[quote=@Lord Wraith][color=gray]Suddenly Luce turned away from the approaching teen, hand over her mouth before she stumbled away from the approaching teen. Tad knew exactly what was going to happen next before the retching sound echoed across the campsite. Grabbing a cold bottle of water from the nearby cooler and a wet cloth, Tad and Jessica rushed over to Luce.

[color=white]"Hey, hey, it's alright."[/color] Jessica started kneeling down beside the Blackjack member, [color=white]"Hi, I'm Jessica Friend, like Tad I'm a student rep, just for a different team. Can I help you to your feet?"[/color] She asked, extending a hand to Luce while Tad looked around for Banjo.[/color][/quote]
[CENTER][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1103007276735926392/1103776931813527612/Luce2.png[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=SILVER][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Southern Plateau - Dundas Islands[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=SILVER][b]The Homecoming Trials #1.96:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Corporate Retreat[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][color=SILVER][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I][@Hound55], [@Mao Mao][/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=SILVER][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5443492]Never Panic On An Empty Stomach[/url][/I][/right][/SUP]
[INDENT][COLOR=GRAY]Banjo was saying...something, standing over Luce's hunched form as she retched into the grass, nothing but bile and air coming out from the depths of her stomach. A small, half-digested white pill floated on the surface of the sticky, acrid ooze, innocent and accusatory all at once, but then the retching was over and someone else - someone decidedly [i]not[/i] Banjo - approached and introduced themselves and offered some actual assistance, rather than dry, vaguely-witty self-deprecation. Luce managed to lean back, resting on her haunches as she shivered with the after-shocks of vomiting; Jessica offered her a new water bottle and a cloth, both of which Luce took quickly and gratefully, and soon enough she was cleaned up, mouth rinsed out. With Jessica's help, she stood, shaky but stable, smiling with embarrassment at Jessica and avoiding Banjo's eyes as she walked around him and back toward the tents.

She was feeling better - the anxiety and panic had reached a crescendo, and now she felt purged almost, nausea flushed out and leaving only those damn hunger pangs behind. She could smell the grilled meats that Tad had been overseeing, and suddenly felt ravenous, any shame or nervousness overpowered by an overwhelming [i]eat something please[/i] that she was all-too-happy to oblige. Jess, however, had momentarily disappeared, returning with a spare set of folded uniform. She smiled sympathetically as Luce looked down at herself. Yellow-brownish splatter marred her track pants, with smaller flecks having splashed onto her shoes and the hem of her top. Luce felt her face go red again, embarrassed once more. Wordlessly, she nodded in thanks at Jess as she took the spare clothes, retreating to the tent she and Kenna had set up to change - and find something to bag up the stained uniform. She'd have to find a good moment to toss it over the cliff later. Maybe herself at the same time?

By the time she emerged the team had settled and gathered in a loose circle, all sating their hunger. Luce picked up a plate and seized whatever kebabs remained - it didn't matter to her what was on them, as long as it was edible - and then quietly edged into the group, sitting in silence as she chewed beef and chicken and mushroom and felt the hole in her belly shrink and settle. She felt a lot better, and even the anxiety had been driven away by the food. She sipped her water and surreptitiously swallowed another pill. Didn't hurt to be safe. 

Suddenly, Calliope spoke up, and initiated the most haphazard version of group therapy Luce could have conceived; one-by-one, they went around, spilling both background tragedies and their powers in some kind of recreation of the world's worst icebreaker exercise. Still, it was an awful lot more civilized than the team's first attempt at getting to know each other; previously-drawn battle-lines were crossed, truces were struck, and there was an opportunity for everyone to actually [i]learn[/i] about each other, rather than making snap judgments based on micro-moments of interaction. Luce was as guilty of it as any other member of the team; she needed to extend the metaphorical olive branch to each of her peers, and hope that they'd offer her the same courtesy. 

There were two key exceptions to what was otherwise a shared trauma-dump; Trevor, who seemed honestly too cheery to have [i]had[/i] such an experience in his past, and the ever-aloof Kenna, who's contribution consisted of bragging and the obligatory ability explanation. The scream was new information at least, though Luce couldn't help but wonder why she'd held that back previously. The abilities were wild and varied; some seemed straightforward, like Banjo and Katja, while others - Trace and Trevor particularly - were just plain [i]bizarre[/i]. A world opened up in front of Luce's eyes, one filled with Hyper-humans in possession of abilities both odd and dangerous, and for the first time since learning she belonged to that world she felt almost [i]normal[/i]. She had no active control over her powers, they had no flashy effects, they changed nothing about her body beyond hand-wave-able scars after the fact; she was almost lucky. Trace was marked for life, irrevocably and unwillingly, and while Luce found them strangely beautiful, it was all-too-easy to envision a world where such an appearance was a death-sentence instead. Haleigh, meanwhile, was cursed with power dangerous enough to necessitate the abandonment of them entirely. She felt a pang of shame for being so self-absorbed. Survivor's guilt was the worst her own abilities had to impart upon her; all [i]she[/i] needed was to take therapy seriously.

Suddenly, it was her turn, and ten pairs of eyes settled on her face, absent-mindedly chewing a chunk of beef as she mulled over the rapid-fire epiphanies about the revealed [i]scope[/i] of it all. She swallowed, taking a deep breath to steady her voice.

[color=9370D8]"Hi everyone. Sorry about earlier. I'm Luce. It's really nice to meet you all. I'm from Canada - close by, relatively. Houston BC. Never knew my dad, but my mom worked really hard. Used to camp. I don't anymore. Lost my brothers in an accident. Don't like the trees anymore, or open spaces. But it's how I found out about my powers."[/color] She put her plate down, lifting her fresh top up just slightly enough to show the first scar on her torso. 
[color=9370D8]"I don't know the rating, or category, or the official stuff. Whatever it is - I don't feel pain when I'm hurt. Hurt [i]bad[/i], I mean. It doesn't slow me down, doesn't stop me, I just keep going. It's like my body just...adapts. Whatever stops working, something else picks up the slack. And then when I'm out, when I'm safe...I heal up real good after. I'm um, I'm not sure I can actually be killed."[/color]

She took another deep breath, letting her top down and pulling from her water bottle. That was the most talking she'd done in a long time. [color=9370D8]"My mom sent me here for a fresh start. Small town stuff, you know. It's [i]really[/i] nice to meet you all. Sorry for vomiting, Banjo. It wasn't you. I just panicked. I um...I panic a lot. I'm sorry."[/color]

Luce looked around the circle, smiling as warmly as she could muster and letting the nerves wash over her and depart again, allowing anxiety to come and go like commanding the tides. She noticed one missing among their number, and turned her head toward Iñigo, who was sat separately a little off from the circle, propped up against the trees. She shivered slightly to look at it, but raised her hand to wave.
[color=9370D8]"Iñigo, right?"[/color] She called out, putting on her best friendly voice. [color=9370D8]"Would you like to join us?"[/color][/color][/INDENT][/INDENT]