ใ๐น๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅใ ใ๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅใ ใ๐ผ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฅใ ใ๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ชใ
๐๐๐ก๐ฅ. ๐ , ๐๐๐๐ / / ๐๐๐ธโ๐๐โ ๐ผ๐๐ค๐ฅ / / ๐น๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ / / ~๐๐๐๐
Was five pounds worth of wings enough for three people? Though he had already finished cooking at this point, with five different platters of wings arranged on styrofoam plates, Brent couldn't help but wonder if they were better off with ten pounds instead. Or maybe he should toss up a salad...but who even ate salad? The arbiter tapped the back of the knife against the counter. The 'buy big save big' package of chicken wings he had purchased from the supermarket looked big, but now that they were crispy, sauced up, or what have you...
"Too small."A part of him wanted to cheat and just steal a ton of wings from the cafeteria, but cheating was for losers. Maybe the problem here was not taking advantage of those party-size bags of Lays that were on promotion? That would be something nice to munch on after the real meat ran out. But fries were a nice option as well. Would give him a chance to practice julienning potatoes as well, and the batter shouldn't take too long to prepare. Salt and pepper were in abundance anyways. Hm...
"Yo, Grant," Brent called, turning to face his perpetually bedridden roommate,
"Chips or chips?"While Brent was busy struggling over his enigma, Grant had been spending his own downtime comfortable in his bed, his back turned toward his roommate. Only when his name was called did Brent elict any movement from Grant, who turned his head just enough to look back at him for his question. The said question was met with silence as his mind chugged along before he finally just answered simply with,
"...Chips." After giving his answer, Grant laid his head back where it was previously, closing his eyes once more.
...well, that was awkward. Expected of Grant, but still, awkward. And now even more awkward was trying to explain the joke to the ever-impassive youth.
"I'll rephrase that. Potato chips or french fries?"Another question from his roommate, but Grant didn't turn around again. Just as it seemed as if he had probably just fallen asleep, the eternally tired boy spoke up.
"Chips. They'll last longer." Was what he answered with.
"Practical," Brent remarked,
"I like it." Made sense as well, having food that didn't go bad once it got cold. Same logic as popcorn and all: if you were in for the long haul, it's better to have temperature-neutral food.
"By the way, couple of classmates are coming over tonight. Movies and chill and all that. Think you can sleep through that?"With Brent's remark, Grant shifted to get into a more comfortable position, thinking that'd be the last of his questions. Little did he know, his roommate asked another question just a little after that.
"Don't worry about me." As long as there was no direct disturbance to him, he'd be just fine with the coming company.
"Cool, give me a shout if you want something to eat." Brent paused. Grant shouting? What alternate dimension was this?
"Or just say something.""Understood." Grant said lastly to that before going back to his usual silence, but he still couldn't bring himself to fall asleep at the time.
A loud knock sounded from the door.
"Brent?" Ernie called out,
"This is your dorm, right?""No," Brent replied flatly,
"It's Bob's. I just tied him up and tossed him in the closet. Dude's got a killer kitchen."A pause.
"Door's unlocked, by the way."Ernie peered in, glancing around the room. Once he noticed Brent, he exhaled a sigh of relief. The Aberration walked in, carrying a rather noticeable canvas bag with the top full of chip packets, the ones you could get from vending machines. He looked ready for a sleepover, trackpants and a comfy jacket worn for maximum comfort. His hair was also tied up.
"Let's hope Bob won't be making too much noise in the closet tonight," Ernie quipped. He noticed another boy in one of the beds, sending a small
"Hi" his way.
"Spent all morning practicing how to gag people. Shouldn't fail me now," Brent grinned, glad that he didn't trigger some PTSD episode from Ernie with that joke. Motioning towards the granite counter on the kitchen, the amethyst-eyed youth grabbed a large plastic bowl, intending on popping open all the bags that Ernie brought and tossing them in.
"Hopefully Greg brings soda or something. All I have stocked up is milk.""We could make smoothies or something. You can do a lotta stuff with milk." Ernie opened the packets one by one, flattening and folding the emptied ones as he went along. They created a neat pile when they went into the bin.
"So where we sitting?"How neat. Mimicking Ernie's meticulous chip-packet disposal method, Brent glanced over to the living room.
"Probably by the TV. Already got food prepped over there, as well as movies other than 'Hazel vs The World'."The bowl was rapidly filling up. Perhaps another one was needed.
"By the by, didja smooth things over with Angelic?"Ernie spun to meet Brent with a dazzling smile. The goofy expression of innocent delight seemed so deeply engraved on the boy's face that it seemed that he'd forgotten to answer. When he finally did, his tone was quite excited.
"More than smooth, bro! We talked things out and I think we're kinda friends now. I even got her number!""Dude?" Brent raised out his fist.
"Niceeeee."Ernie completed the fistbump with a laugh.
"Right? This is, like, a dream! I didn't think I'd ever be in the same class or even the same school as Angel. I've been having some kinda weird, happy freakout all day.""She used to be a rock star or something, yeah? Guess you can live the fanboy dream now." Brent emptied another bag in the slowly-growing pile of assorted chips, before looking up at Ernie once more.
"So, what's up with Montreal anyways?"Was it a smart thing to do, to gossip about another person's trauma behind their back? It wasn't really the moral complications Ernie was worried about, rather the chance that Brent would do the same thing as he did and go blabbing it right to her face. Sounded like a recipe for scream-scrambled brains, for both boys. But in the end, Ernie decided to just go for it. Brent was a cool guy, right? Plus, all the information was there on the internet. Anyone with the sense to google the name would have easily found an article on the concert, probably as one of the first results.
"Her last concert on some Homecoming event thing. She kinda outed herself as a Subnatural during a song and well, you know how her power works. Didn't get to hear the close details but a lotta people got messed up."A pause.
"Guess it's a sore point for her. Makes sense. Definitely a can of worms to avoid, when we hang out again. Don't wanna be scream-shouted across campus, yeah?""Ah..." So that was the landmine he had avoided when he went shopping with her. Considering all the other bombs he totally stepped on, that was probably a good thing. Still, a lot of people got messed up? How strong WAS Angelic back then? Gained her powers a couple weeks ago, but the scream she had there in the gym, during her breakdown of sorts, didn't even manage to knock over any of the objects, while the screams she had against the dragon were meant to intentionally damage.
Huh, what the hell happened during that concert? Brent visualized the chain of events. Gained powers before the concert, KNEW about how her powers worked, and then went on for her concert regardless? He narrowed his eyes slightly, before nodding.
"Yup. Definitely wouldn't want to get blasted by our resident dragon-slayer." He dusted off his hands, before lifting up the almost-overflowing bowl, a couple of chips tumbling onto the counter.
"At least subnatural life means a second chance, eh? Can only go up from here!"Debatable. For Ernie, 'subnatural life' had consumed the last seven years of his existence. Everything before that...
Ernie frowned. He hated thinking about these things. Hated thinking about-- wishing for-- things that could've been. What was the point? He was here now, at USARILN East. Far from the safety and casual luxury of West. Far, far from Reno too. His subnatural life was likely to end within the next few weeks. Then nothing could go up. Nothing would matter. Memories flickered in the corner of his thoughts. Despite having his Stigma sated by his morning encounter with Angelique, Ernie couldn't help but feel a longing for home, whatever that meant these days.
He hated it. Hated feeling this way, hated having to think, having to
remember. So he stopped thinking. He shoved the intrusive thoughts into the back of his mind once more, far too eager to put it behind him.
Subnatural life, huh? It didn't go up. Not for, well...
Ernie wanted to say Aberrations, but he knew it would only be a part of the truth. He had known formidable X-marks, mages who were stronger than he ever would or could be. Aberrations weren't the missing part of that statement. Subnatural life didn't go up for people like Ernie. That was the answer.
"Well, y'know," the longer-haired boy responded vaguely,
"Life's what you make of it. Going up is... something we gotta work for, I guess. But if there's anything that helps with that work, it's optimism."He took a chip and ate it, ignoring the hypocrisy of his words. A memorised smile worked itself back onto Ernie's face.
"That, and knowing how to handle yourself and your powers. But that's a buncha stuff for some other bummier time. What are we watching tonight?"Tink. It sounded like a rock had thunked against the kitchen window. Tink. Tink. If anyone bothered to look outside, they'd notice Gregory standing below with a few more rocks in hand and his phone in the other.
A few moments later, and the text showed up on Brent's phone.
"Guards won't let me in without one of you vouching for me."That smile. Dislikeable. Brent suppressed the bitter taste in his mouth, really wishing that he had something sinfully sweet to drink now. Thoughts drifted towards that drugged up x-girl that he had met in the hospital during his first 'real' day in USARILN, but he found himself nodding to Ernie's words anyways. As the topic of movies came up though, he chuckled.
"Yeah, sounds like a topic that'd be better brought up while getting hammered," he replied,
"And I got a whole bunch of nature documentaries lined up tonight. The entire uncut, uncensored, remastered version of Planet Earth: Awoken! Education and entertainment, all documented in super high risk environments! Also got stuff like Mad Flaps: Yuri Road and the live action for Metal Smear Avengeance, but think we're set f-"A tink on the window, and then Gregory's text, brought Brent out of his own bit of gushing.
Kk, I'll pick you up from the lobby then.
"Looks like Grego's here already. I'll go fetch him."
Ten minutes later, the door to the dorm opened up once more, revealing Brent.
"Welcome to Bob's place," he gestured with a grin.
Blinking a few times as he took off his shoes, Gregory wasn't too surprised at the difference in living accomodations he supposed. The dorms here were supposed to be shared right?
"Huh? Your roommate's name?" If there was a joke to be got, it cleared his head without any trouble. A few metallic clinks came from his backpack as he finally noticed Ernie and raised his hand in greeting.
"How many others are coming?" he asked as he unzipped the backpack and began to pull cans of soda out.
Man, what a weirdishly convenient turn of events. First with Ernie bringing in chips and now with Gregory bringing in drinks? Was there some sort of cosmic force influencing everyone's decisions, ensuring that no one had any sort of overlap despite the fact that there had been zero communication? How strange. Maybe subnaturals had some sort of sixth sense for these events.
"Bob's the dude in the closet," Brent replied, bringing the cans to the table by the TV,
"And naw, everyone's here now. Only bothered inviting team 4 peeps. Sav was PMSing and Emma was 'busy'."One by one, those assorted soda cans formed a pyramid.
"Ooh. We haven't met yet," Ernie chirped, extending his hand,
"Ernest, but everyone calls me Ernie. You were hardcore in the game, man."Blinking a few times, Gregory glanced towards the closet with a dubious expression before he muttered,
"Riiight." Tossing aside the backpack once it was emptied, he turned his attention to the other boy in the room. He frowned a bit at the mention of yesterday's shitshow, but otherwise didn't seem to let it bother him too much as he shook Ernie's hand.
"That's one way to put it... Gregory, but Greg is fine.""Yeah, your power was hella interesting. Just that Hazel hard-counters literally everyone else here," Brent replied, before motioning for the blond to sit down,
"Anyways, I got like, one disc for every continent for Planet Earth. Where y'all wanna start?""I'm voting Africa," the dark-haired Aberration plopped himself on the far end of the couch,
"I wanna see those crazy giraffe-lion fights!"'Wasn't that the truth...' Clicking his tongue, he took a seat on the other end of the couch and then shrugged.
"Sure, let's go with Africa. Australlia afterwards?""Oho, Australia with the illegal kangaroo baiting rings?" the arbiter nodded with approval,
"Sounds like we got the first three hours lined up!"With that, he slid the disk in, before popping back onto the floor. As cameras panned over desolate landscapes and drones flew over mutated monstrosities, a baritone voice waxed poetic on the glories of the landscape and the savagery of DC's creatures. Soon, the orchestra crescendoed, 'Africa' popping out from the screen.
Brent grabbed a chip.
"So, one-line impressions of Hazel vs Everyone?"Ernie began working through a chicken wing.
"Kinda glad I was too tazed out to get strip-smacked by her. Looked rough."The can hissed before Gregory took a sip, and it was hard to tell if he was frowning from the burn or question.
"A shitshow of bad decisions?""Yeah," Brent laughed,
"Doomed from the start."
stone
Izurich
Little Bill
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Sun Roomdon'tlook
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