people. Spending a lot of time on the web, she had read just about every article written about the "up-and-coming" Diego Rosales. She knew how football could impact people, could alter their feelings. Diego was giving young boys interested in soccer a role model.
"I... I don't know what to say," she told Diego, not meeting his eyes. She shuffled her feet a little bit, trying not to think about how adorable he looked with his head hung in shame and eyes downcast. She needed to look away from him, or she feared she might give in to certain primal and romantic urges, that, as she learned last Friday, did not lead to something good. Well. It didn't lead to something morally good...
Her face turned a little red, and she determinedly turned it away from Diego. When he mentioned the man who had offered his room, and then he said his next comment... Her heart gave a little flutter, and her eyes widened a little bit in surprise. It didn't feel...wrong. She figured it was probably best not to acknowledge it.
The two that Diego was herding her towards were wildly different, she noticed immediately. There was the gothic man, complete with deathly pale skin and pitch-colored hair, and then extraordinarily bright eyes. She could sense something off about him, but didn't really want to find out right now. The other person, a woman, had a sweet-looking face and brown skin. Her hair looked soft, and was hanging in a half-finished plait. Ziva knew one thing for sure: She would not be saying a word to either of these. They were both equally terrifying. So, she just kept her eyes down and stayed close to Diego.
Britters
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Posted: 2/1/2019 at 1:22 AM
Post #338
It was strange, Diego realized as he walked towards the guy who had offered up his room, because he'd thought he would feel more troubled after his confession. Of course, he'd also been quite sure that he would take his secret to his grave. Now Ziva knew, and perhaps the reason he didn't feel discomfited by it was because...it was Ziva. She had never judged him before, and he didn't expect her to start now. He actually started to wonder why he had never planned to tell her in the first place.
That was a lie though, wasn't it?
Upon waking up one morning and realizing that you suddenly had the ability to turn your skin into metal, you didn't just get up and send everyone in your life a fun text message to tell them about it. No, you hid it, just as Diego had. Sure, he'd heard the stories of people out there with superhuman abilities just like everyone else, but he had not asked for this. He hid, and he concealed, and he lied to everyone when they would ask him how he made it through rough games unscathed or about his nickname of "Lead Foot", because thats what you did when something like this happened to you...
It's what you did when you wanted to be normal.
"Hey," he said when that got closer to the other guy and the kind woman he was talking to, trying to sound more confident than he felt, his arm still tight around Ziva, "I, uh, wanted to thank you for offering your room. I'm not actually sure what's happening here, but I appreciate what you did." He had absolutely no idea about anything anymore, but he did still have his manners.
-----
With every step closer they took, Flora realized just how much more painfully obvious how yiung and scared the two new arrivals looked. She felt her heart ache for them but, when she saw how the two clung to one another, her feelings became a little mixed. On the one hand, she was glad that they had each other to lean on with everything that had happened to them, but it was a luxury pretty much no one that she knew here (and she knew pretty much everyone) had been given.
When she was finally able to put a name to this other emotion, Flora was startled to discover it was...jealousy.
It was such an ugly feeling, and so unfair to feel towards either of these two teenagers (for they couldn't be older than nineteen) that Flora felt ashamed of herself. She took an involuntary step closer to Necro, as though his presence could expel her demons. There was no telling exactly why she had subconsciously decided this to be the case, but she had run out of time to correct herself. She told resolutely at Necro's side, their sleeves nearly brushing against each other, and greeted Steel and Physic with a warm, friendly smile.
"Hello," she greeted them, her voice soft and kind, as comforting as a cup of your favorite beverage after a hard day, "Believe me it's no trouble. He excels at chivalry." She glanced at Necro out of the corner of her eye, her lips twitching upwards again into a slightly smirking version of her typical grin. "My name is Flora, this is Necro. It's very nice to meet both of you."
Too young...they were both way too young to have this life thrust upon them. They both seemed to be holding up well, but there would be much more for them to absorb later, that much Flora knew. It wasn't her place to tell them anything though, and so she wouldn't...
Edited By Britters on 2/1/2019 at 1:41 AM.
Creativity
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Posted: 2/1/2019 at 7:42 AM
Post #339
Everything about this place was straight out of a fantasy novel, Ziva realized. And she knew that fantasy novels usually ended well...didn't they? In every one she'd read, the heroes had been able to escape the grasp of the evil people they were being confined by. And she had read a lot of fantasy novels, among other novels. But still... This was different. This was real-life. She was not some ambitious, courageous protagonist, she was... Ziva. She was a nerd. A geek. Physically weak. It was with a sinking feeling that she realized she'd likely never make it out of here.
The woman they were near seemed nice enough, she thought. But, the way in which she stood so close to the gothic man - Necro, she had called him, which was an awful name in and of itself and could certainly foretell nothing good - was off-putting... Did she not feel how strange, how dark this man was?
As they had gotten closer, the feeling had only increased in intensity. Ziva found herself leaning even a little closer to Diego. Necro most definitely had something wrong with him. Something...not good. She knew, if she concentrated, and maybe touched his skin, she could figure it out, but she didn't want to. She definitely needed to get away, though.
It didn't help that Diego's little comment replayed in her head. It was sweet, but no matter how nice it made her feel, she knew that it really wasn't appropriate. Looking around the compound desperately, she tried to find an escape. She found it rather quickly in a building with the word "Infirmary" printed on the side in plain black letters.
"I-I've got to go. I've got to... To help... I..." she tried to speak, to explain it to Diego, but her stress and her anxiety about these people and this place had begun to overwhelm her, and her fight-or-flight instinct was heavily weighted toward flight. With a bit of effort, she was able to wriggle out of Diego's grasp, and began walking briskly over to the Infirmary with her head down and arms around herself.
-
Necro knew very well that his views of things were heavily skewed from other people's. A counselor had once, when he was only nine years old, forced him to take an exam, monitored by a professional psychiatrist, to determine whether he was a sociopath or not. A police officer had stood by with small handcuffs in case the result was positive. It certain'y wasn't one of Necro's more pleasant memories... But he did remember, when his mother found out, she sued the counselor, and withdrew him from the school altogether, finding a better public school with more reserved counselors.
He was surprised when Flora spoke for him among Steel and Physic approaching. Surprised, but not altogether disgruntled. A charming smile remained on his face as she spoke, accommodating her comments.
"Indeed," he cut in once she was done. "Chivalry is only one of my many talents. My room, by the way, is in that building there," he pointed at the correct one. "The room number is seven."
It was a little strange, when the girl suddenly walked off, but Necro just shrugged it off as being not-his-business. He also noticed, long after Flora had moved closer to him, how near they were. But again, it hardly meant anything to him.
He was not the most sensitive person. But he understood the hell that this place radiated, and he understood that there were other people who had lives to get back to. As he had told Flora, this was not life. He could at least bond in that idea with the people who constantly ostracized him for being just a little different. What was that one thing that he had told Flora, when she first met Grizabella?
'Death by any other name would still be so ostracized.'
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 2/3/2019 at 12:45 AM
Post #340
The fact that this place, this scenario, was reminiscent of many of the books he as Ziva liked reading was not lost on Diego. He was an avid reader, not that you'd have known it if you'd observed him at school. In fact, books were what had brought Ziva and himself together. Well, perhaps that was stretching things a bit.
It had really started because she was being bullied and Diego 6had stepped in, but in the process she had dropped her things on the ground and he'd stopped the help pick them up. He hadn't intended on saying much to her, but he'd spotted one of her books, a particularly obscure favorite of his and without stopping to think about it he had begun asking her about it. This had kept them talking long enough that the rest was, as they say, history. Their bond had been struck amidst paper and ink, but it had ended up going so much further.
"Thanks," he said again to Necro, frowning because he could practically see the anxiety coming off of Ziva in waves, "So exactly what...huh, Z? Ziva!" He was startled to say the least when Ziva suddenly disengaged herself from his grasp and began to stalk off in the direction of one of the buildings.
There was a moment, brief though it was, where Diego considered running after her. He even took a few steps in the direction Ziva had run off in. However, he knew that look, knew that posture as well as he knew the football stats of his favorite players. She was capable of taking care of herself, she knew what she was doing...probably. He stood there for a moment, undecided as to whether to follow her anyway, but that would mean abandoning the conversation he'd started with Flora and Necro which seemed...impolite.
"Sorry about that," he murmured distractedly, running his hand through his dark curls which were shot through with gold and turning back to face the other two, "I...she's...its a lot to take in." It was a lame finish he knew, but he hoped they'd both be understanding. "Anyway, I'm Diego...or am I Steel now? How does that even work?" So many questions, but the answers seemed less important now without Ziva by his side.
-----
Flora
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