Welcome to Gaia! ::

Things had settled down after that. The group had been briefed on the mission parameters and then released with half an hours time to pack before they were expected to show up at the portal. One in the actual desert base they had been assigned rooms, and the remainder of that day had been spent making sure the runic generator was up and running. It had taken a little longer than expected, sand having gotten into some of the more crucial elements of the machinery.

A division of labor had been established, at least for that evening, as far as watch shifts were concerned. Zeke had taken one of the first watches, eager to get his turn over and done with so he could have a nice long stretch of uninterrupted sleep.

That had been the plan, at least. At some point the mist had slipped from the comfort of his own sheets and wandered out of his room, pace slow and mildly shuffling. He wasn't, as one might think on first glance, simply wandering. A closer inspection would find pale eyes half lidded and completely unfocused. His features were slack, expression vacant, save for the very subtle little smile that touched his lips.

The man was out of it. 100% lost to the world as the soft murmuring whispers guided him down the dark hall that lead to the ladder that marked the base entrance.

Cee was throwing open her door with a vicious squinting snarl, "******** hair held a delicate balance between amazing and horrific bedhead. Seeing no one she clamped her arms around her chest from the chill and ambled out.

"Wassat? Zeke? <******** why am I not in bed still.."

Zeke seemed to be completely unaware of the other three as they approached him. He kept walking, pace shuffling by even as he continued heading away from the barracks and towards the ladder that marked the base entrance. As he drew near to it the hatch over head opened and a very distracted looking Carl slithered in and pulled it closed behind him. Jumping down, he very nearly landed on top of the sleep walking Mist, who continued on being completely oblivious to the world around him. Not even a flinch, nothing.

Carl didn't seem to notice immediately. He seemed startled by the appearance of the four of them, and gave a baffled blink before shaking his head. "I didn't call anyone," he didn't sound exactly sure of himself, but seemed to let it go. "There's something up there. Or there was something up there. There's deep groves in the sand, I'm not sure..." he trailed off, attention finally on Zeke and that glazed, unseeing expression.

He was heading for the ladder itself, laying a hand on one of the wrongs as he brought up a bare foot, ready to start climbing.

"You probably shouldn't.." Carl was frowning, brows drawn in as he watched the Mist trainee, then glanced back at the other three. "Is he okay?"

Zeke certainly wasn't dressed for braving the elements. He was shirtless, sleeping pants hanging around his hips and feet bare. Compared to Carl, in his layers and goggles, Zeke looked incredibly under dressed. "You're gunna get blasted by the sand." The Sun hunter reached out to lay a hand on one of Zeke's arms before he could get more than a step off the ground.

It was enough. Zeke stopped climbing, and pale eyes seemed to slowly come into focus, then widening as he came back to himself with a start. It was a bit of a shock, understandably, finding himself on a ladder at the entrance of the base instead of his bed, and hopped down immediately, turning a questioning look on each of his friends in turn, as well as Carl. "Why was I out here, on the ladder?" Truthfully they all seemed as puzzled as he felt, he wasn't at all sure they had any answers.

"I think we really shouldn't go check it out?" Ever sounded tired, still, teasing but in a distracted sort of way with his mouth pulled down on either side. He wrapped arms around himself, huddling in a bit, suddenly wishing that he'd put on pants. The idea of venturing out into the wilds like this was extremely unappealing.

"So I guess kind of the opposite." He hesitated, though, looking to Cee and Paige instead of Zeke as he cleared his throat. "Maybe he shouldn't sleep alone, though."

Dark brows drew in at Beth's reply, and his eyes flicked to the others in turn, as if looking for confirmation. Apparently he found it, because a second later he was letting out a long breath as he brought a hand up to rub at his eyes before forcing his fingers back through his hair. He seemed troubled, and why not? He'd never been known to sleep walk before. Once he was out he hardly moved, Ever and Paige could both vouch for that.

Beth's question about checking out above ground was met with a shake of Carl's head. "I wouldn't recommend it, it's pretty windy, you don't want to go up there with exposed skin." This point was rather clearly being made as the Sun begin pulling various bits of layers off, a small pile of sand forming at his feet.

He looked up as Cee addressed him by name. "Just sand, sand, and more sand." Even the impression he'd mentioned would be gone by the time anyone else went up to look, the wind and blowing sand working to cover it.

Lost in thought, Zeke didn't appear to be paying attention to the conversation at hand, though he looked up again at the suggestion he not sleep alone, brows twitching as he gave a slow blink in Ever's direction.

"Yeah, maybe." This from Carl. He'd gotten his coat off and was shaking the sand from the pockets before pulling it on again and sinking down against the wall so he could pull his boots off. "You guys all know each other, so how about you figure it out?" As the highest ranking Hunter among them, he'd sort of fallen into an somewhat authoritative role, though it wasn't all that necessary, not with this group. Decisions were being made easily, roles divided, and no one had yet to do much complaining. It was, quite honestly, a relief.

"It's still early yet, you can probably get a few more hours in. Gotta get the intranet up today, hopefully, and start clearing out the upper level." He tipped a boot, spilling out a decent handful of sand.

Cee would always go with the plan that benefited her the most. "Ever kin have em."

She grumped over to grab Paige's hand. "I just wanna go the ******** back ta sleep. I'm gonna bang on Bob's door ta be a b***h too."

Zeke would have been fine sleeping with Paige, it wasn't as if it was the first time they're shared a bed, but Cee seemed to have other plans. He smiled after her as she shuffled her way over to the other girl and started to drag her off by the hand. "Night ladies," he drawled out, smirking at Beth's putout expression before Ever's gesture got him moving, falling into step beside him.

"Sugar?" He said it quietly, but the humor in his voice came through loud and clear. "You know, if you wanted to get me alone again, all you had to do was ask." Zeke knew same well that wasn't the case, but couldnt resist giving Ever a hard time.

Carl watched the four of them as they disappeared down the hall again before glancing up at Beth. She was still staring after Paige, as if she could will the taller girl into turning around. "You should probably get some sleep too," he offered kindly, smiling up at her.

Cee made a point to pause at Bob's door, POUND ON IT, and yell "WAKE UP BOB- SHADY s**t GOIN DOWN!" Her voice screeched and reverberated against the solid walls.

By the time the ruffled man appeared bleary eyed at his door, Paige and Cee had gone past.

"What the hell.." He murmured at the remaining people in the hall.