Tension Rising - Main thread [Fight or Flight]

"Alright. Here we are. Winford Academy, as requested."


The cab driver opened the door, and handed Sylista the bill. She shuddered as she saw the ridiculous amount of money the ride had cost, but handed him the card her parents had given her. The driver quickly took the payment, and drove off after Sylista had grabbed her bags out of the bag, and placed them on the ground. She sighed softly, wondering why she'd packed so much. She didn't even know where she was going yet, and quite frankly, the campus appeared to be quite a bit larger than she'd imagined it would be.


Sylista slid her smallest bag onto her arm, and grabbed her two suitcases, one in each arm. They were heavy. Extremely. She hadn't realized when packing, that she wouldn't have her parents to help her unpack, and now regretted bringing a lot of things that would have definitely been optional.


After nearly half an hour of struggling with her bags, she was able to reach what appeared to be the main building. The place definitely appeared to be a bit more run-down than she'd imagined it would be, but Sylista decided to ignore that part. She was happy to have finally reached the building, and after swinging one of the front doors open, pushed her bags inside. Leaning over the bags, she stopped to rest for just a few minutes, not exactly sure where she was supposed to go to find out about her room arrangements, her schedule, or anything else for that matter. She pulled her bags over to a small bench off to the side of the hall, and sighed with relief as she sat down. Finally, she allowed herself to glance around a bit, surveying her surroundings. It appeared to be an ordinary school, so far. Nothing extremely out of the ordinary. She liked it. Sylista realized that she'd finally be able to actually experiment, and try to use her powers, to a greater extent than she'd been able to at home.


Sylista had first realized something was different about her, when the trees began talking to her. At first thinking she was losing her mind, she'd told her parents, who were able to shed a bit of light on what may be happening. They encouraged her to work with her abilities as much as she could, within reason, while making sure to keep a low profile, which she'd done quite well. However, upon hearing about the Academy, her parents had done everything necessary to make sure she was able to go. And, well, now here she was.


Her bags on the ground, just next to the bench, she sighed, placing her head in her hands. This was all a bit overwhelming. She had no idea where to go, and these stupid bags. "Oh, well," she said to herself. "I'll just take a bit of a break, here, and once I've had a short rest, I'll get everything figured out."
 
Sen Harper

Sen blinked as Hayden decided to wander off. She hadn't meant to chase him away then again perhaps he had something to do. Either way with the absence of Hayden it left Sen with Gray and Jon once more. Last time it had been only Jon and Gray who really did any training. Sen hoped to get some training in, even if she made an utter fool of herself. Better to make mistakes no a training hall than in the middle of an actual fight. She turned to the other two with a slight smile "Well I guess that means it's just us for training." She said before starting over to the training hall.


@Alex Phalin @SkyGinge
 
baby-kiwi-Kiwi-Encounter-5444324.jpg
Pandora gracefully dodged between legs through the cafeteria. Dodging left and right between nikes, flip-flops, and... Heels? Man, these big two-armers were weird sometimes. Heels always seemed so cumbersome and pointless to Pandora. He finally made it out of the crowd, and shot across the floor like a bullet, and slid to a stop behind the leg of a bench, hoping that he'd evaded his hunter.


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Alec weaved between people, stumbling over the occasional poor sod. He got acquainted with the floor more than once during his parade, and saw many nikes, flip-flops, and... Heels? Why were people wearing heels in school? Man, humans are pretty weird sometimes. He finally stumbled out of the crowd, and to his grand disappointment, the little kiwi had evaded him yet again. He let out a sad sigh, and looked to the ground, while straightening his oversized coat. He looked up again, only to notice some student sitting on a bench not too far from him. As a last resort, he said "Excuse me, you haven't seen a tiny bird running through here, have you?"


@AshenLily
 
Sylista sat on the bench, trying to muster the willpower to stand, and go find someone who would be able to tell her where she would be staying. Just as she was about to stand, she saw a small... thing dart under the bench. "What the hell--?" As she bent down, to get a better look at whatever the odd creature was, she heard a voice:


"Excuse me, you haven't seen a tiny bird running through here, have you?"


Turning toward the voice, Sylista found it's owner, approaching her. "Umm... I don't know if it's a bird, but there's definitely something under this bench. I was trying to get a better look, but I didn't want to spook it. I wouldn't really say that it looked like a bird, but then, I didn't get a very good look at it, either." She paused for a moment, before continuing. "I'm sorry, I know you're looking for your bird, but I just got here, and have no idea where I'm staying, or where to go to find out," Sylista laughed sheepishly, twisting a small strand of her hair between her fingers. "Any ideas where I should start? If not, that's fine. I just figured it couldn't hurt to ask. I'm officially lost." First impressions were always a bit difficult, but the boy seemed nice enough. Awaiting his response, she silently wondered why there was a bird in the school.


After only a moment, she decided it wasn't really all that strange. Hell, she had the power to talk to trees, and had a green thumb like nobody's business. A bird running around the school would likely be the most normal thing she'd see, during her stay at Winford.


@Prizzy Kriyze
 
"Man, that sucks," said Jon with a sympathetic shake of his head. To have a power changed because of something as chancey and circumstantial as had happened to Hayden would be an absolute nightmare. With a power like his, it was hard to imagine what it felt like. But having the total freedom and creativity over an ability like Fox did and then having it abruptly silenced... he almost shuddered at the thought. Smiling warmly, he waved the older student away.


Then he watched events unfold as Gray presented himself. Strange, Jon thought, Stephan banned him from sparring for today, didn't he? So why is he suggesting it? To grab Sen away, perhaps? Jon had noticed a sudden change in the other boy's demeanour. As if something had finally unsettled him. It was subtle, but noticable, and Jon almost pitied him.


"Sorry to be the party-pooper," Jon tagged along with the other pair, a knowing glint in his calm blue eyes, "but didn't Stephan ban you from the training halls for a day, Gray?"


@Shura


@Alex Phalin
 
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Alec shone up when she told him about something under the bench. Kiwi's could easily be mistaken for somethings. Hell, Kiwis and somethings are basically related. He quickly jumped towards the bench, and slid on his stomach down under it, quickly twisting and spotting Pandora, who looked quite upset at the moment. He quickly grabbed him, and crawled out from under the bench, holding him tightly in his hands. "Stop disappearing Pandora, there's supposed to be dangeorus people around." He scolded the bird, before standing up and placing him on his shoulder, which only lead to him being violently pecked in the side of the face a couple of times.


After recovering from the short struggle, Alec blinked a couple times, and tried to remember what the girl had said. "Oh... Oh! New? Everyone is. I've only been here for a week myself..." He trailed off as the sting of homesickness hit his heart again. He shook it off and returned his attention to her. "Well, first of all you've got to get an ID, if I remember rightly.. Well, alright. I can show you, if you'd like."
 
Sen Harper

Sen looked over to Jon as he spoke up the quirked a brow as she looked over to Gray. "What happened that you were banned?" She questioned wondering what in the world he could have done. She knew he had been fairly erratic with his emotions lately going from angry to down right peppy with in a matter of seconds. Perhaps it was just a speed thing? He moves so fat that his mood swings are quick as well? No... probably not that was stupid. Still... she could tell something was bugging Gray but didn't want to make a big deal over it.


@SkyGinge @Alex Phalin
 
Jon suddenly realised that he might have put Gray in an awkward situation, something which he totally hadn't intended to do. After all, he could see through Gray's discomfort somewhat as mere jealousy against his conversation with Sen. Wait... jealousy? Did he really feel threatoned now? When he outclassed Jon in pretty much every field? Perhaps that was why he wanted to train; it would definitely highlight his positive traits. Jon half shook his head though. Not everything revolves around Sen, for both of us.


He felt the need to cover up for the other boy; he had after all potentially put him in a bad place. "Things got a little too heated in a duel," he explained briefly, "Stephan happened to be passing by and was less than impressed. It's nothing serious though, it's only for today." He smiled and paused for a brief moment, an idea forming in his head. "Look, I know there's this ongoing crisis, and that we need to get stronger and all, but we don't need to spend all of our time training. The two of you did just pull off impressive grid victories, you deserve a break. And besides, there's more fun to be had around here than just beating each-other around with big sticks."


"I know this might seem a bit jeuvinile," he was grinning now, "but how about we find some sort of game to play together instead?" He would certainly appreciate spending time with the pair in less tense circumstances.


@Shura


@Alex Phalin
 
Sen Harper

"Heated?" Sen echoed softly glancing over to Gray. She could see it happening. He did actually know what he was doing when it came to a fight. Not to mention almost attack another student the second day of class. The more she saw Gray fight and train the more she was convinced he has trained a lot longer than the year or so he told her before. Then again everyone had their secrets, she hadn't been exactly forthcoming with her own past. Still she hoped is was a mystery that would be solved soon. She looked over to Jon once more as he brought up actually relaxing and playing a game. She shrugged slightly. Honestly she didn't mind training. It gave her something to do and she did find working with her powers to be fun. Her concept of 'fun' wasn't exactly conventional nor had she never really played any games outside of the ones forced in Gym. "Sure I guess... What kind of game though?" She asked hoping Jon or Gray had some ideas since she was probably the worst to make a suggestion.


@SkyGinge @Alex Phalin
 
Gray felt his heart sink when Jon told her that he had been banned, and he narrowed his eyes a bit. It had completely slipped his mind, and he felt like Jon was only bringing it up to make him look bad.


"I wanted to spar with someone that would give me a challenge, and we were both more comfortable using live steel. Apparently that constitutes 'attempted murder' around here." he said, his voice full of irritation. Shoving his hands in his pockets he looked away, frowning.


At the mention of a game he turned and looked at Jon, his eyes wide for a moment. He quickly shook his head, sighing a bit. He had gotten into this nasty habit of revealing his emotions too easily around those two.


"A game? I... Well, I guess we could?" he said, obviously a bit uncomfortable. It was like he wanted to say something else, but had stopped himself.


@Shura @SkyGinge
 
Jon looked between the two of them, grinning and blinking. "Look at the pair of you!" He smirked teasingly, "Champions of the grid, survivors of a brutal rouge meta attack. Yet scared by the prospect of Monopoly." He chuckled to himself a little, now taking the lead of the group. The pair's bewilderment was astonishing. "Well, I know a ton of games. There's this really good psychological one that I know, but sadly we'd need far more people for that. Erm..." he scratched his head thoughtfully, racking his mind for ideas. "I've got a pack of cards in my dorm that we could use, we could play some good old Sevens, Cheat, heck, maybe even Poker if we're feeling particularly immoral." Jon was brimming with ideas, and at the expense of his less willing friends, he was running through ideas at a rapid pace. "I've got this cool Scandinavian board game called 'Djevelens Advokat'." He laughed again. "Sorry, probably an overload of information for you. If it's any consolation, we can go back to bashing face afterwards if you wanna."


@Shura


@Alex Phalin
 
Sen Harper

Sen scratched the back of her head awkwardly at Jons teasing, Gray seemed to be equally at a loss. Some of the games he mention she had heard about, obvious things like monopoly she heard about before. 'The game that never ends' is what most called it. Probably not the best thing to play, it always seemed boring. "Eh Never played any board games... I have played a few card games though. Pokers the only one I actually know to any extent." She muttered following the other student.


@Alex Phalin @SkyGinge
 
Gray followed them, obviously at a loss. He sighed a bit and listened to Jon rattle off things he had never heard of before. He stared at the ground as he walked, unsure of how to handle this situation. Should he just leave? Or should he stay, and worry about potential embarrassment? He shook his head and sighed a bit, looking over at Jon. For the first time ever he seemed less than confident in himself, his voice barely above a whisper.


"W-what's Monopoly?"


@Shura @SkyGinge
 
"Aw, you've missed out then bud," Jon smirked with a bashful nudge to her, "To be fair though, Monopoly and a lot of the other's are pretty dull unless you've got a heckuva lot of time to waste. 'Djevelens' is good though. It means 'The Devil's Advocate' and puts all players in this underworld dungeon place where you have to avoid traps and make deals with various infamous people to make your escape. Would take a lot of explanation though, so I guess we should probably just stick to poker."


Then Gray spoke in a startling pitiful whisper, and Jon stopped in his tracks to double take and turn around. Never mind being mildly unsettled, he was now completely out of his shell in uncomfortableness. Jon almost felt sorry for bringing up the entire topic altogether. The other bit clearly wore his emotions on his sleeves a lot more than Jon did, or at least now he seemingly did. But what was really causing him to be so distressed? Surely the mention of an unknown board game alone couldn't do that?


"Monopoly," he explained politely, "is a board game where you try to make money through buying properties and trying to bankrupt your opponents. But don't worry about it, I haven't got a set of it anyway and it's hardly sterling stuff."


@Shura


@Alex Phalin
 
Sen Harper

A faint blush colored sens cheeks as she was nudged but she managed a smile at the same time. "Eh, Just never really had anyone to play with... or rather who wanted to play those kinds of games..." She muttered softly. She glanced over to Gray as he asked his question not feeling so out of the loop now. He seemed about as lost as she was if not more. "It's a pretty boring game from what I hear... and yeah really long..." she added. "Poker is more about luck and keeping a straight face. Trying to bluff your opponent into thinking you have the better hand." She explained.


@Alex Phalin @SkyGinge
 
Gray looked at the two of them, unable to maintain eye contact for long.


"Uh... You'll have to show me how to play." he said, not wanting to embarrass himself further by telling them he didn't know what poker was. At least he knew what cards were, so there's that.


"Sorry... I never really played any games at home. I must look like kind of a moron." he said with a nervous little laugh, his face bright red as he stared at the floor. For the first time ever, he looked awkward and uncomfortable.


@Shura @SkyGinge
 
Jon nodded enthusiastically at Sen's description of the card game. "Yeah, it's all about composure," he beamed, "and about lying and trickery and bluffing. Essentially a real life drama lesson disguised behind cards, just my sort of thing. Just like that other game I was speaking about, the one for far more people. I'll make it an ambition to gather a large group at some point and host a game. It's always a laugh, and a good way to bond too. Heck, you could even see it as mental training for combat if you want, though I'd rather see it as purely a game."


Wait, had Sen just blushed at his touch? It was probably... probably nothing, just a bit of game-overload induced awkwardness. That didn't stop it from extending his smile even further though.


More waves of sympathy crashed against him as Gray fell further and further out of depth. "Oh don't worry, I'd be more than happy to teach you," he smiled softly, "If it's any consolation, it's a lot less important to be out of your depth with board games than with combat skills like me. I wouldn't worry about it: we all have our different interests and talents. Even the extraordinary can't master everything." His whole statement was a sort of mental pat of reassurance, as he didn't want to pat him physically for the avoidance of patronising him.


The group reached the lift in the dorm building, and stepping in, Jon looked back to Gray. "If you don't wanna play though, that's fine. You could either just chill whilst we play, or whatever you want." He smiled once again, and tried to fight off the sudden feelings of guilty satisfaction he felt at Gray's expense.


@Shura


@Alex Phalin
 
Sen Harper

Sen smiled slightly over to Gray sharing his his feeling of being unsure. "I'm still sketchy on all the rules as well... I basically know the concepts but never really played." Shrugged slightly. "Point isn't to be perfect at it on the first go. Most times its just beginners luck if you do very well." She assured knowing what it was out to be completely out of your depth, floundering for something familiar to grasp onto. The lift brought them up to the appropriate floor and they filed out of the elevator. "Hm Who's room are we going to be in?" She asked realizing they each had a room they could chill out and relax in. Grays probably wasn't the best simply because of the mess of mechanical parts. So it was down to her room or Jons, who she had yet to even see.


@Alex Phalin @SkyGinge
 
Gray was glad they were so understanding, but it didn't keep him from feeling uncomfortable. He sighed a bit and shrugged at Sen's question.


"My room's a mess. Plus..." he paused, shaking his head. "Nevermind. Let's just use one of your rooms." he said quickly with a small sigh.


"I'm sorry if I'm new to this... I never really played any games when I was younger. My childhood was nothing but training." he admitted quietly.


@Shura @SkyGinge
 
"We'll go to mine," he stretched with a yawn, shaking off the last of the morning's drowsy residue, "There's little difference between all of them if I remember right, but mine doesn't connect onto anybody else's so there's less chance of us getting disturbed. That, and I'm being the gentlemanly host here so it's only right I invite you guys to my place." He sighed quietly. He could only hope now that the others would feel a little more relaxed once the games begun. After all, he'd never heard of anybody scared of a card game before.


The lift reached its destination with a cheerful ping, and Jon stepped out and lead the others down the corridor. He side of the hallway had seemed a lot quieter over the previous few days, something that struck him as marginally odd, but not too serious. He grandly swung open the door and revealed his largely standard room. It lacked both the extra gifts Sen's had acquired through Teru and the wasteland of metallic debris that was Gray's room. Other than a few stray pieces of clothing, Jon's room was surprisingly tidy and surprisingly bare. There was literally no decoration bar a large black and white poster of a Hispanic looking man playing a guitar underneath a waterfall.


"Come on in!" he clapped his hands together, adjusting his hat as he caught himself in the mirror. They would need a playing table: Jon leaped over to the desk beside his bed and hurriedly removed its bustling worktop, placing the various objects down on the far side of his bed. Then, with a little effort, he dragged it over to the middle of the room and pulled up his spare chair, offering it out for Gray to sit on whilst he directed Sen to sit on the edge of his bed. "I'll just kneel for now," he conceded, heading to his drawers and searching through manically for his deck of cards. It'd be awkward and stiffening, but he thought it polite to offer the other two seats first.


"So," Jon smiled as he began to shuffle the cards, "what do you think of my humble abode?"


@Shura


@Alex Phalin
 
Sen Harper

Sen followed along to Jons room slightly surprised at how similar it was to her own. With how much Jon had talked about club activities he might have some momentous or pictures. Or perhaps she had seen one to many pictures and commercials. She sat shifted towards the bed and sat on the edge kind of excited to be playing with friends for once. "It cool." She smiled slightly. "So what kind of Poker are we play?"
 
"Eh-erm..." Jon floundered a little with an awkward smile, "Poker poker? Is it alright that I don't actually know?" He chuckled a little, eyes pinned skyward in thought. "Texas Hold'em up, I think. It'll all become clear when I explain it though." It felt strangely satisfying having Sen (and Gray) in his room, like by doing so he had further cemented their positions as friends.


"Right," he slammed the cards down on the table, a more mischievous grin rushing to his features as excitement welled up inside him, "The rules. We'll do this first room as a refresher round, so that you guys can get a visual on how to play rather than being forced to knowledge through my rambling." He swiftly dealt them all five cards each, and settled back on his knees.


"So, the object of the game is to get a high scoring hand," he explained, smile never leaving his face, proceeding to explain what different combinations have what different points. "After your first hand you get the option to swap out cards you don't want for new cards, and then you all unveil your hand. The winner is the one with the best set. Poker's popular in all sorts of dodgy places: pubs, casinos, nightclubs; you name someplace sleazy and poker's probably there. They bet large amounts of money on themselves to keep things exciting, but we don't really have anything to bet with unless we want things to get really spicy."


"For example, I don't like these two cards. These cards insulted my family. So, bye bye cards!" With a comedic wave, he dismissed the cards to the bottom of the pack and drew two fresh cards, grimacing slightly at the result. "Then when we'd all done that, I'd reveal my hand like so. I only had a pair, so I'd almost definitely have lost." He showed his cards: two queens were the only scoring cards there.


"So, comprendo?" he asked.


@Alex Phalin


@Shura
 
Gray followed them with a small sigh, looking around Jon's room. He felt an odd tense feeling in his chest for a moment, and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Sen. He rubbed his fingers together nervously, his gaze firmly set on the floor.


"I... I think I'll just watch you guys play a round... I guess. I don't know." he said quietly, after listening to him explain the rules. It was obvious that he was out of his element here.


"I mean, I could play, but I'm probably really going to suck... I don't know."


@Shura @SkyGinge
 
Jon offered Gray a sad smile. As annoying as it was, his attempts at fun were clearly proving torturous for the other boy, and Jon knew they wouldn't end up playing for long. "You can't embarrass yourself in poker, bud," he smiled sadly, "but if you wanna sit out that's fine." Jon moved up from the ground to take the vacant seat, and reshuffled to accommodate for Gray's decision.


"So, just me and you now," Jon grinned to Sen, leaning forward on the desk as he handed her her cards. He picked up his own set of cards and scanned them, face completely neutral. This is going to be interesting, he thought.


@Shura


@Alex Phalin
 
Sen Harper

Sen looked over to Gray seeing him floundering and unsure. She smiled softly towards the blond "Don't worry Gray. Give it a shot. Honestly I dont think I'm going to do well either." She looked over to Jon, "I think he just wants to play cause he knows hes going to win." She teased with a light chuckle. "But yeah... better to flounder in front of friends than will some other people." She smirked slightly picking up the cards and looking them over. she sighed softly taking on a neutral expression G'damn it.... She thought to her self but didn't show it.
 
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