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[img]http://i.imgur.com/Fb1UXSA.png[/img]      [img]http://i65.tinypic.com/21o8tg4.png[/img]
[h1][color=9e0039]Angélique[/color] and [color 33ec06]Marcus[/color][/h1]


[hr]𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘   / /   𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥   / /   𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕆𝕦𝕥𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕥: 𝕆𝕓𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℝ𝕠𝕠𝕞 𝟚   / /  𝟙𝟟𝟚𝟝[hr][/center]

Angélique watched as everyone mingled with each other, her question left unanswered as everyone seemed to be discussing with each other. From one corner, Christmas and Lilianna were being drama queens about who would bear the burden of healing.
 
[color=9e0039][i]Such stupidity. If they weren't so stubborn about making themselves feel good about bearing the scar of being important, they'd realize Kusari could just take that small cut and heal herself in a matter of seconds.[/i][/color]
 
On the other side, basically right next to her, a group had formed around a bed-ridden Siena, obviously all worried about her state. Had she not been so moody and analyzing what was happening around her, Angel would've been by her friend's side, worried about her. Instead, she was all alone, as if no one was caring about how the raven-haired Aberration was feeling.
 
[color=f7976a][i]You are simply a temporary ally to those people, a mere tool to achieve victory. You have defeated half of the opponents by yourself, and yet no one pay attention to your welfare. You deserve better, and those people don't deserve you.[/i][/color]
 
Angélique remained silent, her head lowered as she brought her knees to her chest. She wanted to deny everything that she had been thinking, but part of herself envied Siena for being surrounded by friends, while Angel was left by herself. She tried so hard to make her team win; giving a few orders to her teammates before managing to defeat on her own both Chris in his Dragon form and the immortal Kusari. To be left out like this as she had woken up, it dealt a strike to both her pride and her feeling of camaraderie towards her teammates and her would-be friends.
 
With a depressed and bitter look on her face, Angel's eyes wandered to the monitors, showing highlights of the skirmish between the two teams as they viciously fought each other for the promise of not attending school for a week and to prove who was superior.

Oh; this was going to be interesting. Marcus stood a fair distance away from the little group that was awkwardly formed. He had to turn around and literally cup his mouth to prevent a laugh from escaping as Siena hand fed the boy a potato chip. This was the most awkward thing he'd ever seen - and one of the most hilarious if the tears that were threatening to roll down his eyes were any indication. Maybe he'd tell his roommate about the hand-feeding connotations later; it'd be the nice thing to do, right? [i]Right?[/i]

The stirring of his own teammate distracted him, and he turned to where Angel had previous been sprawled out. He would have laughed at her completely askew appearance, were it not for the fact that; A. He didn't want to get shouted to death, and B. She'd basically been stomped by a dragon and then Kusari. At least, that was what he assumed happened.

"[color 33ec06]We managed to pull through and win![/color]" Marcus said in response to her question. "[color 33ec06]One whole week of not attending shitty fake-classes. What a prize![/color]" he added, scooting his chair a little bit closer to allow for adequate conversation.

[color=9e0039]"Yay~..."[/color] Angel sarcastically answered with a clear lack of enthusiasm
 
Was that really a victory? Still staring at the screen, the young woman paid close attention to all the details about the mishaps that had happened during the battle. Seeing Marcus being dealt bone crushing blows and dumped on filth, Grant removing Sander's clothing, the latter then running around naked with Christmas on his shoulder, herself being pushed around by a Dragon, Angélique felt bitter. 
 
Watching as she bled out profusely to the point of fainting in the middle of the game, there could be no words to describe how pitiful she looked. Had it been a real battle, she would've already bled out to death out there like a dog, yet another corpse to add to the list of those who had already died and disappeared at USARILN East.
 
Again, was it really a victory? Perhaps, but it sure felt hollow somehow to her.

Marcus sighed inwardly. He had an idea of what she was feeling right now. Being dumped at the sidelines and basically left for dead; it wasn't a great situation to be in - rationalizing it was even harder. Sure, there was the  extra benefit of this being a controlled situation, but once again - hard to rationalize it. In a real battle, they'd probably all be dead. But in a real battle, they would have naturally been more cautious. 

A slight chuckle to himself. Now he was the one overthinking things.

"[color 33ec06]Couldn't have done it without you. Hell, you took down a freakin' dragon all by yourself![/color]" he said, trying to add a little bit of positivity to the silence that hung heavy in the air. He watched the screens himself for a moment, pondering the sullen scene. "[color 33ec06]You want anything? They've been kind enough to provide snacks while we recover![/color]" he finally said, nodding his head in the direction of the food table.

Angel was somewhat taken aback by Marcus’ sudden encouraging words and offer. Maybe, just maybe, she was wrong in accepting the fact that she was left for granted. Well at least not everyone in this room. But the bitterness of this whole situation pushed back Marcus’ kindness away and made the black-haired X-mark more focused on the negative aspects given.
 
[color=9e0039] “I’ve been careless… If this had been against a real dragon, I would’ve been dead. There’s no point of stunning a monster if there’s no one else to take it down. I was lucky that this was just a [i]game[/i].” [/color]
 
She paused, pondering over what this supposed game was about. This was meant to be a training exercise, to somehow simulate a battle situation. Yet somehow, everyone, herself included, were goaded into using their powers against each other to come out on top. This wasn’t a game. It was a lie, a makeshift excuse to evaluate how every students would fare against each other using their abilities. 
 
Angel shook her head in response to Marcus’ offer. [color=9e0039]“Kindness my ass...” [/color] She didn’t feel like eating anything, especially if it was offered by the dickheads who organized this game in the first place. 

"[color 33ec06]That's a fair point you got there.[/color]" Marcus said, chewing and swallowing another bite of cookie. "[color 33ec06]You would have certainly been dead if this had been against a real dragon. But I'd like to think that against a real dragon, we'd be better prepared, maybe have some actual weapons, not be restricted to non-lethal.[/color]" he said, his words echoing the argument his brain had just made.

"[color 33ec06]There's absolutely no reason to compare this to actual combat. In real combat, we wouldn't be trying to snatch flags, or dividing ourselves without backup.[/color]" he said, counting off his points on his finger. "[color 33ec06]You're beating yourself up comparing apples and oranges; I can tell you you're not going to become a very successful orchid manager like that.[/color]" he said, grinning.

"[color 33ec06]And hey, I've sampled the snacks. I'm pretty sure they're not poisoned. Sixty-five percent sure, [i]at least[/i].[/color]"

Angélique remained silent, slowly processing everything his teammate we telling her. Maybe he was right, and she was wrong. Maybe she was overthinking things. Maybe she was trying too much to prove her capabilities to everyone else, prove that she can lead a team, and prove that she had the strength to back up her allies if not take out her opponents by herself. 
 
But still, wounds had been made, trust and friendship had been put to the test in this game. Had this game been beneficial at all to everyone? Something had changed inside Angélique back there. She could not tell what it was exactly, but it felt dark and spoiled. She was in no mind to laugh at Marcus attempts to crack a few jokes, wondering if the guy was too optimistic for his own good, or simply if she was the one with a stick shoved too deep up her ass. 
 
[color=9e0039]"Maybe..."[/color] Angel was unsure what to answer. Marcus' words had begun to spread doubts into her own thoughts, slowly cracking that wall of negativity that was plaguing her. What was the point of keeping up that angsty face at the boy who obviously tried to cheer her up?

"[color 33ec06]You sure you don't want anything? This is the closest you're gonna get to room service![/color]" Marcus said, pressing the attack. Angel seemed to have at least lightened up a little bit. Now was time to either bring in full around, or annoy the piss out of her. Either option fit well for him, really.

"[color 33ec06]I promise I'll only lightly chuck snacks at your head, and I promise I'm clean; despite what the monitors would have you believe.[/color]" he added.

[color=9e0039]"No... I'm okay."[/color] Angel repeated, only that this time, a faint crack of a smile formed onto her lips. She stood silent for a moment, her gazing returning back to the monitors. [color=9e0039]"Thank you..."  [i]for cheering me up[/i][/color] she trailed off, the remaining of her statement however remaining buried within her mind.

There we go. A faint smile across the face. That was the kind of thing he liked to see. 

The world had ended, everything had gone to shit. Most of the people that they knew were probably dead. Less than a week ago, two of their peers had gotten slaughtered. Yet, they were able to sit here and at least smile. He of all people understood the value of that - if people sat around and moped, they'd dig so far into their own self pity that they'd never be able to come back. Morale mattered now, more than ever. If that was a job he had to take, then he was gonna do the best he could, dammit.

"[color 33ec06]Anytime. Fist-pump pals gotta stick together![/color]" he said, grinning.

Fist-pump pals? What might he be referencing to? As Angel searched through her memories, she suddenly remembered about that night, a few days ago, when they were brought onto their first battlefield, on the very first day they had arrived at USARILN. She could remember now when everyone got out of the trucks and were divided into their own respective teams to take out separate groupings of monsters, Angel had raised her fist to the sky as she yelled to the other teams to come back alive. The only one who had acknowledged and returned that sign was in fact the scarred young man speaking with her right now.
 
Her faint smile slowly grew into a faint grin of her own at the sudden realization. 
 
[color=9e0039]"Yeah... this whole class need to."[/color] Angélique added to Marcus' statement, her sense of unity slowly returning to her.

"[color 33ec06]They'll come around.[/color]" Marcus said, starting to turn his chair back to the screens. "[color 33ec06]I'll let you rest; I imagine being The Fearsome Dragon-Slayer; Rescuer of Princesses and Random Articles of Clothing takes a bit out of you.[/color]" he said, giving her one last smile and turning back to the show.

Angélique nodded before chuckling at the titles given to her by her teammate, until she heard the last one and raised an eyebrow at him.
 
[color=9e0039]"Wait... what do you mean [i]Random Articles of Clothing[/i]? You've got something to say against my wardrobe?"[/color] 

"[color 33ec06]What?[/color]" Marcus said, stopped in his tracks by Angel's final line of questioning. "[color 33ec06]Nono![/color]" he said, shaking his head defensively. "[color 33ec06]T-the dragon-kid's clothes! Because he had to strip. And I assumed you grabbed them after you fought! I've got nothing against your wardrobe! I imagine it's quite stylish - especially when it's not full of holes and covered in blood![/color]"

Marcus stammered his way through an apology, not quite sure if it counted as a save or not.

[color=9e0039]"Oh... I see. I'm sorry, I guess I have misunderstood you. No, in fact I just took off... well... ripped the flags off his clothes."[/color]  Angel replied, giggling nervously. She must've looked like an idiot to him now. [color=9e0039]"Guess no matter how much time I have spent outside my community, I still have much to learn about English and your sayings."[/color]  she tried to explain, hoping her ignorance would make her sound less stupid.

"[color 33ec06]Ehhhh, simple mistake! No worries![/color]" Marcus said, letting out a small breath, and giving a dismissive hand wave. Little things like that happened all the time - no point in getting all worked up about it. Still, he mentally kicked himself - he was legitimately worried for a moment that Angel was about to blow up on him. All this talk about community and teamwork was going to get destroyed if he got all scared just because she had a different mark on her than he did. Teammates, friends, no matter the little tattoos they'd been given.

Seemed like Marcus took it well. Good. The screamer Mage didn't want to have any sort of misunderstanding or animosity with the only guy that had bothered to check up on her after this grueling game. Angel nodded and rested her back against the wall behind her, legs crossed and hands resting behind her head. It would seem like the next match was about to begin soon, and Angel's eyes turned towards the monitors, intending to analyze the two other teams as much as she could.