SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: THE ETERNAL NIGHT

[Star Kirby]

"Eh?! Oh! Um, hey!" Lena jumped slightly as Lavender called out a greeting, and quickly waved back. "Not a lot of people around, are there?"

She scanned the small room, giving each person a quick glance. There was that person... Who was banging his head against the wall for a second? Lena winced; that looked like it really hurt. What if he got a concussion!? He could go into a coma! Comas were bad, he might never wake up, and she was here the whole time and couldn't, didn't do anything about it! Snap out of it! Lena shook the thought off. It was stupid anyway, he only smashed his head once. Stupid paranoia.

The next person was the only other girl. She seemed nice, if a bit rude to guys. Maybe it was just guys in general? If so, Lena really didn't blame her. The first one was someone who liked hitting his head against walls, apparently, and the other one...just seemed really really weird. It was some sort of "aura" thing that surrounded him. That, and he looked like he'd been sucking on a lemon for the last hour, glaring at everything and everyone.

Ack, enough staring! They'll think I'm weird, and it's rude! She gave a slight smile to each of the people in the room, and sat back in her chair. Jeez, my hair got messed up again... Lena sighed, and pulled the red ribbon from her hair, letting it hang loose for a moment before tying it up again properly in her usual style of a half ponytail.

[Xartarin]

"Yeah, of course I am," Seth said. To be honest, as a detective Seth didn't have much experience dealing with adolescents. But Seth needed this job right now, and it WAS recommended to him by a suspicious stranger in a black cloak. If that didn't say 'business opportunity of a lifetime', nothing did. Besides, if it didn't work out, Seth could quit and work in a Japanese McDonalds where they sold hamburgers with seven patties.

Suddenly, Seth realized that he wasn't quite sure what this job was. "So," Seth said nonchalantly, "What exactly does this job require? I was given a... vague description." No description. "Just for clarification, really."

((I am making way too many jokes about Japan in my RP posts.))

[William]

Fear of the Dark... Fear of the Dark! I have a constant fear that something's always near.
Fear of the Dark. Fear of Daaaaaark. Have a phobia that someone's always there!
Was what Kon would have heard if he was paying any attention to the song blasting on his earphones. Instead, he read the lips of Lavender and later Lena, seeing they weren't saying anything in particular. Except for Lav who insulted Victor awfully. Conrad found that amusing so he sat right on his chair to look at the other guy's expression, waiting for him to explode somehow. Instead, he saw Lena letting her hair down. He couldn't help but stare at her as she put it back in place.

Slowly and patiently, with an extremely serious look on his face, he removed both earpieces, put them in his pocket alongside the cellphone, took a deep breath and started saying: "So. All of you guys are part of the Exchange Students thing? My name is Conrad Abbot... Or Kon, for short. I came here with the Della Pontes school, and I--" He was interrupted by the door suddenly opening wide and slamming against the wall.

A girl with a playful smile walked in. She had waist-long black hair with part of it tied down in a braid, wore a gray suit coat that looked somewhat too big for her, and had piercing dark eyes. She also wore a pale blue shirt under the coat, and further down, she had a rather short ocean blue skirt with black linning on the bottom. She wore high-heel black shoes and extremely high stocking that reached just under the skirt. "Hi!" She said, raising a white-gloved hand. "I'm Julia. How are you guys doing?" The girl joyfully added, making her way to the chair exactly between Victor and Conrad, which still left a good handful seats between each. This Julia girl wasn't possibly older than the others, probably maybe younger than all of them, too. She looked at all four people, that smile painfully shining amongst all the hatred that had added up during the short period they were there. It looked like she noticed it, though, so the smile diminished a little and she asked to no-one in particular: "Wow, what's with all this tension? Have you guys been fighting or something?"

Kon stared at this newcomer girl with even wider eyes. She isn't even THAT pretty, is what passed his mind, but this little she has spoken was so... So... Soooo... I don't know. ARGH. Come on, work brain!! "H-hi", Conrad managed to say a bit shook up. He cleaned his throat and proceeded. "Hi. Yeah, we just kinda... I don't know." FUUCK "My name is Conrad, by the way. People call me Kon, with a 'kay'."
"Hi, Kon-with-a-kay~", Julia said, smiling widely, her eyes even closed. "Nice to meet you. In fact, it's nice to meet all of you guys! What are your names?" She then looked from Conrad to Lavender to Lena to Victor, using the same smile she had on when she first entered the room. She crossed her legs and looked at them the other way around, this time stopping at Lavender.
Kon scratched the back of his head, puzzled if he had made a good first impression or if this girl was just sorta crazy.

((Rick, I'll have to talk to you in the chat later, hmkay.))

[Rick]

Lavender shook her head, grinning away while the new girl wasn't looking at her. The kid in the hoodie really knew how to stumble over himself in front of girls. As for the new girl herself, Lavender had to resist the urge to just up and hug her, she just seemed so damn cute! The gloves gave off the impression of a snooty rich girl or something, but so far she seemed to be avoiding that behaviour. Her happiness seemed contagious, really, much unlike the git in the corner with the weird hat.

"Allo, I'm Lavender Feare!" Lavender piped up happily, shifting in her seat to face Julia. Her trip so far had been pretty entertaining, admittedly, if only because the people she'd met seemed like pretty decent people. Mostly. "We didn't have a fight, not yet anyway. Moodytits," and here she jerked her head in the scowly git's direction, "Hasn't done anything but grimace and scowl at us since he came in." she continued.

Maybe now Moodytits (as Lavender resolved to call him from now on) would start talking, now that a pretty little thing came in.
______________

"Well, this dormitory acts as a stopping point for exchange students coming into Yukimura. They'll be here for a few days as their respective schools sort out their living arrangements. Plus, this dormitory is also for people, again usually teenagers and children, who are having their living arrangements sorted out. Normally these people have a place booked ahead of time by a relative in Yukimura. Anyway, you'll be given a group of teenagers to watch over for as long as they are here. There'll be another person there to look over them with you, so don't worry about them getting too wild or anything."

"So, is that a suitable enough description? We'll give you a place to stay, too, if you so need it." the clerk went on.

[Xartarin]

"Okay, that's what I thought, just making sure," Seth said, continuing to feign competence. So, I'm a glorified babysitter, then? Seth thought, and continued, "Alright, I'll take the job. Just tell me where I need to sign." Don't ask for my identification, don't ask for my identification, don't ask for my identification, Seth pleaded mentally behind a straight-laced face of seriousness and sunglasses.

((I think my posts will just get progressively shorter and shorter until Seth finally finds some other main characters. Maybe he should've been the captain of the plane everyone else was flying on or something.))

[Aki]

Augh, this was so incredibly stupid! All of the people here seemed like such morons, except for maybe the girl who had managed to make hoodie boy go head over heels (followed shortly by head into wall) and only because she hadn't done anything yet for Victor to take a silent mental jibe at. Already this Julia girl's overabundant energy had him on edge. Hoodie boy succeeded in making a fool of himself yet again. He silently mused if the moron would melt in front of any girl at all. I wonder how the boy will react to the teachers at this school...?

Of course, there was the other matter of Lavender being a pain in the butt. Perhaps one of her ancestors had done something worthy of the family name of Feare, but right now this girl wasn't really frightening as much as she was irritating. True, he hadn't done much since arriving here other than glare at people, but considering that he wasn't amongst a very kind group anyway this was somewhat understandable.

"Bryce," he said gruffly, although it looked more as if he were introducing himself to his shoes than to Julia. "Victor Bryce."

And that was all he said.

[Star Kirby]

Lena looked to the door as Julia entered. "Hey there!" she said cheerfully, giving a wave. "I'm not sure what happened either. But maybe it's normal for them?" Lena added as a slight joke. ...Wow, isn't that kind of...fancy? All those clothes... And who wears gloves and stockings in this day and age? She's even wearing heels. I guess wherever she comes from, they really like clothes. Does their school even have a dress code? Reminding herself it wasn't polite to stare, Lena smiled again at the newcomer, nodding her head. She turned to glance at the reactions of the other students.

The moody guy, "Victor" still seemed grumpy. "Lavender" was really cheerful about meeting the new student. The guy who had smashed his head into the wall, "Conrad", apparently, seemed slightly shell-shocked. Is he allergic to girls or something? He kinda did the same thing when I came in... What if he gets an allergic reaction?! Does he have an epi-pen?! He could go into shock and- Wait wait, that's stupid.

[William]

Julia crossed her left arm under her chest, resting her right elbow on her left hand and leaning her head against her right hand, a soft smile on her lips all the time. The pose looked like it came straight out of some detective movie. She listened to Lavender speaking, nodding every once in a while; then the other girl said something about "Moodytits" and Julia just lowered her right arm, now laying it entirely over the other one. She faced Victor when he introduced himself, looking to his eyes and then lowering her look down to his chest. Even after Lena spoke, she was still staring at Victor's chest area awkwardly.

"Erm", Conrad said, trying to break to silence. He slid a bit forwards on his chair, seemingly about to get up. "Julia, what are you...?"
"Hush", the girl interrupted, raising a finger, still looking to Victor. "'Moodytits' are something I've never heard of. I want to see what's special about them." The room was plunged in silence for close to a minute, part of it coming from the sheer incredulousness of that situation. Everyone could clearly listen to the people walking out of the airplane right outside of the nearly closed door.

Kon stood up and walked to Julia's side. "Listen. That's enough, just leave him alone." He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed gently. "'Moodytits' was just refering to how he's moody and..." Conrad looked up to Victor and then to Lavender. "Yeah, miss Feare apparently likes to make jokes about people's sexuality or something."
Julia looked up to him and then sighed. "Pft, you are no fun." She sat up straight in her chair and shooed him out of her way. Conrad grimmaced and sat in the chair near to her this time. "So", Julia added, apparently forgeting all about the scene that had just rolled, "You guys are here in Yukimura for that Exchange thingy, right? I'm actually for something close to that, but not exactly."
"Well then, elaborate", Kon said, doing a commonly italian hand gesture.
Julia shook her head and put her index finger over her mouth, patting the side of her coat. "That's a secret and I'm really not supposed to tell anyone." She leaned back against her chair, still looking over to Kon. "To be honest, I'm just a student. I'm here to learn and improve my skills for my profession. No, I can't tell you what is my profession", she added, as soon as Conrad opened his mouth. She looked around the other people in the room. "I'll understand if you guys don't want to talk to me, what with I having to be secretive about what I do, but I'd like to be able and just take it easy for the time I'm with you. It's not really my fault I can't talk, anyway, I'd have to kill you all if I did."
"So you're a secret agent and you know kung fu," Conrad interupted, "And as such we aren't supposed to ask about you or we'll really end up dead or at least with a few broken bones." Julia shrugged. "HAH! She didn't deny it, that means I nailed it!" He made a short victory dance on his chair until he noticed how stupid it looked. "Alright, nevermind that. Hum..." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "We're not supposed to talk about Julia being a spy, then let's talk about something else. What do you guys like doing? I'm a hacker." He said that so casually it almost didn't sound like a bad thing.

((Let's see if this does better than the previous one.))

[Rick]

Throughout the long, awkward silence, Lavender silently quaked with laughter. This girl was fantastic. She didn't seem all there in the head, but that didn't stop her from being hilarious. "You are just adorable" Lavender said to Julia, grinning. "And I don't know what you're on about," she said, indicating Conrad, "I wasn't jabbing at his sexuality, whatever he's into." She flicked her eyes towards Victor briefly, wondering if his scowl would become so pronounced that it would melt the walls and her face.

"Well, I'm from jolly old London, myself. Didn't do half-bad in school, fought a lot wiv the gits around there, but that's normal. Apparently I was good enough for my school to swap me out with some fancy-pants Yukimuran twat, probably hoping they'd set an example. Poor kid's gonna get murdered over there..." she said, her mind drifting to her friends back at home. "Shouldn't be getting wistful already, you haven't even been here an hour!" she thought.

It was then that she remembered Lena, and called to her, "Oh yeah, what's your name?".

[Aki]

It was funny, really. Most of the time, if someone decided to go out of their way to help you out of a bind, you would normally thank them for their help. It wasn't exactly necessary to say that Victor was not the kind of person who would do that most of the time. Take into account that he was being saved by, of all people, the boy in the emo hoodie who spent his time ogling girls and them ramming his head into walls afterward...

"Thanks, but no thanks," snarled Victor, standing up at once. He turned to Hoodie boy, eyebrows furrowed crossly. "I'm not sure if you've realized, but I can take care of myself." Although, perhaps that was obvious just by looking at him; his jacket was torn in more places than many people cared to count, and the tears probably weren't all the result of reckless forest excursions. Then again, his thin body didn't exactly suggest that there was a lot of muscle mass in his body.

Of course, he wasn't about to hurt Conrad for doing what he believed to be right. After all, Victor may have been really apathetic toward people in general, but he still had a basic sense of what was right and what was wrong. He really wanted to pummel somebody's face in, but that would have made a bad impression. Buuuut, he supposed it wouldn't matter in a few seconds.

Without looking, Victor deftly fired a clearly displeased arm into Lavender's face. Perhaps that would teach the stupid chatterbox a lesson, although he doubted it very much so. "Forget the exchange program," he said, seeming more irritated than angry. "I can pay for the ticket back, so I'd say that I don't especially give a crap if this is the kind of treatment I'm getting at such a prestigious school." He threw the door aside with enough force to send it bouncing right back, and it would have hit the boy's face if he had not blocked it with his arm.

Without bothering to toss a look back into the room, he said merely, "I quit, kids."

And then he was gone.

[Star Kirby]

Now things were really getting kind of awkward. I didn't know people could want to kill each other this fast... Eek! That's really bad! Most of the people at her school had gotten along fairly well, whether they were the sporty types or the quiet ones who stayed in the library reading. It was rather jarring, to say the least, to see students at each other's throats faster than you could say "SOCAHTOA". Well, they're kind of...weird, to be honest. And show-offy. It was sort of true. Victor's personality really seemed like too much of an act; no one could pull off that sort of personality naturally, could they? As in, no one could seriously look like they hated the world that much without doing it on purpose, right?

And the Conrad guy, and Lavender too. It almost seemed like that they wanted to be the center of attention. Smashing heads into walls and calling out degrading nicknames seemed to all fall into that category. And of course, Julia was the worst (or best?) offender. It was probably shallow to make that assumption based on the just the clothes she was wearing, but what she said seemed to seal the deal, talking about a secret profession she had (what profession? She was a student, wasn't she? None of the jobs a sixteen year old could get were exactly secretive.) but refusing to actually say what it was. If she wasn't going to say anything, why bother telling? Haha, maybe I should be a psychologist. I'd probably be horrible at it though.

Lena was suddenly snapped out of her analysis of each student by Lavender's question. "Oh, me? Um, my name's Lena Lee. I've never been to Europe, what's it like th-!"

She stopped short as Victor suddenly threw a fist into Lavender's face, and stormed out the door. "Oh my god are you okay DO YOU HAVE A CONCUSSION are you bleeding? We have to get you to a doctor and and don't go into a coma because comas are bad and you won't wake up do you feel like you're falling asleep don't fall asleep because you're going to go into a coma are you dead?"

Lena paused for breath, then suddenly realized that Lavender was perfectly fine. She felt her face begin to heat up from embarrassment, and looked away from the other students. "S-so um, a-are you even allowed to quit the exchange student program like that?" she asked, trying to cover up her previous panicked tirade. I probably look like the biggest idiot ever now...

[Chocolate Kirby]

((Oh crap missed a lot while I was gone I really hope I can catch up dangit))

Outside the airport, Lorne watched as cars of many different colors went by. Was that one pink and lime green? Whatever, "it's only the beginning". But then he remembered something. Something seemingly important. Lorne ran through what his parents told him to do once he got here (they even made him take off his massive DJ headphones). He had to get to the airport, check. Get on and land in the right timed plane, check. Then he had to-craaaaap-had to go to a meeting or something for Exchange Students. A taxi was pulling in right in front of him, and he did the angel-and-devil-on-the-shoulders decision thing on whether he should skip or not. Sure, he hated people, but this was probably mandatory for him. In the end he picked the angel and turned back into the doors and began half walking half jogging back to the room where he was told to go.

And it was kinda weird because Don't Stop Me Now came on as he walked through the doors. It either meant "Meeting, don't stop me now I want to see my brother" or "People in my way, don't stop me because I have to get to this". Lorne was even whisper-singing it unconsciously as he thought it over and walked. Multitasking is bad for the brain, but he still did it.

His glasses slightly slid down and his sandals made this tiny squeak noise from the maneuvers he pulled to squeeze through masses of people. He was almost there, and he heard a crack from a door hitting somewhere ahead. The coast was cleared except for a peeved lookin' guy in a barely-wearable-because-there-was-more-holes-in-it-than-a-sponge shirt and somewhat off hat. Sure, this IS "the multi-cultural continent", but still... Well, he was wearing sandals, so he shouldn't be talking.

He continued singing his way to the doorway before cutting himself off. Sure, Queen was an awesome band, but everyone has different music opinions, and he didn't want to be judged on that.

What Lorne saw was kinda awkward. There were a few kids (barely, they were around his age). He noticed Julia's attire first, which was the oddest to him, then someone in a hoodie, another person wearing blue, and is that a purple scarf? Whatever man. He turned the volume down so even he could barely hear it (he was paranoid of other people listening to his music) and walked to a seat that wasn't too far away from the population but just far enough for him to feel okay. When he sat (the iPad made a somewhat loud noise against the seat before sliding into place), he exhaled, his face turning red, and looked around again.

It just seemed to be them, no adult or anything. Maybe this was just a time so they would have to get to know each other. Lorne let out a quiet sigh, he was somewhat shy, you know. Well, hopefully the whole "don't judge a book by its cover" saying was true and that this time would be a short one.

((Woo-hoo! Might update Lorne's profile, though.))
((EDIT: Welp, finished that, too!))

[Rick]

Lavender watched Victor get up and apparently start a tirade. A little temper tantrum, it seemed like. She was not expecting to nearly get slammed in the face, and the sheer surprise made me jump back from it. Right onto the floor, with quite the amusing look of shock and surprise on her face. Before she could angrily react, however, Victor was out the door. Lavender sat on the floor, her face screwing up in anger and her heart beating with rage, and leapt to her feet. She stamped angrily when she noticed Victor was gone and all, swearing to herself. "Some people, honestly..." she growled to herself more than anyone else.
She smiled a bit as Lena had a freak-out. "Jesus, Lena, I just fell over! Calm yourself down, I'm alright!" she said, trying to reassure her as she stood up.

Her smile and momentary embarrassment faded as she drifted back to the manner at hand; Moodytits revealed he was going to grow up alone and unloved. "I honestly don't know how he's going to make it in life if he can't take a little jab here and there. I wasn't even particularly mean, there was a lot worse things I could've said!" she said angrily to no-one in particular. Fuming, she got back into her seat and crossed her legs, sulking a bit. She did feel kind of bad, the son of a bitch could've just lost a dear family member or something and was going through a rough time.

"I don't think he can quit, honestly, but I doubt that'll stop him." Lavender said to Lena, her remorse shining through a bit. At this point, Lorne entered the room and sat down without a word, only sighing twice.

"Fantastic, another silent twat." Lavender thought to herself.

[William]

"What the frig!?" Conrad shouted when Victor swung his arm at Lavender. He quickly stood up, his chair falling sideways and turning the chair he was sitting on before over. "Hey, what the hell, man! You don't just-- Don't run away!" As the farmer-like boy walked out of the room, Conrad looked at him and then to Lavender, and back at the offender. He was already gone, so all Kon saw was the door clicking shut. "Agh, dammit. Lavender, are you okay?" He asked, looking at her as she stood up. "Okay, good. Wait for me, I'm gonna go talk to him... or drag him back!" Conrad ran to the door, and just as he reached for the knob, Lorne walked in. Agh!! Fat guy! He opened way for Lorne to pass, looked back and shouted "Be right back!" and ran out.


Julia watched the events roll without so much as twitching. When Lorne sat where Victor was before, she rubbed the back of her, eyes closed. "Highly doubt either of those two will come back without any wounds. 'Sentimental Cowboy' Bryce looked like he could break a few noses with enough easy, but Kon surely didn't look like the type of person who'd lie down just because of a broken nose or two..." Julia opened her eyes and paused for a bit. "I guess that didn't make enough sense, but yeeeah... You get the picture, right?" She shrugged, shaking her head slowly a few times, smile across her face. "So!" Julia announced, facing Lorne. "What is your name, new kid?" She opened a warmer, way less sarcastic smile to Lorne than the one she had had since 'Moodytits' happened. "How do you enjoy this group so far? Things have been really amusing!"


Outside, Conrad was a few meters behind Victor. He had unzipped his jacket, and breathed with some dificulty. The crowd of people leaving the walking around the airplane seemed to always get in his way, though they all avoided Victor. Haah... Okay, quick question. Why the fuck am I doing this? Who died and made me responsible for every prick who tries to punch a girl?

Kon pushed a kid over to may his way through, and the kid spilled some liquid he was drinking on the back of a tall man's suit who, as he turned around to see what had happened, slapped his briefcase on a woman's face. The woman was carrying all of her luggage tied over her backpack; she stumbled backwards, and her possessions started falling down for the pile. Cue a massive domino effect. The security arrived seconds later to stop the angry mob that had started to form, looking for whoever had started all of that mess, but Conrad was already nowhere to be seen.

"Hey! Bryce, you twat, stop running away!" Kon shouted, holding him by the shoulder. They had moved away from the main crowd and closer to the actual airport by now. Most people had run over to the domino effect, so Victor and Conrad were mostly out of sight. "I can understand getting angry and shit, but this is just stupid! You don't just flail your arm at a girl like that. You end up looking like a fool." Conrad stopped a moment to take his breath. "And more than that, what the hell are you going to do all alone in Yukimura? I just... I just don't think that you... Hum..." The boy stopped. His mind was blank. Nice time to forget how to speak. He looked away and scratched the back of his head. "You know, I don't care if you leave. It would just be a very cowardly act if you ran away like that." Kon crossed his arms, making the most serious face he could. What the frig am I doing, he thought, this is extremely out-of-character for me, even if I'm supposed to be one of the protagonists in this stuff. What a pain in the ass. "So, are you going back? At least give Lavender a chance to fight back. For all I care, you two could kill eachother. Just don't run away like that, it isn't very manly, you know." Kon whipped some sweat from his forehead and crossed his arms again, waiting for Victor's reply.

((This post should have been up for several days now. Blame the army.))

[Aki]

Victor noticed that Kon was, well, hot on his trail. Which was Kon's mistake number one. You don't run after Victor. Running after Victor was like running after an angry crocodile, which would be suicide, obviously, unless one's name happened to be Steve Irwin, in which case, feel free to replace the crocodile with a stingray. Of course, he didn't give any indication that he noticed, nor did it seem like he very much cared. Run after me if you like, hoodie boy. Not like I care.

A hand dropped down on Victor's shoulder, and instantly the teen wriggled away from Kon's grasp. Mistake number two. One does not touch Victor, except in a fist fight, in which case making contact with him would result in him making contact right back. Painful contact, of course. Of course, a lot of Conrad's words were going right over Victor's head; to be honest, Victor couldn't care less about this kid's opinion. He had better things to do than spend time with breast hunters. He did catch "you don't flail your arm at a girl like that" which meant that this loser still believed in stereotypes. Either that or he was the kind of dope who desperately wished he had a girlfriend and never got one.

There was one word that stuck in Victor's mind, though, that made him whirl around instantly, face twisted in unspeakable rage. Aaand mistake number three. Three strikes, you're out.

"Don't you call me a coward," he hissed, suddenly seizing Conrad by the neck of his shirt. He raised him into the air, the boy helpless to resist Victor's rage and frustration. "To be honest, I could not care less about what you do or what you say. It's. Not. Important. To me." For a moment, it almost seemed like Victor was going to fling the poor boy. "But don't you call me a coward. I know what battles are worth fighting and which ones aren't. You, on the other hand, don't seem to have that common sense."

He glared at Conrad for a few moments to make sure the words sank in, and then dropped him without another word. He remained standing, though, angry eyes fixed on Conrad's face. Eyes that said, scram, or get scrambled.

Because really, Victor did not want to fight. He just wanted to be left alone.

[William]

((Choc didn't post; screw him. I'm gonna move this on.))

Meanwhile, back in the airplane, an awfully young boy walked nonchalantly into the waiting room the others were. It was impossible for him to be over 5; his hair was short, curly and light brown, and he wore a winter coat that looked fluffier than a teddy.

He was so small and walked in with making so little noise that it took Julia a moment to notice him. When she did, though, she let out a loud "D'aww, so adorable!" and walked over to him, crouching by the kid, hands on her lap. "Hi there, little one! What are you doing here? Are you lost?"
The kid completely ignored Julia, though, and looked around the room. He looked at Lavender and then Lena and finally at Lorne. ((Triple L!)) He stared at the other boy for a few seconds, an incredulous Julia still crouching besides him. "Mistah!" The kid called out, poiting towards Lorne with one of his tiny fingers. "You don't have a cowboy hat, do you?" He tilted his head a bit to the side to try and see behind Lorne's head. "Nup. Okay, hang on a lil' bit."

As quickly as he walked in he went back out. From the gap in the door, it could be heard him saying "Miss, he isn't here, no, and I dunno where he's gone."
A familiar female voice replied: "Oh thank goodness. If I could never see that boy again it would be a real blessing. Now, give me your hand, we'll call the other ones out now, okay?"
"'Kay 'kay!" The boy said back. Right then, the flight attendant from a bit earlier walked in through the door, holding the boy's right hand. She scanned the room to make sure Victor really wasn't there, and then sighed in relief.
"Alright, everyone, thanks a lot for waiting here. If you would be so kind as to follow us to the airport, a taxi will be waiting for you. It will take you all to the dormitory, from where your schools' representant will pick you up as soon as they can. Your luggage has already been taken there, so no need to worry about that." The lady spoke in a rather relaxed but still very polite manner. "Shall we go, then?"
"W-wait! What about Conrad and Victor?" Julia questioned, standing back up. "They ran outside and it looked like they were about to kill eachother. If we're leaving the plane now, I don't wanna miss that!"
"Two people ran out?" The flight attendant counted everyone inside the room. "Oh yeah. I had forgotten mister McIntire was supposed to be here as well." The woman scratched her chin. "Hmm, that IS a problem. They can't have run too far away with the crowd walking outside the plane. Will you help me find them?"
Julia shrugged and looked at the others. "So, guy and girls, wanna see a dead body or two?" She smiled as she said that. It was a little creepy.

--------------------

Back to wherever Victor and Conrad are and a little back in time:

Okay, shit just got real, Conrad thought when Victor raised him from the ground. He instinctively grabbed Victor's wrist as tightly as he could, and designed a battle plan. I can kick him. Doubt he'll be so tough with a broken rib. Or a broken nose. Or broken nuts. TBH I could break many things from this position but I fear I may fall on my back when he lets me go. Now that would be bad and shameful.

Only after thinking all that stuff Conrad noticed Victor was actually talking. What the fuck is he talking about! I didn't call him a coward! "I didn't say you are a coward, you idiot!" Kon replied. "I said it's ridiculous for you to run away, your ACTIONS are cowardly! Different things, different things!!" When Vick finally let go of him, Conrad stumbled a bit to the side but managed to keep his balance. "Also, I know very well there are fights that don't deserve being fought," he added, dusting his collar, "But ones like that? Pfft. You were offended. I would punch her if she insulted me, too. But I wouldn't just punch her and run away. That probably just made her joke more about you." Kon closed his fists. "And if you're willing to swing your hand at someone for making fun of you, then why won't you go back and beat her up more, you prick?" Whatever the fuck I'm saying, it's not helping. When Victor looked at Conrad with those eyes, those evil eyes of his, Conrad smirked and gave back a look of come and make me leave, then.

After a few seconds locked in that stance, he decided it was best to make a truce instead, and Conrad grabbed his cellphone from his pocket. "Listen. If you don't want to go back, then I'm staying with you. You don't seem to have a phone right? Well, the people from my school have my number, so they could call me at any time and come pick me up. They could give you a ride to your school's... place, or let you call someone. How about that? It would be better than wandering around Yukimura all alone."
((I still gonna tune my playing as Conrad, but guess this is good enough.))

[Rick]

"Yep, another silent twat." Lavender thought as Lorne didn't respond to Julia's question. It was then that the little boy walked in, and Lavender could've laughed at how Julia got up right away to greet him. Turned out the kid was looking for Moodytits at the bequest of the poor flight attendant outside (bless her heart, having to put up with the usual shit airport workers got), and now they had to go look for him. Lavender silently called bullshit on the luggage thing (noting that her suitcase had not been whisked away by magical elves), but she always clung to her stuff anyway.

Julia was really making this trip worth it. "Hah, I do wanna see that. Maybe we can all jump in, too, for a laugh." she said, not really trying to hide that she wanted a go at Victor. Odds are, if Victor and Kon did start a fight, they'd be buried under security guards at this point. And as much as Victor seemed to build himself up as a hardass, there wasn't much anyone could do with five or six airport security guards hopped up on paranoia over possible terrorism crushing the wind out of their lungs.
_____________________

"Right, just sign here. And here's your room key, it's on the second floor." said the clerk, feeling all the better. Today was just his day, really. Everything just seemed....magical about it. "Your group of students should be arriving in a bit, you'd probably be better off greeting them now instead of tomorrow." the clerk continued.

((Apologies, Xar, I'm not exactly sure I can drag out the positively riveting experience of getting a job as a caretaker for angsty teens any better than I am now.))
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"I swear, that man has an unhealthy obsession with teenagers."
"I know, and it never helps that they rarely play along naturally."
"Constant vigilance, friend, constant vigilance. They can't be delayed much longer."
"I know...I'll report back shortly."

The robed man pocketed the glowing orb and glared angrily down from his perch (the railing on a higher floor) at the two teenage boys beneath him. It wasn't good of him to glower at them for being unable to deal with their emotional torments, but all the same, did they really have to make his job more difficult? The robed man weighed his options (intervening versus waiting and watching them kick seven shades of shit out of each other).

He mulled over it as Kon shouted angrily back at Victor.

He'd wait.

[Chocolate Kirby]

((Whoops, was on a boat trip all yesterday (didn't think it'd be ALL day). Oh well.))

Usually Lorne didn't have trouble hearing past the headphones with music on, but they WERE somewhat noise cancelling, and he missed Julia's question. Great, way to make a first impression.

And besides, pressure was growing in his ears anyways. So he decided to pause the music and take the headphones off for a while, where he rested them on his neck. "Sorry, I didn't really get-" Lorne started, but the little kid walked in. Lorne actually didn't like most children. Especially when they were at the age to know enough, but not know enough at the same time. But that one girl seemed to take a liking to him (she seemed very optimistic). In fact, he didn't know her or anyone's name here, and maybe she was saying THAT...or at least asking for his.

The kid looked at him and asked about a cowboy hat. He slightly shook his head "no" while the kids looked at him closer, then left. Maybe he was looking for that pissed guy that he passed when coming in.

Now a flight attendant came in and said that they could leave. Okay, so Lorne DID miss most of the time with the group, but what are ya gonna do? He was about to stand up when two names were mentioned, Victor and Conrad. Maybe the "cowboy" was one? Lorne seriously had to know these guys.

Then they were looking for a McIntire-wait, that was HIM. Lorne stood up and raised his hand slightly while twisting his wrist a little. "Um...Lorne McIntire is right here." At least he got his name out.

There's one person found, now two more they needed to find? He knew what the cowboy looked like, but not that other guy. Lorne would have to follow the rest of the group and pick up names later, he guessed.

[Star Kirby]

Lena breathed a quick sigh of relief as Lavender waved her off. "I-I, um, sorry." She muttered, turning around. "I, um, tend to panic when stuff like that happens... I'm sorry!"

Then the little kid walked in, asking for the violent guy. Aw, he's kind of cute! In the little kid way, I mean. And I guess it's time to go already? Well, the sooner I can actually do something, the better.

[Aki]

If Conrad was expecting an angry response, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

In Victor's mind, this was all a joke. He was too stubborn to be offended by anything Conrad said at this point. By now, he realized that Conrad himself was just a joke, a frock, something to say "Hey, doesn't that look stupid" at and then ignore. He didn't know why he bothered with this kid! Of course, Conrad didn't have to know that. He could still be placed under the impression that Victor was actually going to hurt him. Of course, Victor wasn't going to hurt him. Not unless Conrad hurt him first. After years of hallway fights, he'd eventually picked up that if someone else makes the first move, you can claim that you beat him down in self-defense. Of course, he'd still be dragged in by the scruff of the neck to the principal's office for attacking Lavender, but what did he care? Just another offense on the so-called permanent record that Victor knew didn't really exist. And even if they did, so what? College wasn't a big deal. He'd already decided that he'd live his life working in one of those national parks.

So in short, Victor could hurt this kid without really suffering the consequences. But even though he had no doubt in this mind that this kid would be far too easy to bowl over, he still didn't feel like it'd genuinely be worth his while.

"Staying with me?" Victor had been keeping up an irritated glare for quite a while, but at this, he couldn't help himself; he made a sound that started off as a snrk and exploded outward, eventually turning into a full-blown bout of idiotic laughter. "You? Stay with me?" he panted eventually, running short of breath. "Sorry, but I'm not into that. I've wandered schools alone more times than you can count, I doubt Yukimura is hardly any different." He paused for a moment to get his bearings together, and then he was cool and composed again. "Don't need it," he said, the gruffness returning to his voice. "Listen, you and I aren't exactly friends, you know. And I intend to keep it that way. Friends are the last thing I need; the more people you have involved in your life, the more complicated things get. And me? I like to keep my life simple." He sighed, exasperated.

"Humph. Well, if you came here to drag me back, then you'd better get dragging," he said at last. It wasn't that he'd had a change of heart and suddenly decided, Yukimura's the best place in the world! I'm going to be Lavender's best friend and it'll all be peaches and cream, raspberries and gumdrops! He had just grown bored and tired of talking with Kon, and to him, going back quietly was the best way out of the situation. "Go on! Let's get moving, kid. I haven't got all day, you know."