Iosif slowly looked about the table, feeling awkward as he didn’t understand what was so funny about being offered fries. Then suddenly he was laughing too. Not as enthusiastically as the others or nearly as loud - his chest was still killing him and his giggling came out in concentrated wheezes of air - but he didn’t much object to the reason. It felt good to laugh.
Undoubtedly at this point heads were being turned, but what did it matter? He would be ready for them. For the first time ever, he had found friends.
“I’ll have them, if you don’t want em.” The kid made of mud rumbles as he starts to calm down, twisting his face into his best possible attempt at a grin, “I’m Noah, by the way.”
“Ryan.” The rubbery boy says with a little smile.
“Uh, Zack.” The boy with horrid teeth says with an awkward little wave.
Iosif slid the tray towards Noah. English was such a weird language for names; there was so much variety in pronunciation you could never tell how to spell something. Didn’t matter too much considering Iosif could barely write, but still.
He looked back at the ice cream soup and smiled weakly. I hope the menu changes soon. This whatever it is looks disgusting now; I’d like food that doesn’t melt.
It wasn’t in Geosh’s nature to back down, but it also wasn’t in his nature to fight a battle where he was vastly outnumbered. Geosh ran with the… android, at least that’s what he was calling it.
The shadows in the room push against the charging goons, buffeting against them like a dark wind. The cloaked figure, hidden by darkness, sneaks her way along the wall, making for the far door.
Geosh would soon lose Runa as he zipped upwards, along with the gangsters themselves. As was hoped, the thugs couldn’t track them in the confusion and had no idea where they’d gone, beginning to fan out and hunt for them. Some move farther away from Geosh, while others start to approach dangerously close to him. Fortunately, nobody seems to have spotted him yet.
The goons cry out in alarm as they begin to get pushed around by the invisible force, starting to stumble over each other and the furniture in the room that they could no longer see in the darkness. General sentiments of “what the hell is going on?” begin to crop up amongst their number, as their ability to look for the strange figure they seen is diminished to almost nothing.
and then a shriek pierces the air, shrill and haunting. All at once the shadows stir with renewed vigor, swirling and buffeting everyone in the room like a sudden hurricane.
The yells of surprise become yells of panic, as the thugs bunch up trying to get away from whatever unseen force was attacking them, allowing the figure to slip by to the backdoor.
The shadows swirl about, concentrating on the gangsters that had conveniently huddled together. The dark force pushes faster, seeming to squeeze in on them from all sides.
The door slams open, the shadows clearing enough to offer them a tunnel to the light. “LEAVE,” a voice screeches from within the darkness, the shadows seeming to push the gangsters towards the door, suddenly taking on a sharp, pointed edge they hadn’t before.
The gangsters decide to listen to the screeching shadows, and fall over themselves trying to escape through the front door, which would be easily visible from Runa’s perch on the roof (@Runa). What would also be visible to Runa is a small group of figures sneaking out of the back, and into the alleys behind the building.
Geosh also noticed thugs scrambling out of the building and knew that something was happening.
“But I can’t really check it out without a goon potentially finding me, and if I make any noise fighting there’s no doubt that the others will notice.”
The door slams shut behind them, locking if it’s able. The shadow retracts somewhat, only hovering around the cloaked figure. She stays in place for a moment, catching her breath. Ready once more, she crosses the room, standing in front of the back door. Her shadow expands once more, filling the space around her and pressing against the door. She turns the handle, shoving it open and standing on the threshold.
It was curious, Iosif had to admit - his entire body wasn’t covered in the substance, it was the substance. Could he shape it? Could he take on different forms? Could he slip through small openings, like inside a keyhole or under a door, or-
-or was he just trying to distract himself from imagining insulation wedges dissolving in someone’s hand and trying to determine if Noah holding Charlie’s hand was the equivalent of a kiss?
She would be greeted by a relatively more comfortable-looking office-like space, with a desk and nice seats. But the room itself was empty: it seemed like whoever was in here before had gotten the memo and headed out the emergency exit on the far side of the room. Still, there was some shelving and cabinets in here: maybe there would be something useful on these guys?
Everybody else at the table, and in the cafeteria as a whole, was starting to finish their food as well, and starting to consider leaving. As he noticed this, Zack leaned in conspiratorially. “Hey, Iosif.” He whispered, “Wanna see the games room?”
Iosif had to bite his tongue a little to keep his mouth from seizing into a snarl of repulsion as Zack’s breath made its way down the table. The word ‘games’ was unfamiliar to him, but it couldn’t hurt to investigate.
…Okay, yes it could. Friends didn’t mean universal safety, it just meant not being alone. “Sure.” He glanced slightly to the side just in case this was taboo for whatever reason.
He grinned, showing more of his teeth than Iosif would’ve liked, “The bigger kids tend to hog the cool stuff, but if we go now, we can get there first. Worst case scenario: I can get em to budge.” He explains, thankfully not feeling the need to demonstrate as he leans back again.
“I’m down.” Ryan decided.
“Sure, why not.” Charlie shrugged, just happy to be part of the group, “Noah?”
“Eh. Ever since I got changed, controllers haven’t really… agreed with me.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, you guys go have fun, I’ve got some stuff to do anyway.” Noah replied, waving her off.
“So, are we ready to go?” Charlie asks, mostly in Iosif’s direction.
Iosif nodded, but only after a sad look in Noah’s direction after hearing he wouldn’t be able to participate.
Wait… Controller? Are we going to control something? Or… Someone? A small shiver worked its way up Iosif’s spine. I wonder what I’m getting myself into…