Point Zero

[darkred]

Sgt. Mike "Psycho" Sykes

The Delta team marine growls, holding his head for a second and quickly eyes the people in the room with a slight frown. "Where the bloody hell am I?" He eyed the blank white room, scanning for anybody with a sense of familiarity to them.

Nobody seemed to have a militaristic vibe to them except the one strange man in the corner. (Jerome)

Sleek

Psycho eyed the cupboards on the right wondering what was hidden within.

thatguyinthestore​

 

[SheepKing]

The girl who he now knew as Byakuren seemed polite and Steve, for all of his peculiarity, appeared to be nice enough too. He let out a soft chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood as Steve bent forwards. Alphonse however, had no answer to the girl’s question which frankly terrified him. Their captor would be a complete anomaly to the young boy. The Homunculi, Alphonse’s usual foe, wouldn’t likely do something like this and the strangely diverse set of people made Alphonse hypothesize that their captor’s intentions weren’t strictly about himself.

As he pondered over where exactly they were Alphonse noticed a boy with red hair and a blonde woman wake up with the latter voiding her worry over her lost sword. Next, an odd black box rolled over to the group and introduced herself as Ritsu. She was close to being the strangest thing he had saw. The technology didn’t look like anything that could be made in 1910’s or in the country of Amestris. Alphonse would have to ask her later.
“It’s nice to meet you Ritsu”

After the introduction Alphonse waited for what the screen would do.
Ineptitude June Verles Sumirenko wdinatx thatguyinthestore

 

[Sleek]

Jerome-092
​

Jerome sighed, shaking his head. He honestly didn't expect anyone to know what was going on. Very few looked like they might be reliable. A Man even screamed.

He frowned under his helmet, then instinctively banished the expression despite nobody being able to see it.

"Situation report."

He clairified. He noticed the man in the black suit look at him, and motioned him over.

"Jerome-092. What's your name, solder?"

The Spartan said. Might be a good idea to know who he was boxed in with.


thatguyinthestore darkred

 

[DerpyCarp]

Ike's hand engulfs the small childs as he gives it a single pump. "That's neat. I've never meat anyone who shares my name."

 

[Sumirenko]

Byakuren
----------------------​

"...TV?" Byakuren echoes, following the man's stilted movements until her eyes rest on the large screen. The puzzled look returns to her face. The object before her is obviously technological in nature, confirmed by the remote control (before it mysteriously disappears, how odd), but as to what it does... well, she can only guess. Technology is incredibly limited in Gensokyo. Deciding it would be rude not to participate, Byakuren approaches the back of the couch and rests her arms on the top, leaning against it while she waits for something to happen on the screen. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to remain here for a while. As I said before, we have time. I'm happy to meet all of you."

Upon Ritsu's request, Byakuren's smile crinkles at the edges of her mouth. She beckons her forward with a hand, the movement causing the beaded jewelry around her neck to rattle. "Please do. You too, Alphonse. It's a good idea to stay together in these strange times. While we wait for this... 'TV' to work, might I ask where you are all from? I somehow doubt we are even from the same realm; which makes all of this that much more mysterious."

( SheepKing , Ineptitude , June Verles )

 

[Birb]

“I haven’t either.... do... you have any idea where this is... I mean... I think I could easily get out of here if I need to but it would be nice to know where we are... and who most of these people are...” your tail continues to thump gently on the ground.

(Oof he’s not rlly a child he’s 23, he’s just sorta short for a guy and looks mildly feminine lmao)
DerpyCarp

 

[Cocogerber13]

Link // LOZ,BOTW // tags: Specialist

The blonde finally blinked a few times as if coming out from a trance. Someone had slipped behind him and was stealing silverware (something he might have considered as well) but was distracted by another figure looming over him. Link stared evenly at Thaddeus, slowly turning and setting the glass back into the cupboard. As soon Åsa sound resonated within the helm, the Hylian braced himself to dodge in case there was an incoming attack. Instead, the suit of armor actually spoke.

Link blinked quickly again at the other’s words, eventually settling to just peer up at him curiously. How he feels? Link wasn’t breaking the objects out of anger, though he supposed he could see the connection. Thus, he raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck and glanced down in embarrassment. “Ah, I was just looking for some loot. But, uh, you’ve been in this situation before..?” He questioned.

The Hylian hero’s stature hadn’t changed since he stood up tall, almost like when he talked to Prince Sidon or anyone else taller than he was. With a brief glance to the others surrounding the drawers and cabinets then another to the toy still in his hand, he slowly lifted it to show Thaddeus. “Do you recognize this?”

 

[TCA]

-Katrina Ridley (and Pokemon)-
​

Katrina jumped to her feet almost as soon as she realized she was awake, looking around with suspiciously narrowed eyes, arms held in front of herself in a defensive stance. She stayed silent, watching the others and saying nothing, for quite some time--even as others started to go through the cabinets, she kept to herself, gaze jumping towards whoever had most recently spoken.

Then, a small creature with curled blue leaves for horns and a massive white mane of cotton fluff bounced past her, towards the doors, and stood next to Shiki, crossing his stubby arms in an attempt to mimic her posture and look all stoic and grave--mostly, the shiny Whimsicott just looked ridiculous. On seeing Sasser, Katrina untensed, subtly, and took a few, cautious steps towards the doors, staying several feet behind Shiki and leaning to the side to peer around her. This place was way too crowded, and whatever had brought her here, she wanted none of it. After giving the doors a glance, she also slipped her cell phone out of her pocket, intending to see if she had a connection or if she could at least complain about the situation on her blog.

PlusUltra

 

[Specialist]

Thaddeus Solaxus - 'The White Room'; [Interacting with: Cocogerber13 , thatguyinthestore ]
​

"Yes, I have. We are in a place known as the Multiverse. However- I can only assume so. This place looks to be a location in which we were all brought together, same as the last. Let me see what you have there." Thaddeus took a knee, reaching out to gingerly take the toy-like object in his hands. Performing a quick, superifical scan, the Photoreceptors again glowed a bright crimson before dying back down. What would he find, if anything? He soon handed the toy-like object back to link and concluded. "Analysis results pending. I.. seem to have not encountered anything like that during my travels. It is odd, to say the least. What is your name?"

 

[Centurion_]

• Bryan Fury
• Information/Inventory

• 
  
  Bryan wakes to nothing but a white room and a crowd full of people. He assumed something had disrupted his perpetual generator and that he was kidnapped. A quick glance around told him that he was not the only one in this situation. The cyborg felt new, he felt a new surge of energy inside of him and he was determined to roam free once more. He looks around the room for any kind of surveillance cameras but cannot see any. With no time to waste sitting like a lamb in the slaughterhouse Bryan fixates on the doors of the room and moved with purpose and a mission, pushing through the crowd to get to the set of doors.
  
  As the crowds thins over near the doors, the white-haired machine notices a man in a leather jacket attempting to open them. Once more he looks around the room, double checking for any indication of someone watching to which he once more found none. Some urge, the pulse in his mind had him assuming that someone was watching him for certain and he begins to shout, pointing around the room. "Bosconovich! If you've done anything to my body, I'm going to keep you alive for as long as possible! Just so you can suffer until it all goes dark..!" The cyborg screams. He taps the man in the leather jacket on the shoulder.
  
  "Step aside, I'm going to break open this sad excuse for a door!" He informs the man, no introductions or time for idle chit-chat. He had little need or want for it anyways. Bryan wanted revenge on whoever thought he could kidnap him and get away with it.
  
  
  

  

  
  
  Stormcloak​
• 
  Status:
  ​
  Healthy: Bryan has no injuries and is not sick.
  
  
  Current Equipment:
  
  --NONE--
  
  Current Abilities:
  ​
  Superhuman Strength:
  Bryan is a cybernetically-enhanced cyborg, he has superhuman strength. He has been canonically able to rip the turrets off of tanks and launch them long distance and hits so hard he can knock people through walls.
  
  Superhuman Endurance:
  Most forms of small arms and explosions barely damage Bryan, he is susceptible to melee beatdown and non-human technology such as lasers and such. He's been sliced in half by an alien katana which killed him in one of the non-canonical endings.
  
  Superhuman Speed and Reactions:
  Bryan is extremely fast, his limbs and muscles are cybernetically enhanced. Whilst he cannot run that much faster than normal humans, his reaction speed is significantly increased, most likely due to the internal processors and computers inside of him. He is able to keep up with one of his rivals Yoshimitsu, who can move at supersonic speeds and was quick enough to react to and outrun fire from Bryan's minigun
  
  Unlimited Stamina:
  With his perpetual generator, Bryan never gets tired and can fight endlessly for days without resting.
  
  Internal Computers:
  Being built as a cyborg, Bryan is built with loads of internal cybernetics that nobody really understands. One of his cybernetic implants is a computer that gives him a heads-up display which helps with identifying threats, thermal vision, aiming, target analysis and more.
  
  ​

 

[marc122]

Blake Belladonna

STATUS

Healthy.

INVENTORY/POWERS

- Aura (active)
- Shadow

MUSIC

...

W...What..?

I thought I was--... No, it can't be. I thought I was to disconnect the radar box to ensure Weiss and Maria go undetected? Yet, now I've disappeared...

Except it was never my doing in the first place.

Someone, or something, must've made me disappear from the place that is Argus and now, I'm in this white room. Last thing I remembered, I was running to where the communications tower was, and before I knew it, I began to feel...tired. I mean, all of a sudden, I couldn't feel Gambol Shroud at first, then it was my heart. Then my legs. Even my neck had gone limp. Finally, it was my head that was starting to enter a rest-like state...only...I can't remember what happened afterwards all that well, but I swore that I saw smoke. Smoke running up me as...I can't remember what else happened. All that I remembered from that point on, was waking up to a bright flash.

Where is everybody? Where is Argus? And...where is this thing that I could feel all of a sudden? Sure, it's faint and all, but...I can feel it. Did someone plant something within me..? I can't tell what exactly is it, but I can still feel it...

Regardless, I'm now in a room where tons, and tons of unfamiliar people don't have an idea why they're here, just like me. What happened? Then, someone introduced themselves as Leonardo Watch. Well, if that's what they, and several other people are going for, I might as well.

"Blake Belladonna."

Now. There's so many things I could do. I could simply ask him about the place. I could hit up a conversation. Anything else. Hmmm... Guess I'll ask.

"Hey. You ever wonder why we're here?"

As I asked, I caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a ninja in blue...

thatguyinthestore Hahli Nuva

 

[Aegis]

STATUS:

Leon embraced his daughter for a moment before looking over toward the door in a mild panic as a man announced he was going to break it open.

"You doing okay?" Leon shot his daughter a concerned glance before looking toward the commotion at the door.

They probably had the right idea of trying to get out of here. Too many people were starting to become active and with hid daughter in mind and hand he wanted to keep danger to her a minimum.

"You good over there?" Leon asked the man from earlier. ( Stormcloak Sayo-Nara )​

 

[thatguyinthestore]

Julian "Ruin", Designation SPARK-002
Physical Integrity-100% Systems, Armor Intact
View attachment 576622
"Yes, yes, apology accepted, blah blah blah."
Julian scratched his chin, while staring at the drawer. A hammer? Not much help. Gummy bears, eh, a figurine?!
"Well, this isn't very helpful. So much for finding my gun-"
Julian's gaze fell on the pamphlet.
"Give me a moment. I think we may have found a way out of this overglorified prison cell."
Julian took the pamphlet and began looking it over.
thatguyinthestore​

Upon taking the pamphlet and reading it, he wouldn't find out how to escape, but he would get an answer as to where they are.

The words "Cobblepot Inudstries" were displayed across the top in large, bold lettering. Below that, there was a large shadow of an various industrial buildings printed into the background, with a... peculiar looking man standing in front of them.

The rest of the pamphlet all consisted of information about the company, which apparently produced weapons, none of which was particularly important on learning how to escape whatever room they were in.

GearBlade654

​

Link // LOZ,BOTW // tags: open

Link took the figure with an extremely confused expression upon his face. WHo was this guy? It didn’t even seem as if the figure were of a real person either, though if it was then it was probably made to insult them. Nonetheless the boy held onto it. If nothing else he could pawn it off for a few rupees.

Just as he was about to turn back, Link’s eyes shown when he saw the silverware. It wasn’t pots, but... the boy instinctively grabbed a bowl and hurled it at the ground, shattering it without a legitimate reason. The other few people rooting through the drawers were ignored as Link pulled out a plate and did the same.

As Link took the toy, he accidentally did something, as a voice could be heard coming from its presumed voice box.

"Care to meet my friends? I call 'em bop one! And bop two!"

Upon grabbing the plates and throwing them to the ground, Link would find he wasn't able to shatter them, as they were made of metal. They simply bounced against the ground and rolled off to the side.

Cocogerber13
​

Negan silently waited as the mans glare eventually left him as he went to go talk to one of the other figures. Since he no longer was concerned with the man Negan approached the set of doors and attempted to open them, after all no ones tried to escape yet.

( thatguyinthestore )

Upon trying to open the doors, Negan would find that they wouldn't budge. Looks like, for now at least, you were trapped.

Stormcloak
​

View attachment 576618

View attachment 576620
"Nice to meet you as well Miss Byakuren and Mr Alphonse , happy to be made your acquaintances." he says as he bends his body forward, which was only ways he could realistically move, but for some reason he felt like he had a bigger range of movement. This was whole adding up to be something very different from the average dragon subjugation world.

"Now that we've made some acquaintances it might be time to finally turn on the tv huh?" he said as other residents of the room already emptied out everything else. Picking up the remote it dissipated into his storage, scrolling to the item he right clicks it in order to turn on the tv. Maybe go onto other channels if necessary.


Sumirenko SheepKing thatguyinthestore

As the television flashed to life, the screen appeared to be nothing but static for a moment. However, this soon changed, as eventually the static would disappear and, in its place, a video.

The video opened with a shot of various industrial buildings, assembly lines, and the like. Over the clips, a deep British sounding voice played over them.

"Welcome one and all to Cobblepot Industries! We here are a legitimate lot, making weapons so our lovely government can fight the battles that protect all our lives!" With that, the man went into the specifics of his company, going over the various procedures and such of his company, though it didn't take a genius to notice that something about his voice seemed... off. Like he was hiding something.

June Verles​

 

[Stormcloak]

Negan looks behind him to see another unfamiliar face standing behind him. Negan eyes him up, leans back and says "Well shit go for it then". He then hears the man from before shout to him. "Probably im just gonna let terminator here have his fun with the door".

( Centurion_ Aegis )

 

[PlusUltra]

Ryougi Shiki
Location: Door, White Room
Tags: TCA
​

Shiki stands looking upward to the door, hands hanging loosely to her sides with the same expression of serene grace as before, eventually resting a palm to the surface and tracing something along before the presence of new individual could be sensed by their side. Turning and looking downwards the creature and raising a delicate finger poke towards the ball of quality cotton, eyes moving over its strange expression just as the pink rings of her eyes begin to fade, instead putting the hot dog figurine within her sash ignoring its words and gently reaching out her hands to pick it up and hold it in front of her at arm's length like a plush animal come to life...a truly bizzare creature.

 

[Cocogerber13]

Link // LOZ,BOTW // tags: Specialist

From the word “multiverse”, Link assumed that they were all from different dimensions. At least, that’s what made sense as his eyes scanned over the rest of the group in the room. He could not totally comprehend it at this point, but he was probably just dreaming anyway. Too many weird things have happened to him since he woke up from a nap that was apparently 100 years long. He scratched his head and handed the object over after mild consideration. As the man observed it, Link piped up with his assumption. “It looks crudely made, possibly as a joke.” There was no way someone like that could actually exist, right? Then again there was a guy here who was a literal rectangle, and another that appeared to be a dressed up dog. The teenager sighed at that reminder.

Receiving the toy back, Link looked back up to Thaddeus’ face. “I go by the name Link. Who are you? And if I may, what are you?” He immediately jumped very high when he heard a voice come from the figure, his eyes widening and quickly setting it back in the cabinet when he realized the source of the sound. Glancing back to the metallic plates and bowls on the floor, Link stuck his tongue out. Clearly they weren’t worth the rupees that could have been hidden. “So uh, bop one and bop two??”

 

[Birb]

You let go of the... other Ike's hand... and look at the other beings in the room... at the moment, this other Ike was probably the friendliest, and most passive. You didn't want to do it too much, but you decide to listen to a few thoughts of some others in the room. Just to see what some of them are like of course.
DerpyCarp Everyone

 

[Sayo-Nara]

Yuma
She looked back towards Leon and gave him a thumbs up.
“I’m fine.”
She then looked around the room more looking for anything else that could be useful. She also kept a close eye on everyone still being very cautious on who she should get close to.

( Aegis Anyone )
​

 

[TCA]

-Katrina Ridley (feat. Sasser/Spectere)-​

Sasser's fluff was, indeed, incredibly soft and luxurious cotton, and as Shiki picked him up, he dropped the false stoic expression and instead smiled widely at her, making a cute, animalistic cry and waving hello with a stubby arm. "Fwufweeeeee~"

Katrina awkwardly shuffled her feet, noting that while another person tried to open the doors, they appeared stuck. Sasser seemed interested in the kimono-wearing girl, and while she definitely looked like some sort of anime protagonist and-slash-or cosplayer, she didn't exactly feel up for trying to spark a conversation. Instead, she opened the internet browser on her phone, hoping she could get a signal.

She glanced between her phone and Shiki as she waited. She trusted that Sasser wouldn't just go up and greet someone if they were going to turn around and hurt him, but it helped the part of her that was internally panicking to keep an eye on him regardless.
thatguyinthestore PlusUltra

 

[thatguyinthestore]

-Katrina Ridley (feat. Sasser/Spectere)-​

Sasser's fluff was, indeed, incredibly soft and luxurious cotton, and as Shiki picked him up, he dropped the false stoic expression and instead smiled widely at her, making a cute, animalistic cry and waving hello with a stubby arm. "Fwufweeeeee~"

Katrina awkwardly shuffled her feet, noting that while another person tried to open the doors, they appeared stuck. Sasser seemed interested in the kimono-wearing girl, and while she definitely looked like some sort of anime protagonist and-slash-or cosplayer, she didn't exactly feel up for trying to spark a conversation. Instead, she opened the internet browser on her phone, hoping she could get a signal.

She glanced between her phone and Shiki as she waited. She trusted that Sasser wouldn't just go up and greet someone if they were going to turn around and hurt him, but it helped the part of her that was internally panicking to keep an eye on him regardless.
thatguyinthestore PlusUltra

Unfortunately, upon opening her browser, Katrina would not be able to find a signal. Both to her internet and calls.

TCA​

 

[Centurion_]

• Bryan Fury
• Information/Inventory

• 
  
  He gives the man in the leather jacket a nod and a devilish smile creeps upon his face, he appreciated the man's cooperation and began to shake his body, performing some short stretches to make sure that everything in his body actually was working correctly. He begins to take several steps away from the door, getting himself a running start so he had enough momentum to completely decimate the door.
  
  "I'm cooooming to get you Bosconovich..!" Bryan shouts as he clenches his right hand into a fist. He yells as he runs towards the door moving to punch the set of doors open at full force.
  "GRRRAAAAGHHHK!" Bryan roars as he hits the door.
  
  
  

  

  
  
  Stormcloak thatguyinthestore​
• 
  Status:
  ​
  Healthy: Bryan has no injuries and is not sick.
  
  
  Current Equipment:
  
  --NONE--
  
  Current Abilities:
  ​
  Superhuman Strength:
  Bryan is a cybernetically-enhanced cyborg, he has superhuman strength. He has been canonically able to rip the turrets off of tanks and launch them long distance and hits so hard he can knock people through walls.
  
  Superhuman Endurance:
  Most forms of small arms and explosions barely damage Bryan, he is susceptible to melee beatdown and non-human technology such as lasers and such. He's been sliced in half by an alien katana which killed him in one of the non-canonical endings.
  
  Superhuman Speed and Reactions:
  Bryan is extremely fast, his limbs and muscles are cybernetically enhanced. Whilst he cannot run that much faster than normal humans, his reaction speed is significantly increased, most likely due to the internal processors and computers inside of him. He is able to keep up with one of his rivals Yoshimitsu, who can move at supersonic speeds and was quick enough to react to and outrun fire from Bryan's minigun
  
  Unlimited Stamina:
  With his perpetual generator, Bryan never gets tired and can fight endlessly for days without resting.
  
  Internal Computers:
  Being built as a cyborg, Bryan is built with loads of internal cybernetics that nobody really understands. One of his cybernetic implants is a computer that gives him a heads-up display which helps with identifying threats, thermal vision, aiming, target analysis and more.
  
  ​

 

[Birb]

Ike Plymont

​

You first look at what looks like a 14 year old girl, with brown hair... from what you CAN glean, her name is Yuma... but you don't want to invade her personal thoughts TOO much.. so you just let that slide... hmm... who else...
Sayo-Nara Everyone

 

[Specialist]

Thaddeus Solaxus - 'The White Room'; Interacting with: Cocogerber13 , Centurion_ ]
​

Thaddeus chuckled. "I get that question a lot. I am Thaddeus Solaxus, Son of Roboute Guilliman; Primarch of the Ultramarines Chapter belonging to the Imperium of Man. Quite a mouthful." He chuckled again, and sighed. "It is nice to meet you, Link. We may discuss more pleasantries later- we have to find a way out of here." Indeed, the Astartes looked up and the natrual angry design of the helmet was fitted with his undertone of mistrust as he looked toward the TV and heard the name 'Cobblepot Industries.' "That individual must be responsible for our imprisonment." He was then greeted to the sight of a strange man performing a second attempt at trying to break open the door. Looking back to Link, he sighed. "As you're aware, there are individual here who we may... clash with, due to their inability to control themselves. This is not their domain anymore."

 

[Haz.]

[class=Img] border:3px solid #CA0000; line-height:0px; margin-left:5px; pointer-events:none; border-radius:2px; [/class]

[div class=Img][/div]

Ren nodded, activated the Metaverse Navigator app... And we were off. The space around us warped and distorted, plunging us headfirst into the cognitive world. What I expected to see were the desolate underground railroads of Tokyo; Mementos, the collective Palace of the masses, was as ominous as it was soothing. Ghastly voices normally whispered nothings, which were carried along by the howling winds. The distant screeching of rusty train axles and wheels grinding against the metal tracks, however, was not present. What was was absolute silence. Silence so absolute that a pin-drop would be comparable to the shriek of an explosion.

The room I found myself in was white. Just, white. No color, no energy - ceramic walls with no life or soul to them. It was almost eerie, in that sense, arguably more so than the tunnels of Mementos. I thought I was alone until I saw a young boy, hardly older than me than by a year or two. His body movements and behavior seemed pleasant, albeit a bit timid. I was about to relax, until I heard him say, loud and clear, 'you guys'. I turned. Before me stood, though I could barely count through my abrupt realization, at the very least 40 people - rather, creatures, monsters, machines and very few people - standing with their backs to the wall.

Shadows? was my initial thought, and I prepared to draw my Persona. Yet, there was no desire emanating from this group. No malevolent energy that resonated with me. Despite thinking that I had the universe laid out before me, clear as day, I was sorely mistaken. My whole world was flipped on its head. My eyes scanned each and every character that stood before me, and my suspicions were confirmed; though I wasn't a frequent reader of comic books, many of the creatures I saw, I'd seen before in graphic novels and cartoons. So what was going on?
I rushed towards a group, disconnected from the rest of the crowd. A towering, metal creature with a voice far too young to belong to it, a rectangular man with no shape or depth, and a few others whose descriptions puzzled me far too much to lay into words. Despite my shock, I mustered up a sentence, attempting to communicate with them in order to establish some semblance of sanity and coherence.
A detective prince deceived by the truth - how ironic.
"Err... Pardon my interruption, but... Where are we?"

June Verles Sumirenko SheepKing Ineptitude

 

[PlusUltra]

Ryougi Shiki
Location: Door, White Room
Tags: TCA
​

The girl remains silent as she tilts her head to either side at the alien creature, it was certainly not a demon or other supernatural element with her instincts telling her it was a natural being...yet upon this summoning she had once again forsaken both a master and the required knowledge to function within this place given her inability to place the creature. All she had at this time was the noises it was making, her lips moving softly as she sounds out the only name she had for such a creature "Whimsicott" her eyes meeting its own, her posture seeming to relax and even the shine of her eyes adjusting as she does standing far more relaxed and seemingly giving off an entirely different aura altogether. After a few more moments she turns to hold the creature towards her and scans the area once more, taking one smooth step out the way as the man impacts the door and sends a small shockwave around casting her hair to the side, though otherwise seemingly entirely unbothered.

The door was clearly not normal yet if others were able to break such through than that merely needed no effort was required on her part, so, for now, she would simply wait and listen to the new world around her. Her gaze catching the woman near her who had continued to take glances and giving a faint gentle smile towards them, eyes closing for a moment as she does.