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[sub][@Surtr Inc][@FernStone][@Prosaic][/sub]
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[code]Grand Ridge Academy - Conference Room.[/code]
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Rita watched and stewed in vicarious embarrassment as Penny, the one and only girl who had pulled her out of the cabin where Rita would otherwise had been turned into firewood by Scott Reese, drew contention from her peers for her little outburst. The blonde seemed to only be pleased by the feathers that she had ruffled and, with a sneer, turned to look out the window, as if anything was more interesting than this little gathering. When the blue-haired person (Rita could not tell if they were a boy or girl, nor could she tell if that was necessarily what they were going for) sat down next to her and Martin she gave a small smile of acknowledgment, trying to hide the fact that Martin introducing her mildly peeved her. She could talk for herself. It wasn’t like she was going to start ripping Rien’s secrets right out of them—way too many people around to play that game.

Penny was pretending to ignore what Claire had said. She was also pretending that it hadn’t struck a nerve. It didn’t last long. When she looked away from the group her face had immediately soured, and insults were flooding into her mouth and trying to break through her lips.  Making fun of Britney was the only possible thing that would make this little get together bearable. They didn’t have to talk about their little high school drama bullshit, but she refused to act like it didn’t exist. Neutral territory? More like coward territory. She fumed silently as Edward Scissorhands broke down his experience at the camp. She would’ve said something herself, but, well, most of it was now lost in a haze. 

She caught Aliana’s glance as Martin wrapped up his story. If this punk had the mark, she could imagine what he meant by [i]weird[/i] things. Still, right now it was better to have deniability than to put themselves right out. She mouthed a “no” to Aliana, but she did not turn to look back out the window. Instead, she was observing everyone, looking for marks or reactions to Martin’s spiel. 

“I got one of those,” said Billy, rolling up his sleeve to show the spiral at the top of his skinny arm. “Buddy of mine said he couldn’t see it. Like, I thought he was just trying to pull a goof on me or something.”

“Oh, right, um, hello people. I’m Billy, I was at the camp, I saw Scott Reese be a total dick, and I’m pretty sure your girlfriend there stole my pipe.” Rita’s eyes went wide and she gripped Martin’s knee, avoiding Billy’s gaze. “Um, that was all you needed right Britney? Cool, man, cool. Anyway, I don’t know where I got that tat from, but things haven’t really been that weird since the camp. I mean, besides—”

Penny coughed loudly, worried that he was about to spill the beans about Karma. Billy caught on and shut his mouth. Rita did not.

[b][i]“Um, besides what?”[/i][/b] Rita asked, catching Billy’s eyes.

“I have had some really weird dreams lately. Super bizarre. Like, let’s see, the other night I dreamed that I was watching these kids in the woods and…” Billy, as if in a trance, proceeded to describe a dream that would sound familiar to all of those in the room. Rita looked away as he talked; Penny stared at him in shock. “And then the Illuminati dude was like ‘He’s an Awakened’ and then I woke up, which is pretty crazy timing, if you think about it, right?”

“I had the same nightmare,” muttered Rita, staring at the table. 

Penny frowned. She had too; what the fuck was going on?