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 Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:03 pm
Her motives were simple. Enough time had gone by, she thought, that they'd all had time to process and really think about what had happened. They had been given exam credits and this all was presumably at an end until the classes began.
That being said, her chosen comrade had been the only one to see it all. She had watched Yin's weaponization, seen Alex nearly make it out, and listened to Chuppi's final words... but what of Mort? What had happened once she had dissipated? Had he made it out? There was only one way to know, and that was to ask. Her invitation came in the form of a text message:
----> Tea? Monster dorms rm 316
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Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:22 pm
The phone rumbled loudly on the table top, but Mort didn't answer it for a good ten minutes. He was busy continuing his plans for the robot hand, but things had taken a turn for the worse when his hands kept jerking and moving of their own accord, forming many an erasure and tossing of paper. It was frustrating to the point that when his phone's auto 2-min reminder reprimanded him for not answering the message asap, he picked it up with the intention of chucking it against the wall. Only Taryn's name on the screen made him pause long enough to consider otherwise.
Tea . . . ? Now, of all times? He had no greater urge than to smash something, sit down, and just . . . wallow. But he owed a visitation, whether he thought he was ready for it or not; his belated response time already was making him look bad. With a forced sigh, the zomboil fumbled, corrected, and replied:
xxx> K will grab alex
He assumed she wouldn't mind, and at this point if she didn't she could berate him for it later. But he needed to know, make sure for himself, that their year one pals had survived the nightmare intact. This was followed by an equally bumbling, re-corrected repeatedly text to the boil's number:
xxx> Taryn wants tea time bring yin. monster rm 316
He had enough of texting with his fidgeting fingers and, forcing the eyePhone back into his pants pocket, went to freshen up - meaning Mort took a wet towel, took his glasses off, and attempted to wipe off the grime on his face and neck. Fresh stubble from several days ago was starting to grow in earnest on his chin, no doubt jump-started to life from his, ah . . . exploits in the Hunter cage.
But following those thoughts made him cringe, and he let them be. For now, after making sure he looked somewhat presentable, the zomboil left his room to head for Taryn's.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:21 am
Alexander was, conveniently enough, with Yin when the text from Mort arrived. When wasn't the zomboil with Yin these days? He pretty much flat out refused to leave the weremantis's side. There was still too much pain, the memories still far too fresh. He needed that constant reminder that Yin was okay, that the other boil was still with him, and not some weapon, some tool, to be used by the hunters. It wasn't so bad as it had been the first day after awakening. That day had been the worst. His nightmares had revisited him again and again, unrelentingly at seemingly completely random moments. If he had been alone during those moments, without Yin there to help him through them, to help bring him back....
Well, he didn't want to think about it.
And so the text had arrived, and Alex had fumbled his phone out of his pocket in surprise, his fingers clumsy, his brain still on a sort of high alert verging on extreme paranoia. He grasped the phone, almost too tightly in one hand, catching himself before he accidentally crushed the expensive piece of equipment that he couldn't afford to replace, and stared down at the message.
....Tea....
....Taryn wanted to have tea??
As much as Alexander was loathe to go anywhere at the moment, he somehow managed to wrap his mind around the idea. He had to try to see the benefits in, actually leaving Yin's room, and dealing with his ridiculous state of unreasonable fear before it got too far out of hand. Seeing the others...well, they probably should all sit down together. Alex had no idea what had happened to Taryn, Mort, or Chuppi after his own weaponization occured, and he suddenly felt bad for not contacting them to see how they were doing.
So, he told Yin what the text had to say, and after agreeing to go, they left Yin's room together. He had sent at text back to Mort to say they would be there.He had to let Yin do the leading, not that it was any different then usual, really, but more so because Alexander had no idea where room 316 even was.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:43 am
Tea? Tea sounded good. Tea sounded like getting out of his room. As much as he enjoyed staying in his room with the zomboil, and as much as he could still exercise and work on his training, he still missed stretching his legs as in the sense of actually going somewhere. So after Alexander had informed him about the text's offer he had been all for it, and might have possibly tried to say whatever it would take to ensure that they would be going. Really, his room and the walk down to take a shower was not good enough.
And of course it would be nice to check in with the other honey badgers. They left the room and Yin began to lead the way through the hallway to the next set of stairs, putting them onto the third floor, though he carefully made sure that he was never out of the zomboil's reach. Of course, this was the monster dormitory, which essentially meant that the layout? It did not necessarily have to make sense. It took a bit of wandering around but eventually they made it to room 316, and Yin knocked on the door lightly before edging back a bit until he was touching the cold figure behind him.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:01 pm
Taryn hadn't been expecting three guests, so her preparation was a bit lackluster. Her tea set sat out with only two dishes and cups, and tea was brewing on the stove. There was a little dish of premium candied brains (a gift for Mort, as Taryn assumed he wasn't doing all that well emotionally) and spookies were in the oven. It had struck the ghoul a bit late that she had never seen Mort eat, nor known what he preferred. At least her fridge was stocked.
She brushed her hands on her apron and sighed, looking around the room. Nothing triggering that she could see! No weaponry, no odd pendants, no... sand castles. Alright, this should work. Now she only had to wait.
When the knock came, she threw open the door with a soft smile and... froze. Two people stood there, and neither one was the person she had invited. Oh, no, there he was... hiding in the back. Flustered but not wanting to be rude, Taryn pulled her apron off over her head, tried hurriedly to fix her hair, and stepped back with the door. "Come in!"
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:14 pm
It hit him about four seconds after seeing Taryn's face that he hadn't sent a message about bringing Alex and Yin.
Well.
Er.
s**t.
He attempted to form words, but they died repeatedly in his mouth. Why was he such an idiot? Maybe she only wanted one on one. Why had he invited Alex and Yin, but not -
crying and blood and a meaty explosion -
Suddenly the zomboil felt sick, and he ducked his head as he passed by Taryn, giving a small nod before finding the nearest piece of furniture (a couch), and falling onto it, quivering. Lightheaded, guiltiness, writhing stomach - Jack, he was a mess. And probably looking rude to boot.
All those leaps and bounds in social communication and interaction, gone in one afternoon. He hadn't even said hi because he was too busy keeping his mouth shut to avoid making another mess.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:26 pm
As the door opened, it was hard not to see that Taryn looked oddly surprised. Frowning in puzzlement, Alex threw glance behind him towards Mort, who had sent him the text to invite them here. The other boil was looking..rather sick actually, so Alexander turned back towards Taryn, their possible hostess.
"Uh, hi! Mort said we should come over..." He watched the zomboil as he pushed past and into the room, heading straight towards the couch.
"But uh, if we aren't supposed to be here, we can..leave.." he said, a touch quietly, shoulders slightly hunched. His usual easy smile was missing. His eyes looked haunted, and he may have shuffled a tiny bit closer towards Yin, just to feel the slight brush of a warm body next to him for comfort.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:35 pm
Was Miss Taryn upset? Yin did not pick up on it. Well, he noted that something looked off, but could not place it and really did not try to. Mort was pushing past him and into the room. It really was not until Alexander spoke that it came across that something might really be wrong. He might have looked the slightest bit disappointed at the idea of leaving actually. Tea. Tea sounded nice. And he needed to stay out of his own room for a little bit.
But Alexander was obviously no longer in his element. It was the first time he had really left Yin's room, and the past few days had not exactly kind to the holed up pair.
At least Yin had learned how to put a bones together.
When he actually got the toes in the right place.
He did something that he probably never would have done even during the trials. Standing there, with no chance of getting lost or separated, he moved his hand slightly until the zomboil's was clasped securely in his as he addressed the ghoul in front of them quietly. "Greetings Miss Taryn."
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:00 pm
Yep, Mort still seemed pretty seriously damaged. She watched him go with a little frown and then turned back to Alex as he spoke. It seemed as if he knew now that she hadn't been warned, but she wouldn't have turned them away regardless. Alex was damaged as well, but Yin seemed... alright. The stronger of the two. He had, after all, not had to watch Alex scream and write while being converted into a weapon, enchanted dream or not.
"No, no! Of course you're welcome," Taryn nodded, smiling and guiding the boils in before shutting the door. She scampered off then to the cabinets, retrieved another two sets of cups and saucers, and sat down. "Does anyone have a preference?" The ghoul looked to Yin as she asked. As far as she knew, zombies had no need or desire for tea. It was just unfortunate that nobody had reminded her earlier.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:15 pm
He did not want something in his mouth, not in his stomach, not in his anything, not -
"Something sweet," he murmured without thinking, smelling the candied brains before him and acting on whim.
Okay, maybe having something in his stomach would settle it. Take a deep breath, Mort. He did so and took his glasses off, wiping at his face with a free hand as he exhaled, his over-excited fingers jittering and prodding into his cheek bone, nose, and eye sockets.
"S-S-Sorry . . . F-Forgot text," he added to Taryn, though his eyes were quite shut at this point while he tried to calm himself. At the least Alex and Yin hadn't seemed nearly as disturbed as he was, so the poor ghoul wouldn't have to get too stressed.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:00 pm
Alex wasn't expecting the warm hand in his. Something like this had never ever happened before. They weren't in a busy place, they weren't sitting in a bedroom alone just the two of them. They were out in public, in front of friends, and Yin had reached over to grab a hold of his hand.
What was even happening?
But it had a positive effect at least. Alex's body relaxed almost instantly, the tightness in his shoulders melting away so that he stood in his more usual, slouched position, free unheld hand finding it's way into his pants pocket. The faintest hint of a smile was suddenly there, and his eyes flickered towards Yin for a moment, to give him a grateful look, before Taryn was telling them it was fine and ushering them into the room and closing the door behind them.
And then it was just the four of them, his team from the trials minus one. He didn't know what had happened to Mort or Taryn or Chuppi after his own conversion into a...whatever the hell he had been converted into. Some kind of weird gun anyways, but not one he'd ever seen before.
He sort of stood inside and waited for Yin to take the lead, though he was eyeing the couch and the empty space next to Mort and near all of those candied brains a little longingly. Even if the company looked a little...worse for wear.
"Yes, something sweet. " Alex echoed Mort, though for a beverage he really didn't need anything at all. "Please." He added, as an afterthought, tearing his gaze away from the brains to look back over towards Taryn and whatever she was doing.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:42 pm
Honestly? Yin was a little freaked out by what he was doing himself. But he was with his teammates, and quite honestly, even though he really was not aware of it himself, they probably knew by now. He trusted both Mort and Miss Taryn, and he thought that it might help his boilfriend. That was enough of a reason. It was short lived however, because Miss Taryn was busying herself with getting things out for their tea, and Yin could not help but offer his assistance.
Letting go of Alexander's hand he moved toward where she was. "Nothing too flowery is my preference, though really whatever you would like is fine. Can I assist you in any way?" he asked, hoping to be useful if they were going to intrude. Once or twice his eyes may have darted over to Mort, clearly worried about the zomboil's current state, but not really knowing what to do about it. Maybe Alexander would know, the two boils seemed to know each other better than Yin knew the older student.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:49 pm
Taryn nodded, taking the tea pot to the table. She sat it on a tray and settled in to sit on the floor on the opposite side, worried for their zomboil companions.
"Well, if you'd like something other than vervain lemon, you can feel free to pick one," she offered, denying Yin's help otherwise. She expected it from him, but that didn't mean she needed to accept it. She was the host here. Besides, Alex needed him.
"The snacks are for everyone, feel free," the ghoul said, gesturing to the dishes and beginning to make her own cup of tea. It was a calming sort, herbal and slightly lemony. She sipped it daintily and looked down at her legs. She certainly couldn't just bring the trials up, not when everyone was this upset. "So..."
Brilliant.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:00 pm
The lemony scent stung his nose, and he picked up a candied brain to fiddle with as well as cancel it out. Well, Mort, you're here now. Time to try and get past it. Just don't think about certain subjects involving a certain someone who was certainly burned to the point of utter destruct -
Chomp. He took a large than necessary bite into the candied brain and chewed for a long time, only opening his eyes when he had managed to swallow it down.
"Everyone mkay?" Mort eventually asked, startled to hear his own voice and how alien it sounded. Hoarse, even. He had probably screamed in his sleep every time he had done so in the dream.
A stupid question, but progress.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:58 pm
Alex may have been slightly disappointed when Yin took his hand away, but it did mean he was free to shuffle over to the couch and collapse on it next to Mort. If the other zomboil was anything like Alex, he would have been comforted to be near another zombie, but since he was raised completely differently, and not born in Halloween as Alex had been...
Well, who really knew.
He didn't hesitate to lean forward and pluck out a candied brain for himself to gnaw on, giving a quick "Thank you." towards Taryn before taking a bite out of it.
Oh dear jack it was delicious. Much better then the dead rats he'd been getting to eat lately. If Mort hadn't texted them to come here, Alex may have just chosen to leave Yin's room on his own eventually just go to and find some decent food.
The hoarseness in Mort's voice didn't go completely un-noticed, and Alex turned to give him an understanding look, and nod, and a small reassuring smile. They had all gone through that horrible situation together, and Alex could only imagine how much worse it became after he had been taken out of the picture.
"I've been better." He admitted, with a shrug. It was clearly the biggest understatement in the history of everything ever. "Getting through it though. One day at a time, you know?"
Because really, what else could he do?
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