ArchivedLogs:Almost Dinnertime

Almost Dinnertime
Warning: Brief Gore
Dramatis Personae Jack, Kyinha, Lyric, Marinov
In Absentia	2015-11-11 'Who's there?' (Part of Flu Season TP.)
Location <XS> Workshop
A large barn-like building situated at the far end of the gardens from the mansion proper, this makerspace functions as a classroom for many of the more hands-on classes. An expanse of workshop space, it is subdivided into smaller segments for the different types of activities: Woodshop, Welding shop, Machine shop, Electronics, Bike shop, Screen Printing and Photography, Fabric Arts, and the Rapid Prototyping Lab with a trio of 3D printers. The space comes complete with a large host of tools available for use, although many of the more dangerous require prior clearance from administration to use -- students with appropriate clearance to use them can gain access to locked equipment with their student IDs. From sanders to MIG/TIG welders to soldering stations to industrial sewing machines to its own darkroom, though, this space is well equipped for teaching students how to /make/. The atmosphere on campus today has been -- kind of surreal, with classes not /quite/ canceled but not quite /normal/, either, with students and teachers alike being pulled out of what semblance of routine there /is/ for testing, for long hours of treatment to hopefully bring them back to health. Tempers are still running short, tensions still running high. Many people are glad to take advantage of the extra activities offered after their short day of class is over -- if not to get their mind off the looming threat heralded by the coughing and angry snapping that can be heard around the school, than at /least/ for the usefulness that extra self-defense or more language skills will bring them. As dinner time draws near, though, Lyric, at least, has slipped away from any semblance of Organized Recreation. Tucked away at a table in the workshop, her presence is easy to hear with the steady whir of a sewing machine. She's dressed in a long blue tunic, intricately embroidered at its edge in green and purple, paired with paler blue slacks and ankle boots. A gauzy grey and blue headscarf is wound and folded neatly around her head and tucked under her chin. The shirt she is working on also has a lot of embroidery on it, delicate vinework around its edges, though at the moment she's just working on sewing something to an inside panel, brows furrowed over her work. Marinov is presently wearing a pantsuit with a bright red bow-tie, the professional garb contrasts a bit with the teen's fuzzy, spotted face and the image of the teen may look like something straight out of a comic. Their eyes scanning about the workshop for anything to work with. Th The teen has been keen on taking some alternate language classes, as a way to pass the time that has been relatively silent, but continues to keep up with their regular hobbies. The youth approaches Lyric's location, as she seems to already be engaged in a sewing project. Marinov plops their bag down on the ground nearby and pulls up a chair nearby to plop down on, offering a polite nod towards the slight girl nearby, before rifling through their bag to collect the right fabrics for a doll costume. Gloves poking out of the side of his hoodie's pocket but not on the hands stuffed in there, Jack has certainly been appreciating any distractions he could get. He hadn't had a good morning at all even if his examination went well. No infection or treatment for him. Extra language classes and self defense lessons kept him busy and now that the last organized activity he was going to be part of had been called off due to an angry encounter between some of the people participating, he's wandered into the workshop in search of something to occupy his time. In worn jeans, a lighter blue hoodie, and with a backpack dangling off one shoulder, the invisible teen pauses in the door and offers a wave with one empty sleeve in greeting to the others. Shoulders slumped, he starts walking towards where some of thr woodshop tools are. He'd been working on something earlier during one of the little organized activities and was planning to finish it off. Lyric glances up when others enter the workshop -- only briefly. Then looks back down to continue the row of stitches she's working on. She looks back up again when she comes to the end of this, though, lifting her foot and letting the needle stop as she waves to both the others. Her lips purse, and she squints towards the window, then over at Jack. 'What's the time? Dinner yet?' It's hard to keep track in here. Especially with as muddled as the schedule has gotten lately. Marinov watches Lyric for a moment, squinting a bit in confusion. Despite taking the ASL courses that are mandatory at the school, the youth is not a particular adept student. They check through their reference material to try and understand what is being said, quickly flipping pages in the book in an attempt to keep up. Jack has to squint a little too, more from distance than confusion. He takes a breath as he sets his bag down and takes his phone out to check the actual time. He'd lost track of it himself. For a moment, he considers just showing the phone to Lyric but decides he needs to actually practice the signing thing a little more. Pulling on the gloves, just simple disposable ones he'd been given a box of, Jack thinks a moment before replying. 'Not dinner yet. About half an hour till then.' his signs are a little awkward but he's trying. Lyric tips her head thoughtfully as Marinov squints at her. Her lips purse; after a moment she leans down, taking a tablet out of her bag. A few quick taps bring up a video dictionary that she lays on the table between them where the other student can see, replaying a few of the key signs, captioned with their meanings: 'WHAT', 'TIME', 'DINNER'. 'NOT-YET', 'HALF-HOUR'. Then, far more slowly than she'd initially signed to Jack, points to both the others. 'You working on what?' She gestures around the various parts of the workshop to indicate -- working on what, /here/? There's a thump at the door of the workshop as it opens again. But then closes, just as quickly; whoever /was/ there maybe changed their mind about coming in? Maybe. Marinov looks down at the video with squinted eyes, leaning over it, before nodding a couple of times. The teen says, "Spasibo," but also signs a 'thank you' while saying that. The youth decided that this crisis would be a good time to pick up their father's native tongue, but they can only say a few basic phrases. Marinov's ears turn towards the door opening and closing, and they stand up, sniffing at the air lightly. Jack watches the video as well, hands flexing a little to get the gloves a little more comfortable. When asked what he was going to work on, Jack gestures back towards the woodshop area before signing his reply. 'Birdhouse. For big birds.' It was a basic project but he figured it was a good place to start. The thump has his shoulders tensing and his gaze going to the door. He makes a small, wary noise and glances to Marinov before starting towards the door to check what the noise was. Lyric dips her head in a nod, signing a quick 'Sure' in answer to Marinov's thanks, a smile flitting across her face. The smile brightens at Jack's answer. 'Big?' Her hands stretch out wide. Biiiiig? 'H-o-r-u-s big? He would like that.' Of course, a birdhouse /that/ big might as well be the Treehouse, maybe a bit bigger of a project than Jack had in mind. Still, Lyric is smiling at the notion. Unsurprisingly, the thump at the door doesn't catch /her/ attention. She looks a little puzzled when the others stand, turning to look towards the door and tilting her head uncertainly when she sees nothing there. Her hand turns upward curiously -- what? The door thumps open and closed again -- briefly, once more. And then nothing. Though to Marinov's senses there /is/ a quick whiff of scent passing by the door -- familiar enough, a boy from their chem class; Teo is a friendly student, helpful, kind of a wise-ass but not often at anyone's /expense/. On the football team. In Lyric's music history class. His scent at the door has mingled with a second; Sylvie is quieter, more of a wallflower, though often found in Teo's company. Though both of them have definitely /been/ here, neither are /currently/ -- visible. Marinov looks around quickly, sniffing the air once more, signing to the others, 'Smell.' As the youth isn't able to elaborate on the thought, Marinov approaches the source of the scent. "Teo?" The teen looks around and goes to speak, but thinks better of it, a look of frustration appearing on their face. The second door open and close has Jack glancing over his shoulder. He turns enough to sign 'don't know' to Lyric before attention returns to the door. The name is recognized easily enough, Jack on the team with him. Frowning, he reaches out to open the door to see if someone is on the other side and messing with them. Lyric sets aside her tablet and her sewing project when the others move towards the door. She heads a little closer as well, a puzzled expression on her face as she peers after the others. 'Who's there?' This time when the door opens again, there's a flurry of motion. Kind of just a blur, rapid, too fast to actually easily track -- not unusual for Sylvie, really, speedster that she is. Zoom-zoom-zoom! Probably more unusual that she bowls right /into/ Lyric and then keeps going. Crashes into a table. Crashes into a wall. That stops her, at least, standing still where she's thudded up against the wall with a grunt, a short curly-red-headed stocky girl with forehead thunked down against the boards. Teo is more of a /blip/. Blink here, blink there. Unsteady. Shimmer. Kind of outside the door? Now kind of inside it? He's taller, broaded, brown-skinned and short-cropped dark hair; the fact that /he/ is a little blurry at the moment comes less of speed and more of kind of unstably-fritzing teleportation. Over by the woodworking? No hi he's in front of Jack. Or behind Jack, oops! It's a little disorienting. Marinov bears their teeth and extends their claws, even letting out a bit of a feline growl, eyes failing to fully track Sylvie. The teen bounds over to check on her after she's crashed into the wall. The teen puts a lot of effort into, instead of signing, just giving her the most incredulous look possible, becoming the embodiment of 'what the hell?!' The zoomy-blur of something rushing past him has Jack taking a step back, hand dropping from the door and hood falling back. Hello headless look. He starts to turn to see what happened but there's Teo. Jack jumps and tries to follow him but all the bliping has him off balance. He makes a frustrated noise but clenches his jaw to resist the urge to speak. It can't be seen but he's giving a look similar to the one Marinov is giving. Lyric stumbles backwards when Sylvie crashes into her, letting out a startled grunt of her own. She loses her balance, arms windmilling and managing to catch herself against a table rather than hit the ground. Her dark eyebrows knit together, nose wrinkling as she pushes herself back up with a small oof. She scrunches her eyes closed against all the disorienting blipping-and-zooming-about. 'Hey-slow-down. What. Stop. You okay?' She doesn't really quite know /where/ to turn to direct her signs, though, looking a little helplessly lost in the middle of the room. Sylvie turns around -- it's quick enough that it just seems like one second she is facing the wall and the next second she's facing Marinov. A little bit -- /off/, really; her pale freckled skin a little /too/ waxy-pale, her eyes kind of vacant where they fail to meet Marinov's incredulous look. She answers the incredulous look with -- her mouth opening. Her hands snapping out to grab at the other student as she leans forward to CHOMP. Towards Marinov's shoulder. Teo is still erratic in his jumping, unsettled where he flits around the room, but Lyric's stumbling-thumping against the table seems to draw his attention. His blips aren't very well /aimed/ -- they make a wobbly path over towards her, dot-dot-dot, but he soon finds himself behind the girl. Toppling forward /at/ her with a similar open-mouthed attempt to bite. Yum. Arm? Arm looks good. While Marinov is used to getting into scrapes from their pre-manifestation days, someone lunging forward mouth first is still pretty surprising. The felinoid teen stumbles back but reacts by punching for Sylvie's gut. Since manifesting, Marinov hasn't been in many scrapes, as it has been a rather recent event, so they are not fully aware that they can punch like Mike Tyson, and thus doesn't properly hold back. Trying to follow Teo has Jack scowling. He steps away from the door as he tries to find his fellow football player but when he sees him, he's stifling a curse. He reacts before he can think much of it, one hand coming up as he tries to telekinetically shove Teo away mid-lunge. He's holding back though, aiming to knock Teo on his rear rather than send him flying. Lyric draws in a ragged gasp, sharp and unhappy. She jerks away from Teo's reach, turning to flee from the teleporting football player, running back towards the table she had been working at where she left her things -- her phone included. 'They alive?' she signs, slightly panicky one-handed to Jack. Worried. But hopeful. Please be alive. Sylvie thuds back against the wall with the force of Marinov's punch. It doesn't change the vacant expression in her face. It does put a moment of delay in her grasping, her body slumping back -- but just as soon she is up again, rapidquick as if she barely even /notices/ that one of her ribs has made a cracking sound. Swipe! Speedyquick, her hand is reaching out to grab for Marinov's, trying to pull them closer towards that chomp-chomp-chomping mouth. Teo's hands, meanwhile, close on nothing -- he's whumped backwards onto the ground. Which doesn't stop his hands /reaching/, clasping in front of him as if he hasn't yet quite caught on that he has fallen. There's another blip as he vanishes, reappears a few feet away -- still in seated position, though now he's next to Jack. He kind of /flops/ forward at Jack's ankle. Trying to cronch at it. Chew? Chew chew? "FECK RUFTER!" Marinov shouts, wanting to swear right now, but unsure if swears are off limit parts of the English language. The tone the youth uses is very in keeping with the spirit of cursing, which makes it alright. Marinov reaches to put a hand around Sylvie's neck while attempting to kick her in the knee with bone shattering force beyond human, still unable to realize that holding back might be a good idea, but wanting to make it so that this fast person becomes less fast. Jack tries to understand the signs but he's on the panicked side himself so he just looks as confused as a headless guy can possibly look. He looks at Teo for a moment, trying to figure out if he is alive but the thudding and Marinov yelling have him looking away. Cursing in Spanish, he quickly looks to Lyric. 'Run! Find help!' is signed as quickly as he can with it still making sense. Looking away means he's open though. When he looks back to where Teo was and finds him not there, another curse. It gets louder when Teo grabs him and tries to bite him. He jerks back hard, stumbling as he tries to wrench himself free and away from those teeth. "Teo!" Lyric's fingers close around her phone. She swipes it open, hands a little shaky as she presses her panic button, still clutching the phone tight as she bolts for the door. Teo's hands stay clamped firmly around Jack's ankle. His arms extend, sharp and jerkily, when Jack jerks away; for a moment he is dragged back along the floor of the workshop. His teeth still gnash on empty air, his eyes staring vacantly ahead of him. When the glassy-eyed (ex-)student next teleports, he brings Jack /with/ him, a somewhat disorienting trip only a few feet to the right and down onto the floor again. He pulls his arms back in, hungrily drawing Jack's leg towards his mouth for another (so so hopeful!) chomp. Omnom? In the back of the workshop, Sylvia, meanwhile, seems unphased by Marinov's kicking. Her body lists to one side, thrown off-/balance/, but it doesn't change her expression. Her arm yanks at the other student with a speedster's inhuman swiftness, the chomp-chomp-CHOMP of her teeth at Marinov's shoulder also far faster than anyone should manage. It'd be almost cartoonish if it weren't aimed at furry FLESH. NomnomNOM. "Ecch," says Marinov, trying to take a hold of Sylvia's neck to keep her from getting her grubby zombie teeth on their nice pantsuit and, if successful at getting a good grasp will try to drive her back to the wall and pin her there. "Yob tvoiu mat!" growls the felinoid. Disorienting would not be the word Jack would use for his teleport trip but what he'd say is probably best not repeated in polite company. Looking rather headless but wearing gloves, he ends up on his rear after the trip. He keeps struggling, Teo getting a mouthful of rubber from the bottom of his sneaker. "{Dammit...let go!}" he demands in Spanish, finally giving in and using his TK. He focuses as much as he can, trying to wrench Teo away and throw him back. Kyinha dashes in the way Lyric just left. He's in a button up shirt patterned in overlapping circles of blue and green, and khaki cargo shorts. He has a long knife gripped in one hand and heads straight for the nearest zombie currently munching on Jack's shoe. He puts his knee down in the middle of Teo's back and grabbing his hair, attempts wrenches him off of Jack's foot. There's a rattling groan from the muscular zombie currently attached to Jack's ankle. Between Kyinha's wrenching and Jack's TK, Teo finally comes dislodged and goes flying, skidding away a few feet across the room to thud against a nearby table. And then vanish, and vanish, and vanish, blip-blip-blip! His path is erratic once more. But this time he finally settles down, reappearing behind Marinov as the feline mutant pins Sylvia by her neck to the wall. Now Teo's arms come up. It's hard to tell if zombies are pleased; his face wears the same blank expression it's had all this while. But the jerk of his arms is so rapid! Almost eager! As his clawing grasping arms stretch for the back of Marinov's shoulders to try and jerk her back for HIS turn at chomping. Marinov tries to keep Sylvia pinned with one hand, and upon hearing motion and smelling Teo's scent behind themselves, the youth tries to kick the zombie away, giving a furious feline growl. The teen looks over to Kyinha with a pleading expression, seeking help but unable to vocalize. Now down to one shoe and looking more like he lost a whole foot since no socks today, Jack is surprised Kyinha is there so soon but he's grateful anyway. He stares for a second but when it registers that Teo isn't trying to make a snack out of him anymore, Jack looks up and gasps. One gloved hand comes up and Jack reaches out with his TK to try pulling Teo back and prevent him from getting a bite of Marinov. Kyinha loses his balance briefly when Teo spins away from him, but keeps his footing. He gives a wordless shout, maybe in a bid to draw the zombies' attention from the students, then hurls himself after Teo. He cannot match the teleporter for speed, but when he does catch up he kicks low to sweep Teo's legs out from under him. Teo is pulled back -- briefly -- but just as quickly teleports /back/ in, drawn closer again by Marinov's growl to grasp again at their shoulder, chomp down at it. When Kyinha shouts, his attention is drawn back that way -- this time, when he blips away, he brings Marinov /with/ him in the same (kind of nauseating-disorienting sudden-blip), landing them both straight on top of the teacher. If it's disorienting for the zombie, it doesn't show; he just topples straight forward. Gnashgnashgnash. Teeth chomping down at whatever part of Kyinha is closest. Sylvia, meanwhile, is taking off. Probably /trying/ to launch herself at Jack -- yum! -- but instead she kind of barrels into him and then keeps going, a blur of speed that crashes /through/ the door and vanishes. Whoops. Maybe she'll get the hang of this superspeed thing. Probably not. Zombies not so good at learning. "Hygh..." Marinov seems quite uncomfortable at this sudden teleportation, but like any good feline, is back on their feet in no time and trying to tear Teo off of the teacher. The youth grabs him by his shoulders and attempts to headlock him with their other arm to prevent biting. Jack had not been expecting the impact at all. He's knocked back and hits the wall next to the door as Sylvia crashes through. "{Damn...}" he groans, trying to catch his breath. He'll need a moment or two before he can get back in the mess. With students both undead and alive suddenly flung on top of him, Kyinha's left forearm is unfortunately quite in chomping range. Since he's going to get bit anyway, he shoves the arm as far into Teo's mouth as it will fit. "{Go!}" he shouts at Marinov, and in case they don't understand the Spanish he gesticulates wildly at the door with his free arm. There's a fiery glow wreathing his jet black skin and growing brighter, especially around his arm. Teo is chomping quite eagerly, at this. His teeth sink hard and deep into Kyinha's arm with a relish, tearing gladly at sudden MOUTHFUL of delicious fleshes. Om nom nom. The PRIZE. His hands claw down at Kyinha's chest, digging there hard to keep his TASTY PREY in front of him. Marinov backs away, having failed to keep Teo in the headlock and away from Kyinha's delicious flesh, letting go. The teen retreats to the doorway, keeping an eye out for Sylvia in case she tries to get a snack as well. Jack starts getting to his feet, grabbing onto the nearest surface to pull himself up. Kyinha's shout gets him looking up in time to see the chomp and his eyes go wide. He glances over at Marinov but doesn't move yet. Kyinha looses a long string of unpleasant sounds that might or might not be words in some little-known language as Teo bites down on his arm. As soon as Marinov gets away from him, the flaming halo around him gathers at his forearm with greater focus, and finally flares out into the mouth chomping down on him before. Chomp, chomp, ch -- There's a searing, a smell of roasting flesh. Burning flesh. And then a moment later burning hair as the back of Teo's head shatters open in a gout of flame, bone and brain bits spattering out onto the floor of the workshop. The chomping stops. The boy slumps down onto Kyinha, mouth still latched onto the teacher's arm in one last futile nom. Marinov stays by the door, shielding their eyes and face, whispering, "Bliad..." The youth slumps against the wall in shock for a moment, having never seen someone killed like that before, even if was a zombie. The teen looks back and then approaches Kyinha, signing, 'Help. You.' With a bit of a tilted head and a look of concern. Lifting one arm to shield his face as well, Jack stays silent. When he gets a good look at the results of the flare, light objects in the room rattle slightly from a telekinetic pulse. Jack's seen death before but not like that. He approaches, somewhat more unsteadily, but his gaze is on the ground. "{Infirmary?}" he suggests quietly, doing his best not to look at the zombie. The fiery glow around Kyinha has died down somewhat, but is still visible, pulsing faintly. He hisses in pain, pushing Teo's inert head away from from his arm. The wounds left by his teeth glow from within, flaming red as blood oozes out. He stretches out his uninjured arm to Marinov to pull himself up, then just nods, once, jerkily. Maybe to Marinov and maybe to Jack.