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 Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 8:51 pm
Melvin felt like crap. He always felt like crap after a spar, and that was because he always got his a** handed to him. It wasn't that he was upset that he lost. No. He wasn't a joke or ever held a gun aside from a hunting rifle when he was a kid, and that was a disaster as well. It was perfectly logical that just shoving a gun in his hand and telling him to fight someone wouldn't go great. It was upsetting he was recruited in a place where that mattered the most. Nothing was going well. The only thing that seemed to matter here was weapons and how you used them, and he felt completely out of his element. If he wasn't getting beat by his seniors, he was getting set on fire by some weird creature. When he tried to get into the labs where he had such large hopes to be of use, all the techs sent him on errands as if he was some high school graduate with low standards for passing.
After taking a shower and changing into fresh clothes after getting served by Otto, Melvin went into the kitchens, grabbed some water, and then sat down. All his electronics weren't working either, which meant that he had to towel dry his hair because no one seemed to own or want to let him use a hair dryer meaning that his hair was still damp. Still, he could be grateful that they had hot, running water.
Sighing, he set his hands on the table, pushes his goggles up to rest atop his head, and set his head down to just sit there. If things were going to look up, he really wanted it to happen soon.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 9:28 pm
Cass, after a nice start to her day, had been attempting to take a nap when her stomach rumbled at her. Rumble. She'd rolled over. Rumble rumble. She'd whined and rolled over again. Rumbllleeeeeeehhaaatttteeeeeee. She grumbled after a few minutes of futility before she crawled out of her bed, awkwardly navigating around her napping fiance, before she headed off towards the kitchens. She'd just...make a sandwich, or something. Drink some water, shut up her stomach. Something. She'd do something. Either way, a trail of a horrible warbling noise followed after her as she made her way down towards food. Just..food. She'd figure things out once she got there, the way she saw it.
Never the less, when she walked into the cafeteria she couldn't help but pass a look around the room. It seemed like everybody was looking a little bit worn around the edges, tired, a bit more...... it was kind of saddening to see the place looking so down in the dumps. Then again, with how things had been, it was understandable.
Cass tried to not let herself worry too hard about it. She just settled in for making a sandwich, getting a few bottles of water, and wandering over to the saddest face she'd never really met before, setting the plate on the table and setting the bottle of water near the boy's elbow. "Hey." she greeted lightly, offering him a smile.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 9:57 pm
He hadn't expected anyone to talk to him. Head down was pretty much the symbol of being asleep or being closed for the evening to conversation. For whatever reason, he heard a voice, and glanced up to see if it was just someone who was talking nearby to their friend.
It wasn't.
A girl sat down in front of him, her clothes winkled but clean, and hair ruffled. For a girl, he would have thought she would have taken some time in her appearance. Even he brushed and changed into fresh clothes after a spar and made sure his hair was tidy. Maybe a tad messier now that he was resting his head, but not bad.
Still, the girl was talking to him, and he breathed out before sitting up, placing his hands on his face to rub his eyes and run them down his face before dropping them. "Hey." He responded back, looking at her sandwich and her water. She was eating. He didn't know who she was. "Can I help you?" What did she want? She didn't look homeless enough to want money and he sure as hell wasn't going to do a spar right. Screw being a trainee. He wasn't here to be beaten by massive weapons all day.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:04 pm
Cass pushed the sandwich more urgently towards him, offering the boy a smile and twiddling her thumbs somewhat innocently. "Not really. You were just kind of a sad looking stranger, which is just no good. I was hoping to try and fix some of that problem." she replied, tilting her head to lean it against her hand. "I mean, I've been here almost two years, so a few new faces so venture some curiosity for me still."
He was probably a trainee, was her guess, anyways, based on the coat and how out of his element he looked. "I mean, that's only if you want to make a friend. Otherwise, I can go somewhere else."
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:13 pm
He looked at her, expression unchanging at he looked more tired and confused by the sudden counselor who decided to adopt him based on just expression alone. Looking around, he also spotted plenty of other people who were staring at rice pudding as if contemplating how much better it would taste with a heavy dose of tears while a few others probably shouldn't have been trusted with a butter knife. It didn't help his mood, but it seemed the acceptable place if you wanted to feel terribly openly.
Looking back to her, he was somewhat skeptical about her offer to be friends, but girls had a funny way of wanting to fix people, especially men, either the sad or angry ones. He hoped he wasn't coming off with 'misunderstood' vibes.
"I must look really sad compared to everyone else." As if one queue a man that looked as if he could bench a bus started to sniffle and covered his face, the snake tattoo on his skull wiggling as his face contracted as he cried.
Melvin cringed before looking back at her and the sandwich she was pushing on him.
"I guess new people don't show up often, or last long? I was told they drop like flies." He was in a grand mood at being reminded at that. "Did you adopt being a cafeteria therapist or are you just curious?" He wasn't lay-on-this-couch-and-here-is-a-tissue-box guy. In fact, the moment she started to offer her help, he was instantly turned off by the idea.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:19 pm
Cass tilted her head to the side. Kind of blunt, but she'd handled worse, really. "No...? I'd be a horrible therapist. Better than some people around here, but still a horrible one." she replied calmly, brows furrowing slightly. "You're just new, that's all. Trying to play nice with the trainees before Caelius or H get to work destroying you." She wasn't going to sugarcoat that life sort of sucked for hunters.
"New people kind of pop up in batches normally and we have some sort of meet and greet to try and get everybody integrated, so mostly surprised. Soon enough I'll be off in the town and miss all that entirely, so have to try and touch bases while I'm still here to see people more often." she continued, half wondering if she was talking too much. "I'd say more of us full hunters go than the trainees, though. I've seen a lot of them die to keep the little smalls rolling." she frowned, unscrewing the lid of her bottle and taking a drink of water.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:39 pm
"If Caelius and H are other hunters, they can get right in line with the others. I'm the sparring equivalent of a ego booster." He rubbed his eyes again before he reached up and lowered his goggles back in place, pressing the middle up his nose to address her more clearly.
"I wasn't in a batch, if that's how it goes. Hatching... Is that what they keep calling it? - Well, I hatched on my own." It was strange to be called recently 'hatched' when he was a grown man and not a chicken or a freakish alien. Then again, the pod did give him plenty of sci-fi, pod people vibes.
He breathed out, taking her lead and taking a drink out of his untouched water. "When they offered for me to fight, I didn't think I would literally be fighting." He then paused and offered his hand. "Oh, Melvin Wood by the way. "
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Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:38 am
Cass passed a look at Melvin's coat again. "Well, it looks like you're in the life division, so I'll tell you now that H is your division leader. He's not too bad of a guy," yeah, because you had boobs, Cass, "and Caelius is the Division Leader of Death. He's left us all to die twelve thousand billion jillion times." It was an exaggeration, but the point should have been clear enough.
"Yeah, you're likely to get grouped with the next batch that 'hatches' the soonest, then. You'll see we kind of have 'groups' we're referred to by. For example, I'm from a group that woke up almost two years ago that get called 'Strays'. A batch that hatched about six months later are the 'Hatchlings', and then we had our 'Lambs' after that. It's something we just sort of picked up, I guess."
Cass accepted the offered hand willingly, giving it a light squeeze. "I don't think a lot of us thought it would be this way. This is an upgraded version of what I was doing before, though." she smiled. "Name's Cassandra Norris. Getting married soon, though, so just remember the first half of that." she half laughed. "Nice to meet you, Melvin."
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Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 3:25 pm
He reached over, moving the sandwich back to her before taking his bottle of water and drinking. After a few sips, he capped it. "Caelius doesn't sound like a division leader worth having around if he lets you all die. Didn't know we were that expendable. Really inspires you to work harder when the people above you couldn't care if you lived or died, or at least puts some effort into it. Guess someone is looking out for us if we went to save all those people that were in cages." Though someone had said a few died. He wondered what the numbers were. What was his percentage of living in comparison to how long he stayed here? Was there a graph somewhere illustrating his life expectancy?
"The pet names you pick for your groups sound very cute. Didn't know we were picking names themed around Easter." He wasn't for pet names. Maybe it was good that he came out of his pod on his own. He could pick his own name, and that would just be Melvin.
"I have to wonder what you were doing before you came here to make this..." He gestured to the cafeteria, with it's low-grade food and sobbing coworkers. "..as an upgrade." Whatever it was, it must have been hell.
At last, she mentioned she was getting married with the sort of laugh of someone giddy to get into a white dress. " Married? Isn't that a bit....strange considering the job?" They did just go over the fact that people died here a lot. He really wasn't seeing the point in marrying anyone considering they could kick the bucket anytime soon.
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Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 4:32 pm
"It's really just a way for us to set a timeline, I'd say. Because I never call anybody anything but my 'Newbie'. And only Aleister, he's in the death division if you ever meet him, gets that nickname from me." she dismissed how cynical he was sounding with a small wave of her hand as she leaned back in her seat with a small sigh.
"Caelius is Caelius. He's good at his job....and he has Circe. I really think Circe is half the reason for his position, given how...." she made a slightly bothered face. "Well, you'll understand it in time, I guess. All I can do is keep living and make sure everybody else stays up on their feet too. Not gonna lie, if Mist division didn't exist I'd be in Moon."
She took a sip of water. "You clearly didn't watch much TV in my genre if you have to ask. I was televised 'Psychic' in my youth and eventually went on to be televised as a supernatural hunter in some pretty creepy a** places." she answered to his curiosity. "So I just got the upgrade of having Nicodemus around to keep me from being eaten." Which was nice.
"And I guess getting married is a risk I take to my own sanity, but I love him, y'know? I don't think getting married will change how much it would hurt either of us if we lost the other one, so...might as well.."
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Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 5:22 pm
"I never watched shows with Psychics or Mediums. The moment I figured out that was what a show was about, I'd change the channel. Hard to take someone seriously when you were sure they didn't see a damn thing supernatural in their entire life, and then were taking money from people who were still clinging to a loved one. That or people who were just crazy over ghosts because it was supernatural and unexplained. If I wanted to waste a hour, I'd just go to a dark alley and get a first hand experience." Thus, Melvin in no way watched or cared for anyone in those shows. "Now you have me wondering if a few of them actually knew what the hell they were talking about." It was a novel thought, but before he was here, he doubted he would have believed someone who said they were a medium unless they pointed out the same shadows he saw.
At the mention of marriage for the heck of it, he just gave a shrug. "I guess." It clearly wasn't something he'd do or felt made sense, but being together tended to make your brain melt, and Cass was a woman. Marriage for them was crack, and he knew enough girls in college who would become crazy at the very idea of planning their marriage. "You said you were moving? Does that mean you are retiring to some other job on the island? Starting a family would seem rather risky here."
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Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:01 pm
"Back alley spooks are a bit safer than the ones who can actually take a building and call it their own, I'd say. Four walls are all they need to trap you between them and a dark stain on the floor, after all." her lips tightened just a bit, but she waved that off too and took another drink of water, ignoring the sandwich. If he didn't want it, she wasn't going to take it.. at least not yet.
The 'starting a family' note made Cass frown and look away from him. "Quite a few of the women on the island get an injection to prevent all of our female issues. Because I don't think it would bode well to have the Mist Division, mostly females, get superpowered once a month and kill everybody. If it makes you feel any better even if I could get pregnant my bond with Nicodemus would likely kill both me and the child. Plainly put, female hunters gave up the option to have kids by coming here." she sighed. "I'm too young to be interested in children anyways. It's simply that Marcus and I need more space than a dorm will allow. There are a few houses down in the town so we'll be moving into one of those. Just won't be in the dorms as much, we'll be cooking there, etc..."
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Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:33 pm
Her description of a closed room, a house haunted, had him sinking a bit in his seat and feeling uncomfortable. It was good she moved on, and he rubbed his neck a moment, pressing the fabric of his turtleneck against it a moment before dropping his hands on the tabletop once more, crossing them as he too look around.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know there were side effects to having a weapon." He only assumed that this bond was strange, but so far it had seemed somewhat beneficial to it's work. However, he had been skeptical of it, and now he had justification that in some way it worked against them. Sure, he was no woman, but it was just one example. There could be many others.
Looking back, he moved on. "The town? You mean the one with graffiti and rubble? Not exactly a picket-fence community. I didn't eve know a few houses were still whole. I at least hope it is safe for you." Then again, if she was hurt, wasn't it on her for being out there instead of living in the dorms? Well, he could understand the desire for privacy, especially if you were with someone.
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Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:00 pm
"Guys can still contribute to the... 'Hunter Breeding Program', as they call it. Hell, I think a few people I know are a result of it. Just... can't really keep a baby in there. I dunno how bad it is in the end, but... I'm not going to try. Ever." she sighed, then paused, eyes flicking up towards her left temple before her expression tightened a bit and her brows furrowed. "Nicodemus says it's probably for the best that female hunters can't get pregnant anyways with how hunters are FEAR magnets."
Even off of the island they'd be targetted. The island itself wasn't entirely safe either. He had a point in that.
"Yeah, I mean that town. I know Gale lives out there right now, and several people have wanted to move out there since they got their promotions. Like myself and Marcus want a place, I'm sure Jordan, Rep, and Harrison would like one, maybe Petra and Robert. It probably isn't as safe as the dorms, but... well, the entire island isn't as safe as it could be. Before you showed up we had a month or so where we were all living in an underground bunker because the buildings topside got infested by...things..... not FEAR things, but....something else." she crinkled her nose. "So sometimes gotta work with what you got."
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