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 Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 6:36 pm
It was lunch break at Meadowview and Ladon was outside, sitting against the school building as he enjoyed the clumpy grass and the short line of thin trees that lines against she building and the over-graffitied wall on the other side. It was a real problem, taggers, and while he didn’t approve of anyone defacing property when someone had worked hard to put it up, he did envy the risk it took to run in the dark of night onto school grounds and write something. Instead of admiring the fat sprayed on words or their creators, he was looking up at the sky.
It was a beautiful spring day, and he had been staring out across the window all class period. Since he was barely retaining focus as it was, he had watched the sky, the clouds, and chewed on his turkey on white bread from his bagged lunch. This was how Ladon spent his lunch period. Alone, off to the side, and away from other people. It wasn’t that he was antisocial, but that he just didn’t have anyone to talk to. Someone to talk to would have been a happy edition as it would have kept him better company than his thoughts, but instead he simple ate his lunch quietly, sat quietly, and ate, quietly.
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 8:44 pm
Fortunately for Ladon, today was not a day he would have to suffer alone in silence. It had been impossible to miss the incident where he'd been brought into the apartment, spiking the anxiety of Nealite and the General-King tenfold. Careful to keep out of sight, the cat had listened long enough to grasp the gist of things; Wolframite and some others had been attacked by this Wiseman fellow. And somehow, blessedly, Wolframite had been the only one left alive to carry back the message.
That was the reason Grendel was here now, idly picking his way across the Meadowview grounds and following the trace signal that pointed directly to the young Negaverse lieutenant.
He couldn't help but notice the sandwich even as the chubby tabby sat down in front of the boy, clearing his throat as though to interrupt the obvious daydreaming. "You have no one else to eat with?" He sounded disapproving, but inwardly, he was concerned. An event like that would be traumatic for adults, let alone a teenaged boy...
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 9:06 pm
Ladon was looking up, not down, and didn’t notice the guardian cat approach until he was sitting before him. When he heard someone, he startled and looked around quickly in concern. Usually someone saying that line was just starting a short conversation that would lead to him getting pummeled. Instead of some intimidating figure, he saw Grendel, and he broke into a wide grin. Wide enough that, if you managed to look closely, showed he was missing a tooth in the far back and explained why he never smiled this widly at all.
“Grendel!” The guardian cat was a welcomed sight, not only because it was not someone here to stomp his lunch into the dirt, but because Grendel, in Ladon’s opinion, was the cutest cat around! Every time he saw him, he wanted to reach over and pet him. It was the fact that Grendel had the supreme kitty intelligence to talk and was a official member of the Negaverse did he keep himself from lunging over and picking him up.
Instead, he scooted his legs in to sit Indian Style as he straighten out and set his half of a sandwich down, the other half, neatly cut, sitting untouched. Looking around, he took in that yes, he was alone, and looked back at the guardian cat. “Uh, yeah. I usually eat alone. I…really don’t know a lot of people.” That and he was paranoid and suspicious of the intentions of most everyone in the school. While being ignored meant you were kept safe, it didn’t help when you wanted someone to hang with.
Not wanting to even think about that, he gave a small smile and thought of something. “Did you have lunch?” Grendel wasn’t a human, but he was sure that anyone liked a nice lunch. “It’s turkey.”
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Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 10:47 am
If the cat noticed the missing tooth, the only reaction was a slight twitch of his ears, though he did have to wonder if it was this current incident that had caused it. He watched as the boy straightened up, and he snorted faintly. "Some of your fellow officers go to this school. I'm sure you could eat with them, instead." Linarite was who came immediately to mind, but he wouldn't get a chance to suggest it; the sandwich was a prime distraction.
Eyes widening briefly with appreciation, Grendel found himself fixated on the other half of the turkey sandwich. If it was being freely offered, far be it from him to refuse! He hadn't even had to manipulate poor Wolframite into getting it--but then again, he liked the young lieutenant.
"No, not yet." He'd offer casually, knowing what would likely come next.
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Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 11:05 am
He was right. He had a set of teammates that were here, but to say there were on friendly enough terms to hang out was not the case. The only person from his team was Linarite, and she wasn’t even in his grade. “Yeah, the only person on my team is Linarite, and we’re not exactly on speaking terms. It just seems too weird.” She was a girl, older, and was also his Captain. It seemed pushy to think he would mesh into her group, be welcomed only on the bases that he was on her team, a team that no one in the real world would know. If he started to sit with her, her friends were sure to wonder why some younger kid was hanging out with them and how Aubrey even knew him. “It just seems sort of pushy to go over and just ask to hang around her. I’m sure her friends will wonder, and who is to say that she doesn’t want to have her life separated from her work?” It was a reasonable excuse that kept the underlying reason from coming through. One that said that he was nervous and didn’t have the courage to just ask. If it wasn’t working out that way, it probably meant that no one wanted to hang out with him. Clearly, from sitting here alone, it was a common idea a lot of students had.
Not wanting to think about that, he took a napkin from his paper bag and placed the other half of the sandwich on it, setting it before Grendel. He only hoped that the guardian could eat it without problem or else he would offer to break it up into tinier pieces for him. Ladon only ever fed strays when he was bored and on patrol. Aside from that, he had no experience with cats, never having a pet. When he neared Grendel, he held in a sneeze, before leaning back and waiting for it to go away. It was good they were outside with plenty of fresh air. It made talking with Grendel easier.
“Aside from Aubrey, everyone else goes to another school, and I don’t really know any of the other members on our side. Not enough to know who is who in this school. Really, I could be sitting next to one of my own teammates and not even notice.” He gave a shrug, picking up the sandwich he was working on and taking a bit. It was weird having the ability to switch form one identity to the next, and he had to wonder. Swallowing, he asked. “Do you know how many members of our group are here?” If so, why hadn’t they all just met up to be able to see each other outside and talk like normal kids? At least so that if someone was hurt or in trouble, they could find one of their own members at school. As for any future plans for lunchtime company, he wasn't going to start hoping.
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 7:51 pm
"Captain Linarite." The cat corrected firmly, though somehow didn't seem too perturbed by the lack of title. "And I suppose you could think of it that way, though I'll never understand these 'social graces' that seem to accompany schools and this age group." Though he was still speaking to Ladon, Grendel was more or less muttering aloud to himself, finally shaking his head and refocusing on the boy. Just in time, too; delicately, he used a clawed paw to tug the sandwich closer before he began to eat with enthusiasm.
Pausing to swallow, his tail flicked for a moment before he chose to answer. "Our... General-King does not often think about civilian lifestyles, you understand. However, off the top of my head, fellow lieutenants that attend Meadowview consist of Uranophane, Valleriite, Bixbyite, Moonstone... There are more, of course, but I can't be bothered to remember." There was a snort before Grendel returned to nibbling on the delectable bits of turkey and bread.
"Of course, your gym teacher is none other than the infamous Obsidian." Dark lips curled back for a moment as the guardian openly expressed his distaste for the captain, but he eventually just shook his head with a snort. "Needless to say, you have plenty of allies among you... They're just hidden in plain sight. Most of them, anyway."
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 9:48 pm
Ladon straightened up when he was corrected, and nodded at the mention that he should address everyone by title. It seemed some people liked the rules and other people liked being more formal. He just had to remember who got offended. “Ah, right. Captain Linarite.” He repeated, making sure Grendel knew he understood.
A bit less relaxed than he was before after being reminded that Grendel was an high ranking member of the Negaverse in a category all his own, Ladon focused on what he had to say, and found a smile slowly returning back. “Yeah. Lucky you. You get to miss out on all of this.” He gestured to the school he was resting on and the school grounds. He guessed cats, even talking ones, didn’t have to bother with the drama of high school life. It was the many things he was envious of Grendel for. That and not having huge responsibilities, but that was normal cats and not Grendel in this case.
Pulling out a bottle of Apple Juice, he listened through the list of names and found that he knew none of these people aside from a few mentions during meetings. Obsidian was a name that perked his interest, as he didn’t expect the faculty to be involved. Obsidian? He didn’t know the faculty was involved, but it seemed by Grendel’s expression that he didn’t want to talk about the man. Maybe Ladon could talk to him some other time. The idea of having other people, older people, involved seemed really interesting to him! If they were anything like Charonite and Nealite, he wanted to be meet him.
“Seems a shame not to know. Dangerous. I’d hate to have someone vanish next to me in class and just think they went missing or ran away. I’d want to know they were a part of our team, and that if they were in any danger, we could all find someone even when our assigned team isn’t around. Doesn’t seem right.” He watched his sandwich, turning it over, but not taking a another bite. Team Tra-la vanished and who was to say they weren’t in his class. He would have liked to know them beforehand. He wanted to know these people. The members he was working with.
“We should get together. Everyone outside of their uniforms. Just so we know who is on our side and who we can talk to about whatever we need to. In case something happens.” Who was to say another team might die in the future?
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