[center][color=gray][h1]Dawkin Trustram[/h1][/color][/center]

Dawkins silently awoke and listened for a moment. Luckily it seemed none of the others were awake yet. That made his task easier. He stealthily dressed himself in a red shirt, a black hoodie, gray sweats, and white tennis shoes. Then he carefully made his way into the kitchen and began the task of making breakfast. He hadn't gotten far when he heard someone stumble down the stairs and make their way into a chair. Said person was quickly greeted by three pancakes on a plate being served in front of them. [color=gray]"Three banana pancakes."[/color] Then he was back to cooking. [i]"Thanks big bro."[/i] came the belated reply as Jeff began digging into his pancakes. This time a pair of footsteps made their way down, followed by loud noises overhead that indicated the slow awakening of the rest of the brothers. The twins arrived at their seats and were greeted like Jeff. [color=gray]"Two plates of plain sugary pancakes and one plate of eggs with cheese."[/color] Dawkins informed them. [i]"Thanks big bro."[/i] came the reply over smothered giggles from the twin mouths of the two there were commonly refereed to as Thing 1 and Thing 2, in no particular order as they were identical and few could tell the two apart. That and they were notorious pranksters, such laughter obviously indicated they were up to something but there was little Dawkins except hope it wasn't too troublesome.

The sound of the shower began as Alan entered it, he would come out in about ten more minutes eager for his coffee and toast. Nick was 'too old' for breakfast so he didn't need any and Fred always slept in, coming out a few minutes after Alan did, needing only orange juice to start his day. Dawkins fed everyone and sent them on their way with surprisingly little trouble, perhaps they were being so cooperative because it was his big day. It was easier when they didn't do anything troublesome like the rare times they woke up rarely to prank him or worse, try to make him breakfast. His parents were out for the weekend and had trusted him to take care of them before he left. Dawkins didn't envy any babysitters that came after him, even with years of practice mornings rarely went this well. With everyone gone and breakfast cleaned up after Dawkins gave a sigh of contentment. Today was going to go well, he could feel it. Dawkins walked out the door-

and was greeted by the sight of all six of his brothers waiting for him, with grins that stretched ear to ear, a cake, and six remarkably in synch cries of "Good luck big brother." Technically speaking Alan, Fred, and Jeff were all older than him, but they called him big brother all the same, he certainly acted like it more than they did. Despite his protests that it was pointless to wish him good luck, then delay him for a party, he was crowded back inside and sat down at the freshly cleaned table. With a sigh that spoke irritation but a grin that said 'thank you', Dawkins sat down and enjoyed the small surprise party, purposefully ignoring the desperate pleads of his beeping watch and inner perfectionist. After all, how often did something like this happen? More than two hours later Dawkins was on his way, the party had been... Extensively planned. He'd planned to be early by an hour but now it seemed he would have to deal with being late, hopefully it would not diminish the professor's view of him overly. His extended strides that were more in-between a power-walk and a jog quickly took him to the lab.

A quick glance around indicated he was... 8th. Seven other people. Disappointing to have arrived this late, but by all indications he was not the only one, it seemed the doors were not being opened. Dawkins let out a small sigh of relief and tapped his watch once to reassure himself, everything had turned out alright. Still his journey starting off with such an infraction, even one so minor, was a source of great irritation. Another quick scan of those socializing. It seemed most were either engaged or not wanting company, in some cases both. Dawkins stood straight, one hand in his pants pocket, the other hanging casually at his side. He would wait and listen for now, it would allow him to determine who was worth knowing and who would just be annoying without actually dealing with people himself, as well as gathering random information from their conversations. A satisfactory outcome, call it a silver lining.