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[b][code]Grand Ridge Academy[/code][/b]
[@Atrophy][@Ruler Inc]
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[i]Recollections again.[/i] Nate had slipped into consciousness at the far side of the bed, almost tipping over in a startled daze, haphazardly flapping his upside arm until his weight brought him back onto his back and away from hitting the ground. 

While the thought occurred to him, he fumbled for his phone until he found it set on the nightstand and depressed the lock button until the light from his screen illuminated the darkened interior of the dorm room, accompanied by the thrum of its vibration against the wooden surface. After a moment's pause, he drew his weight forward until he was sat up and checked, continously for several minutes. [i]No service.[/i] Even the time seemed off - it was reading as 04:48AM, even though he could see faint cracks of light spilling through the curtains. No service meant no internet, no messages, no missed calls. He couldn't check and find out if Quent or Viv had tried to get through to him.

Frustrated, Nate huffed and nearly threw the device away, but common sense returned to him after a couple of seconds and he felt somewhat comfortable at having woken in a [i]real[/i] bed as opposed to in a hospital, even though it still wasn't his own. 

With everything apparently deserted, even the streets immediately outside lacking the occasional traffic they'd had before, he'd questioned whether it was even safe to go out alone if the Glutton and their [i]corrupted[/i] were looking for them, knowing he'd be sent to its own, personal hell to be tortured beyond existence. He didn't know what to expect. This whole situation, the Glutton, the Godforce, everything that had been running through his head, repeated over and over, he didn't want to expose them to it if they were still here. It was snowing, so.... what did [i]that[/i] mean? Either the weather was becoming fucked up from the Glutton's influence, or their hospital stay had been longer than they thought. Neither would bode well, so Nate just [i]hoped[/i] they got out, or at least took a vacation from town. Maybe thought wrong that he'd skipped the academy, run away to Bellevue and gone looking for him there. Somewhere that wasn't [i]here.[/i]

And so, noticing Billy had no qualms with borrowing one of the spare dorm rooms, Nate had done the same. Breaking and entering, minus the breaking - because all he'd really had to do was seep through the door and unlock it from the inside. Nate didn't exactly have a spare change of clothes, nor did he feel like he could borrow anyone else's, but he [i]did[/i] have access to the shower. That much, he was grateful for after he'd had a chance to really wake up. A spare towel had been left behind, which saved him the embarrassment of using the bedsheets to dry himself off. He spent a good ten, maybe fifteen minutes just enjoying the flow of heated water before finally stepping out and redressing. 

He was probably up a little later than the others, but it didn't matter. Nate made his way to the lobby, then watched as they  talked abstractions, secrets, drinks and dues to the dead...

At least, until Britney bared all.

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"Yeah, your brother's [i]really[/i] got a point about the weirdos in cloaks not looking out for us." Nate could already picture the death glare he was going to get before he'd even said it, but he didn't care at this point - he shifted his gaze towards Britney, then added, "Guess I wouldn't be wrong if I said I got the vibe that these illuminescence assholes [i]blackmailed[/i] your family into joining them, right?"

After letting it hang for a few seconds, he followed on towards the real question he intended, "I mean, they wanted you to get close to John Reid to waste him, yeah? Is [i]that[/i] the problem you're talking about, since we're all a bunch of 'awakened' working together? All those juicy powers, makes sense they'd want to take them from us for their own."