[indent][i][quote][color=DAA520]"Hello, I am a beehive."[/color] Jo responded, her Scandivanian accent was laced heavily in her words. Thankfully she had been well taught in English up to this point. She raised a hand in between her and the itchy boy, outstretching a finger. A lone bee crawled from under her sleeve up to the tip of her finger. [color=DAA520]"So I am house to many, many bees inside me."[/color] She pointed at herself and then to her bee with her other hand. She smiled, seemingly happy with that reality. [color=DAA520]"They are all me but not really all me. More like family."[/color] She admitted, laying a finger on that very bee she had to give it a soft pet.[/quote]
Ariel's normally dry and self-deprecating sense of humor had a weakness, and that weakness was absurdity. No amount of witty insults and cerebral jokes could make them laugh as hard as an out of pocket sentence blurted without warning, and huddled closed to Team Firebird with a mouthful of pizza, nothing was as out of pocket as 'I am a beehive'. 

Like a puddle in the middle of Death Valley, Ariel's calm and composed visage faded into the wind as they broke into an aria of soft giggling. A bad time to giggle, what with all the pizza and hot sauce in their mouth, and abrupt choking soon followed the hilarity. They couldn't care less, the only thing on their mind right now was those four words repeated again and again. That Scandinavian girl was a beehive! A beehive! Funniest shit they ever heard. 

The choking soon went away and Ariel could laugh and giggle and snort in earnest. It was far from the most dignified sound, but their laughter was playground lively, naive and freshly squeezed. A part of them wanted to stop. Laughing like this was childish, people could think weak of them for this and take advantage of them. Other, much larger parts of them disagreed and so they kept laughing. Ariel hadn't laughed like this in a long, long time. It took them back to the day they discovered the surreal humor of early 2000's YouTube and Nico Nico Douga, staying up late at night browsing to play Russian Roulette on the computer from video to video. Were they about to laugh their brains out, or were they going to get jumpscared to hell and back? 

Those were better days. Ariel missed those days, but somehow they knew that Future Ariel would come to miss days like this more. The humble beginnings of Team Firebird, the en masse breaking of the ice. Everyone was introducing themselves, getting to know each other, walking through each other's powers while enjoying pizza and a warm fire. [color=fde1ef][i]These are happy days, too,[/i][/color] Ariel thought as they tried in vain to maintain their composure in the midst of all her giggling. They could get used to this. They should get used to this, they deserved this. Even if they were a quiet and reserved kid, having other people close to her felt...right. Living with other people felt right, it was right.[/i][/indent]
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[indent][sub][COLOR=fde1ef][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Funeral Grounds[/I] - [I]Northern Cove, Dundas Island[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=fde1ef][b]First Class #2.19:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Nothing's Okay[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][color=fde1ef][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] Jonna Harlson [@Pirouette] [/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=fde1ef][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I]First Blood (Definitely Not the Last)[/I][/right][/SUP][/indent]
[INDENT][quote][i]The funeral ended and Jo silently slipped free of Ariel's grasp, but she did not leave right away. Instead she lingered further away from the water until Ariel had retreated from the ceremony as well. Jo wasn't really good at communicating with people and didn't know what to say, but she did feel like she had to say something. [color=DAA520]"Sorry for you. Cass was your friend, ya?"[/color][/i][/quote]
So focused on the funeral, Ariel did not get a proper look at the wrist they were holding. Tilting their head, they saw their hand clinging close to Jonna's skin. A smile broke out of their face, a pursed valley of melancholy. The blonde girl's face reminded them of the four words that had driven them to hysterics that night. The night where...everything...happened. As quickly as it came, the smile went the way of a puddle in Death Valley. Everywhere they looked, they saw splatters of gore left in Hyperion's wake, hideous scars left in the eyes of their friends that spoke of fear, sorrow, anger, hatred, doubt. Everything Ariel swore to leave behind in the screaming geothermal pools of Truth or Consequences. And yet here they come, haunting them once more. A deep breath and a shake of their head kept things at bay. And another deep breath. And then another. Ariel cursed their wandering mind and returned their focus to the Northern Cove, a trembling hand free from the beehive's wrist.

Truly, the less remembered of that night, the better. 

With a solid footing on the present, Ariel turned their attention to Jonna, the smile returning as they beheld her. Still a sad smile, but it was a smile they didn't have to shake off in sorrow.

[color=fde1ef][b][i]"Cass was our friend,"[/i][/b][/color] Ariel replied. [color=fde1ef][b][i]"I didn't get to know him that well, different teams and all. It's just...really really sad, you know? One of our own lost his life because of some power-hungry lunatics? One of our own may never walk again because of the same power-hungry lunatics?"[/i][/b][/color]

Ariel wanted to say more, partly to let out their feelings in more eloquent words than being 'really really sad'. But their feelings were complicated and it was difficult to let them out without sounding like either a selfish pretentious cabrón or a gradeschooler. Still, where else would those feelings go if they stayed where they were? They struggled to remember what the campus therapist advised on this, but it was 'something something reach out something something you are not alone'. Ariel let go of the deep breath they didn't know they were holding in. Time to put that advice to the test.

[color=fde1ef][b][i]"And like...I'm scared about what comes next."[/i][/b][/color] Slowly, these words crawled out of Ariel's mouth. Words chosen carefully, tightly, not wanting overwhelm themself. Or Jonna, for that matter. [color=fde1ef][b][i]"There is simply no way this...'Hyperion' stops at that. It's just not how those kind of people roll. They'll do something crazy dangerous again. Lives will be at risk again. I hope we'll be ready by then."[/i][/b][/color] Just barely keeping themself together, Ariel once again relied on Jo's wrist to keep their feet grounded in the now. Only after the fact did she realize how rough their hand must be and eased their grip, muttering an apology under their breath.

[color=fde1ef][b][i]"I'm sorry for dumping all that on you,"[/i][/b][/color] Ariel then said, in clearer breath. Relaxing the tense posture they didn't know they had been holding, their hands began to fidget. On their hair, on their face, on their uniform fabric, on the trans flag pin on their uniform, anything to distract themself again.[color=fde1ef][b][i]"Hard to think straight in a funeral, you know? Nothing's okay and that's just...not okay, for me. Maybe other people can handle better, but I can't." 

"...Call me out if I'm wrong, but this is not okay for you either, is it?"[/i][/b][/color][/INDENT]
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