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The zomboil was in the undead dorms checking on his minipets and exchanging dirty clothes for clean when he had the idea that he should maybe stop in on Mort. Alex had been back at school for several days now, and had even run into the other zombie during the movie club get together, but beyond a few brief words at that time, they hadn't really spoken yet since he'd gotten back to school. He really had no idea what had been going on at the school since he'd been away, but knowing Amityville, he was sure he'd missed something.

So, he grabbed his backpack full of fresh clean things and his skateboard, and as he made his way out of his room and back towards the dorm exit, he took a small detour towards Mort's room, stopping once he was outside and knocking on the door.

"Mort? You in, buddy?" He called out, voice slightly gruffer then what was the norm, reaching up to swipe back the hair that was tickling at his forehead just above his eyes as he waited for some kind of response.

Unfortunately if nobody answered, he was going to be a bit hooped since he had bought a new phone finally but had none of his old contacts listed yet, so could not send the other zomboil a text to see where he might be.

The scrabbling sound got a curious glance downwards at the door, but then Alex remembered Mort's pet so his gaze soon lifted back upwards as he waited. There was the sound of movement from within, a sure sign that Mort was indeed inside. Then a familiar yet muffled voice when Mort told his minipet to get down.

His hands shoved into his pockets just before the door opened, and he offered the other boil a wan smile at the greeting. "Hey, I uh--was just wondering if maybe you'd want to hang out for a bit, if you're not busy." He shrugged, again glancing down towards the foxfire that Mort was holding back with a shoe, smile broadening just a little.

And no, it wasn't because he was thinking about how delicious she probably was. Too much fluff to get through for very little meat. Yuck.

"Haven't really had much time to talk since getting back. Thought you could fill me in on things. Scarecade, maybe? Killing things sounds fun right now." He didn't feel like he needed to explain his reasoning behind that.

Alex actually somehow managed a somewhat cheerful look as the invitation he extended towards Mort was accepted, and he waited patiently in the hallway for the other zomboil to store away his minipet. He moved back out of the way once Mort joined him, and had to raise eyebrows a little at the 'more kllin' comment. More killing seemed to insinuate that their had been some recent killing...though honestly he also had to consider that they'd laid waste to an entire human village with the fear virus they had loosed upon them. He supposed that constituted as quite a lot of killing, and not any that he was particularly proud of. Hunters were humans, yes, and he believed they all deserved to die for what they've done but...did all humans deserve the same punishment based on what one small faction of them did? These were the troubles of the overly tall, white haired zomboil that he pondered on a daily basis. But he had chosen this. Had chosen to side with Medea, to gain the power needed to get his revenge. These were her terms. He felt that he had very little choice in the matter.

"Ya, I hear you on that one." He replied, as they began their steady trudge out of the undead dorms and into the open campus. "This place feels so somber. Like everyone is in mourning." He could understand, though. He hadn't exactly been a ray of sunshine lately, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be again for quite some time.

"It was...pleasant. Bit shaky to start with, but things were getting a lot better by the end. Just between you and me....I didn't really plan on coming back." He admitted. He hadn't told anybody else this, and likely wouldn't. But he felt like he could trust Mort not to go spreading it around, and he really did just need somebody to talk with.

"But, here I am!" He gestured his hands and gave the other boil a large, empty smile. "And just look how happy I am to be here." He grumbled, letting the smile wither away as the continued to plod along.

"How are things going with you and your ghoulfriend?" He suddenly asked, the question likely seeming to come from out of left field. Maybe he just needed to hear that at least somebody was finding some happiness in these terrible times.

Alex just shrugged a little. He was...somewhat glad he had come back as well. Things were not the same as they had been, and never would be, but running from his problems wasn't going to solve anything. And really, he would have missed this too much. His friends, his boilfriend...he would never have lasted at home for more then another week without needing to see them all again. It had been foolish to think otherwise.

Mort's new tone of voice depicted some amount of seriousness so he listened a little more carefully at what the other boil had to say. Learning that some students were actively hating the horsemen was really not surprising, though it was a little disappointing to hear it out loud. Medea was the one who had given them the chance to rescue the other students, after all. Yin had told Alex that the hunters had offered them a chance to go free after a few days but the zomboil really couldn't believe that it would have happened. And at the mention of the mark Alex glanced down to his own, the one that Medea had given him personally by shoving his hand into a pyre. It had been a terrifying experience, one best left not thought about. Still, if Mort said having the mark might be dangerous then...

The zomboil nodded and rolled down the cuffs of his button up shirt. He was prone to buying shirts with exceedingly long sleeves, so the mark was more then covered, his fingers only exposed at the knuckle on both hands. "I had to keep the mark hidden when I went home. Know telling how my mom would react to a strange tattoo. She already gives me hell for my hair." He smiled with a small grimace, reaching up to run fingers through said hair nervously.

So Mort and his ghoulfriend were still together even despite everything. He supposed that was the best any of them could really ask for, at this point.

"Yin is--" His voice caught a bit, and he coughed into his hand to cover it up. "He's uh...dealing, I guess. He's not...he doesn't have the same energy he used to have, and spends a lot of time in bed and I'm a little worried about him. We've worked things out between us, at least, but he doesn't know anything about what I'm doing, even though he was there just before we were initiated. They wiped his memory, somehow, and he hasn't asked me about the mark on my hand and...he probably wouldn't approve of what I'm doing. He just wants to keep me safe." His hands found their way into his pockets as he shuffled along, letting a small silence lapse between them before continuing as the maul loomed up in front of them.

"Have you spoken to any of the students who were captured? Have they uh...told you anything about what happened to them?" He didn't know how much Mort knew, or if anybody was really talking about it.

Safe? Ha, hardly. None of them were safe from hunters, no matter where they went, if that wasn't made obvious by the attack beneath the school that had seen the students captured to begin with.

They approached the mauls entrance and Alex moved forward to open the door for Mort, likely a habit of Yin's that was rubbing off on him.

"You could say that." Alex replied, waiting for Mort to shuffle past him before entering the maul itself. It was as busy as usual for this time of day, many denizens of Halloween bustling about on their daily shopping business.

"I mean...I don't know if this is really the best place to talk about it." He said, glancing around at all the crowds. But if they couldn't talk about it here, then where? Would anybody really be eavesdropping on the conversation of two young teenage boils? Unlikely. So, he just shrugged, and continued on as they walked, picking his words carefully.

"You know about Israfel, though? And how they er...watched her transformation?" Yes, Alex just assumed Israfel was a ghoul, since that's what Yin kept referring to him as. He had know idea that the boil..or ghoul..was indeed both.

Alex just shook his head sadly in response, white hair streaked with black moving around his head so that he had to reach up and push it back again.
"Not a joke." He said, giving his full attention to the zomboil beside him now as the shuffled along towards the scarecade.

"And not by force. They were given a choice. She chose it, Mort, and the others watched....." He let that sentence trail off to give Mort time to have the implications of what he'd just said set in.

"They were all given the same choice. There was another who said yes, but apparently he chickened out." Alex of course didn't know all of the details, just what Yin had told him, both before and after his trip.

"But they had....files, on more of us. They had a file on me. Yin said they had ways of making them choose so...well let's just say I know at least one other who also agreed to do it before we rescued them." He reached up a hand to rub at his eyes after he said that part, letting it sink in as well so that Mort could come to his own conclusions.

Alex's eyes might have widened slightly at the expletives that Mort was practically shouting as they approached the scarecade. He could practically feel all the eyes on them now, and the last thing he wanted was attention to be cast their way. And if Mort was reacting like this to the little information Alex was able to give him....well, how would he take the last part?

Alex followed into the scarecade behind the other boil, hefting his backpack off of his shoulders so that he could reach in and grab some seeds out of the front pocket.

"Yes." He said, quietly, casting a glance around. A few maul goers were peeking into the scarecade after them with raised eyebrows, but at least nobody had approached them to chastise them or escort them out of the maul. He gave Mort a very pointed look, one that clearly said 'be more careful'. He knew just how Mort felt, he did, but he'd had to keep a lot of that inside, especially when around Yin. The weremantis could so easily take reactions the wrong way and feel like he was to blame for all of it. Alex was forced to let his own feelings simmer just below the surface, only to let them explode when he was finally alone. Probably not the most healthy way to deal, but it was all he could think of to do.

"Killing games first. More talk in a minute." He said. "Unless you'd rather find a nice punching bag somewhere to let loose. It helps, really." He said with a grim smile as he straightened back up, silver seeds in hand and backpack sliding back over his shoulders. Really he just wanted to give Mort a chance to calm down a bit before he dropped the final blow.

"No worries, buddy." He offered the boil a small, wan smile as he had a glance around the scarecade games, searching for something suitable.

Before his eyes also landed on the DDD machine, and thoughts of killing games all but fled his mind. Oh, dance dance deadolution, you sly temptress! And it seemed that Mort was reading his mind, because that was also the game that he seemed interested in playing.

"I think I could give it a decent try, though you're confusing luck with skill." He joked, small smile turning into a grin that was more akin to what he used to sport but was now usually lacking.

He made his way forward towards the machine, waiting for the ghouls to dismount before stepping up for himself and waiting for Mort to follow suit. The first time the zomboils had met each other was at a DDD competition, and that brought back some very fond memories. It was Alex's first week at the school. He had yet to even know what a hunter was back then, though sadly he had found out shortly afterwards.

"I'll let you pick the first song, maybe then you'll have a fighting chance of winning." He laughed, inserting silver seeds into the machine to start it up. More serious talk could come later, after they were finished.