[i] – Crash– [/i]

Crash’s eyes widened in surprise at her ‘accusation’ “Me evil? Never” He feigned surprise though he really couldn’t control his expression as a smile turned up the corners of his mouth despite his best efforts to stop it. Having failed he gave in and let amusement swim across his features chuckling at her fake pout. He felt his cheeks tint with color as he turned back to Kathy hearing her laugh he shrugged his shoulders, a grin plastered across his face at her subtle joke, accompanied by the glimmer of excitement in his crimson eyes it was almost easy to imagine him wagging a tail at the ‘praise’. 

The red head hadn’t been aware of the fact he had actually held his breath as he had reached for her hand, his own pulse hammering in his ears it was a reaction he often had when she was in close proximity with him. He allowed himself to breathe again when she didn’t pull away, a warm smile slid onto his face, though he somehow managed to keep his blush from deepening he could see Kathy’s face was practically glowing from how flustered she appeared to be. 

He glanced at Alex amusement dancing across his face as the young boy pointed in the wrong direction; he chuckled at Kathy’s suggestion of going in the right direction. He withheld a joke about it feeling he didn’t know the pixie boy well enough to know he wouldn’t be offended by it even if it was harmless, besides he didn’t want to ruin the new hospitable feeling between the two of them. He watched Kathy offer her hand to Alex without reading to deeply into it, Alex was only young right? It was a normal invitation between a...’mother and child’ even if he hadn’t [i]quite[/i] got his head around the odd relationship the pair had going on he could understand why Alex would want Kathy for a mother figure and to be fair it didn’t have anything to do with him. 

He was glad for the cover of the darkness himself he felt acutely aware of Kathy’s hand tucked within his own, though he wasn’t nearly as nervous now as he had been earlier his heartbeat still hadn’t returned to normal, his only saving grace was it had lessened enough that he was no longer deafened by his own pulse. He grinned sheepishly at Kathy’s warning forgetting she probably couldn’t see it, he was beginning to wish he could mimic powers as well as shapes...being able to see in the dark right now would be incredibly useful. “I’ll take that...my feet are incredibly talented at finding every stray root or-“ As if to prove his point he grunted and jerked ever so slightly as he stubbed his toe on a rock protruding from the grounds. “-rock” He groaned, resisting the urge to hop on one leg he ignored the pain and carried on walking with a slight limp. 

“So stargazing, are you a star enthusiast or is it just too good a chance to pass up?” He asked Kathy, his mouth relaxing into a smile; he could just make her out in the dim light offered up by the illuminated night sky. He was beginning to wonder why they hadn’t thought to grab torches or something. [i]I could shift into something that can create light...[/i] He dropped his gaze down to Kathy’s and his hands still clasped together it may have been selfish but he didn’t want to break the contact between them. Besides stumbling through the dark wasn’t too bad, he lifted his eyes to rest back on her face as he awaited an answer missing the fact Alex had fallen behind.

He was momentarily distracted as the blue haired pixie reappeared next to Kathy his first feeling was guilt, he may have been a little tunnel visioned before...he switched his gaze to Alex trying to think of something to say, although it was dark between the trees his eyes had adjusted enough that he was able to take in the boys new appearance. His guilt was momentarily swept aside by unease; Alex had changed his shape to look the same age as Kathy which Crash in truth wasn’t sure about. He noticed the warm smile the pixie boy gave Kathy before he dropped his eyes to their hands catching the slight squeeze. He averted his eyes as he felt an unpleasant stab of discomfort pass through his chest bringing a tight sensation with it, he was being silly of course despite his change in shape it was still Alex...besides this was another instance that the shapeshifter believed he had no right to react to. Waiting for Kathy’s reaction to Alex’s newest shape Crash was able to maintain his smile though it wasn’t exactly visible in the dark; he had his eyes focused on the ground so as not to cause any trouble by his normal clumsy ways. 

He was actually finding it a little harder than usual to think of something to say, a way to spark up conversation with the other two [i]Where’s Carmen when you need her? I’d even take her teasing right about now[/i] It wasn’t like him to be tongue tied or quite so closed off maybe it was because he didn’t know Alex, he’d have to figure out a way to remedy that “So what are your plans for tomorrow?” He asked in a light tone directing the question at both Kathy and Alex he glanced at both of them in turn before returning his eyes to the ground preferring to remain safe. [i]Ok that sucked, ask the boy a question about himself rather than a generalization...not his age...anything but that[/i] He didn’t want to view the pixie boy in any other light than young and innocent for now, he wasn’t even going to run the risk of that being shattered. “Alex, what do you like to do...say hobby wise?” Crash asked, searching for some common ground between them. 

[i] – Mercy – [/i]

Mercy was glad that Zivon accepted the towel she had been careful to keep her hands out of his reach not wanting a repeat of last time. She raised an eyebrow as he shook his head clearly strongly against something...she could only guess the med bay. Of course his next stuttering comment kind of confirmed that he stood up and wobbled slightly it took every ounce of her self- restraint not to reach for him to help him stay steady. Her lips curled up into a smile as she realized what he had said, unsurprisingly a [i]lot[/i] of students had that initial reaction when the med bay was mentioned...Kiwi’s reputation was formidable and common knowledge amongst the Athalians. 

She wasn’t overly convinced as he assured her he would heal but then gain she hadn’t done her research so what did she know? She ran her hand into her hair fluffing it with her fingers as she thought over what Zivon had said he clearly didn’t want to go to the med bay, she chuckled. “Hmm...Kiwi’s reputation precedes her I see. You should know I’m not nearly as scary as she is...for future reference” Mercy told him with a quick wink. “OK, I believe you. If you heal fast lets skip the med bay and head straight for the ice cream” She told him with a smile on her face. 
Mercy was relieved to see Darwin’s smile return in force, it caused her own to grow as she watched him waiting for his reaction to Drow. She of course chuckled softly as he responded the way she had expected, she turned to glance at the other girl as the unicorn took a breath and smiled innocently at the blonde girl. She lifted a questioning eyebrow at Drow as she tugged on the back of her clothes seeing how nervous she looked brought a reassuring smile to her face, before the blonde girl left she quickly lifted her hand covering her mouth she whispered. 

“Don’t be too nervous honey, go have a bit of fun let your hair down...and I definitely expect details tomorrow! Girl talk” Mercy was clearly trying to be encouraging hopefully it worked, she lowered her hand and waved the happy couple off a devious smile returning to her face. She noticed Drow look down at a broken phone abandoned on the floor, Mercy was sure she had seen the blonde girl carrying that phone earlier. She shrugged her shoulders before walking over to pick it up, twirling it between her fingers she walked back over to Zivon smiling at him. “I have no idea why Darwin threw skittles at you; skittles are kind of his thing. Just read the packet first...he really likes his cyanide” Mercy warned him as she looked down at the skittles packet either in Zivon’s possession or laying on the floor. “Come on then let’s go get some ice cream” She encouraged him lifting her hand in a ‘follow me’ gesture as she headed towards the lounge door. “What’s your favourite flavour?” She asked him if he followed her.