[b][i]Ashton Andrews[/i][/b] 

As Ashton walked on, the back of his thoughts felt like acid, burning him with their demands to be acknowledged. Because now that he had heard what Chieko had to say for herself when she was calm, he knew this: She was right. Well, right-ish. He wasn't going to be making excuses for the chuuni girl's conduct, but he wanted, no, needed to tell the truth; to further uproot the black seeds of mistrust that had been sown earlier. So, he opened his mouth to say to Aerith -

And found Hiro already whispering to the young woman, while at the same time glancing at a beggar girl with a grey cloak. It seemed that as inferred from Hiro's barely-heardwords, their killer was now following them; following them while they were still under guard by Aer and Wisp.

Ashton knew this, that there was a 50/50 chance or more that they''d try and get Aer and Wisp to attack the pint-sized hit-girl, or otherwise cause a commotion, or otherwise betray their foreknowledge in public. What he hated the most was that they'd use this to 'discredit' Chieko's (and his) proposals [i]without completely comprehending them[/i].

The boy looked at his older compatriots, and was tempted for the first time, to ignore the interests of the group; did he really want to be the glue trying to stop them from self-destructing at little reward to himself, even confinued survival? He wanted to be kind, he wanted to be good, but he wasn't perfect and should stop trying to be such. Ashton Andrews did not want to let the group die once more, but he also was tired of voicing opinions that were not going to be listened to, much like he knew Chieko would be. He was also tired of how mean Chieko was, how she was a judgemental jerk who buried valid points underneath arrogance and spite.

Kimura also had genuine grievances, but his behavior had been nothing short of irritating (not to him but to others). It hurt, it hurt how this crisis was bringing the worst out of the group. But Ashton knew that the cards he had been dealt with were... Cards he had been dealt with; a play can still be made by them if he had the right perspective. 

Strategy was the name of the game here. 

Going to where Wisp was, he would ask the cat-boy in a low voice: "Wisp, do you smell any danger, anything suspicious? As in, are we being watched?"

[b][i]Flame Brooks[/i][/b]

[i]Concentrate on an object filling up.[/i] Flame knew what a metaphor was; the object represented how much Mana/Magical Energy can fit in his mind, magical energy that can be used to light candles and other things. Flame resisted the urge to sniff the candles; it would not do to let Doctor Donovan know he suspected poison. So he concentrated on gathering his magical energies, then said, as mildly as possible, holding the candle out, [i]"Goa."[/i]

The candle sparked, then lit up, a small bright flame slowly consuming the wick. Flame didn''t hold his breath, or breathe in too deeply, he just lost himself in wonder at how he can do Magic now.

His pehipheral gaze turned towards Chieko, who must by now be enjoying her access to powers that defied the laws of reality. Flame Brooks knew she was driven, he respected her a little despite her mean attitude. Here was hoping that Donovan's assistant, who resembled the white-haired woman Aerith was ranting about earlier, wouldn't show her true colors right away. Even then, assuming what said 'true colors' were would be too quick to think about. His next thoughts were: [i]Ruined World + Cast of Jerk = I don't care what happens to these people.[/i]

The world wasn't ruined, but he was definitely a jerkface and so was everyone else, even Ashton; he knew his boyfriend well enough that even the latter had limits to his kindness.

As the candles were lit, Flame waited for the drowsy feeling that accompanied the poison that had killed him twice before. If he was being poisoned, he will wait for the reset. If he was not being poisoned, he will wait and see what Donovan had planned next. Either way, Flame Brooks tried to whisper to Chieko, "You were right. Let's share deductions next reset. We'll back you up then."

Words Doctor Donovan would not know the meaning of. Words he might even fail to listen to, due to the geas/curse that affected them all.