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After having managed to piss her hand off again Peyton had decided maybe she should visit the infirmary again on the off chance that she'd managed to bust one of her knuckles for the second time, in two days. Oh sure, she'd managed to make a friend in Gnat after the two of them had gone at it for a while, but the throbbing pain in her hand was making her wonder just how worth it it was. Later, she'd be less conflicted. Now, the damn thing just bloody hurt.

So she went and had it looked at, and they'd wrapped it up again, with a reminder to not slam her hand into anyone's face for the next 48 hours.

Hand nicely wrapped, and in far less pain, she made her way back out of the infirmary, and started to head towards the cafeteria. It was getting close to lunch, and she was feeling suddenly ravenous.

Walking into the cafeteria, Peyton got herself a plate of mac'n cheese, then sort of hovered with her tray in her hands, staring out into the room. She didn't know many people yet, so there weren't a whole lot of familiar faces she could look for, and fewer still she would have been comfortable sitting with.

Thankfully she spotted Gale, whom had been the most helpful of all the fully ranked hunters at the orientation in her humble opinion. Better yet he was sitting by himself, so she made her way over and quietly slipped into the chair across from him. "Hey."

She tried really hard not to think about Bix and his proposal to hook her up with his young british friend, and instead directed her focus down to her plate, poking at her noodles with her fork. Her heavily bandaged hand coming to rest on the table beside her tray, delicate fingertips playing idly against the edge of it.

The girl nodded, popping a fork full of cheesy noodles into her mouth. Having sampled a large amount of school cafeteria mac and cheese, she was prepared for the worst, but it actually wasn't too bad. Not the best, not by any means, but not bad. She chewed, swallowed, then resumed poking at her noodles. "Yeah."

She smiled. "You're kind of the only person in here I even kind of know, so I hope you don't mind me sitting here."

After a couple more bites she happened to notice the book sitting on the table between them, and figuring it would be a nice way to avoid any prolonged awkward silences, she gestured at it with her fork. "Whatcha readin'."

Peyton thought she might have maybe caught a glimpse of a smile. Maybe. A subtle little tug of lips, there and gone, before she could even be sure she'd seen it at all. Well, real or imagined, she returned that tiny twitch of a smile. Relieved she wasn't intruding.

The subject of the book he was reading made the trainee scowl, and she turned her attention down to her plate of mac n cheese, poking at the noodles. "Bix was telling me about the horsemen." She hadn't yet made up her mind on whether or not she never wanted to face them on a battle field, or if meeting them sooner rather then later was better.

At the possible subject change she looked up, thin shoulders rolling in a small shrug. "It's different, though not in a bad way. I used to get in trouble for picking fights all the time back home, but here it's encouraged, you know?" She poked at her food again, then set her fork down. "It's also nice knowing that I'll be here for a long time. My dad used to move my sister and I around a lot."

Noted, flagged, and booked marked. Peyton was not looking forward to meeting the horsemen, but she understood the danger they presented to humans. And if they were as fierce as people were saying, she was going to have to start training harder, much harder.

<But you're already on the training fields every day, how much more training could you be doing?>

The wrath demon might have had a point, but Pey ignored him.

Interlacing her fingers, she set her elbows on the table and leaned forward to rest her chin there. "He is, yes. Very chatty individual, but incredibly nice." So nice in fact that she couldn't even bring herself to consider him annoying. It made her nose wrinkle briefly at the thought.

"As far as here being stable though, I guess maybe I look at it differently then most of you." Her head tilted, and tanned features took on a slightly guarded look. "My mother died when I was 10, and my dad moved my sister and I around a lot after that. We never stayed anywhere more then two years. So it became easier really to just not get attached to people, because we both knew we'd be leaving anyways." She untangled her fingers and moved to rest her palms on the table. "And since he was always working over time, or multiple jobs, we didn't see him much. Astrid and I kind of had to look out for ourselves." She shrugged, dropping her gaze, color raising up in her cheeks. She didn't know why she was telling him all that.

"Anyways. This place, dangerous or not, this is my last stop, right? I won't be moving away again." Lavender eyes shifted off to the side.

She looked up again at the reassurance, features still holding onto that vaguely guarded appearance. Keeping people at arms length was a habit, but ever so slowly she was starting to let people in. For the first time in a long time she felt it was safe to let herself be open, and to make friends. It was nice, but at the same time, a little terrifying. Now she actually had to care about what people thought.

A nod followed his analogy, and she reclaimed her fork from her plate, poking at her mac and cheese again to spear a couple of elbow noodles. A short stretch of quiet followed, and she took the chance to take a bit, chewing thoughtfully, then swallowed.

A flicker of a smile crossed pale lips, faint at first, then growing. "And that's an excellent point. It's good having a purpose. Goals to work towards, agendas, etc." She waved her fork at him, then took another small. "I like having this structure." It was said with the tiniest hint of irony. Not as if she were being an any way insincere, but as though she didn't quite believe she was saying it.

Little miss school yard brawler, notorious trouble maker, admitting to taking security in structure and purpose. No, the irony was not lost on her,