ArchivedLogs:Pose As a Team

Pose As a Team
Dramatis Personae Anole, Peter, Sebastian, Shane
In Absentia	2013-05-19 BECAUSE SHIT JUST GOT REAL
Location Thunderdome
It's a basement, somewhere, that much is clear from the slightly musty-cool feel, the lack of windows, the stark-bare cement decor. What purpose this place originally served is hard to discern; something industrial, judging by the heavy reinforced eyelet hooks still set into the ceiling, now devoid of any loads to bear. Of late the place has been repurposed, though. Around two parallel edges of the room, sturdy cells have been constructed, heavy reinforced metal segmenting off large cage-like cells. The enclosures are largely identical: two sets of bunk beds with pillows, thin sheets, identical grey wool blankets. A pair of large covered bedpans, a bucket usually filled with fresh-ish water. The center of the room is divided in two. One half is large and open, a spacious expanse of cement floor and emptiness. The other half holds long trestle-tables, long benches, both riveted into the cement floor. The ceiling -- of the room, of the cages -- hold very noticeable dark security-camera bubbles. There is one door leading out of here, heavy steel that is securely chained and barred from the outside. Ouch. Ouch. /Ouch/. It is around breakfast time when Peter emerges from his cell, just hobbling along. The teenager is clad in only sweat-pants; the severe bruising over his body is semi-hidden on that black-blueish carapace - a faint mottling of darker blues and blacks. Bandages crowd up his flank, amonger one on his arm - two of his fingers are in a metal cast, forming a constant 'V'. He's probably leaning on one or both of the twins when he emerges from the cell, just kind of - hop, hop, hopping forward. Unlike them, Peter isn't intimately familiar with pain; he's also got no healing factor to start working on his injuries. /But/, he is moving a little faster than he was yesterday! Immediately, Peter's scanning the crowd of emerging breakfast eaters, mumbling to the twins something about finding a lizard. There is a lizard! He's always slow to leave his cage, peeking around to check in on Nox before venturing out to get breakfast for himself. He looks a little haggard, possibly sleeping not-so-great in his permanently brightly-lit cell. The bruising from his last fight is faded, though, and /he/ is actually, past the tired, looking pretty good! For being dirty-bedraggled-skittish, anyway, as he scurries out to collect a tray of food. He chooses a seat as far from Other People as he can manages, tucking himself into an as-yet-unclaimed table and then just -- perching. In a crouch, feet tucked up onto the bench. He's separating his protein (thick slices of ham, today, and scrambled eggs with little bits of onion and peppers) from his not-protein (cubed potatoes, a dollap of oats) in what has possibly become habit since Peter's initial days of meat-collection. The twins' healing factor means they look a good deal better already than they did the day before but -- really, that isn't saying a whole /lot/. Sebastian's eyes have managed to crack themselves open, though his face is still dark and puffy. There's bandaging still covering the worst of the damage, though. They flank Peter, a twin-crutch on each side, and they don't lead him to food but to the table where Anole sits. "Do lizards eat bugs," Shane wants to know as he DEPOSITS (carefully) a Peter beside Anole. "... some of them yeah. Most of them. Sure." Sebastian is looking amused, though, with his caution: "You can't eat Peter." "Sure you can," Shane negates this. "He's pretty much delicious." "..." That's all from Sebastian. "I'm getting everyone food. Stay." Like they're puppies. Shane even makes a little 'down' hand gesture. "Nngh. Ignore Shane. He's terrible," Peter tells Anole as he is /deposited/ next to him, his carapace - promptly going metallic violet. It takes a few moments to get his legs under the table; the injured one is hard to swing over the bench. "...he's cool, though," Peter adds, quietly, a moment after Shane is lumbering out of ear-shot. Retrieving food trays. He proceeds to reach forward - with the hand that /doesn't/ have broken fingers - and grip Anole's shoulder firmly. Squeeze. Carefully, in case that part of him is bruised. Peter would probably hug, but - he doesn't look like he's very good at hugging right now. "...how are you doing?" he asks. "We wanted to talk to you. Um. Make sure you're okay, and," a flick of his eyes over toward Sebastian, now, still bright-violet. "...you remember when I told you about Hogwart's?" There's a sudden - kick, kick, kick now. Against Anole's ankle, underneath the bench. To get his attention, maybe. Peter looks toward one of the cameras as he says it. "We were talking about, discretion, and stuff," he mumbles, before turning back to stare at the table. Anole flushes deeper green, glancing between the others. "... he doesn't seem terrible to me," though, is what he answers, despite this blush. He offers Peter a small-quick smile for the squeeze. "OK? I mean I think I, um," He frowns apologetically, looking between the others. "I think I'm okayer than all of /you/, you look -- I mean, I heard -- I mean people were saying -- that -- they -- you --" He looks between Peter and Sebastian and still more apologetically, "-- that they /ate/ you I'm glad you're all. Alive." He pushes his oats around in a gloopy mess with his plastic fork. His eyes slant sideways when he is kicked at. "Yeah," he answers, his expression lightening slightly, "who doesn't want to be a wizard?" "People with no imagination," Sebastian answers. He's happy to sit down opposite the other two with a /relieved/ sigh once he's off his feet, letting Shane take care of getting /foods/. "I think you'd be a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff," he adds to Anole, "except for we're going to make our /own/ house. Its mascot is a Spizark." "Is a spider, plus a lizard, plus a shark," Peter explains. Helpfully. He gives Anole's shoulder one more squeeze before dropping his arm back to the table. Glancing off at Shane as he retrieves those trays. Peter's belly is /rumbling/; he is trying /very/ hard not to look at Anole's food. "And, yeah," Peter adds, still colored violet, brow crumpling as he thinks. "They /kinda/ ate me. S'okay, though." He grins. "I got better. Um." Peter throws a glance over at Sebastian, then. Picking his next words /very/ carefully. There /might/ be another kick at Anole's ankle as he speaks. Gentle! "So, you shouldn't worry /too/ much, because -- we're /from/ Hogwarts." "... Spizark?" Anole's nose crinkles up, kind of amused. "That sounds like a Pokemon." His head tilts at Peter's stomachrumbling, and, quietly, he nudges his tray -- the food all neatly /separated/ into protein vs. not-protein but otherwise untouched -- over towards the other boy. "You don't look," he informs Peter regretfully, "like you got better yet. But you look like you /will/. Plus!" His eyes light for a moment. "Maybe that means you won't --" But this he stops short on, glancing towards one of the security cameras. "You're all wizards?" His eyes widen. "Yeah," Shane is agreeing with this EMPHATICALLY as he returns, "/in bed/." He has /three/ trays carefully balanced in his hands; he drops one in front of Sebastian with a clang, one next to Sebastian; the last he -- /frowns/. And slides it in the direction of BOTH Peter and Anole. "..." Sebastian has to reply to this again. "OK, maybe not Bastian, he's pretty new to in-bed-wizardry, but he cuddles like a pro." Shane drops down to sit beside Sebastian. "How do /you/ feel about wizarding? Uh, not necessarily in bed. Just the kind with wands and magic." "Who doesn't want to be a wizard," Sebastian is this time echoing Anole. "We're choosing a new fucking mascot though, fuck this Pokebullshit." "Shane thinks pokemon are really messed up," Peter explains - almost /apologetically/ - to Anole. He eyes the tray Anole is nudging toward him, and - nngh STOMACH GRUMBLE, he is - almost reaching for it. But then he smiles a little and, shakes his head, drawing his own tray toward him. "...is okay. But, thank you. Um. Do you mind, though if - we can share their /non-meats/," he adds, gesturing to Shane and Sebastian's trays, already - scooping up his own meats, shoveling them off to Shane's tray. "I mean I don't know if - maybe /you/ need some meats too?" Whether or not Anole is willing to offer his meats, Peter is already stab-stab-stabbing with his fork at anything even vaguely starchy. "But yeah you should come. Be a wizard. With us." CHOMP. "I'm OK. Without meats. I mean I basically eat anything," Anole admits kind of sheepishly, "you don't really have a lot of choice sometimes when you're out --" He shrugs a shoulder. He tips his meat, too, off onto Sebastian's tray. "I don't think I'd be very /good/ at wizardry," he finally admits, scooping up oatmeal hungrily. "I mean there's probably a lot of wizardy rules and wizardy -- /people/ who don't really -- also," his head is turning, glancing over to Nox's bright-lit cage. "Would I have to, like. Go. Away? From my --" A slight beat of hesitation. "Family?" "Wizards have seventeen /million/ fucking rules, I don't follow any of them though -- oh god, maybe /I'm/ the Death Eater." Shane's eye widens for a moment. "Pfft. You're probably like the hero, Harry and Ron and Hermione broke /all/ the rules," Sebastian points out. "Pretty much nonstop." He's scraping his potatoes and oats back over to Anole. Shane does the same, giving them to Peter instead. "Anyway, you can totally learn to be a wizard /and/ hang out with your family. It's good actually. If you can do that. Because some of the teachers are basically like fucking /Snape/ or --" "... actually some of them are just like having the Death Eaters take over Hogwarts," Sebastian grumbles. "-- The point is you'll want to punch them so once in a while, get the fuck out and just be a muggle again. Uh. As much as --" Shane grins kind of broken-missing-toothily, looking around their little group of Obvious Freaks, "-- any of us can ever be muggles." "...oh crap does that mean you're Neville Longbottom," Peter asks, at Sebastian's comment about /breaking the rules/. "I mean, you basically - /never/ break - but you wouldn't turn in Shane so, uh, nevermind." Peter is stuffing his face full of potatoes, now. Just munching steadily as Sebastian and Shane talk. Peter eats /fast/; he also eats in giant monster bites. Like he's expecting the food to evaporate at /any/ moment. "Some of the teachers are -- well I think that's true /anywhere/," Peter says, "but, like. /Hogwarts/." He holds his fork up as if it were a wand. And he were about to cast a spell. At the camera. He quickly drops it, though, /scowling/ back into his food. And returning to eating. "You don't have to leave your family," he agrees, shoveling potatoes into his mouth. Pausing long enough to swallow - enough to talk through a mouthful of them: "I stay with my folks every weekend." "Neville Longbottom was kind of," Anole says to Sebastian, "the most badass of all of them, you could maybe be Neville." He eats fast, too, though not quite as much so. One arm curled protectively around his tray, less like he's expecting the food to evaporate and more like he's expecting someone to /steal/ it. "I do want to be a wizard," he finally allows, "but I also -- I mean. I wouldn't. I don't. After all this is. Is done," he says in a smaller whisper. "... I'd just really like to. Keep. Seeing you guys." Shane's lips twitch at this. He doesn't make any terribe comments, though! He just spears some of his ham on a claw and starts tearing it apart. "Bastian's Hermione," he says with a shake of his head. "Fucking brilliant." Sebastian blushes at this. He eats slower, tearing off small bites of ham to push through his muzzle. "Well, we'll still -- come see you. Either way." "Well, yeah, for sure. Cuddlepiles /outside/ of here are way better than -- /oh/ right, Anole, you're joining our cage, alright? We're /claiming/ one for team Awesome. House Awesome. Whatever fucking house we are," Shane decides. "It's a really /gentle/ cuddlepile though because we're all sort of broken." "You look alright," Sebastian looks over Anole with careful inspection from his puffy-squinty eyes. "That just means more snuggles for him." Peter's eyes /widen/ at the mention of Hermione and Bastian. He looks, for a moment, between the two sharktwins, before adding: "Holy--You /totally/ are. I mean, a little more, uh," violet-blush, "/bitey/ than--but otherwise..." His eyes flick back toward Anole. "Yeah we can -- I mean, we'll have to -- we can /totally/ hang out. Wherever. OhmyGod there are -- /so/ many --" Pause, think. "--/wizards/ we can introduce you to. Even if you don't, uh, come back with us, I mean, we aren't at Hogwarts /all/ the time, also I think we might be coming up on a break soon, and..." At the mention of cuddlepiles, Peter is violet again - bordering on indigo. But! He adds: "We just want to make sure -- you stay safe, I guess. I mean it's not like -- I know you're with, someone," Peter adds, gesturing back toward the cell Anole came from. "The lady? In the box. She can, I mean, if you want to keep an eye on her -- we could. Go into /your/ cell, though it is really bright. But I mean, she sleeps in there right? I think - at night it would be okay? If you stayed with us. Right?" Anole is flushing darker, too. He hunches down over his food, shoveling it quickly into his mouth. "... I think that'd be okay," he says quiet and kind of /rushed/, "um, if you guys are -- okay with -- I mean you're all kind of way more -- um. Bad... ass. I don't, know if, I'm, um, cool enough to -- sit. At. Your -- I guess I'm /already/ at your table. Sit at your -- cuddle pile?" This just makes him blush deeper. "... but I'd like to." Shane /laughs/ at this, quick and kiiind of Very Amused. He sits up, leaning across the table to plant a SMACK of a kiss right on top of Anole's spiky carapace. "Man, trust me. You are /so/ more than cool enough for our badass table." Sebastian's smile is smaller. But warm. "We'll get you sunglasses and everything."