『 ☆ LIGATURES 。』！！•• - [ in character. ]

[the greene turtle]

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________________________________ ⋯⋯⋯⋯ gt ⋯⋯⋯⋯ gt ⋯⋯⋯⋯ gt ⋯⋯⋯⋯ gt ⋯⋯⋯⋯
_______________ █ ▌⋮ ❛ KENT ♕ CONNORS｡ ↷ — ⊹▪avatar «
__________________PRAY TO GODHC - HCTODAY'S THE DAYHC - HCPRAY TO GODHC - HCTODAY'S THE DAY
__________________________ IS THIS THE WAY I'LL ALWAYS BE?
__________________here I am! oh here I am! when will someone understand?
_______________ ⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯

With just one blink, Mason had disappeared from Kent’s eye.

The auburn haired avatar stood still for a moment, unsure whether to bolt off after his summoner or what – Kent understood that the demand was for him to follow but, damn, Mason had shot off like a jack rabbit that had just got nipped in the butt. Slightly confused, Kent looked down at his fellow team mate and gave her a raise of his brow. He pointed to where the blue headed guy had headed off to, “So, we should follow him…” After a pause or so of wordless indecision Kent took a step forward. Seeing as Mason had made the choice to run the distance Kent looked over his shoulder at Pippa and informed her, “I’m gonna run too – If you don’t want to run with me or if you jus’ get tired or anything, yell back an’ I’ll carry ya!” and then with a wave he proceeded to take off because, Kent wasn’t one who liked to be upstaged and, not only that, Kent didn’t like to leave anyone behind either.

Talk about conflict.

But, Kent liked Mason. For one, the guy wasn’t afraid to issue a challenge – and Kent had a tendency to push himself no matter the task at hand. Plus, Mason was cool. Kent wanted to be cool, but he didn’t know how to. Kent was too busy making sure a rock didn’t jump out at him and make him fall on his a** because that was simply so not cool. And, more than anything, Mason was tall. And there was something intimidating about having to look up to whoever you were speaking to that automatically gave them an air of power. Kent liked that; people who emitted strength by just their general posture or look to their eye. So, the two had gotten along instantly.

Kent didn’t mind running. He liked the pleasant sensation of having to use his muscles. The entire length of the time, however, Kent made a point to steal a glance behind him to make sure that Pippa was close and alright – Kent didn’t want her to get hurt, especially on their first assignment for a new pact.

And, hell, it was with an earth orientated esper to boot. Kent was pumped.

When the brute made it to the entrance of the forest he found Mason all folded up and silent. The avatar was unsure whether or not to disturb him, seeing as he looked so focused and all, but patience was not a virtue of Kent's. Regaining his lost breath and wiping away the beads of sweat that had gathered across his forehead, Kent admired the pretty trees for a minute then squatted next to Mason and poked gently at his shoulder.

“U – uh, Blue Head, what’s next?”

[farewell sweet prince]

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x I AM A SEXY BEAST!
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x HEY, HEY — LOOK x x ♛ x x IT`S ELI. !
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xMOOD ( EXCITED )x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x★ x x xTRUST YOUR FEELINGSx x x x x x xGOTTA LIVE AND LEARN



Flipping Jevin the finger (because our hero lacked the eloquence of spontaneous, clever retorts so common in scripted movies), Eli resumed his pointless batting of branches and leaves - occasionally kicking at a few roots and trunks. He even, out of sheer frustration, trampled on a flower til the petals were crushed beyond recognition. Yep, so much for trying to be environmentally friendly and all that useless jazz.

But as he was about to take another step, Jevin - like the Flash or something ******** fancy like that - popped up right in front of him, nearly clotheslining Eli with his outstretched arm.

"s**t, man. What the hell are..."

The rest of the words never made it past his lips as a tall, green-haired woman with a giant-a** stick stepped forth. She was saying something - something important, possibly - but all Eli could think of was: Holy s**t, holy s**t, holy s**t. Standing in front of them, dressed like some MMORPG character or another was Martel - ******** - and Eli didn't know whether he should start doing his "Ha, I called forth an Esper, bitches"-dance or if he should immediately engage in a surprise attack on the unsuspecting woman. In the end, the brunette settled for:

"SUCK IT, BITCHES," crowing loudly at his unintentional success, Eli knocked Jevin's arm away and approached the woman who, as Eli quickly realized, was ******** tall. She was five-eleven? Six feet? - the specifics doesn't really matter because all Eli could process was: s**t is messed up that a chick is taller than me too. God damn. Some god is ******** with me...

Grinning from ear-to-ear, Eli stuck out his hand in greeting. "Hi! I'm Elijah Reid, but everyone just calls me Eli. Anyway, you know, I'm, like, a new summoner and everything - just graduated so this is really exciting!" He was speaking a mile a minute, words slurring messily into each other as he talked. Typically, when Eli was excited, his speech became sloppy and fast - ridiculously fast. "Well, yeah, so, you're Martel - right? You look cooler in person... bigger. Anyway, wanna make a pact with me? Yeah?"

He was so not ready for this Esper-catching deal.

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXLadies and Gentleman, introducing...

REM ! !
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXX...Summoner of Team Epic.

❝Once, I watched two birds doing it.❞




║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█║▌│║║█║

“Shhhhh.” Rem placed a finger against Aries's ******** lips, and slurred, “you're harshing on my mellow here.” The last thing she wanted to do was send a fifty-five-cent text to Kanta telling him to stop sulking when she knew 'Kanta' and 'sulking' were synonymous with each other. It was like telling the kid not to breathe.

That was when Aries and Dante began to flirt with each other. Not even in the subtle tee-hee-I-just -touched-your-arm kind of way either. Rem was in slight awe. Holy hell, her team-mates were boinking each other.

Nice.

She tripped over to Aries and gave the older woman a friendly hip-check. "Work it, girl," Rem said as she passed her, "give Dante some new material for the spank-bank."

"You're more than welcomed to join us, Rem. No husband, no worries - all secrets."

Rem genuinely looked touched.

“Thanks.” She smiled as though Dante had just given her the last cookie in the cookie jar or offered to mow her lawn for free. “No one's ever asked me to join a threesome before.” Not that she'd take him up on his offer but – it was a nice thought. A nice, erotic thought.

Still tipsy from the champagne, Rem had a monstrous headache by the time the group arrived at the Lumen Spring. It was easy enough to get there – they just had to follow a path that looped back to the forest entrance. Their trek had just taken a little longer than normal because of Rem's fail attempts at smashing open the champagne bottle earlier. But it was all good.

The spring was quiet and still and... missing two very important key components –

“Where all the mermaids be at?” Rem wondered out-loud, stepping closer to the edge of the spring and peering into the water.

Three minutes later, Rem did a naked cannon-ball into the water.

"Hellooo.. She drawled, surfacing and swimming lesuirely in circles. "Come on out little mermaids..." The spring was quite deep. So deep, that the bottom couldn't be seen. Rem had to constantly kick with her short legs to stay afloat, but that grew tiring so she resorted to holding on to some gnarly vines growing on the side of the spring to keep from drowning.

A sudden smirk overcame her features. "I should blast them out..."

After all, Rem was always looking for an excuse to blow stuff up.

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

j u s t x w h e n x y o u x t h i n k x t h a t x y o u ' r e x i n x c o n t r o l . ↺
✩✩ K Ａ Ｎ T Ａ
━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━

║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█║▌│║║█║

The second Mir opened his mouth, Kanta cringed and purposely avoided eye-contact. He even went as far as to scoot his chair back. Even though the older man was wearing a mask, Kanta just couldn't stand knowing what laid beneath. He didn't even bother being subtle about it either – just raised his hand perpendicular to his face and used it as a shield to protect his poor eyes from getting burnt out of its sockets.

(True fact: Kanta experiences both physical and mental pain when looking at anything ugly. The effects can be so devastating, that Kanta has described it as essential “eye-rape”.)

Once Mir was done saying his little spiel, Kanta licked the last bit of ice cream from his spoon before replying. Instead of looking at Mir however, Kanta directed his answer at the table.

“Shiva's abilities allow for greater variety. By the time we reach Mintos, and certain other factors have fallen into order, I feel reasonably confident enough that we can take Shiva on.” Kanta knew he was essentially a rookie, and that both his team-mates had a wealth of knowledge and experience – but he had studied hard and graduated top in almost all his classes. He wasn't stupid enough to lead his team into anything he wasn't prepared for.

At first glance, Kanta's game plan admmitedly appeared heavily flawed and inconsistent – but Kanta was the type of guy who had a back-up plan for his back-up plan that was the back-up plan for another back-up plan.

Then it was Dame's turn to voice her dissent.

“Titan is a joke – I point-blank refuse to align myself with that brute.” Kanta responded derisively. “I can think of a hundred different ways anyone with his abilities can be defeated. Besides, he's an eye-sore.”

“And I've told you on more than one occasion that I'll consider going for Bahamut. But I'll by no means factor him in until I make a final decision.” Kanta said bracingly. “I've read the reports-- trying to gain a pact with Bahamut is by far, the most unpredictable and the most arduous of the Level Fours. Not to mention the most time-consuming. Time that in the long run, might be better spent elsewhere.” He caught himself in the window's reflection slouching in his seat, with his lower lip jutting out like a child and immediately straightened his back and ceased pouting.

It was true that Kanta was on the fence with Bahamut. Dragons were cool looking and he also knew Dame's fighting style would benefit from having Bahamut's powers. But it was Bahamut's subjective nature, and the time-frame involved, that bothered him – since it was also just as important to dedicate time training with Espers as well as acquiring them.

“Let me remind you of a little fact -- I'm the Summoner.” Kanta said carelessly as he flipped open his cell-phone again and frowned at the screen. Zero new messages. b***h. “The Summoners are the ones making the actual pacts.”

Kanta pocketed his cell before placing some money on the table. “You made the decision to join me, so deal with it.”

He stood up and looked back expectantly. “We'll be heading over to the lagoon to find Siren now.”

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

xx xx❜martel◟xx xx

xx xx█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

"SUCK IT, BITCHES,"

Martel gasped a little and placed a delicate hand across her chest. Suck what exactly?

One of the humans stepped forward and stuck his hand out for her to shake. He then proceeded to rattle off a very lengthy and enthusiastic but garbled introduction that Martel had to strain her ears to comprehend. It literally took her a minute after the human was done speaking for her to actually process what he'd just said. Once she did, a wide smile broke out across her face.

“Oh! A Summoner! How delightful.” Martel gushed, grabbing Eli's outsretched hand with both her own and shaking it vigorously. She glanced over at the second male standing slightly behind Eli and deduced that he was the Summoner's chosen Avatar.

“It's very nice to meet you too. It's been awhile since an Evoker has visited me.” Martel continued to cheerfully exclaim. She turned around before beckoning them with her staff to follow. “Follow me.”

Gliding away, Martel led them deeper into the forest where the trees' canopies overlapped, allowing less sunlight to reach the ground. Stopping here and there to tend to the various plant-life, she also took special care of the new saplings, removing some leaves from them to make it easier for them to grow. Eventually, Martel stopped in front of an enormous oak tree about 60 meters tall. The Esper smiled fondly up at the tree that was her pride and joy -- she'd been nurturing it for as long as she could remember.

Turning away from her baby, Martel reached forward and gently gave the Summoner a handful of seeds. Then she handed the Summoner's partner her watering can. “Please help me plant these seeds and spread the beauty that is Mother Nature!”

[farewell sweet prince]

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x I AM A SEXY BEAST!
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x HEY, HEY — LOOK x x ♛ x x IT`S ELI. !
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xMOOD ( EXCITED + SOMEWHAT NONPLUSSED )x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x★ x x xTRUST YOUR FEELINGSx x x x x x xGOTTA LIVE AND LEARN



"Ha," Eli thought smugly at the invitation, pleased to know that he was the first (of his graduating class) to find her. "Take that, all you ******** who thought I was too much of a loser to partner up with!" Of course, the idea that his friends may have gone for a different Esper never crossed his mind and, if it did, he pretended like it wasn't the case.

Because this was his moment to shine.

Throwing Jevin two thumbs up and a face-splitting grin, Eli quickly trailed after the too-green-woman - eager to acquire the pact and even more eager to be leaving the disgustingly, bug-ridden forrest. He couldn't wait until he could call up his grandpapa and grandmama to tell them the good news - his first summoner pact! Naturally, they'd praise him for being such a talented summoner and how proud they were of their only grandson.

And because Eli was already locked into the prison of his own deluded, self-centered fantasies, he didn't mind the long treck through the forest. He wasn't aware of the stops Martel made to tend to the various plants, shrubs, and random junk. He wasn't even aware of the giant-a** tree before him when they arrived. In fact, if the Esper hadn't taken his hand, he would still be dreaming about the delicious macaroons he'd be eating when he visits his grandparents in Astoria.

So when Martel handed him a handful of seeds, Eli's dream-like smile faltered. "Seeds?" Arching an eyebrow, the brunette glanced over at Jevin, telepathically communicating the question: She couldn't possibly be---

"Please help me plant these seeds and spread the beauty that is Mother Nature!"

---expecting them to make like hippies and plant s**t.

Well, answer given.

Taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, Eli turned on his heels. With a bright smile on his face, he transferred all the seeds to his best friend - dropping every last pit into Jevin's spare hand. "Hey, let's split the work, okay? You can plant and water the seeds and I'll, er, supervise your work! Yeah, supervising - very, very important, y'know?

When it comes to Eli there are a few things people need to know (especially for people who are working with him). First, Eli hates creasing or dirtying his shoes in any way and once a crease is formed, a part of his soul dies in response. And, second, Eli REALLY hates to dirty his hands. Hell, he won't even eat hamburgers and french fries without a fork and a stack of napkins to his side. So, digging around the dirt (that is possibly home to millions of little disgusting insects) is, naturally, out of the question.

And, being the summoner of the group means he's going to pull ranks (or what little leverage he has) on Jevin all day long. Until, of course, he gets his a** handed back to him on a silver platter.

[farewell sweet prince]

x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x ON ⇡ DISPLAY x x : x x ❛M.CHENZIRA
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xCAN YOU, TELL ME HOW WE GOT IN THIS SITUATION
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx xI CAN`T SEEM TO GET YOU OFF MY MIND
x x x x x x x x x x ▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xｃｏｚ　ｎｏｗ　ａｌｌ　ｉ　ｓｅｅ　ｉｓ　ｒｕｉｎ　ａｎｄ　ｄｅｖａｓｔａｔｉｏｎ

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x ➽ x x AVATAR x x x ¦ x x x MOOD : INDIFFERENT


Exhaling quietly from his mouth, Mir, slowly, rose from his seat.

He had known, from the moment he offered his services to Kanta, that this partnership would be a test of patience. But ever since Mir had, unwittingly, revealed his true face, Kanta had evolved from being a lightly irritating nuisance to near unbearable jackass. While most people would politely pretend to ignore the scars (keeping their expressions awkwardly neutral), Kanta always went out of his way to avoid it - in not-so-subtle manners.

Turning to see if Dame needed help with anything (and also using it as an opportunity to converse with her - without the overbearing presence of the eighteen-year-old), Mir whispered, "Let's do our best with what we have then - I suppose." But even though Mir was trying to sound optimistic, his body language suggested he was far from pleased. If anything, the redhead sounded just a tad bit more annoyed than he usually did.

And, considering the Espers Kanta listed, Mir had fair reason to be mildly distressed.

Kanta was going to drive them (if not Dame, then definitely Mir) into a wall with his plan. And while Mir wasn't ultra determined to win (something he had decided to not share), he also didn't want to come off looking rusty on the field (it was bad enough that he couldn't land with a stronger summoner). After all, even if he wasn't after the titles, he still had a reputation to uphold.

However decayed it had become during his time of neglect.

But as they walked forward - following the lead of their summoner - Mir caught up with his attitude and stuffed it back into whatever closet it had escaped from. It wasn't that he was afraid of speaking out against Kanta (fear was rarely ever the driving force behind Mir's decisions), but a habit he had developed from years and years of self-suppression. Yes, he was annoyed and, yes, he was bothered by Kanta's unwillingness to listen. But he wasn't so terribly frustrated that he'd snap. It wasn't that important and, ultimately, his partnership with Kanta was a brief one. After this tournament - after he can settle every loose end left - he would leave and go back to his own life.

And this moment would be nothing more than an echo of a memory.

"Kanta, I know you're working with a tight schedule and worried about the events, but there are some Espers you should consider with more weight." Careful to avoid touching the brunette (because if there was something Mir hated more than the pointed averted stares, it was the flinching), the avatar moved to stand beside his new summoner - making sure to keep at least three inches apart.

[paper peony]

________________________________
_______________________________________________________________ fleurise! _ avatar of team winning

Fleur yelped as Mona swerved recklessly off the road, hitting every bump and curve she could instead of avoiding it. The oldest female of the team rubbed the top of her head after she went flying off the seat and bumped the ceiling with a loud thud. She groaned, wiping away a few tears that managed to seep through her eyes, and leaned forward against the drivers seat. Propping her chin on the seat, Fleur looked into the rear-view mirror and addressed the young summoner.

"I think, to make sure that we're all alive by the time the tournament starts, I should be the one driving from now on." She didn't say it in a way that insulted Mona's driving skills, but she was sure that if the young girl kept driving, they'd probably be dead before they could reach Rolante City. Fleur continued to lean against the driver's seat while Mona shared her gameplan. She listened carefully, a litte turned off by her use of language but also somewhat amused.

When Nadia spoke up, Fleur just continued to listen, only speaking up after Nadia had finished talking. She nodded, turning her face to look at Mona's while sharing her own thoughts on the plan.

"Right, Ramuh is no problem for me. His lightning might be quick, but let's be serious, the guy's pretty old. There's no way he could keep up with me." Fleur leaned back confidently, envisioning the time when her old team fought against Ramuh. Sure, she wasn't the one that beat him, but she did remember dodging his attacks quite well. She was fairly sure that fighting against him wouldn't be that difficult. She was also excited that Mona intended on making a pact with him, she just loved utilizing his thunder magic back then.

The avatar smiled and looked out the window, "Instead of Leviathan, maybe we should try making a pact with Shiva?" She merely suggested, thinking that it was a better plan but since Mona was the summoner, it was her decision in the end.

_

[paper peony]

____________________MASON CAEN - GYNOPHOBIAC & SUMMONER OF TEAM ???. __"PLEASED TO MEET YOU. JUST DON'T TOUCH ME."




Mason opened one eye after he felt a poke on his shoulder. His eye simply veered to the side and he saw a blur of brown at his side and then closed his eye again. Releasing a low hum from his throat, Mason seperated his hands and laid them on his knees before opening his eyes and calmly looking at Kent, who was squatting next to him.

"U-uh, Blue Head, what's next?" Blue Head? Mason gave Kent a questioning look but had already shrugged it off in his mind. He noticed Pippa wasn't with them and looked ahead to see if she was arriving any time soon. Seeing no sign of her, Mason looked back at Kent and folded his arms behind his head in a laidback manner.

"Well, we wait." He said coolly, "Pippa's not here yet." He gave the older boy a smirk, knowing full well that he wasn't satisfied with his short answer.

During their short time in getting to know each other, Mason could already tell what kind of person Kent was. He liked him though. From the moment they met, he knew he would like him and that's why he asked him to be on his team. He liked how the guy was a determined fellow, and hardworking too, but he also liked how he was clumsy though was never phased by it. Or at least, he didn't see it like that. The summoner liked how Kent had no shame in acting goofy or idiotic to entertain the masses, it was refreshing. Well, to him at least.

Mason glanced back to see if Pippa's mass of red hair was in the distance and then shot his attention back to Kent. He let out a breathy laugh, noticing Kent's patience thinning, and decided to let the guy in on his plans.

"After Pippa gets here, we're going into the forest to look for Martel. According to the esperdex, she's very environmentally friendly, so we should probably treat the forest extra nice while we're walking through it. You know, like, hug a tree, talk to a flower, stuff like that." He looked at Kent and smiled, "Just kidding. ...Unless you like doing stuff like that." He shrugged, nothing wrong with that.

His eyes flickered towards the path once more before quickly flickering back, Mason sighed and placed his hands back on his lap. He assumed his meditation pose once again and closed his eyes. "But yeah, until Pippa comes here, we can't do anything. So sit tight, Vegan."

"If you want, you can meditate with me." He offered, thinking the meditation would do Kent's impatience some good. Then again, he didn't bother to wait for the brunette's answer and had already begun to meditate on his own.

_

[fete galante]

_pipalo░░░░░▒▒▒▒░░░░░▒▒▒▒

P I P P A F E R M A T A ★ミ avatar of team whatever

it started out as a feeling which then grew into a hope which then turned into a quiet thought which then turned into a quiet word
and then that word grew louder && louder `til it was a battle cry

all you can do is try to know who your friends aredustie
as you h e a d→ off to the war _♘ ____love_______

dustiei`ll come ↪ ___back » » »
dustdustwhen you C A L L me
dustiedustno need to say ❝ good- bye ❞

Outnumbered. Two to one. The fittest win again.

The bony and out-of shape Pippa was hardly the type to exercise by choice yet, somehow she was team up with the muscular Kent and agile Mason. The petite girl trailed behind Kent, the other avatar of Team Whatever, keeping her pace steady and carefree in an attempt to conserve the energy she had left. Oh, she just had to be on the team that walked all the way to the destination. At the time of his suggestion, she agreed that it was a plan and a great chance to see the sights. Now, the only reminder that she had feet was the pain she felt pulsating through her soles.

_____At least, the view was worth it.

She heard the brunette mutter something like “follow” and craned her neck to get a better view of her teammate. “I’m gonna run too – If you don’t want to run with me or if you jus’ get tired or anything, yell back an’ I’ll carry ya!” For a moment, she seriously considered taking him up on that offer. Piggy-back riding? Sounds rather dangerous. She hesitated at the gentle brute’s tempting offer, weighing her aversion to heights versus running. it wasn't falling that she was afraid of; from what she knew, Kent was too much of a gentleman to drop her. The thought of being carried, however, had an air of dependency that bothered her.

“Don’t worry, Kent! You go on ahead,” she called after him as she watched his muscular figure rush away. One final haul and then it’ll be over, she reminded herself. Almost there. Arching her back out to stretch one last time, she broke into a jog or the closest thing to a jog that she could manage in this state.

At the entrance, she saw the figure of her summoner meditating on the grass. Pippa was always surprised at how calm and mature Mason could be in contrast to his avatars, considering she had to sign some wacky contract about not getting to close to him. She stumbled to a stop when she almost reached them before she remembered the terms of her contract and scrambled a few more feet away, just in case.

“Ta-da,” she said between gasps of breaths. Leaning forward to rest her hands upon her knees, she slowed her mass of hair to flop over her head and settle onto the ground. Here at last.

“Sorry, boys! Let's get started now.”

[Ocoo]

╔══════════════════════════════╗
❝xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shut up and Listen.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx❞
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“Well, actually…” Actually, water didn’t conduct electricity. It was the ions dissolved in the water that was a conductor. But it occurred to Mona that implying she presumed the water they conjured up from Good Ol’ Nessy was distilled was just as stupid as buying into a misconception. So maybe she’d just keep her mouth shut.

“Whatever. Fleur will take care of what’s-his-face, and everything will be fine and dandy. Happy?” Oh, but that wasn’t the only problem, was it? Fleur wanted to get the ice queen. Too bad, b***h.

Okay. So, Fleur wasn’t a b***h. Nadia was, though. Fleur was actually the nice- except for that one time all of thirty seconds ago where she insulted Mona’s driving. She wouldn’t get away with that.

“As nice as being able to freeze people to death is, we need to stick to the sea monster. For aqua lady’s sake.”

And now to deal with the horrible insult that had been so horribly insulting. ‘Insinuation’ was probably a better word for it, really. Fleur hadn’t straight up said, “Yo, you suck balls at driving, holmes.” or anything like that, but she had implied that Mona was such a bad driver that she would actually kill someone.

In fact, the longer and deeper Mona thought about it, the more atrocious the ‘insinuation’ seemed. Was it really necessary to bluntly say something so distressing? They were practically at their destination, and still she had brought it up. And to accuse her of being so reckless as to actually commit manslaughter, it was just- HOLY ********. HOLY ********. THERE WERE PEOPLE RIGHT OUTSIDE THE FOREST. RIGHT WHERE HER CAR WAS GOING. SHIIIIT.

HARD BRAKE. HARD BRAKE.

Then suddenly, her forehead was against the steering wheel, and the seatbelt was digging into her tighter than a belt dug into the neck of someone who was into auto-erotic asphyxiation. At least there hadn’t been big any bumps, so presumably no one had died.

Yep. A look through the windshield confirmed she’d have to go at least a few more yards before the trio in her path became a fresh coat of red on her car. So it was all good. Pretty much.

“Fleur drives from now on. End of discussion.”

With that, Mona was out of the car and examining the almost-roadkill. Big surprise, it was another team of evokers. She recognized the blue-haired kid from a class of hers. Blue hair wasn’t easy to forget, after all.

“s**t, did every evoker and their mother decide to come out here? You guys aren’t after the mer-twins, are you?” she said after looking each one up and down, “Because that’s who we came for, and we’ve got no time to stand in line for ‘em.”

Mona was perfectly content with letting the fact she had almost mowed them all down be the elephant in the room.

[Ocoo]

✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖ ✖✖ ✖

✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖M a d a m e

❝Dame❞

D e m i t r i✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖

Kanta was impossible, and Dame’s patience was wearing thin. He did realize she relied on her strength and endurance, did he not? And that, therefore, it would not be a waste of time to augment them both? Did he realize that she mainly fought by punching things, and making it so she could break ribcages and walls with those punches would be extremely useful? Apparently not.

As much as Dame wanted argue this, she knew it would only be in vain. Kanta was done discussing it, and that was the end of it. For now, at least. She would not stand for the one-sided attitude he took if he refused to concede on at least some points.

She stood with a quiet sigh. As childish and unprofessional as she knew it was, she was feeling morose about the whole situation. She did not have Mir’s vast patience, and she could never hope to come close. Even now, he was whispering words of encouragement, while she was wondering if an Esper could be persuaded to make a pact against the summoner’s will. And for a moment, she resented him for it, and it showed in her voice, hushed as it was. “Do we have a choice?”

Almost instantly she regretted her tone. As fitting as he seemed for it, she wouldn’t make Mir into a verbal punching bag. She stiffened, and apologized, still whispering. “Forgive me. That was a misdirection of my feelings.” Ashamed of the display of her lack of self-control, Dame averted her gaze, and went to Kanta side before Mir could reply.

Mir went on to continue about Espers, which still seemed futile to Dame. Counterproductive, even. Pushing Kanta to hard all at once would only alienate him, and then they would be hopeless. But in her state of embarrassment, it seemed awkward and inappropriate to interject. Still, it was necessary. “I… I think it would be best to continue this discussion at a more appropriate time.”




DAME, AVATAR of team KANTA

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

_______team sexy beasts.
____▬▬▬ ♔jevin
x
______❛ ★ avatar. ◟
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_______________________________________________TIME ONLY CAN LEAD YOU ON STILL IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT.
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Jevin gave Eli an unimpressed look. Was this joker seriously going to try and pull this s**t over him?

“That's cute Eli. Real cute.” He sneered, shoving the seeds roughly back into Eli's hands. “Why don't you try sucking your own d**k next?”

Eli, bless his limp little wrists, sat hunched over video game consoles for half his life. And while Jevin enjoyed the occasional Star Craft II, and could argue the superiority of FFVIII vs FFX until the cows came home because nobody ever played FFIX – he had about ten pounds of muscle on Eli, not to mention six years of physical training.

It was with this ease that Jevin placed one hand on top of Eli's head and pushed the other boy down to his knees. Any outside observer probably would've had a heart-attack at seeing Eli submissively on his knees in front of Jevin and totally misread the situation, but Jevin was blissfully unaware of the implications. Truth is, people were often misreading his relationship with Eli. Jevin's own parents didn't believe that their son was straight. On his last birthday, his dad even gave him a book with real-life passages about gay teens “coming-out”. Jevin had just shrugged and chucked the book into his wastebasket without much thought. His dad was a librarian and was always sending Jevin weird books.

“Get your pansy-a** to work.” He said, rattling the watering can Martel had given him in front of Eli's nose to indicate that Jevin already had a job --- it was being the designated water boy. “I ain't your b***h.”

Fortunately, Martel had drifted away to dance amongst some wildflowers and was out of ear-shot.

“Besides, the manual labor will do you good.” Jevin said airily. “You can finally work off those b***h-tits.”

Sometimes Jevin knew that Eli was probably the only person in the world who could listen to him talk for more than 20 seconds without wanting to punch him in the nuts.

(..Most of the time anyways.)

[farewell sweet prince]

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x I AM A SEXY BEAST!
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x HEY, HEY — LOOK x x ♛ x x IT`S ELI. !
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xMOOD ( EXTREMELY NONPLUSSED )x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x★ x x xTRUST YOUR FEELINGSx x x x x x xGOTTA LIVE AND LEARN



"That's cute Eli. Real cute."

Eli just grinned, shrugging nonchalantly as if to say: I know I am. Thanks, homes.

"Why don't you try sucking your own d**k next?"

"Brah, that's what I got you for." Hn, somehow, that sounded just a tad bit more gay than it had in his mind. He'll have rethink these comebacks or maybe have one or two ready for all situations.

But before Eli had an opportunity to correct his statement (or tag it with - no homo), Jevin had him on the ground - on his knees. Stunned into silence (and then, later, mortified by the whole spectacle), Eli could do little other than blink and leave his mouth hanging open in a rather suggestive manner - given their current positions. It probably didn't help that, in Eli's mind, there was a reel of nightmarish scenes playing - all involving him and Jevin and unspeakable things.

Deeply unspeakable things.

"Get your pansy-a** to work. I ain't your b***h."

Waking from his moment of - of whatever it was - Eli shot up from the ground and, out of embarrassment (and humiliation), knocked the watering can out of Jevin's hand - in part to prove how "man" he was and that he wasn't not ******** pansy.

[******** you, man."

Alright, poor word choice is, well, poor word choice.

He didn't need a mirror to know that his face was probably redder than a tomato and, not wanting to give the blond a chance to make a remark (because, god forbid Jevin not make a smart-a** retort), Eli stomped over to a nearby patch of dirt.

For a moment, the brunette stood there. He looked at the fistful of seeds in one hand, the freshly turned dirt, and then at his shoes. His ******** shoes. His two-hundred-dollars-I-had-to-wait-in-the-freezing-cold-for-five-hours shoes. Oh, hell no.

But remembering how easily Jevin had pushed him down, Eli quickly closed his mouth. This was not going to end well for him and not because Jevin was stronger, but because Eli was a more delicate person. Yeah, he's not weak. He's just... he was raised differently, okay? "I hope you know I hate you, jackass. I hope you get run over by a stampeding rhino or something like that. You stupid loaf of a bread."

Yeah, don't ask - Eli tends to just make up strings of words and thinks that by saying them loudly and mean-ly, he's making a good insult.

With the tip of his shoes (god, his heart was crying at the very thought of doing what he was about to do), Eli pushed away a bit of the dirt (thank god it was already loosened) and continued to 'dig' at it. When the hole was big enough, he dropped a seed into the ground and, using the side of his shoes, brushed all the dirt back into it.

Nah, that's what I got your mom for. - ********, why didn't he think of this, like, ten minutes earlier?

[the greene turtle]

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________________________________ ⋯⋯⋯⋯ gt ⋯⋯⋯⋯ gt ⋯⋯⋯⋯ gt ⋯⋯⋯⋯ gt ⋯⋯⋯⋯
_______________ █ ▌⋮ ❛ KENT ♕ CONNORS｡ ↷ — ⊹▪avatar «
__________________PRAY TO GODHC - HCTODAY'S THE DAYHC - HCPRAY TO GODHC - HCTODAY'S THE DAY
__________________________ IS THIS THE WAY I'LL ALWAYS BE?
__________________here I am! oh here I am! when will someone understand?
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“Well, we wait. Pippa's not here yet.”

Kent shot him a look like – ‘no dip, Sherlock’ but refrained from actually voicing his opinion.

“After Pippa gets here, we're going into the forest to look for Martel. According to the esperdex, she's very environmentally friendly, so we should probably treat the forest extra nice while we're walking through it. You know, like, hug a tree, talk to a flower, stuff like that.”

Kent nodded – he rolled his head around to get a better view of the trees that surrounded them. Kent didn’t have a problem acting the part of a tree hugger, he would’ve bought a ‘SAVE THE WORLD’ or a ‘USE LESS PLASTIC’ shirt if that would have pleased the earth - esper. Or brought a picture of his personal garden along because, seriously, Kent agreed with the whole ‘green’ message. So much, in fact, that he marched on over to a tree and gave it a gentle pat; before embracing it, though, he heard Mason mention – “Just kidding. ...Unless you like doing stuff like that.”

Oh. Kent made sure that he hid his red face away in embarrassment, hoping, no, praying that Mason hadn't seen him. He backed away from the tree quickly and returned to the blue haired boy’s side.

Vegan?

Kent felt his eyebrow twitch – the way he had used the term vegan sounded a tad derogatory. He was a raw vegan actually – but, then again, Kent had just misinterpreted his summoner’s tone on the whole earth friendly s**t just seconds before so Kent decided to keep his mouth shut as per usual. “I’ll pass on the whole meditating thing,” he shrugged. Kent couldn’t stay put in one place for more than five minutes. “Me and sitting still jus’ don’t mix.”

Pippa should be there soon anyway; Kent had made sure not to get too far ahead of her just in case she may have needed him along the way. And, sure enough, she arrived shortly after with a light flush to her cheeks and a cheery smile on her lips.

“Ta-da.” Kent watched as Pippa got a hold of her own breath. She must get hot with all of that hair, he thought. “Sorry, boys! Let's get started now.” Kent grinned – finally!

But, before they could actually do anything about their current situation, Kent heard a rumble of something like an engine – and before he knew it was there, a car was careening towards them. Instinctively Kent grabbed the collars of both his team mates to pull them back, maybe a little too roughly, and tried to make it so he stood before them. But, the car stopped right before slamming into his chest.

The whole time Kent had forgotten to breathe.

He released one, harsh breath, and then looked over to the driver who nonchalantly exited the SUV as if she hadn’t just turned them all into roadkill. “Yo! How about a ‘sorry’ for almost killin’ us? The ******** you thinkin’ driving like a one – eyed drunken jamoka head*? And Martel'll have yer head for bringing that hunk of junk here and messin' with the air!” His teeth gritted together after his rather loud statement and flung his hands to the sky in a gesture to the pollution she had just created. Yeah, Kent was a little pissed, and because of that he completely ignored the other girl’s question. Girl’s? Oh, s**t. They were all girls. Kent’s mood changed in an instant as he looked over at Mason, then promptly stood in front of him – hoping to block him from the flock of girls. But, unfortunately, as mentioned earlier – Mason was really tall and Kent didn’t quite hide all of him altitude wise. And, it may have looked a little silly, but Kent wasn't one to think everything through.


____________________*Jamoka Head - what you call a completely terrible driver on the road with you. A more calmer word that you can call bad drivers in front of your children.