[COLOR=GRAY][hr][CENTER][img]https://i.imgur.com/4LAnNWx.png[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=#D90037][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]The Minotaur/Trial Campground - Southern Plateau, Dundas Island[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=#D90037][b]The Homecoming Trials #1.112a:[/b][/COLOR] [I]*INTERNAL SCREAMING*[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][color=#D90037][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I]Katja [@Zoldyck][/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=#D90037][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Uncomfortable Non-Silence[/I][/right][/SUP]
[INDENT]Trace had thought they’d escaped during the midst of a conversation with enough stealth that they wouldn’t be bothered by anyone. They didn’t want company. If that was the case, they would have made a scene. Instead, they thought they’d performed a somewhat low-stakes exit. Instead, the crunch of feet was audible in the ill-feeling silence of the forest. They turned their face towards the entrance. What mediocre light there was became shadowed by a figure. Trace narrowed their eyes. They had no idea who could have come to speak to them. Part of them half-expected it to be Banjo with chiding remarks, Rory with painful optimism, or Katja coming to bed herself. Instead, it was Calliope. She quickly stated how she felt before leaving, not allowing Trace to reciprocate. 

[COLOR=#D90037]“What the bloody, fuckin’ hell,”[/color] they remarked to themselves. They pulled themselves up and wrapped their arms around their knees and pulled their legs into them. They didn’t know what to make of that. Honestly, they’d only opened up because it would have been weird to just sit there in silence. Blackjack was their team, after all, and it only made sense to have some semblance of familiarity with one another. Even if by the end of it Trace was 100% sure they all needed therapy. Still, the sentiment wasn’t unappreciated, it was just unwanted. And Trace knew damn well that their power wasn’t [i]cool[/i]. It was horrifying. But they figured it could be useful, and from the looks of it, they had better control of it than others did of theirs. It’d help that six arms weren’t going to destroy a 3-block radius.

Trace rolled back, still wrapping their arms around their legs. They looked like a beached turtle before extending their arms and legs out fully. It was about that time that another figure graced the doorway. [COLOR=#D90037]“Seriously, you wankers, I didn’ stroll into my tent for a pity party. I came so I could fart in bloody peace. Let me fuckin’ do it.”[/color] It was then that Katja asked if she could enter.

[COLOR=#D90037]“Oh sure, Kat.”[/color] They remarked. [COLOR=#D90037]“I mean it’s your tent, too. And I was—uh—kiddin’ about the fartin’ bit. It’s just that Calliope came by here earlier and was like [i]‘oi, don’t pout you’re actually cool.’[/i] Which is a lie if I evah heard one.”[/color] Trace stammered out those bits, realizing that they were probably talking over any point that Katja wanted to make. They didn’t like this. Too many people giving a shit about them feeling like shit.[/INDENT][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR]

[COLOR=GRAY][hr][CENTER][img]https://i.imgur.com/v71QiBN.png[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=#B7EB6F][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Team 78 Campsite - Southern Plateau, Dundas Island[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=#B7EB6F][b]The Homecoming Trials: # 1.112b:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Welcome to Boundary Town, Pop. 0[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][color=#B7EB6F][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [i]Harlowe [@PatientBean], Yuri [@Wei Wuxian], Tista [@earthtogab][/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=#B7EB6F][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Weirder Things HAVE Happened in LA, but...[/I][/right][/SUP]
[INDENT][COLOR=#B7EB6F]“Cool, because I still need a tent buddy, and I’m thinking I better choose fast before I end up with bee girl. I’m not sure where I put my EPI pen. Which is on me—not her.”[/color] Coop always gave out too much information about himself. It was his [i]modus operandi[/i]. Honestly, it was probably from his years of broadcasting his entire life on the internet. You get to a point where the only words you filter out are bad ones and ones that can date your content.

As Harlowe asked what they were all here for, Coop shrugged. Yuri seemed to have a rather positive idea. And, honestly, Coop didn’t want to harsh that vibe, but he had a bit of a more pessimistic view. Of course, with the wind rustling his hair and the mention that the other man had the power to control the weather and cause storms—he probably had a chiller experience before now. [COLOR=#B7EB6F]“Oh. This isn’t [i]‘Your parents are embarrassed by you, but they want to seem like they are caring about you by dumping you off at this place,’[/i] boarding school? Wow. I got the wrong impression. Maybe I read a different pamphlet that you guys did.”[/color] He made a face. [COLOR=#B7EB6F]“Yikes.”[/color]

One could say that it hurt Coop to be negative when everyone else was seeming to have a more positive experience. Another girl announced herself to the group and seemed excited to share this entire excursion together. Right, maybe this was a better time for other people. For Coop, it was like flipping a pancake and it landing half on the skillet. The other side was perfect, but now this was a deformed mess. No matter how hard you try to scrape the pancake back onto the skillet it’s malformed. The pan’s burning. The spatula is disgusting. And your mother is yelling at you in Italian and asking you why you didn’t get the chef to cook for you. Eh. Maybe that experience was isolated to Coop. His lips twisted into a bemused frown. 

Yuri announced their powers to the cheerful girl, Tista, and then turned his attention back to Coop with the subtly of a brick to the face. What was up with everyone here? Was one of the requirements that they be horney—constantly. Had that also been in this pamphlet he didn’t read?

[COLOR=#B7EB6F]“I’m flattered, really.”[/color] He placed a hand on his chest, as his caramel-hued hair rustled on his head before settling back down in a mussed-up wave. He looked more handsome if that was possible. [COLOR=#B7EB6F]“But I’m, unfortunately, straight. Who knows, maybe in the future I won’t be. Gender and sexuality are as fluid as—uh—water, and I’m totally an ally. But sadly, very straight.”[/color]

It was not the smoothest of segues, especially considering, but he turned to Harlowe. [COLOR=#B7EB6F]“Would you like to bunk up? You’re like the only person that I’ve met that hasn’t hit on me. Again—flattered—but not what I’m looking for if I’m to get a good night’s rest.”[/color] He awkwardly chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, raking it away from his sunkissed face and sparkling eyes. Yeah, yeah—Coop knew what he was doing, but it was hard to turn off. He was half expecting to turn around and see someone filming him. No such luck, though, this was just natural awkwardness—not manufactured by a script. He wished it was. So, he could leave.[/INDENT][/INDENT][/COLOR][hr]