[color=turquoise]Cinera
[u]Day 17 - Afternoon - Lvl 13[/u]
[@Tracyarmav]
Cinera heaved a sigh as she finished changing into her new clothes - a cute green tank top and tan shorts with brown strappy sandals. Honestly, it was a bit girlier than what she usually wore, even in reality, but the clothing selections in this world seemed to be more geared toward attractiveness than comfort. She shifted awkwardly as she saw the low-cut top in the mirror, practically glaring at the tiny lace at the bottom. [i]I guess it isn't terribly uncomfortable... and it wasn't as bad as the other clothes...[/i] She was a bit embarrassed to wear this, but her fighting uniform was too form-fitting to be comfortable. In fact, this would probably be her first day not wearing it... But if they weren't going to be fighting for awhile, she wanted to wear something more relaxing. [i]I miss my over-sized t-shirts, though...[/i]

As she attempted to brush through her tangled orange hair, Cinera was interrupted by some sort of cry outside. A... A scream? Her instincts kicked in as she immediately dropped the brush and ran to the window, prepared to help fight off any kind of danger there might be. As she flung open the window though, she didn't see any immediate threat in the alley below. In fact, it was just a single player standing there by theirself. What were they doing in the alley, anyway? [i]Well, it isn't any of my business...[/i] As she went to shut the window again though, she noticed the player's shoulders were bobbing up and down. They were... crying? She knew it still wasn't any of her business, but something ached in her chest to see someone crying by theirself. She was brought back to that first day in the game, when she wandered around in her cloak and cried by herself, afraid to take one wrong step. That seemed unlikely this far into the game, but whatever the case they seemed to be in a lot of pain. She couldn't just leave somebody who was hurting, like that.

[b]"Hey... Are you okay?"[/b] She called out to the person below. They did not seem to hear her, though, as they suddenly started walking, heading out of sight. [b]"H-Hey!"[/b] They still didn't seem to hear her, and she wondered if she should chase after them. [i]I don't want to pry...[/i] Sighing, she closed the window and picked up the brush, once again attempting to fight the massive tangles in her hair. Still, the name floating above his avatar stuck in her head. [i]Edgar, huh... He probably just needs time to deal with whatever he's facing...[/i] Something in her felt guilty for not chasing after him, but surely he had comrades who could pick him back up, again. [i]Hopefully...[/i][/color]

[hr]
[color=red]ScarletRain
[u]Day 17 - Afternoon - Lvl 15[/u]
[@Zelosse][@Haeo][@BlackPanther]

Scarlet shut her eyes tight as Dan hugged her tight, allowing herself to just cry. As embarrassed as she was to have broken down like this, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Sometimes a person just needs to cry, and be held, and told that everything will be alright. Especially a young child trapped in a death game that has already left her half-blind. This moment was extremely comforting, and exhausting. If she had been younger and wasn't in front of her teammates, she might have fallen asleep in her uncle's arms. He slowly released her though, uttering words that she really needed to hear. They did care for her... She had known that, but hearing it like this made it feel more real.

At the mention of a wedding, Scarlet flushed red, only to be squished in the middle of the two burly men as her grandpa gave them both a tight hug. She couldn't breathe for a moment, but it was a good kind of breathless. She laughed a bit as he released them, gently wiping the remaining tears from her face. Everything felt so calm and warm in this moment, very much like how it used to be... She wondered if things had really changed so dramatically, or had she just been a finicky teenager all along? That question would probably never be answered. But still, she was happy. Nothing could make up for the lost time, but she wanted to try and grow up; she didn't want to be a stubborn brat forever. Her cheeks flushed red at her grandfather's comment. [b]"H-Hey! I'll get a boyfriend! Someday..."[/b] What, did he think she couldn't? [b]"If they can't handle me, then maybe I'm just too good for them."[/b] She gave her signature playful grin. Of course, it was too early to be thinking about any of this, especially since she was already embarrassed by this whole ordeal. [i]Stupid old farts...[/i]

Of course, when Dom explained to her about not blaming herself, she sort of glanced to the side, rubbing her arm. [b]"Yeah..."[/b] Her voice was quiet as she responded, not wanting to press the matter further. Honestly, after all of that she didn't feel like opening up about how she still blamed herself, a bit. Her grandfather had always told her not to, and that people just make stupid choices, but she secretly still felt like the undesirable child to her parents. It was unusual for both birth parents to leave their child behind, wasn't it? Had she really caused them that much trouble? [i]I won't dwell on it, though... I've got my Grandpappi and Uncle Dan. I'm... I'm okay...[/i]

Pushing the negative thoughts away, she waited for her party to come join them, only to be surprised as Edgar flashed a little finger and left. [i]What the hell?[/i] Dom and Smart had apologized, hadn't they? She was sort of irritated to see how unreasonable he was being, but something about it didn't surprise her. He had been kind of a snarky asshole since they first met, and it really rubbed her the wrong way. He seemed to be reserved from the group, and it made her suspicious as hell. But Reaper at least seemed to forgive them, which brought her a lot of relief. Not only that, but he seemed to have made a bunch of belts while all of this was going on. [i]Wow... His composure is unreal...[/i]

As he explained, she silently noted the belt that matched the eyepatch and realized that each one was for a different person, including the old men. He seemed to want to take the reigns on this whole operation, and in her exhaustion she didn't feel like protesting that. However, she did give the old men a stern glance before quietly returning her eyepatch. It still felt vulnerable to her, showing the world her weakness, and the stats on the patch were pretty beneficial. Not only that, but after all of the crying and debris blowing, her eye was really hurting. The sunlight seemed to practically burn it. Putting the eyepatch back on didn't provide immediate relief, but she hoped it would. The pain barely showed in her expression. [i]Damn, that stings...[/i]

In this moment of high emotion coming to a close, even Reaper seemed to be close to the breaking point. Surely he had something confront him after all of that, but something about the look in his eyes told her not to touch it. Even if the old men decided to say something stupid or ask about it, she felt like she knew her partner a bit better after all of this; he obviously didn't want to discuss it. Maybe she would send him some hints that he could talk about it to her if he wanted, but right now she wouldn't bring it up. The question of his mask did come to mind, though. [i]I wonder if that mask really is just for show...?[/i] Something in her eye burned again, this time making her wince just ever-so-slightly as she reached up to touch the patch.[/color]