Roleplays after Red Alert: Part 3

Gaile
Steam floated across the ceiling as Gaile got out of the shower. After quite a stressful few days following Todd’s elimination, Gaile found that a hot shower was very relaxing. Even if the showers were kinda gross in the old hotel. Drying herself off with her pink towel she trudged over through the puddles of shower water towards the pajamas she’d set for the night. She grinned to herself as she put on her favorite purple super over-sized Winnie the Pooh t-shirt. Because she was so short, the t-shirt hung on her like a dress and reached to just above her knees. Her stomach began to growl a little as she ran a comb through her soaking white-blonde hair and slipped her feet into her bunny slippers. She realized that once again she had forgotten to eat dinner. The clock on her bedside table read 7:00 PM. No one else would be in the kitchen this time of evening. Her bunny slippers made scratching noises on the hall carpet as she shuffled towards the kitchen. In the kitchen she made herself a PBJ sandwich and skipped back to the lobby of the hotel. Making herself cozy on a couch, she flipped on the TV to Full House and happily nibbled at her sandwich. She was enjoying the episode thoroughly when she felt someone breathing on the back of her neck. She flinched a bit and exclaimed in shock as she turned to face the source of the breathing.

The Baroness:
The Baroness was hanging around in the lobby after a fun yet somewhat annoying meeting with the rest of her penguins. Well…it wasn’t really a meeting, more or less just them talking about how, so long as they keep trying their hardest, all of them could likely make it to the merge. It pleased the pirate to see that the team she co-captains is doing well; she could only hope the carry them all as far as she could.

The girl had noticed Gaile shuffle into the kitchen from the far corner she was sitting at, yet paid no mind to her. She figured Gaile would just shimmy back on out and go to her room while the Baroness just sat there on the sofa in the corner and relaxed for a couple more minutes.

Gaile soon shuffled out of the kitchen and plonked herself onto a couch near the TV set. Curious, The Baroness quietly got out of her seat and stood behind Gaile, watching whatever show the girl was watching. Not really understanding the premise of the show, The Baroness soon adverted her eyes down to Gaile, who was now staring right up at her.

“…Ahoy there lass….”

Gaile smiled a friendly smile at The Baroness. “Hey The Baroness, I totally didn’t know you were around. I would have made room for you on the couch!” Gaile said cheerily.

“Would you like to sit?” she offered and patted the seat beside her on the couch.

“I ain’t really be knowin ye were gonna stay in the livin’ quarters watchin’…” The Baroness began to say as she glanced up at the television screen to see if she could figure out what the girl was watching. “…the uh…show ‘bout the happy gay couple.” The Baroness continued, in fact unsure of what Gaile was watching. The Baroness knew very little about television, let alone the shows on it. Had it not been for her brother she likely wouldn’t have even heard of Total Drama in the first place.

When Gaile asked if the pirate girl wanted to sit, The Baroness simply shrugged and plunked herself down onto the soft couch, soon adverting her eyes to watch what show Gaile was.

Gaile giggled as The Baroness tried to guess what the show was and grinned as she joined her on the couch.

"I’m guessing you’ve never seen Full House before! It’s my fave! It’s about this mad huge family living together under one roof. The main characters are a family with 3 kids and their dad, their super rad Uncle Jesse, and the totally hilarious Uncle Joey. They all live together and take care of the kiddos. It’s really cute!” Gaile explained happily and then turned back to the screen.

This particular episode was one of Gaile’s favorites. It was an older one where little Stephanie had accidentally driven Uncle Joey’s new car into the kitchen. It made Gaile laugh every time.

“Naw, I ain’t be seein’ this show befer’…then again spend most me time at sea than watchin’ the movie box…” The Baroness said after Gaile noticed that she had never seen the show she was watching before, before quietly listening to the 90’s kid explain the story of the show.

“Arr, that seems interestin’ a guess…” The Pirate girl replied after Gaile’s explained the jist of the show. “Ain’t really int’ television n’ that, but blimey, ain’t got nothin’ else t’ do, might as well be wachin’ with ye lass.” The Baroness continued to say, turning to watch Full House with the 90’s kid.

The Baroness quietly watched as little Stephanie got into Uncle Joey’s car and pretended to drive it. It was kind of cute; and in fact reminded her of her little brother in an odd sort of way..that was, untill, the little girl accidentally turned the car and backed it into the house faster than a ball is thrown between two people in a game of catch.

The pirate didn’t know how to feel; she couldn’t tell if that was shocking or hilarious. On one hand, it was rather amusing because it was so unexpected yet seemed like a fitting amount of Karma for the girl doing what she likely wasn’t supposed to have been doing. On the other hand, it was shocking because of the fact that the little girl had crashed that new car into her family’s kitchen, resulting in a lot of damage and possibly harm to the girl. In the end, she just sat there with a rather blank look on her face as she watched the scene unfold.

Gaile grinned as the Baroness said she would watch the show with her. Besides fixing the kitchen sink, she and the Baroness hadn’t hung out a lot. It made Gaile happy she could share this moment with her.

“This one is my favorite.” Gaile said with a giggle as she knew what was about to happen next. When Stephanie backed the car into the kitchen she laughed,

“She actualyl thought R on the PRINDL was for radio!!” she giggled and turned to see how The Baroness was viewing it. She had a bit of a blank expression on her face.

“Are you a bit confused? Or just shocked?” Gaile asked.

The Baroness wanted to laugh when Gaile did; after all, she seemed to have found the thing funny. Yet she could not muster a laugh; after all, she just imagined her little brother as the role of Stephanie because she acted so similar to how he did when he was a kid. She dared not want to think what could have happened had her brother done this.

When Gaile asked if the Baroness was shocked or confused, the Baroness turned her head to face Gaile. “Aye, be shocked t’ be sayin the very least.” The pirate girl told the 90’s kid honestly, still imagining her brother in the place of Stephanie. “That lil’ lass be remindin’ me of me own brother when he be a kid, n it ain’t be pleasant to ’ve imagined this happenin’ t’ him after, ye know, the lass backed that car up faster than someone rewindin’ a funny video.” She continued to explain why she felt the way she did.

“Ye know, if that be happenin’ to me lil’ bro, he be gettin’ a floggin’, that’s fer sure.”

Gaile (Stuck)
Gaile let out another sigh as the drops of rain continued to roll down the window of her room. She has been sitting in the chair of her hotel room watching it rain for the last hour or so, and all Gaile wanted to do more than anything at the moment was go on a walk to explore the city before a stressful evening of eliminations. Her team won but eliminations were still just a stressful time for her. Gaile frowned, growing a bit impatient and blew a piece of hair out of her face. After waiting a few minutes more, the drops finally started to slow down and finally stop falling altogether. The sun was gradually starting to come out from behind the clouds.

“YES!” Gaile cheered with an excited grin and began to hurriedly get ready for her walk.

She changed into a a new windbreaker and slipped her feet into her shoes, more than ready to get some fresh air. Finally she was ready and hastily made her way out the door and down the hall to the elevator. The doors opened instantaneously and Gaile happily skipped inside. She then reached over and pressed the button on the wall to indicate she wanted to go to the lobby floor. It glowed red when she pressed it and she settled back into the wall, waiting for the elevator to move. The doors shut slowly and the elevator shook a bit as it began to move down. Gaile hummed blissfully to herself until she noticed that the elevator had suddenly stopped. Her head snapped up and she stared around the elevator and at the control panel confusedly. Finally the elevator started to beep loudly indicating that indeed, Gaile was stuck.

Gaile’s eyes widened, but she tried to remain calm. She thought to herself “This so isn’t the worse this situation could be. I could be totally dropping floors, or the lights could be out. This is relatively okie dokie. Right?”  And Still she had never had this happen to her, and had no idea what to do. she really wouldn’t mind getting out of the elevator. She began to pound on the elevator doors, praying someone was around the could help her.

“Yo! Is anyone out there?! The elevator is stuck! Anyone?! Help!” she called out and continued to hit the elevator doors. She hoped the elevator wasn’t stuck between floors and that it like the rest of the hotel wasn’t in bad condition.

“Hello?!” Gaile cried out again, starting to feel the panic bubbling in her as she continued to be in the enclosed space.

Ry:
The challenge had left Ry exhausted, his encounter with Dakota had left him hopeful, and his talk with Arizona had given him some grace….but he really, really needed this damn time to eat now. He’d neglected his most basic human needs and had gone off into a state of near numbness.

Sighing softly, he moved his hair out of his face and headed up to his room, using the jittery and bouncy elevator, much to his displeasure. After exiting the elevator, he moved to his room, changed his clothes, and headed back out.

He’d normally wear his casual clothing but that had been rained on, causing him to need a hasty change. Instead of remaining in those soggy clothes, he changed into his black sweatshorts, tofu t-shirt, and just some slip on flats, leaving his beanie to dry on the windowsill.

“This day…is just a rollercoaster…” He mumbled softly, wringing out some more of the water from the fabric of his beanie before setting it down, leaving the room right after.

While in the hallway, he heard the familiar sound of the elevator making its…terrifying screeches and held his breath, wondering if someone was about to have a wonderful fall. Luckily for him, it wasn’t a person on his floor, so he knew they wouldn’t fall to their deaths…but he still wanted to draw that later.

Deciding it better to avoid such a fate, he made his way to the stairs and headed down to the second floor where he heard the screaming from the interior of the elevator. Well, shit.

It was a familiar and distinct voice that made him rush down the hallway. He knew who it was and he wasn’t about to let her stay there…at least without some sarcastic jabs. Stopping outside the elevator doors, he crossed his arms and leaned against it.

“You know, the elevator is a perfect place to play card games, so did you realize that solitaire was a boring game?”

When Ry spoke, Gaile recognized her friend’s voice immediately. She felt a wave of relief was over her as she no longer was alone. Well, she was alone in the elevator but now the hallway wasn’t empty.

“Ry? Thank God it’s you!” Gaile cried out gratefully, letting his sarcastic remark go over her head.

“I’m a bit stuck in here, buddy. This hotel’s quality is really pressing my buttons recently. Anyway, I haven’t been in here for more than a hot second, but I still would love to get out. Do you know how I could do that?” she asked, voice full of hope.

Ry leaned against the cool silver doors calmly and nodded as he listened to Gaile. This place was beyond broken to him, and he hoped it went down in flames. If Taylor Swift wrote any good songs, then it was talking about something going down in flames or something.

“Yeah, I know that feeling… I spent the first five nights without actual running water in my room, until Baroness came by and fixed my plumbing.” He’d had to take baths in the sink’s running water down in the kitchen…bleh.

“Um…” He paused now, trying to remember the elevator anatomy. “Can you see in there? If so, then you should look up. There might be a hatch up top. Can you reach it?” He doubted it since he was an inch shorter than her and the thing was always up so damn high.

Gaile clocked herself in the head when she remembered how she had broken the sink in the kitchen and the Baroness had been the one who had helped her. Thank goodness she seemed to know her way with tools. She was brought back to reality when Ry started asking her about a hatch on the ceiling. She turned her head up to look and saw that the car indeed had an escape hatch.

“Yes! There’s a hatch right above me! I’m gonna try to reach it, but I am a bit short. Hopefully I can reach it!” Gaile announced enthusiastically.

The girl then began to plan how to reach the very high door. She started off by standing on the tips of her toes, which hurt after having her toes crammed against the end on her jelly sandals for a while. She then tried hopping up and down and pushing the door to the side, but she couldn’t even jump high enough for her finger tips to even brush the door. It must have sounded strange throughout the hotel as she hopped up and down, thumping as she landed each time.

“I can try one more thing, dude. I’m gonna try to climb up the railings here.” Gaile said and began to put her foot up on the railing of the back wall. She then hopped a little and put a leg up on the railing of a side wall. Wobbling a little bit as she struggled to stand, Gaile leaned forwards and tried to stabilize herself enough where she was no longer wobbling. When she was no longer wobbling she slowly made her hands climb up the wall towards the ceiling. She reached up to push the door over when her legs started wobbling again and she fell down to the ground with another thud. The elevator shook in response.

“It’s no use I can’t reach it!” Gaile cried and rubbed her knee which would surely have a bruise on it later.

The sounds of shuffling inside the elevator gave Ry some hope that his advice wasn’t falling on deaf ears, but when he heard the sounds of her jumping up and down inside, he sighed and leaned even more against the door. He wondered why he even gave her that tidbit of information anyway. He was too short to reach that himself, so why would she be able to with just an inch on him? Sure, the jelly sandals probably gave her like two more inches of height, he but knew it wouldn’t be enough to reach the hatch.

Listening intently to Gaile shuffle around inside, he waited in pained silence as he heard the sound of the hatch slowly being pushed up. It was then that he thought she’d actually gotten it with her railing idea, then….

BANG!

“Damn, Gaile! You okay?” He asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. If she was hurt in there, then she wouldn’t be able to try the hatch again without help. This was actually a predicament… He’d need to find something to help her climb out of there since he was too weak to help her get out of there with his own strength.

After a few moments of thought, he moved away from the elevator. “I’m going to try to get you out of there,” he informed her, patting the elevator doors calmly, then made his way down the hallway.

Briefly entering the kitchen, he searched around, then spotted a step ladder next to the fridge. Grabbing that, he rushed back to the elevator but on the third floor this time. “Okay, so how do you pry open elevator doors…?” He asked himself, placing his hands on the doors and tugging on them momentarily, almost ripping his fingernails off in the attempt.

Sighing in annoyance, he reached into his pocket and retrieved his knife, jamming it into the doors, pulling back like it was a crowbar, forcing the door apart enough for him to shove them open with his feet.

He quickly reached back and grabbed the step ladder, looking down at the elevator five feet below him. Taking a breath, he jumped down on top of the elevator with a loud thud, causing the whole thing to shake slightly. “Ah, fuck!” He muttered, grabbing on to the cables in an attempt to stable himself.

“Okay, Gaile, I’m here,” he informed her, opening the hatch up and peering inside. “I’ve got a step ladder for you to use to get out… Um, move or you might get hit with it.”

Baroness:
The Baroness Made her way out of her room with a loud yawn. After her escapade with Ry earlier, the pirate girl decided to take a brief nap; unusual for her, but with the heavy rain still pouring by the time she slept she figured it would be better to have done something.

As she woke from her groggy state, The Baroness started to…hear things from the end of the hall. At first, it just confused her; after all, she was unsure of what exactly it was. But she soon came to her senses and realized what exactly it was.

Someone was trapped in the elevator.

The Pirate rushed to see who it was; nearly ramming her body into the door because she didn’t stop sooner. The Girl could barely make out the voices trapped inside, but she thankfully could decipher them and determine who it was. “Gaile…” She muttered to herself, starting to bang her fists onto the door to let the other girl know she was there.

“Ye be alright lass!?”

Gaile jumped slightly and cried out “SHNIKIES!” when the Baroness started knocking back on the other side of the elevator doors, but she was relieved after realizing someone had come to help. When The Baroness spoke Gaile recognized the voice and lingo as the Baroness. She sighed in relief realizing it was a friend and not someone who would make the situation worse like Dennis or Mallory. Lord knows what they’d do. Dennis would try to scare her and Mallory might try to blow the doors open with a bomb or something. Either way, not something Gaile wanted at the moment.

“Baroness! Thank god it’s you! Yeah I’m cool right now, but I don’t care much for enclosed spaces. Not my fave things. I could really go for getting out of here.” Gaile replied hopefully.

Gaile leaned up against the back wall of the elevator, hoping getting as far as possible would make her feel less…caged.

“Ye hang tight lass, I be gettin’ ye out smartly!” The Baroness assured Gaile. “Ain’t got much a clue how t’ be lettin’ ye out meself; ye got any clue?!” She then shouted to the 90′s kid, not exactly sure how to possibly free her from her elevator tomb.

“If ye don’t be havin’ a clue, I might have t’ go find some’n that could help ye out!” She continued to saw begrudgingly, not fond of leaving someone behind.

Gaile stopped to think about how she could get out and her mind automatically popped over to an episode of Criminal Minds that she’d seen. Gideon had saved a group of 3 college kids from being burned to death in an elevator by a psychotic girl who thought she was doing God’s work. The teens had pried open the doors on their own and had been able to maneuver out with Gideon’s help. She mentally thanked herself for trying a modern tv show the day she’d seen it. If she was on a floor she’d be able to pry the doors open and walk out. But if she was in between floors, she’d need help climbing out and down. This was something Gaile really wanted to do.

“I know what you can do! I’m gonna need you to help me pry open the doors if you can. Then we can make the next move.” Gaile explained, trying to ignore the fact that she was still trapped in such a small, closed space.

“Pry the doors open…?” The Baroness repeated, unsure of really what Gaile meant before it dawned on her what Gaile wanted her to do. “OH! Lass, I be havin’ a crow bar in me quarters, if ye think ye can be watin’ fer a few moments!” The Pirate replied, hoping Gaile would give her just a few seconds to go and fetch what she was after.

Ry
The soft sound of music floated down the hallway from one of the contestant’s rooms: Ry. He was currently with a paintbrush in one hand, the other covered in paint, and bouncing on the balls of his feet from one foot to the other in a festive manner.

His hair—hat removed—had been pulled up into a ponytail and his bangs were now pinned back, revealing his tiny face, tiny eyebrows, multicolored eyes, and high cheekbones. It didn’t matter to him that he looked like a girl from behind with his light pink painting apron, rainbow sweat shorts, and his short sleeve V-neck shirt.

The floor was covered in thick sheets of paper as he worked hard on the tree he’d been constructing for the past two hours. The tree was now standing up almost to the top of the wall, even though Ry was only able to reach about six out of the nine feet to the top. He’d been able to grab a chair to stand on, though, so the work was easier now. He was sure Chris wouldn’t miss a chair from the dining room.

Ry sang along to the lyrics, still bouncing on the balls of his feet, and hitting his hand against the wall every once in a while to add the blossoms to the tree. The picture was coming together nicely, show casing his room’s most fabulous piece: a cherry blossom tree.

It’d been two hours since the elimination and he was surprisingly happy to have not been eliminated and gotten to rush back to his room to actually start on his project. He was still slightly pissed about it, but he had to move on…

He sang along, face remaining dull with the happiness of the lyrics. The tree was coming along nicely and the hand leaves were extremely well placed! Now…to add the blood dripping from the leaves and to color the noose draping down over one branch!

His lifted himself upward in an attempt to reach the branch near the top, but the chair he was now using for help slipped out from under him, having been resting on a piece of paper, and caused the creepy artist to fall off the chair in loud and, otherwise, contradicting tone to the music he was listening to.

The stereo that he had sitting on his bed was slammed into by the chair and flew off the bed, hitting the paint can and splashing Ry directly in the face. The stereo clashed against the wall after that and the song shut off.

The scream he uttered from shock echoed up and down the hallway, attracting a person he didn’t notice from behind while he was rubbing his face, which was now covered in a dark pink, almost red paint, giving him the look of bleeding from the fall.

Baroness:
The Baroness’ had a bounce in her step and a hand in a wrap as she walked up the stairs. She searched all throughout the treasure pile she had accumulated in her room in an attempt to find something she figured Ry would like; something that would seal the deal with their alliance. She kept her excitement contained to herself, however, just in case someone on the second floor didn’t want her up there. Once she opened the door on the stairwell that lead to the third floor, she quietly shuffled across the carpet, sighing with relief that most of the doors were closed, especially Ashley’s. In fact, on her journey to Ry’s room, she only passed by Derby, who gave a quiet wave to her, and Kiki, who seemed to have not taken notice of the pirate.

However, the relative serenity of the journey was ended with a loud crash and a scream from the end of the Hallway, echoing out of the room with the open door. Wanting to see what had happened, she rushed over towards the room, where she discovered Ry’s room in not only a mess, but that Ry’s face was coated in a dark red liquid that she presumed was blood.

"Ry me bucko! Ye face be covered in more blood than a mauled rodent!" She gasped out in shock.

Ry visibly shook as he tried to desperately get the paint off his face from the way he’d fallen. It was the Baroness behind him that was for sure…but he was in no mood to correct her on the paint dripping from his face. Reaching around with one hand, he managed to grab hold of a piece of paper, then used it to wipe around his mouth, letting the paper soak up some of the paint, then he did this with another sheet, managing to rid his lips and upper lip of the disgusting feeling liquid.

“I-It’s paint!” He called back to her, yet again wiping around his eyes to try to get the liquid away from his sensitive insides. “Get me a towel, napkin, water in a bucket…just don’t use my bathroom! There’s no good water in there!” He wanted to stand up, but he felt that was just another one of his mistakes waiting to happen. “Just hurry up, eh?”

So he was being a little forceful, but he really needed the help to get this off his face before his floor was destroyed OR he got it all over his wall project. It was lucky that someone came to his aid or he’d be in a world of disarray…and probably have tried to go all the way down to the kitchen to wash his face off…

At first the Baroness’ eyes widened with curiosity and shock as she both approached Ry and watched him use paper to clean the mess, but nodded her head and understood why he did that when he explained it was only paint. When Ry demanded her to get supplies, although not liking the idea of being bossed around, she did so anyways. “I’ll be back with ye booty!” The Baroness shouted in a shock as she hurried down to her room to get some things to help clean up Ry.

After around ten minutes of searching, The Baroness soon barged into Ry’s room once again, both a white towel with “TDCO”, each letter being a color of the four teams, embroidered in it and a small metallic pail of warm water in tow. “If this ain’t be enough, ye can come down to me quarters n’ use me latrine!”

Ry gave a quick nod, moving around to try to find where the Baroness was. Stopping when he grabbed on to her left boot, then he quickly moved himself upward to be standing again, almost slipping on a stray piece of paper. Managing to get himself back up, he felt around grabbing her arm, then her wrist, and finally the towel. Then he used the other hand to move around and try to find the bucket.

Once he had both items in his inner vision, he quickly dunked the towel in the water and began to scrub at his face, removing a majority of the paint and accidentally popping both his contacts out on to the towel, which he didn’t even seem to notice.

Opening his eyes again, he blinked while looking at her. His eyes were the same color now, brown, but one had a missing pupil. “Thanks…” He finally spoke, dropping down on the floor and placing the towel down next to him, oblivious of the contacts popping out.

The Baroness paid no mind to the fact that Ry had to hoist himself up with her body; she was glad to have help him. Patiently, she waited for Ry to scrub at his face, and once he finally stopped scrubbing, she smiled, pleased that she could have been of assistance….until she got a good glimpse of his eyes. ”..Weren’t they blue?”  She thought to herself, gasping out loud with the curiosity of a puppy. “….Ry…..yer deadlights be changin’ colors!”

“Huh?” Ry asked, looking over to see his gray and blue contacts sitting on the towel now. “Oh, fuck!” He quickly grabbed them and stared at them in disappointment. “Well, no… I have color contacts,” he informed her, looking up with his now one colored eyes. “….Nobody likes seeing my right eye having no pupil, so I got colored contacts with a specialty designed pupil in the right one…” He paused and stared at the contacts, hating that his secret was out to her.

“I know that it’d be dumb to keep a secret like that, so that’s why I made them two different colors: one blue and one gray, so that everyone would kind of guess that I had colored contacts in…and just assume I dress up or am just boring in personality.” He shrugged. “I guess the second part is true.”

The Baroness frowned in confusion, unsure of why people would care if someone had a pupil or not. She waited until Ry finished giving his explanation as to why he as them before she uttered a single word. “…..I ain’t be carin’ if ye got no pupil in yer deadlight; ‘perances mean nothin to a pirate so long as ye can do yer job!” The Baroness preached in an attempt to make Ry feel better about himself. Shifting her weight, the pirate smiled yet again. “Sides, ye be far from borin’” The Pirate spoke as she looked around his room, noticing all the crumpled paper and the tree he started painting on his wall.

The Baroness stood there for a few seconds before remembering why she came up here in the first place. “Arr matey, almost be forgetin’ why I’m up here!” The Baroness gasped as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a bent, cheap looking golden ring that was  attached to a piece of string to form a necklace, or bracelet if you tied it shorter. “I found this swag up ‘n Mount McArrogance!” She grinned before looking at the ring once again. “Ain’t really got no monetary value, bent to pieces ‘n gold ain’t great, so I can’t be gettin’ any doubloons fer it.” She began to explain to Ry. “…but I reckon’ it be best suited fer somethin’ even grander; gonna give it to ya t’ seal the deal on the alliance!” She then voiced loudly, finishing her original thought.

Ry sat there and listened to the Baroness explain that she didn’t care about his eyes, which made him look at her in slight confusion. Every time someone would see his eyes with no contacts in, they either asked him a flurry of questions, not looking him in the eyes, or they’d get grossed out and beg him to put sunglasses on or something. “I can’t do anything that is in my blind spot, though….so you’d have to have me somewhere where I only am required to see things from one side.” It was a small joke about his problem but a joke nonetheless. “…I just do a bunch of weird things, but that’s never really perked anyone’s interest…”

Ry’s eyes went to her hand now, ogling the ring in fascination. It looked kind of like the rocks that he collected around his town or anywhere he’d find them…even on the store counter, though he never paid for them. “Heh…” He pulled himself off the floor and reached out to take it. “I don’t’ think a lot of things have potential value other than sentiment… Thanks for trusting me and wanting to be in this alliance.” Slipping the necklace over his head, he watched it clank against his handmade one, then he put it in his shirt so it’d stay out of sight. He paused, noticing that he’d not given her anything in return.

“Ah, um…” Turning around, he rushed over to his dresser and began to shuffle through it, retrieving something he kept in hidden in the palm of his hand.

Walking back over to her, he held out his hand. “It’s not much…but I collect these things to give to people that I don’t hate. It kind of seals the deal between me and others… I gave them to Gaile and Dakota as a way to commemorate our friendships, but you don’t have to view it that way…” He didn’t really think he’d get lucky enough for a third friend anyway…

"Aye, ye be perfect fer the port side then!" The Baroness laughed, oblivious to the fact it was a joke. No matter what a person had that made them "different" to most, they would have a place on her ship! If they were deaf, they could man the cannons! If they were blind, they could be a great negotiator! And if they couldn’t have alcohol, they could make sure no one would fall overboard!

The Baroness enjoyed the fascination Ry had with the ring. At the very least, it meant that he enjoyed what she was offering to seal the deal with the alliance. “It be no problem lad!” The Baroness snickered with glee as Ry thanked her. “Fish n’ a school swim together!” She quickly added, glad to have sealed the deal in this alliance. After tucking the necklace into his Hoodie,  All of a sudden, Ry rushed off towards one of his dressers, confusing the Baroness greatly. With a tilt of the head, she followed Ry as he dug into his drawers and stealthily pulled something out.

The Baroness was at first alarmed by the fact Ry had pulled out a shiny, grayish colored rock, but she completely understood what he was giving it to her once he had explained. “Arr, that be mighty kind of ye me bucko.” She said with a smile. “Definitely be usin’ it as a sign fer friendship ‘tween us!” She added with a slight chuckle before accepting the rock, placing it gently into her pocket.

Ry wasn’t sure if she’d gotten the fact that he was joking, so he just went along with it and nodded to her statement. “When I figure out what port side is, then I’m sure I’ll do my best on that regard.” If anything, he’d be okay with manning a canon since he had great aim, or she could give him a bow and an arrow to set ablaze to burn the other ship at an angle they couldn’t see the flames. Hmhmhm… The screams would be music to his ears.

The ring was cold against Ry’s sternum as he moved about to find her the perfect rock to commemorate the occasion. He saw the perfect rock when he’d accidentally come across the bottom of the drawer, still not used to the depths since his at home were much larger for his cosplays. It was perfect in his mind because it represented the skies when there was a storm on the way, but the smooth texture of it kept in mind that they would be alright in the storm.

“Its color symbolizes a storm, a deadly one, on its way to greet us, but the texture gives clue that we’ll be able to handle the storm easily.” Wait, did she say friendship? His eyes widened at the statement. “Friendship? You want to be friends with me? Why? I thought you just wanted an alliance between us, not a friendship… You’d be better off not befriending me…” He shook his head slowly, feeling the overwhelming sensation that he was dragging more people down with him. “I just drag people down…”

The Baroness gave a light snicker when Ry said he needs to figure out what the port side was. “Arr, port side be yer left!” The Baroness explained to ease his confusion. She figured he could man the cannons on her ship or something similarly destructive, knowing that Ry would probably prefer something along the likes of that.

When Ry asked why she would want to be friends with him, she tilted her head in confusion. “Friendships n’ ‘liances go ‘and n ‘and t’ me! If ye be friendly with each other, yer gonna work together, n’ if ye be workin’ together fer a similar cause, yer gonna wind up bein’ friends! That be a pirate way o’ life!” The Baroness preached to Ry, explaining her way of thinking. The Baroness smiled when Ry said “dragging people down”, completely misinterpreting what Ry had said. ” ‘sides, we can both drag Ashley down t’ Dave Jone’s Locker; two workin’ with each other be better than one!”

“Left side of ship… Got it,” he told her, not entirely sure if he’d ever really want to work on a ship. Well, he’d actually be more content with leading an army on a field than at sea. The ocean frankly made him nervous with the unexpected way it could throw things at you. In an emergency on a boat, Ry would probably start freaking out to the point of tears…and probably get stared at in that ‘why the fuck is he crying’ or ‘that’s not like him’ pity looks…or he’d get ignored and drown.

“They do…? Well, I mean, Gaile and I became friends when we formed an alliance, so I guess so, but if I formed an alliance with someone else here, then they might not really consider that friendship…” Which in his mind was justified. “Well, you’ll have to excuse me for being a land lubber, Baroness; I don’t think I’m fluent in the pirate life handbook.” A little sassy, but that the only way Ry knew how to respond to that part. “And…yeah, I’d like to see be opening that locker myself…or maybe make her do it.”

"I be considerin’ it friendship." The Baroness grumbled at Ry’s insistence of not wanting to be both friends and alliance buddies with her. Shifting her weight, she continued to listen to Ry talk. "I be forgivin’ ye bucko!" She then quickly snickered, obviously not getting Ry’s sass. "Doubt any lads, lassies, n swabs here really know much ‘bout Pirates anyways…." She then began to ramble on.

"She’s gonna be learnin’ that combination herself!" The Baroness snickered with delight. Quickly remembering something, the Baroness gasped. "Arr matey, did ye say somethin’ be wrong with yer plumbin’?"

Ry’s eyes darted away for a second, then he made a soft ‘pfff’ noise and rolled his eyes at her, pretending it wasn’t a big deal she’d just become his friend, even though she probably interpreted that as him agreeing with the knowledge of priates. “Yeah… I guess you can be my friend and all, too…” He was gaining friends like crazy! This wasn’t natural. Moving his arm out, he pinched himself and held in a yelp. Okay, so he wasn’t dreaming in some cruel world…

At the mention of his plumbing, Ry stopped and slowly nodded. “My water’s really cold, a weird smell, and is always gushing out of the pipes… I don’t think it’s safe or pleasurable to bathe in there…so I’ve been using the sink for my hair and some of my body.” He was thinking about the pool, but when he’d gone up there, yeaahhhh no. That thing looked even worse than his shower. He might end up draining that thing and using it as a skating rink with how the edges swoop up. “Do you know anything about plumbing or…?”

The Baroness gave a combination of a hearty laugh and a quiet squeal once Ry accepted her offering of friendship, obviously having paid no attention to reaction before accepting it.

"Aye, that be terrible!" The Baroness exclaimed and agreed, stopping her little charade of Ry accepting her offer for friendship, once Ry started telling her about his pipes. She’s seen that happen to the pipes in her grandmother’s house and knew that it was both unpleasant and unbearable to have happen to you.

When Ry asked her if she knew anything about plumbing, the Baroness closed her eyes and smiled proudly. ” ‘Course I do matey, if yer gonna be Cap’n’ of a ship ye gotta know a think or two ‘bout plumbin’ work.” She boasted about herself. “If ye want me t’ look at yer plumbin’, I will…but It may take a while, so ye can use the ‘ead in me quarters fer now.”

Ry gave a small nod to her, not liking the fact he’d been given the bum room out of the 19 others in the hotel. “He, Chris, literally screwed me over with the room selection thing he did… When Chef gave me the key as I went into the hotel, I didn’t think my luck from home would carry over.”

He paused when she told him that she knew about plumbing and nodded slowly. “That’s a relief to hear right now! I thought I’d never find a stroke of luck here, other than not losing the two challenges we’ve done entirely, though… I have a bad feeling about the next one. The Parrots came in second on the first challenge and then came in last on this one, so if that’s a trend, then we’ll come in last on the next challenge because we came in second on this one.”

He raised his hands up and tilted this way and that. “It’s just that our luck is going to run out… Get Dennis and Lavender stuck together and the monkey will take the keys, or so to speak… The monkey being Dennis and the keys being Lavender’s weaknesses.” He sighed pointedly.

“Anyway, I’d really appreciate you looking at my plumbing…for as long as I am here, I’d appreciate the gestures. Thank you…”

"Considerin’ the sink broke on Gaile earlier, I doubt it be rotten luck yer room broke first." The Baroness attempted to explain to Ry. Giving a slight snicker, she added, " ‘Sides, at least I be ‘round t’ fix it."Truth be told, her room had a host of problems too, mostly with the shelves in her closet and the boards holding up her bed literally collapsing the day she got there, but she at the very least managed to fix her bed.

She was about to say “Arr, don’t mention it matey.” when Ry started talking about how his team was likely to lose next challenge. She calmly listened to Ry explain his worries and woes, staying silent for a few minutes at the end to think things through. “…If ye ask me, if ye be loosin’, least ye get a chance to vote off yer weak link.” She explained, not quite sure of what else she could really say. ” ‘sides, ye might surprise yerself n’ win. ‘m sure with Kiki n’ Dennis on yer team ye can punch a squid off yer starboard bow!” The Baroness attempted to say with a smile, thinking Ry would get what she was saying.

The Baroness wanted to blush when Ry said “thank you.” It’s not too often she gets thanked from anyone besides family, especially from someone like Ry who tends to beat himself up a lot. Finally, she got a chance to say “Arr, don’t mention it matey.” “I reckon ye could be usin’ a good soak n the shower if ye wanna hop on down t’ me room; ye can get squeaky clean n’ I can get a chance to look at yer pipes.”

“Well, it’s rotten to me, who only got a shower because Lavender is really…obsessed with me.” Saying those words felt weird and foreign to him, but he was perpetually freaked out by Lavender’s sudden interest in him. He wondered if she’d snuck into his—No, that’s not something she’d do, is it? “Well, she keeps making comments about my looks anyway. And yeah… At least you came by or I’d be screwed. Truth? This is the second damn time I’ve fallen tonight…”

Listening to her talk about the likelihood of him getting to vote off his target weak link, he shrugged his shoulders and looked toward the window. “I’ll be lucky if they think of them as a weak link…” Looking back at her, he raised an eyebrow about saying Dennis would punch a squid. Sure, Kiki might, but the monkey who takes the keys? Ha, not likely. “Dennis wouldn’t try to punch the squid; he’d more than likely try to slap Lavender with its tentacle and make a joke about it.” He raised his hands up slowly. “The guy is full times nuts, and I don’t give that title out often. Though…you have a point about those two being really useful. Kiki and Dennis are the two most useful members of the team, so that leaves the two weaker links for me to decide on.”

Ry shook his head at her offer, but expressed gratitude in a bow. “No, that’s okay. I think I’ll wait until my shower is ready. There’s no sense in me running around and getting paint everywhere. Your room is downstairs, right? So I’d just trek paint on my way down, on your doorknob, then in your room… I’m not in the mood to deal with more cleaning tonight either.” He wondered if she had tools to use. “Do you even have tools for this job?”

The Baroness wanted to snicker at Ry’s dilemma of having someone obsessed with him; it seemed odd, but funny and charming to her. However, she decided it’d be best to not do this. Instead, she shrugged. “Seems like someone be havin’ a puppy crush on ya lad.” She hoped that no one would feel that way about her during the competition; love is something she does not want to encounter during the competition. When Ry mentioned he had already fallen once today, she quickly glanced down at her bandaged hand then back to Ry, before slightly tilting her head. “Ye already fallen once?”

The Baroness, simply lacking words to respond to what Ry had to say about the weakest link, said only. “Aye matey, be a good plan, gettin’ the weakest off smartly.” The Baroness shook her head when Ry asked if she had tools for the job. “Naw, they be in me room, ‘twas why I said ye should come down n’ use me ‘ead while I fixed it. I’ll go get ‘em!”

Ry gave a slight nod to her question and glanced back at the wall. “Yeah, I was working on this about two hours and thirty minutes ago when I fell the first time. Lavender came in here, shrieking, thinking I had gotten attacked by some murderer or some shit.” Ry made his way into his bathroom and jumped up on the countertop. “I got paint all down the hallway…and she made me help her clean it after I took a shower. I smell like cotton candy and I TRIED to put back on my dirty clothes to avoid getting anything on my night clothes… Well, it worked, but then I fell again and here you are.”

He nodded at her and waved his hand. “I’ll be fine once you manage to get this fixed for me; I think it’d be better if I stay in here anyway, so if you see anything I need to watch out for in the future, I can be here to know about it.” Crossing his legs on the counter, he sighed softly about the weakest link. What was he going to do if they voted off Kiki instead? She was the strongest member of the team and if they voted her off for any kind of screw up, then… Well, he was pretty sure the Pandas would be fucked eternally.

The Baroness quickly nodded her head once Ry explained how he had already fallen earlier in the day. “Might be obsessed with ye, but least she cared ‘nough t’ make sure ye ain’t keelhauled.” The Baroness turned her head as Ry ran into the bathroom, but eventually focused back onto the painting of the tree Ry painted on the wall, more astonished that he beats himself up when he can do things like that. “Bloody ‘ell….” She muttered under her breath as she looked up at the tree, somewhat tuning Ry out as he explained what happened before she showed up. “Least she did that ‘fer ye.” She managed to say, having caught the part about Lavender letting him use her shower.

"Aye bucko, ‘ll be back smartly I will be!" She loudly boasted after Ry told her he was going to stay in his room. Making a mad dash out the door, the Baroness headed down the hall, down the stairs, and into her room. Kicking around junk that littered the floor and ocassionally picking up something that would come in handy to her, the Baroness made her way to a large chest she had found out in the city. In it, laid a large collection of pipework, bolts, some planks of wood, and assorted screws, all of which she scavenged from the city in case she would happen to need it. A great pirate is always prepared! Getting another bucket and a wrench from other areas in the room, she threw the pipes, the bolt, and the wrench in, The Baroness carried it with both hands out her door, and slowly lugged it back up to Ry’s room.

“Lavender makes me nervous,” Ry admitted plainly, staring at the hole in the wall he’d plugged with his ramune bottle. “If she’s obsessed with me, then doesn’t that end badly for people in movies? Eh, probably just being suspicious over something stupid. There’s no way she’s obsessed with me…” Ry muttered, rubbing his wrists. “She probably just…um…thinks everyone loves her or something stupid like that. If only she’d realize that love isn’t a real thing and just stop thinking everyone wants her, then maybe I’d be able to tolerate her…”

Ry looked over in time to see Baroness looking up at his tree painting and sucked in a quick breath, hating when people saw his incomplete work and stared at it. If she saw flaws, then Ry would toss and turn all night for sure. She probably thinks it’s irregular in shape and wishes he’d just left his wall alone instead of creating an eye sore… He sighed in shame and hung his head, barely catching the fact she’d left the room while he stared at the wall in shame.

What was it Dennis said about his art? “Starving Artist material…” He muttered in disappointment, not realizing The Baroness had entered his room once more. “He’s right… I’ll end up on the streets with my artwork if I try to pursue a career with it. Maybe…if I win, I should just leave out the art gallery of my paintings. There’s no sense in blinding people when it looks inadequate.”

The Baroness walked back into the room, and lo and behold, she caught that Ry was beating himself up yet again. She quietly looked down at the floor and sighed. She never liked it when people attacked themselves for no real reason. Setting the bucket down with a loud “clunk” the Baroness attracted Ry’s attention. “Ain’t got a clue what ye be talkin’ bilge about matey, but if ye be meanin’ about the tree ye be paintin’ on the wall, ‘spite not bein’ an artsy fartsy type I think it be lookin’ gooder than cooked shrimp!” The Pirate tried to reassure him with a smile.

Picking the bucket back up, she started to head for Ry’s bathroom. “Anyways, I shouldn’t be needin’ more supplies than this, hope I won’t be runnin’ out o’ me own. Might take a while t’ fix yer pipes here, but I’ll let’ ye know if anythin’ else needs t’ be fixed!”

Ry jumped slightly when the Baroness came roaming back into his room, making him snap out of his critic state. Why did people sneak up on him so easily? Sure, she’d come in the room on his right because the bathroom was on the left, but he should still be able to notice people when they entered the room.

Sighing softly, he crossed his legs on the countertop and stared at the shower in silence while he listened to the Baroness try to cheer him up, even though he’d never fall into a ‘happiness’ sort of state. “Gooder than cooked shrimp?” It wasn’t that the phrase was grammatically incorrect that irked him; it was the fact she was saying his art was as delicious as shrimp, something he found himself without because of price.

“So…it’s as good as expensive foods in the market?” He asked, lifting his head to notice where she’d gone, which was in the bathroom. “Well, art is really all I have to be proud of, honestly…” Sure, he could skateboard, play piano, play ocarina, and sort of sing at least up to “do” in the choir scale, but art was his true talent or hobby. He’d entered into contests, lost contests, drawn how he felt, cried and used his tears for a picture before… It was all in his creative process. And sure, he’d die one day and maybe get remembered as an artist while he was in hell, but his mind always turned to doubt about his actual talent of it. If Ashley saw this, she’d surely laugh at it and ruin his mindset. Was he really only good enough to be on the streets, starving for money? Would he always just be given the pity ‘it’s great!’? Was Baroness being sincere?

Honestly, Ry couldn’t tell if anyone actually liked his art. Nobody had made a comment about it except people who’d been trying to be nice to him. If he’d shown Chris or Ashely, he’d just…he’d just be mocked for trying.

Snapping out of it when he heard the Baroness talking once more, he looked up and nodded slowly. “I’ve never actually done anything with pipes before… Actually, yeah, I have… The problem: I flooded the basement and was beaten for ten minutes for it.” He shook his head in annoyance. “I have no talent for pipe work or internal house design, though I can carve a little. Trees, benches, the moon, the sun… I just can’t do humans, which shouldn’t be a surprise since I’m only three friends strong.”

Suddenly, the room’s silence was broken by a quick chime, which was just the beginning of the Chakushin Ari ringtone. He’d decided to cut it to the loud chime at the beginning to give him that startle in the middle of the night if someone did text him. To anyone else, it might just be a startling noise.

Pausing, he took out his phone and almost smiled at a text message on his screen. For the last few hours, he’d been texting ‘Hobbles’ or Todd. It was actually funny. “If you were gonna wax someone on their body at ANY place for pain, where would you do it?” He asked the Baroness, closing his flip phone after sending a return message, the charm jingling merrily.

The Baroness eyed Ry wearily as he jumped once she returned. She had a talent for either sneaking up on or running into people, so it seems. Having walked into the Bathroom, The Baroness flashed a quick smile at Ry. “Course matey! Shrimp be a delicacy of grub t’ a pirate if ye can catch it on yer own!” She explained as she dug through her bucket for a wrench.

When Ry said that art is what he has to be proud of, The Baroness eyes twinkled, somewhat knowing how he felt. “Aye, ye gotta do what makes ye proud n’ happy! That be why ‘m a buccaneer n’ all!” She explained with a cheer, proud of her life style and hoping Ry would start to enjoy his. The Baroness’ heart as laid out at sea since she moved to St. George when she was about six. She hoped she could get Ry to actually be passionate about something other than Ashley for once.

When Ry started talking about how he wasn’t very good on Pipework, the Baroness was going to mention it took her a fairly long time to learn, until Ry said the arc words “ I flooded the basement and was beaten for ten minutes for it.” Oh god, abuse. Not a subject The Baroness was comfortable with due to incidents in her pass. Her smile turned into a slight frown, as if a bad memory was coming up. Ry shaking his head was a sign for The Baroness to stop thinking about the past and focus on the present. “Aye, pipework took me quite a bit o’ time t’ master meself, aft’ all, there be many types of nuts, bolts, ’ n pipe sizes t’ remember…” The Baroness rambled on. When Ry mentioned carving,  the Baroness’ eyes began to twinkle again. “Glad t’ hear ye can carve! Ain’t ever really been good at it ‘meself ‘spite bein’ able t’ built a sled from near scrap.”

The Baroness continued to dig through the bucket when the room was filled with an unsettling chime. The Baroness’ core rattled. “Sirens?” She thought to herself. Dazed and confused, The pirate looked around only to see Ry pull out his phone and look at it. She sighed with relief, and couldn’t help but notice Ry smiling, which peaked her interest.

The Baroness looked at Ry, confused, as to why he was asking her about waxing. “Matey, I don’t really wax or shave meself….but if ye wanted t’ do it t’ someone just fer pain….” She explained before tilting her head up to think. “…I say under the arms ‘er round the crotch, specially if they got a forest there.” She added as an explanation. Picking up the bucket, she headed into the shower, sat the bucket back down, and pulled a loose paneling of wall back to reveal the piping of the shower. “Oh fer the love of Davey Jones, these pipes be some the worst I seen wit’ me deadlights…..rusted n’ busted ‘n junk…”

“I’ve…never been out fishing before,” Ry admitted, casually playing with the kitten charm on his phone. “I kind of wonder what it’d be like to do it, though… Actually, it looked kind of boring, like death even.” He placed the phone next to him on the sink, then thought against it and put it back in his hoodie pocket. “Though those shows about being out on the ocean while hunting crabs, lobsters, sharks, and shrimp looks neat. I wonder why it’s called ‘dangerous,’ though… The only dangerous thing I’ve seen on that show is the music they feel necessary to add…”

Ry raised an eyebrow at the Baroness wording of what he did. Happy? Did he ever really feel that emotion? The last time he’d felt that was six years ago? Yeah, about that long ago…maybe five, but he was counting the age of 11, even though it was only two months. “I guess art is something that just makes me feel content, though happy is stretching that a little much.”

Ry noted the look on Baroness’s face but decided against bringing it up to her because he didn’t want to ring the church bell when there was no emergency to do so…or so to speak, o reason to bring up sour memories if the person doesn’t ask to talk first. “I think I’ll just call in a plumber when I’m at home again… I’m not going to flood another area of my house just for exploration’s purpose. That’s like asking Ashley to be genuinely nice; it just won’t happen…” He looked over at his suitcase that was slightly still sticking out from under his bed momentarily when she mentioned not being able to carve much. “I usually carve scenery, though, so I’m really not good at it myself. Most of my sculptures end up breaking anyway… I guess that’s why I prefer paper over carvings. Though…your toilet paper sled was…interesting.”

“I don’t think waxing near his crotch is really an option for me, honestly, but I could always ask,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Well, maybe I should give him an option, but he’d probably pick the armpit over the crotch,” Ry snorted, then glanced over to see the Baroness working on his shower system now. “I’m soooo shocked that Chris Mc-can’t-even-have-someone-check-the-piping-before-a-big-show-Lame can’t even do something so simple like make sure the pipes are working… If only I’d brought my loonies with me…I could pelt him in the face for being so idiotic, but he wouldn’t be worth the money…” He huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back against the mirror. “Dick ass…”

The Baroness shrugged, not actually feeling Ry on his opinions on. She never found fishing boring, yet then again, the way she fished is sort of…illegal in the waters she traversed. “Actually me bucko I don’t be usin’ those idiotic poles.” The pirate perked up with, beginning to explain how she fishes. “I be goin’ line fishin’! Rope n’ nets n’ junk” Said The Baroness cheerfully, happy to share her little secret about fishing with Ry since it wasn’t really much of a secret. When Ry mentioned there being shows on the matter, The Baroness tilted her head in confusion. “Arr…I ain’t watch them shows….they be soundin’ awful.”

"Content, happy, so long as ye be likin’ it." The Baroness told Ry, noting the way Ry raised his eyebrows and eyed her as she spoke

The Baroness didn’t know how to respond when Ry said he’d just get a plumber. Most plumbers she’s known have tended to overcharge the people they know for things as simple as unclogging a drain. “Well, just be sure they don’t overcharge ye fer somethin’ like cleanin’ yer pipes and what not.” She managed to say to her fellow contestant. She couldn’t help but snicker when Ry mentioned Ashley. She didn’t like Ashley, for obvious reasons…again, might be letting a grudge for a relatively minor thing be getting the best of her, but she didn’t necessarily care.

“Though…your toilet paper sled was…interesting.” She heard Ry tell her. “Oh, that thing?” She asked, nearly forgetting that’s what she helped make her team’s sled out of. “Aye, be thankin’ ye fer the complement. It was all I could be doin’ on short notice when that fookin’ wench Alexandria walked the plank n’ betrayed us!”

The Pirate girl dug into the showers and removed the noticeably rusted pipes. “Begad, who be the addlepat that built these pipes…” She muttered against the clanging of metal on metal. Once a fair number of the pipes were exposed, The Baroness, her hands now covered in a slight red color, wiped the sweet off her forehead and leaned out to get some fresh pipes. Thankfully it wouldn’t be that hard to replace the pipes now that they were removed..she just hoped she had enough.

Thankfully when she leaned out Ry started ragging on Chris. In fact, the Baroness found it genuinely funny, and began to laugh with a snort. She’s always been one to laugh louder than she probably should. “Aye aye, that be be lad!” She chuckled as she continued to work on Ry’s shower.

Ry watched the Baroness shrug in mild boredom, not feeling the subject of normal fishing either, seeing it as a waste of time in the economy where you can literally purchase fish for cheap if you lived on the coast…and even inland was cheap, too. In this world, it was a little ridiculous to take a day off from your paid job just to go fishing. Why would you do that when you get paid to work and it helps with bills? He’d never understand people like that… “Line fishing? Oh, you mean like the people on the bigger boats do? Yeah, that’s the kind of show they broadcast on TV: line fishing. Trust, me…they’re awful in every which way.”

Ry just gave a simple nod about the pipes, not sure he’d remember the advice later in his life anyway. He was forgetful on important things with money, which is how he spent forty dollars on a twenty dollar beanie… Joy to the world, he was an idiot with money. “I’ll try to remember that…but I doubt I will. Money and I don’t get along because most of the time, it’s not mine.” He snorted, remembering his parents were still trying to buy his love and to keep child support off their asses for one more year. Whatever keeps them from begin ‘dishonored.’

“Well, it was better than our driver’s attention span…” Ry muttered bitterly, still blaming Lavender and Dennis for major head injury on the first day. It still left a bit of a bite when he leaned his head against something wrongly. “I heard she almost made Kiki beat the shit out of her, which would have served her to stop focusing on her looks when she had a black eye. Well, I’m actually glad Alexandria is gone, too… That girl’s self-narration kind of irked me. If I walked around going ‘The AMAZING Ry is here to make you feel better about yourself! He hopes you fall off a cliff soon!’, I would surely have been booted first.

Hearing the Baroness begrudgingly mutter about the pipes, made Ry worry about the rest of this hotel, then it faded when he realized that he didn’t care anyway. Anything involving Chris would cause them grief and destruction at some point, even hospitalization if they were lucky… Shaking his head, he looked in the mirror, then looked at his darkened wrists calmly. Judging from how they looked, he’d soon feel too much pain to even bend them because of Ashley. That bitch was going to get more than just a foot stomp when he was done with her…

“With whoever Chris hired, I’m sure they didn’t even think to check all the rooms because this town was probably labeled ‘condemned’ when Chris bought it out…” Ry muttered. “We’re all going to die down here,” he said, mimicking the vice of the Red Queen from the Resident Evil movie.

The Baroness mind slowly started to wander as she both listened to Ry and work on his shower. She wanted some grilled fish now…maybe with a side of chips. Don’t be thinkin’ bout grub now, ye gotta job t’ do. Maybe after this was over she could go make some fish and chips. Possibly share it with Ry.

"Line fishing? Oh, you mean like the people on the bigger boats do?" Suddenly asked Ry. The Baroness backed out of her thoughts, pulling her head away from the shower to refocus on Ry. "Aye, that be it Matey!" The pirate girl responded with a smile.

"Yeah, that’s the kind of show they broadcast on TV: line fishing. Trust, me…they’re awful in every which way.” Ry then added, causing the Baroness’ smile to turn into a bit of a frown. "Sink me! That ain’t be good then…" She added herself with a bit of a pout.

The Baroness went back to work as Ry continued to speak from his mind, mentioning how his sled driver was…pretty awful, to be frank. The Baroness focused on the pipe works while beginning to talk to Ry. “Since me crew ain’t get off that mountain fer a while, I ain’t be knowin’ who ye leader there be.” The Pirate girl explained to Ry before quickly looking back up at him, sweat once again dripping her brow. “Mind fillin’ a sea dog in?”

"M’ glad t’ hear Kiki ain’t an addlepate n’ wanted to flog the traitorous swab!" The Baroness snickered as she turned back around to work on the pipes. "Wonder if any other crews be feelin’ that…" She then pondered to herself out loud, digging through the bucket to try and find some bolts to attach one of the pipes back in place as water started to trickle down one of the other pipes, slightly drenching the floor she stood on. The Pirate girl paid no mind, currently fixated on fixing the pipes.

The Baroness’ eyes quickly filled with fury when Ry talked about Alexandria. God she hated that girl. If there’s one thing The Baroness hated, it was a traitor, and frankly, that’s all Alexandria would ever be to her. Even thinking of her name made her blood boil. Although she thought Ry’s impression of her was spot on, she grumbled to herself and continued to work on the pipes, tightening the last bolt on one of the handful of pipes.

"If that be the case, other’s might be havin’ problems soon. I be thinkin’ Chris be tryna’ put a black spot on us." The Pirate said as she put in a second pipe and began to tighten it into place. "Well, If ye use yer deadlights ye can tell no quarter’ll be taken from me!" the Pirate cheered and boasted, continuing to add the second pipe into place.

Ry took note of how the Baroness seemed to listen to him more than she talked, which made Ry feel a little strange since he was the one who normally did all the listening here. It was uncommon for others to actually just…listen to him without wanting to change the subject or mock him in anyway. When he was little, he’d been constantly interrupted by his parents for rambling, so he usually stayed quiet. Unfortunately for him, people here listened to things he said, not interrupting him much, which made him more comfortable…

What the hell was wrong with these people? Do they not understand that they’re talking to a real life freak? The thing was: Ry just never had anyone really want to listen to him until recently. Baroness, Dakota, Derby, and Gaile all just seemed to listen to what he said as if he were more interesting than some building or paint drying. He was confused…so very…very confused.

“Our leader?” He asked, breaking away from his inner monologue. Well, it should be obvious that their leader was actually someone who did something for the team, but he figured she was right that she had to pay attention to her own teammates… “Our leader is Kiki, obviously. She’s got the ability to threaten Dennis and make Lavender shut up before she knocks some teeth out. She’s probably the most useful member of our team…”

Ry shrugged his shoulders about the whole Kiki thing, not sure how she’d react if there was a traitor rumored on the Pandas, which he was leaning toward the two most troubling members, obviously. Dennis could be so easily swayed and Lavender probably had her own motives… If anything, those two would do anything to get the million. He sighed softly. “If we did have a traitor, it’d likely be Dennis or Lavender… Both of them seem shifty and I hope that’s not a sign of something to come…” He shrugged, looking toward the window. “It just seems like that to me, but I could be wrong… They definitely aren’t Ashley material, though…”

He didn’t seem to notice the way that Baroness became more hostile in aura as he thought about the next thing she said more. “Kiki likely won’t take shit from anyone… Honestly, she was so close to beating Dennis’s ass in the first challenge and Lavender’s in the second… Our team is a mess, honestly.”

"Yer cap’n ain’t drive ye sled then?" The Baroness asked, confused. The way Ry was talking, it seemed like Kiki would have made for a competent driver, not someone who would take their focus from the goal. "Cause the way ye be talkin’, seems like someone else be tryn’a steer."

The Baroness finished fixing the next pipe when Ry started to speak again. Working on adding the last one, The Baroness simply listened. “So the old married couple be the traitorous ones? Let’s be hopin’ they ain’t gonna be actin’ on it.”

The Baroness did not pay any attention to what Ry said after that as she focused on fixing the last pipe. Surprisingly, it was the easiest to have bolted. With a triumphant cheer, The Baroness stood up and placed her foot on the puddle of water, having not noticed it. “Well lad, ye be all set with yer pipes fer now! If yer deadlights show anythin’ actin’ up, let me know!”

Unfortunately, when The Baroness went to exit the shower, she slipped on the water and face planted into the shower wall. “….Fookin’ hell.” She groaned.

“Nah, Kiki wasn’t steering… I don’t know why she wasn’t steering, but she chose the space behind Dennis; a stupid choice, really… She knew he was doing all these stupid pranks, so I don’t see why she’d let him be near her in the first place… Oh, well… We lost and now I have to keep the guy on a leash or we’ll definitely lose our next challenge…” Ry muttered, crossing his arms.

He was about to make a comment about the married couple comment until Baroness took a freaking dive in the tub and slammed her face into the…material of the wall. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact material this place had used.

“You okay?” Ry asked, jumping down off the counter, he rushed over to help her to her feet, not really worried as much as amused that she’d gone and fallen on her face after all her talk about water expertise. “It’s really ironic how your friend, water, just caused you to smack your face against the wall.” Ry told her, not sounding concerned.

He figured she was stronger than most people, so he didn’t really feel much concern for her face. If she’s a pirate with a crew, then she should have faceplanted at least a few times in her ‘pirating’ days.

Lavender:
After taking a much needed hot shower, Lavender changed into her pajamas. The set consisted of a dark grey tank top, a plaid grey and purple pants, and fuzzy dark purple slippers. “It’s chilly in this hotel.” she commented, grabbing a black sweatshirt and putting it on. She dragged herself to her white sheeted bed. “This thing is so uncomfortable.”, the girl complained. She grabbed the remote from the end table next to the bed and turned on the small television in front of her. All that appeared on the screen was static. Sighing, the beauty queen turned off the television and laid her head on the pillow. She closed her eyes for a second, but quickly reopened them when she heard a banging noise from the outside of her room. “What the hell was that?!” She asked, a chill going through her spine. She walked out of her room, making sure she closed and locked it, and ventured out to find the source of the banging. Trying to find the source, she passed the supply closet. “Better safe than sorry.” She said, walking in and grabbing a broom. She heard a blood curdling scream, which made her jump in fear. She walked over to the door of the scream and slowly opened it, broom still in hand. She was not prepared for what she saw. “OH MY GOD!” She screamed. “RY, YOU’RE BLEEDING! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!?!?!”

Ry jumped when he heard the screaming beauty queen behind him and tried to get up, only slipping on more papers and falling back down. “Go—!” He tried to yell at her, attempting to tell her to shut up, but ended up with paint in his mouth and started hacking the paint out. This was the second worst thing he’d ever tasted and the third worst thing he’d had in his mouth. Feeling around him, he managed to grab the paper under his foot and yank it out from under him, then tried to wipe his face with it, unsuccessfully.

Instead of using it to wipe anymore, he shoved it in his mouth to yank some of the paint out, only making him regret that choice SEVERELY. Hacking once again, he wiped his mouth with his apron, a choice he should have done first, and tried to speak again, this time not getting pain in his mouth. “It’s…paint!” He choked out, shaking from the flavor.

Struggling to his feet, he managed to avoid slipping again and reached out with one hand, trying to find her at least. He really needed to wash the paint out of his mouth and off his face. Gently stepping around the chair and away from the papers on the floor near the wall…and some balled up ones on the floor, he made his way over to her and grabbed her shirt, which, luckily for him, ended up being her sleeve and not her chest. “Lavender… You have to be my eyes, okay? Can you manage that?”

Okay, so the wording he used was a little harsh, but he didn’t honestly know if she could with how she didn’t even calmly assess the situation in front of her. “Lead me to the kitchen…or a room; my water’s busted in here…”

Lavender calmed down after finding out that the red liquid on her teammate’s face was paint, not blood. Ry hacking up the red paint was both disgusting and humorous for the girl. She led out a little chuckle, but quickly covered it with a fake cough. Her amusement soon faded once the artist put his red painted hands on her clean black sweatshirt. “I hope you know you are staining my sweatshirt.” Lav stated. “This is gross but okay I guess.” She helped the smaller boy up, putting an arm around his shoulders to make sure he doesn’t fall. “I’m surprised your water isn’t working.” Lavender said, leading Ry to her hotel room. “Mine is working just fine.” The duo made it to her door, where Lavender took her key card out of her sweatshirt pocket and opened the door. She grimaced when she saw the drips of red paint from Ry’s door to her door, advancing to her room, “You’re helping me clean this up.” She said, leading the boy to the bathroom and turing on the sink.

Ry’s mouth twisted downward into a deep frown with her constant whining about her shirt and the fact that he was getting paint everywhere. Wow! Ry was just begging to get all his precious paints everywhere else but on his project that was STILL unfinished on his wall. He was tempted to tell her to shut up but held his tongue, not wanting to lose the only way he could get this paint washed off.

“Oh, yes, because we all have the same pipes in our bathrooms, Lavender. Must be a magical coincidence that my pipes busted and rusted and became a disgusting color.” Ry said as calmly as he while washing his face off. Okay, so he was being a little harsh on her, but he didn’t give a shit right then.

Yanking his hands off his eyes, he blinked quickly and pulled out his two contacts, revealing his natural brown eyes, the right one he covered quickly. “I’m without hot water, natural water, and a way to shower…. I’ve been using the sink in the kitchen because of it.” He said, still keeping his eye covered.

"Hey," she retorted, "I’m no plumbing expert. Maybe you should tell Chris. He’s probably not going to do anything about it, because he’s a jackass, but you can try." Lavender took off her now covered in paint sweatshirt and laid it neatly on her bed. "I’ll wash that later"  She said to herself, still a little annoyed that her sweatshirt is ruined. She crossed her bare arms across her tank top, half because she was chilly, and half because she was annoyed. "Wait," Lavender exclaimed, "How long have you been using the kitchen sink? Have you not had a proper shower since we got here?"

“When I bring it up to Chef, he just rolls his eyes at me and continues on..” Ry informed her, jumping up on her counter to scrub the paint from under his chin. “They’re all jackasses here and they don’t give a shit about the little emo boy.” It was how he felt anyway… They’d cater to everyone else because of ratings, but if Ry had an issue they were ignoring it. “I wish someone here had a talent for fixing pipes…”

He watched her set her sweatshirt on the bed and mentally made a joke about how the prissy girl’s one-of-a-kind sweatshirt was now RUINED. At least she isn’t throwing it away over some permanent stains, so he had to give her some credit.

“Since day one,” he replied, crossing his legs and looking toward the wall. “So…about four days? And, no, I haven’t had a decent shower or bath since we’ve been here… The pipes busted on the first day, the hot water went away as soon as I turned on the shower, and now the color and smell of the water is bad… Then Gaile busted the sink so I missed my chance to actually get a wash up until AFTER eliminations…but I was too pissed to really care about cleaning myself.”

"You never know, the viewers could like ‘the little emo boy’." Lavender said, "Not as much as me, of course! But you can be the viewers second favorite." Lavender’s eyes lit up, believing that she just thought of an amazing solution. “The Baroness can fix your pipes!” She squealed. “Pirate is always at sea, which is water and the pipes have water in them! And you know pirate had to fix stuff on her ship! It’s a perfect solution!” Lavender walked over to the bathroom closet and took out a complimentary towel from one of the shelves. The towel was white with the letters “TDCO” embroidered in green, red, yellow, and blue respectively. She then, not so friendly, tossed the towel to her teammate covered in paint. “You can take a shower here if you want. I’m going to leave the bathroom and look up how to get paint stains out of a carpet.” She then left the bathroom, making sure to close the door, then made her way to her phone, tapping on the screen repeatedly.

“Second favorite…? Please, I’m probably 23rd favorite with Chris and Chef being involved in the ratings… I’m probably even below the squirrel that Selene killed.” He muttered, walking over to the bathroom door and gently shutting it, not bothering to thank Lavender for the shower privilege. Then he realized that he needed clean clothes, so he went out and grabbed some, making sure he didn’t get any more paint anywhere.

Turning around, he stared around the bathroom, taking note of the things in it. Well, the products were different than what he NORMALLY used, but he preferred his black cherry scent over whatever she had in here. Picking up one bottle of the many bottle of shampoo, he read the labels, trying to figure out a scent to use.

Eventually, he settled on one that was pretty nice smelling, then he did the same with condition and body wash. After gathering the scent of blue raspberry for his hair and cotton candy for his body wash, he stepped into the shower.

He took his time taking the shower, making it roughly thirty-five minutes of complete bliss and warmth on his skin. Finally getting out, he noticed that his makeup had run off his face, making him frown deeply. His extremely deep dark circles had reappeared under his eyes and his neck bruises had come back; not only that, but his arm scars were more visible now.

Sighing to himself, he picked up his clean clothes and quickly put them on. He slipped on his panda T-shirt with a hood containing a panda face, then his black and white thin pant-length bottoms. Wringing out his hair over the sink, he sighed, taking in the scent of his body before exiting the bathroom, face flushed from the heat of the shower.

Lavender shuddered at the mention of the murder that Selene committed. “That poor, poor squirrel.” She whispered. After Google searching “How to remove paint stains from a carpet.”, she quickly found a solution, took a screenshot and closed the internet app. “Now since that’s done,” she said, opening up an ironically popular game, “it’s time to DESTROY WILLOW PAPE!!!” It’s been about thirty five minutes now, and Lav was completely invested in destroying a fictional character’s life. Talk about priorities. "I want to slap the living daylights out of this b***h, but if I do, I lose followers," she contemplated. "F**k it! I’m doing it! Screw you, jackass!" As she was about to tap on the slap choice, Ry emerged from the bathroom. "Took ya long enough." Lavender complained, secretly swishing to the camera app on her phone. She raised her phone up a little bit, and quickly snapped a picture. "You look cute, though." She scrolled through her pictures and found the instructions on how to clean the paint. “Use hot water and a little bit of dish detergent. Let the solution sit for a few minutes to soften the paint. Once the paint is softened, use a knife or pin to scrape the paint stain. Continue to add more solution as you scrape.” She read to Ry. “We have water, and I have a bobby pin.” She said. “But I don’t think bobby pins would work. Be a dear and get some dish detergent and a knife or a pin. Kay thanks!”

“If you hadn’t had a bath in four days, then you’d have taken a long time to bathe yourself… You probably take two hours to bathe and three more to get ready in the morning.” He had no idea who the fuck she was talking about and he frankly didn’t care who it was. The game she was playing was probably some fashion game or something, knowing her that is. All he played nowadays was Snake on his phone, which he missed now.

Ry took that compliment and shoved it out the window, though. “I don’t really think I fit the cute category, Lavender…” He informed her, making his way over to her bed to look down at her. “I’m more…nothing to be desire.” That was probably the only way he’d ever see himself in the mirror.

Ry’s right eye remained shut in order to keep her from seeing his extremely…embarrassing, to him, situation. When she began to order him around, however, his eyes both opened and he glared at her, luckily not seeing her snap the picture of him in secrecy.

“How about this: I get the knife, you get the soap, and you don’t lose fingers.” He stated, coldly, not caring that he’d just been able to use her shower. Had she not of said that.

He quickly made his way out of the room, covering his right eye in embarrassment, to go get the knife, not wanting to see if she’d actually seen it. “Fuck… I need my contacts… I need the gray one at least…”

"Eh, I can’t say you’re wrong." Lavender agreed. "It takes time to be absolutely perfect, contrary to belief that I wake up beautiful." She slightly frowned when Ry said that he was not desirable. “Your parents have to find you desirable.” She said, trying to cheer him up. “Your friends find your desirable, maybe?” The girl jumped up in surprise when her teammate threatened her fingers. “You keep my fingers out of this!” She complained. Her anger turned into confusion, luckily the boy already stormed out of her room, not seeing the change. “Does he not have a pupil? And why are his eyes brown? I though they were blue.” She asked herself. She grabbed her phone and started towards the door. “Dish detergent is in the kitchen, I think.” She told herself. “I can’t believe he’s making ME go all the way downstairs for HIS mess.” She sighed, pretty annoyed at the circumstances. “The kitchen, here I go.” Not wanting to waste time, she descended down the stairs, making her way to the dish detergent.

As Ry made his way into his room, he bent down and searched through his hoode’s pocket, retrieving the old knife he’d found with Benny and sighed in annoyance. “Damn contacts… Isn’t there a surgery to change your eye color? I’d love to have eyes that were fixed…” He put his hand over his right eye again, wondering how he’d gotten into this mess.

“I don’t trip up this often… I really must be tired… Maybe having to fix Dennis’s hat for that long tired me out… Now I wish I’d just burnt it all.” Standing up again, he watched Lavender storm down the hall to the stairs. He contemplated telling her about the elevator, but he figured she’d facepalm when she was halfway down the stairs.

Walking back to her room, he quickly ran into her bathroom, picking up his contact lenses. “Okay… Okay, I have time to get these back in. Maybe she was too dumb to notice they’d fallen out? Well, with her history of forgetting I’m gay… Yeah, I should be good.”

Quickly washing them in the sink, he managed to get the paint off the lenses; the bathroom’s humidity had helped keep the paint from drying to the lenses. Just to be safe, though, he rushed back to his room and grabbed his essential cleaners. After a few minutes of cleaning them over and over, he finally felt satisfied with the way they shined in the light.

Glancing around, he noticed that Lavender still wasn’t back and managed to put them back in, returning to his multi-colored eyes once more. Opening his right eye wider with both eyes opened, he made sure the lens was securely over his iris, securing the image of a pupil. “Perfect little gray eye…” He mumbled, making his way out of the bathroom again and plopping down on her bed.

Lavender walked into the kitchen, and started opening up random cabinets. “Where is it?!” She asked angrily. She looked away from one of the cabinets when she elbow collided with a tall pile of dishes, sending them all crashing to the ground. “Crap.” She muttered. However, her spirits soon were lifted when she saw the dish detergent still on the countertop. “Oh, I found it!” She exclaimed, eagerly picking up the purple bottle. She read the label, before smirking at the scent. “It me scent!” She happily acknowledged. She then looked down on the floor, remembering the broken plates. She quickly searched around, making sure there were no cameras. “I was never here.” She whispered, dashing out of the kitchen and into the stairwell. She walked up the stairs and went back into her room. “Hope you’re having a nice nap.” She said sarcastically, holding up the bottle. “Do you have the knife?”

Ry laid there for a while, thinking about random thoughts and how he still had a ton of work to do on his painting in his room. Finally, Lavender came back into the room and made a sarcastic jab at the tired Weirdo. “Excuse you, Miss poured some buckets in a building, but I was outside helping us win the challenge and running around, working my ass off.”

Sitting up on the bed, he stretched a bit and flipped his knife open, hating the fact that it was so dull. “I thought you’d gotten lost with how long it took you to get some soap… Maybe it would have taken less time if I HAD gone and done both things myself.” Closing the knife, he tossed it over to the girl, then stood up.

“Well, I helped you out and did my part, so I’ll be in my room, painting. Give me back my knife when you’re done or I’ll use my lighter and get it back, okay?” He moved to try to remove himself from her room, not thinking she’d mind if he left her to do the work.

"Look Mister I’m going to use your shower and shower supplies then lay on your bed while the amazing beautiful girl before me is going to get the supplies for my mess, I had to go all the way to the kitchen to get the detergent, so you better be grateful!" Lavender had barely caught the closed knife when Ry pronounced that he wasn’t going to help her. “Aw hell no!” She exclaimed, making a bee line towards her door, making it before Ry. She stood in front of him, arms crossed and her body leaning against the door. “This is YOUR paint!”, She furiously informed. “This is YOUR mess!” She brought up the still closed knife and the closed dish detergent to his eye level. She then tossed both items to the shorter boy. “I was going to be generous and help you, but maybe I shouldn’t if your going to be a f***ing a**hole!”

Ry’s eyes visibly narrowed at the girl told him he was ungrateful. “Listen here, Lavender, you’re about to piss me off…and I swear to fucking ZEUS that you do not want me to get mad. You’re not a fucking goddess, Lavender! I will not work for you or pray to you for guidance!” He tried to move around her and slowly took a breath, almost calming down. He could be more thankful to Lavender, but he felt like she owed him for the concussion on the first challenge.

When the supplies were shoved into his hands his calmness was lost and he threw the dish detergent back at her and flipped open the knife. “If you want this mess cleaned up, then YOU better get down on the damn floor and pour the fucking soap! I’m not staying here all night while your dumb ass sits on the bed and scrolls through apps! You want help, then FINE, but if you sit on the bed and try to make me clean your room, then I swear you will be more screwed up than Dennis’s head!”

The knife glinted dangerously in Ry’s hand, making it seem more threatening than Ry was actually intending for it to be. He was smaller than her, but he had the weapon now. “What’s it going to be?”

"Heh, what can a scrawny little guy like you do to get me terrified of you?" She confidently asked. Really, Lav. You just had to ask? Fear grew into Lavender’s eyes when Ry opened up the knife. “You- you wouldn’t dare.” She shakily defended. “Oh God why did I give you back the knife?” Trembling, she walked over to the first paint spot, dish detergent in hand and knelt down next to it. She opened up the bottle and poured a little amount on the spot. “Let it soak for a few minutes, then use the knife to scrape off the paint. Let me know if you need more dish detergent.” She spoke in a quiet voice. “And please don’t point the knife at me anymore.”

Ry rolled his eyes at how easily he’d been able to detain her with a dull blade. If she’d called his bluff, then he’d of just sighed and gotten to work… Well, that is he’d of not stabbed her because he needed her for an alliance.

“Oh, I would,” he told her, raising his tiny eyebrow at the last question, wondering the same thing himself.

As she walked over to begin applying the soap, he shut the knife and walked over to sit down on her bed once more, looking out the open window at the slightly deteriorating city skyline. “I won’t anymore, but don’t assume you can boss me around either. I’m not just some tiny kid who can’t take care of himself,” he sighed softly and folded his legs under him.

“Anyway, have you got any leads yet on the other teams?” He decided to distract her mind from the whole knife thing, not really wanting to have her dwell on that. He needed for her to vote on someone else.

Dakota
Dakota stepped out into the winter cold, pulling his purple hood over his head and tightening his black scarf around his neck. However, he was still immediately chilled to the bone from the crisp winter air. He didn’t really think much of it and just made his way down the city streets, his hands deep in his pockets to try and trap what little warmth he could.

He thought back from the voting from the other day. A teammate went home without really getting to know him, that was one of the few things that disappointed him. Another was the small fight between Ry and Ashley, he forgot what the subject was on but the two of them were still both his friends, and he didn’t like his friends fighting.

Ry:
Ry shivered softly and yanked his hoodie’s collar up around his neck, hating the way the fabric wasn’t thick enough for this air. Ah, but he was from Canada, so this was like fall weather to him compared to the people from America; they were probably freezing and getting frostbite. It’d be a long day and he STILL wasn’t able to get all the soot and ash off his face. He probably looked like a miner boy from those movies.

Hearing footsteps coming near him, he lifted his head up and noticed Dakota walking down the street, looking mildly lost in thought. He perked up since it wasn’t Ashley and maybe he could actually get a conversation that didn’t lead him to wanting to stab someone or break down. He opened his mouth, then closed it, wondering if Dakota thought differently of him now that he saw him badmouth his leader. What if he was looking for the ribbon bracelet to take back now…? Glancing down at the red scrunchie and ribbon bracelet, he shoved both up into his hoodie sleeve, leaving only his red and white rubber bracelets visible.

“Hey, Dakota,” he greeted, waving his hand slowly at him. “A lot on your mind?”

(missing response)

Ry nodded in understanding, though he had a reason to believe it was over the elimination ceremony. He HAD come off really intimidating when he’d come over to them… Plus, it probably didn’t help that he’d been labeled as responsible for Ashely’s foot injury… He wished he’d been more private about it now, but he wanted to make sure Ashely knew that he wasn’t stupid enough to just take her shit.

Baroness had backed him up when she’d started to yell about the whole thing, too. They both had reacted reasonably in his mind. Baroness was the leader of the Penguins and extremely well-liked and respected while Ry was some emo kid from the Pandas, who’d stomped Ashely’s foot. If anything, Baroness was way more credible than he was…so at least she’d been there.

“About the elimination ceremony… I know I might have…come off as a little frightening about the whole Todd thing, but…” He paused, clenching the bench.

(missing response)

Ry looked up, realizing that Dakota might not remember it as well. “Well, but…I just know that Ashley is behind what happened to Todd!” He crossed his legs on the bench and put his hands in his lap. This was hard to say to him and he yanked at his two friendship symbols and then put his hand over his chest on the third one.

“I know you don’t have to believe me when I say that, but I just want you to watch out for her… She’s got so many evil tricks up her sleeve and I don’t want you to get hurt by it. You were my first friend and I don’t want some bitch trying to backstab you.” Ry puffed out some cold air, not really feeling the effects of nature on him.

“Honestly, if it weren’t for her meddling, the Polar Bears would have been sending someone home; I can feel it in my core that she did something to make your building fall on purpose. Gaile and I talked about it…and it just…all the those pieces didn’t add up together to make Todd the bad guy!”

"Please don’t call her a bitch!" Dakota quickly interjected, in the closest thing he’s ever gotten to a yell. His face reddening at the fact he just yelled… and even swore. "I…. I know you don’t like her… or trust her. And I am being careful around her…. but Ashley is still my friend! I don’t believe that Todd is the bad guy, but I don’t think… she is either………"

Ry bit his lip and stood up quickly, looking slightly hurt that he’d just been yelled at about this. This: the thing that would keep Dakota from getting stabbed in the back. “She’s not a good person, Dakota! She’s the most evil and vicious person I’ve met! She slammed me into a wall after she basically gloated about Todd getting the boot instead of her!”

Yeah, he was leaving out the foot injury part, but he knew it was pointless to bring up; everybody knew he did it. “She’s a horrible person! It’s not that I don’t like her because she smells like she bathed in perfume or has a vacant mind; I don’t even call Lavender that and she IS those things! I don’t call people out unless they deserve it, and Ashley DESERVES IT! If you want to be friends with her, then fine! But I don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

He took a deep breath and collapsed on the bench, even though he hadn’t raised his voice, he still felt emotionally exhausted over everything. He’d failed to save someone innocent from Ashley and he felt guilty over it, and Dakota was just falling right into Ashley’s hands now. “I’ll be damned if I let the first friend I made here fall victim to her! I may not have saved Todd, but I won’t let the same thing happen to you! I don’t care if you don’t’ believe me when I tell you she’s an awful person… I’m not allowing you to end up like Todd.”

When Ry told Dakota about Ashley slamming him into a wall and gloating, he frowned. He became extremely confused. Ry wouldn’t lie to him, he was his friend! Though Ashley… she was his friend too. Would she do something like that. He clearly believed in them both quite a bit. But it came down to he believed more. And at this point, he really didn’t know.

Dakota plopped down on the bench next to Ry, looking as though he were going to burst into tears at any moment. He just didn’t know what to do.

Ry knit his eyebrows and hugged himself on the bench, mostly for comfort rather than warmth. What could he say to possibly make him believe him? Would he even WANT to believe Ry of all people? Ry may be an asshole sometimes, but he was nothing like Ashley, who would just throw Dakota under a bus if she had the chance to. She’d do it for $,100,000…

He reached out and put his hand on his shoulder as a sort of comfort method. “I know this is your first time dealing with untrustworthy people… I know you probably don’t believe me and see the best in Ashley, I do… I just really don’t want you to get hurt by her and see her true colors when it’s too late…”

Ry knit his eyebrows and hugged himself on the bench, mostly for comfort rather than warmth. What could he say to possibly make him believe him? Would he even WANT to believe Ry of all people? Ry may be an asshole sometimes, but he was nothing like Ashley, who would just throw Dakota under a bus if she had the chance to. She’d do it for $,100,000…

He reached out and put his hand on his shoulder as a sort of comfort method. “I know this is your first time dealing with untrustworthy people… I know you probably don’t believe me and see the best in Ashley, I do… I just really don’t want you to get hurt by her and see her true colors when it’s too late…”

"I just don’t know what to do." Dakota muttered. "You’re… well…. in terms of the show and everyone here… you’re my best friend, you know? I know you wouldn’t lie to me…." He glanced over at Ry, looking him in the eyes as he spoke. It was probably weird for anyone to see Dakota looking so glum. Given how chipper he was all the time. "But she’s my friend too… I believe in you both. I just… Hng."

Ry looked up and down the road, then back at Dakota, wondering how he should handle this. It should be handled delicately and he shouldn’t make Dakota stress about it. “Well…” He started, biting his lip again, ripping a bit off and then sucking it in to deal with that while he thought.

Dakota needed to know that Ashley wasn’t trustworthy, but Dakota also needed to not feel stressed and horrified by this concept. Puffing his cheeks out, then blowing a long stream of hot air out, making steam, he looked down at his hands. “The thing about people you can’t trust is that you have to act like you do or they’ll try to throw you under the bus. With Ashley, you should…just know that there’s some things that she’s bound to try…”

Dakota gave a long pause, just sort of staring down at his hands while he thought. He let out a few sighs here and there before finally raising his head once again to look back at Ry. “…You’ve had to deal with a good ammount of untrustworthy people, haven’t you…?”

Ry swallowed slightly and nodded at Dakota’s question, thinking about all the times he’d dealt with the people of his past well into the future. “Yeah… Some people fooled me for months, so I just know people when they’re untrustworthy… I’m wise through experiences that I actually would hate to see others go through..”

He sighted softly and sat up straight in his seat. “Well, I’m not wise, but I just know some people when I see them…and I’m damn sure through their actions: fake smiles, sarcastic quips, phony compliments, and they let their true colors spill over on accident a lot… People like that made it hard for me to make a friend…because I couldn’t trust anyone. No one talked to me either because of those people, too… Ashley’s…just not trustworthy.”

"Huh…" Dakota looked from Ry, then back down to his hands. He did’t know what to say to that. Dakota has never had to deal with those kinds of people before. Actually, he’s never really delt with many people before. His brothers always kept him sheltered and away from getting hurt. He didn’t know how to not trust someone. "I’ll be careful around her. I promise. But she’s still my friend…"

Ry didn’t know what it would take to convince him that Ashley was an evil, vicious, heart-stomping, soul-deprived bitch, and he didn’t think he could convince him. If Dakota trusted her, then what could Ry even think of doing? He wasn’t smart enough to find video evidence, he was fast enough to save anyone from her framing, and he wasn’t nice enough to be trusted. If anything, Ry was always square one: foreshadow.

“Okay…but just don’t tell her anything about yourself, then. Don’t tell her your fears, your family life, your health, your allergies, NOTHING. If she asks, then you stretch the truth. ‘Why do you take pictures?’ ‘Because things are fun to look back on!’ ‘Are you afraid of anything?’ ‘Who isn’t?’ All things you need to know.”

Ry held up his index finger calmly, on another thought. “You watch your back, okay? If she hurts you, then come to me.” He pointed at himself now. “Don’t hesitate, don’t make up excuses for her, don’t even WAIT until I’m not busy or later; you come to me immediately if she hurts you.”

Dakota gave a small nod, perking up just enough to offer Ry a small smile. “Thank you…. for looking out for me, I mean…” He said, shifting a bit. “I…. I know it doesn’t seem like it… because I say I trust Ashley though you say not to… but… it means a lot that you care……” He quickly glanced back down to his lap. He didn’t understand this strange sense of comfort he got from being with Ry. Maybe it was because he was so kind to him. It was nice. “I’ll do my best to stay safe though.”

Ry stared down at the deep cuts from where Ashley had slammed him into the concrete walls, then pulled up his sleeves slightly, staring now at the dark bruises from how hard she’d held his wrists. Guilt was wrenching his stomach and chest as he thought about how helpless he was to stop someone innocent from going home. Even though he’d tried to write down in his notebooks ‘it’s not your fault,’ he still crossed out ‘not’ and pinched his cheeks in annoyance. He wanted to believe that he could save Dakota if he needed to, but the fact he’d failed this time weighed down on his head.

Closing his eyes for a few moments, he nearly missed what Dakota had said to him while he thought. “I’m sorry…” He mumbled, keeping his eyes shut while saying so.

Opening his eyes again, he stared at the road. “I’m sorry that you have to go through this because of me…”

Looking over, he gave a small nod. “It’s just…I don’t want you to be the next person she gloats about getting eliminated to me… She did it with Todd…and I… Well, I got mad and stomped her foot.” He admitted, crossing his legs.

“I know you know…but I just want you to know why I did it.” He sagged his shoulders glumly. “It’s just being treated like a human is something I’m not used to and you, Todd, Gaile, the Baroness, Jill, Derby…Hell, even Dennis, have treated me better than I’ve been treated my whole life.” His face was slightly red, which he hoped Dakota took as cold air. “To have her brag about eliminating someone through frame…” He sighed softly, leaning his head back to look up at the sky.

“I just felt such a pain in my chest because I failed to help one of those who treated me like I deserved respect for just living. I know that…maybe some of them don’t actually care about me, and if I died somehow, they’d forget in a couple days; but for a few seconds, I actually thought that I was witnessing a murder. It was like I was too late to stop Ashley from killing Todd, like…like it was my fault all of this happened.”

He didn’t know why he was telling his stupid thoughts to Dakota; he doubted he was even listening or wanting to hear him talk about how stupid he felt. “I know you won’t choose sides and that’s okay, but I just want you to not get hurt by her.”

He feebly played with his new trinkets of friendship: the ribbon bracelet from Dakota, the red scrunchie from Gaile, and the necklace he’d gotten from the Baroness. “You, Gaile, the Baroness, and Todd are the first and only friends I’ve ever had…and I just hate that I was such an ingrate and didn’t help Todd.” His shoulders shook slightly and he bit his lip to keep his mind at bay.

“I…I’m sorry…” He quickly wiped at his eyes. “The cold air is getting to me…” He stated, quickly trying to pretend he didn’t talk about that. “I…ramble when it’s cold,” he lied.

Dakota gave a small nod, perking up just enough to offer Ry a small smile. “Thank you…. for looking out for me, I mean…” He said, shifting a bit. “I…. I know it doesn’t seem like it… because I say I trust Ashley though you say not to… but… it means a lot that you care……” He quickly glanced back down to his lap. He didn’t understand this strange sense of comfort he got from being with Ry. Maybe it was because he was so kind to him. It was nice. “I’ll do my best to stay safe though.”

Ry stared down at the deep cuts from where Ashley had slammed him into the concrete walls, then pulled up his sleeves slightly, staring now at the dark bruises from how hard she’d held his wrists. Guilt was wrenching his stomach and chest as he thought about how helpless he was to stop someone innocent from going home. Even though he’d tried to write down in his notebooks ‘it’s not your fault,’ he still crossed out ‘not’ and pinched his cheeks in annoyance. He wanted to believe that he could save Dakota if he needed to, but the fact he’d failed this time weighed down on his head.

Closing his eyes for a few moments, he nearly missed what Dakota had said to him while he thought. “I’m sorry…” He mumbled, keeping his eyes shut while saying so.

Opening his eyes again, he stared at the road. “I’m sorry that you have to go through this because of me…”

Looking over, he gave a small nod. “It’s just…I don’t want you to be the next person she gloats about getting eliminated to me… She did it with Todd…and I… Well, I got mad and stomped her foot.” He admitted, crossing his legs.

“I know you know…but I just want you to know why I did it.” He sagged his shoulders glumly. “It’s just being treated like a human is something I’m not used to and you, Todd, Gaile, the Baroness, Jill, Derby…Hell, even Dennis, have treated me better than I’ve been treated my whole life.” His face was slightly red, which he hoped Dakota took as cold air. “To have her brag about eliminating someone through frame…” He sighed softly, leaning his head back to look up at the sky.

“I just felt such a pain in my chest because I failed to help one of those who treated me like I deserved respect for just living. I know that…maybe some of them don’t actually care about me, and if I died somehow, they’d forget in a couple days; but for a few seconds, I actually thought that I was witnessing a murder. It was like I was too late to stop Ashley from killing Todd, like…like it was my fault all of this happened.”

He didn’t know why he was telling his stupid thoughts to Dakota; he doubted he was even listening or wanting to hear him talk about how stupid he felt. “I know you won’t choose sides and that’s okay, but I just want you to not get hurt by her.”

He feebly played with his new trinkets of friendship: the ribbon bracelet from Dakota, the red scrunchie from Gaile, and the necklace he’d gotten from the Baroness. “You, Gaile, the Baroness, and Todd are the first and only friends I’ve ever had…and I just hate that I was such an ingrate and didn’t help Todd.” His shoulders shook slightly and he bit his lip to keep his mind at bay.

“I…I’m sorry…” He quickly wiped at his eyes. “The cold air is getting to me…” He stated, quickly trying to pretend he didn’t talk about that. “I…ramble when it’s cold,” he lied.

"Don’t worry about it, Ry it’s fine…. It’s all fine." Dakota reached over, putting his arm around Ry in a form of comfort. "I just want you to know… if I do end up getting voted out it won’t be your fault at ALL. If she is the person you say she is, then it’s my fault for not being more careful. Not yours. You looked out for me, you warned me. That’s really all you can do, you know…?" Dakota went quiet for a minute, just kind of watching Ry as he fiddled with his bracelets and things. "I just…. can’t give up on my friends…"

The touch admittedly made Ry nearly jump because of his disdain toward others touching him, but he calmed down when he realized it was just Dakota, not anyone he should yell at or rush away from like a cat with new company over. It was…actually comforting to him right now. What a feeling he wasn’t used to. The tears in his eyes quickly receded, making him calm down and his shoulders began to relax.

Ry also found it sort of humorous that he was doing more for others than himself; that was another feeling he was so foreign to: caring, not that he actually cared. That was something he would deny vehemently. “….Thank you, Dakota.”

Clearing his throat, he looked over at Dakota and smiled softly, then let it fall back to its normal stance. “…Yeah, it really is all I can do, huh? But it’s not all I will do.”

“I won’t let you fall like Todd, okay?” He reached into his bag and retrieved a sheet of origami paper, then shoved it back in to retrieve a large sheet. “This conversation may fall through the cracks, but…I just want the message to stay strong.” He mumbled, folding the large sheet calmly, like he’d done this millions of times.

After a few quiet minutes, he held in his hands a medium sized origami butterfly. Turning it over, he quickly scribbled some notes on the back. ‘Beware of Ashley,’ ‘don’t get too close to her,’ ‘don’t tell her any of your secrets,’ and ‘trust Gaile.’

Holding it out to Dakota, he wondered if he’d actually take his advice. “I know it’s hard to believe someone in a competitive game, so…if you don’t want to trust me with secrets, then that’s okay. Just don’t let Ashley fool you…ever. Don’t give up on your friends either.”

Dakota gently took the origami butterfly from Ry’s hands, he took a moment to silently admire the craftsmanship of it before turning his attention back to Ry. “Thank you. I hope you know Ry, I trust you so much Con todo mi Corazón! And I’m not going to give up on my friends. Thank you so much… for… well… just everything.”

Ry stared at Dakota in silence for a little bit when he started to speak Spanish. Ry had to admit that it was really troubling to never meet someone else who spoke the same languages as him, excluding English. All the transfer students from Asia to his school spoke either Mongolian or Mandarin, so he connected to none of them at all. He’d have to guess what was being said here.

Corazón meant heart and mi meant my, so he knew that for sure, but the other stuff he couldn’t decipher… So far he gathered that Dakota trusted him…his heart. Did he trust him with his heart…? Is that what con meant? ‘With?’ It was a good guess for what he could tell. So what did ‘todo’ mean? It certainly wasn’t that girl’s dog from Wizard of Oz… Dakota trusted him with…his heart. With…some his heart? With today his heart? With all his heart? All? Is that what todo meant? It made more sense than today…

“You really trust me that much?” Ry asked, looking completely surprised by the fact he’d told him that, even though he probably looked stupid for a few minutes for not understanding probably common and basic Spanish. “Well…Well, I don’t want my first friend to fall victim,” he smiled slightly, feeling warmth in his chest from Dakota’s words. People trusting Ry was just…so rare. People befriending Ry was rarer…but people sticking by Ry was the rarest of things to him.

Was he feeling happy?

Ashley:
It had only been about a day since the elimination, and Ashley was bored. It was getting colder and colder outside, maybe from a temporary cold front or something, and everyone had been forced to stay in the hotel together for most of the last evening. Ashley had spent most of her time alone in her room, but she was fully ready to go outside for a little, even if it was freezing. Wrapping her dark brown jacket tight, Ashley flung open the lobby doors, escaping to the outdoors. As expected, the wind hit her instantly, making the girl gasp slightly from the chill. It wasn’t horrible, however, so Ashley decided to tough it out. Walking at a brisk pace, Ashley suddenly noticed Dakota walking just in front of her. He must have had the same idea about escaping from everyone else. Quickening her pace, Ashley approached the boy from behind, figuring that now would be a good time to make sure Dakota was really on her side.

"You look cold, ‘Kota." Ashley remarked as she reached the boy, despite the fact that she was wearing less protective clothing than he was.

Dakota looked to Ashley, when she referred to him as ‘Kota’ he quickly brightened up. It was the name that his brothers called him as a endearing thing. So it reminded him of home, thus quickly putting him in a better mood. “I am.” He said, “It’s a lot colder here then it is in florida.”

Dakota looked surprisingly happy to see Ashley, which she counted as a good sign. At least he wasn’t mad over Todd’s elimination or whatever, it seemed like Jill at least was pretty teary-eyed over it. “So, you’re from Florida? I don’t know why you even came outside, if you aren’t used to being cold.” For some reason, Ashley had just assumed Dakota came from like North or South Dakota. Well, that’s what he got for having a name similar to a state. “What’s the coldest it gets down there, 60 degrees?” Ashley asked, just as a sudden gust of wind sharply blew by, making the girl shiver a little.

"60 degrees…. yeah that sounds about right. What is it here? about 30?" Dakota looked to Ashley as she shivered, she wasn’t wearing… well, as much clothing as he was. "Are you cold?" He asked, already beginning to peel his hoodie off and hold it out to her. "Here. Take this."

“30 or less. It’s at least below freezing.” Ashley demonstrated this point by exhaling, creating a large puff of steam. “Bet you don’t see that often, huh?” When Dakota offered his hoodie to her, Ashley was completely unprepared. She wavered in indecision for a moment, wondering if she should take it or not. Would it foster trust, or would she end up being in his debt for it? Ashley didn’t want to give the boy anything to hold over her head no matter how nice he seemed. The decision was ultimately not as much about her shivering as it was deciding what would strengthen their ‘friendship’. Ashley realized that she was probably taking too long in her decision and, with an inward sigh, reached out to take the hoodie. “As long as you won’t be too cold. You’re so small, it’s like you might just shiver right out of existence.”

"Below freezing….? how do you get below freezing?" He tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms over his chest, mostly just hugging himself for warmth. However, he smiled as Ashley took his hoodie, glad she was accepting it. "I’ll be fine. Even without it I have more layers on then you did."

"Below freezing like the temperature. Anything below 32 degrees. It makes water freeze." Ashley gestured to a puddle which was now a sheet of ice in the gutter of the street. She was talking exceptionally slowly to Dakota, almost like she was talking to a small child, which was really kind of demeaning if Dakota thought of it  that way. Ashley tugged on the hoodie over her jacket, surprised that it actually fit pretty well. "This thing is huge, did you like seriously guess your size wrong when you bought it or something?"

Dakota shook his head, smiling softly. “Now it used to belong to my older bother.” He said, “Having seven children is hard, you know? Not everyone gets new stuff.” He said, he didn’t really seem to mind too much at the fact that basically all of his clothes were hand me downs. “Though maybe we should go someplace warm? Oh! A warm drink sounds good right about now.”

Oh. Ashley had almost forgotten about the whole ‘Dakota had a lot of siblings, big happy family’ thing. “I’m sure you’ll grow into it. Better too big than too small.” Ashley shrugged, coldly passing off Dakota’s somewhat sad comment on how all his clothes used to belong to someone else, but still making note of it in her head. When Dakota suggested going somewhere warm, Ashley was entirely in agreement, though the windchill admittedly wasn’t so bad with the hoodie on. “Sure, ‘Kota, where do you wanna go? We could probably break into one of those broken down cafes or something and see if we can get some of the old equipment to work, or go back to the hotel. I happen to know the kitchen coffee machine works excellently.” Ashley’s eyes sparked with momentary anger, remembering her fight with Ry in the kitchen only a few days ago, before she forced herself to calm down. “But, like I said, it’s your choice.”

"The hotel kitchen sounds good." Dakota smiled, giggling slightly when she called him ‘kota’ again. To him, it really felt like they were bonding as friends. It was a nice feeling as well! Until he remembered Ry’s warning. To be careful around Ashley, that she wasn’t a nice person that he could really trust. The smile left his face for a moment as he looked at her. Should he bring it up…? No. You can’t exactly work ‘Hey word on the street is that you’re an untrustworthy person.’ Plus, he didn’t really know if that was true. Dakota looked to his feet as the two of them walked along, figuring it would be best if he kept those thoughts and questions to himself.

When Dakota agreed to go to the hotel kitchen, Ashley turned and immediately began walking back to the building, trusting that Dakota, like a loyal puppy, would follow her lead. The boy had been giggling for a while earlier, but he was going silent now, and Ashley wondered what was on his mind. As she approached the hotel, Ashley decided to breach the subject. If Dakota was all spiteful or something over the Todd fiasco! Ashley might as well force him to talk about it. ”You’re awfully quiet,” she remarked, as an altogether completely subtle way to get Dakota talking. “What happened, did your tongue freeze or something?” Throwing open the hotel doors, Ashley sighed as the warm air hit her face.

Once they reached the warmth of the hotel, Dakota looked a little relieved. He wasn’t very used to the cold, and he didn’t really enjoy it. “Huh?” He glanced up at Ashley as she began questioning him, shifting awkwardly in his place. “No… I just got some things on my mind.” He said simply, he wasn’t good at playing it cool or keeping his thoughts to himself. The boy wore his heart on his sleeve. “Just some things Ry told me.”

Ashley was just taking her first few steps into the lobby when she heard Dakota mention Ry,and she stopped cold. That little freak ! She should’ve known he’d try something like this, trying to turn her own team against her. It was a harsh move for a personal vendetta, but two could play that game.

”Oh Dakota, I knew they’d do something like this! Ry and that one girl who thinks she’s a pirate,” Ashley looked sadly into the boy’s eyes and quivered her lip a little, “they noticed how well our team was working together and they’ve been spreading lies about me to everyone! They’re trying to sabotage us so we can’t work together anymore!!” Ashley sniffled and buried her head in her arms to cover up the fact that she wasn’t really crying. “Well, if you want to believe him, then go ahead. You’re probably all going to eliminate me next time anyway because of what he said.” She said with her head still in her arms. It was a risky move, but Ashley was pretty sure she had Dakota mostly figured out by now. She looked up at Dakota sadly. “What did he say about me?”

"N-No Ashley, you’re my friend…!  I wouldn’t vote you out!" He said, scooting closer to her. He didn’t know if he should hug her or comfort her or what, he was never the best when it came to people crying— especially girls. "He said that… I just need to be careful around you….is all…." He murmured, his hand gently being placed on Ashley’s back. "Which I can’t really blame him for, this is a cometitive game! He’s just… looking out for me!"

"So this guy from a different team said you need to be careful around me and you just  believed  him? What makes you think he would want to help you at all? It  is  a competitive game.” Ashley used a little skillful manipulation to twist Dakota’s previous words around.  ”What, do you think I wouldn’t try to help out our own team as much as possible? I’m disappointed in you, Dakota.​” Ashley hiccuped a little​, pleased to feel Dakota’s hand on her back. She just had to push him a little more.​ ”I mean, it’s not like he would possibly want to  sabotage  us or anything, since he’s on another team. ​​Break our trust in one another so we can’t work together. He- he probably called me a- a  bitch  too, didn’t he? Just because I’m trying to lead our team!” She sobbed a little at this last part. After Ry had been calling her that to her face for so long, she had no doubt he would say it around others, even if it was just a slip-up. His nickname for her had probably become synopsis with her real name in his head by now.

Ashley looked down and swiped her eyes again, deciding to nudge Dakota just a little more with a new tactic. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Dakota, but Ry just- isn’t someone you want to be around. He has​​…” Ashley leaned down and undid her shoelace, yanking off the shoe along with her sock. “Violent tendencies,” she finished, pointing at the black and blue bruise spread out on the top of her foot. If this didn’t help convince the nice, nonviolent boy next to her, Ashley didn’t know what would. “I don’t want him to do it to you too, Dakota. Just like how Todd hit Jillian with that bucket. Henry cornered me and was really angry that we might vote out Todd, apparently they were  best friends ,” Ashley let the phrase drip off her tongue, “and he crushed my foot before I could say anything. And then he told me not to tell anyone about it, or he- he would crush my other foot too.” Ashley made her eyes tear up and let out a little sob. She buried her head in her hands again. “If you want to hang out with him, it’s your decision, but I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting into. He’s not the most emotionally stable, and he might snap on you too.” Ashley sniffled again, to show how truly upset she was about this. “I don’t want you to be  really  hurt.”

Dakota looked completely befuddled. There was so much information for him to take in and he didn’t know what to do with it all! Between what Ry said and what Ashley said, it was too much. Really, anyone could be lying to him at this point. It just sort of had to come down to who he trusted more… which he really didn’t know! Ashley had a lot of good points, Ry WAS on an opposing team, but all their conversations and getting along, that couldn’t be fake. He couldn’t imagine Ry being anything but genuine with him, he put the same trust into Ry that he did his older brothers. But maybe that’s what he wanted? Or was doubting Ry what Ashley wanted?

He let out a soft whimper, dropping his head into his hands which at this point were beginning to tremble. Dakota was absolutely distraught. He was far too fradgile for a game like this. “I don’t know…..” he muttered into his hands, “I just…. I don’t know…..” those were the only words he could muster. He didn’t know. He didn’t know who to trust, who what lying to him, or if his friends were really his friends. It was hard. He just wanted to be able to trust everyone.

Ashley straightened back up as Dakota threw his head into his hands. She was succeeding beautifully right now. The trick with people like Dakota was to break them apart, then rebuild them to your satisfaction. And from the look of his trembling, Dakota was being broken. “I know it’s hard to believe.” Ashley took the opportunity to rub Dakota’s back now, soothing him into trust. “Ry seems nice, but if you ask me, he’s chosen his side. Its obvious he was in an alliance with Todd. And after Todd sabotaged us by hurting Jill…” Ashley let her sentence trail off, and she sniffled again, though her eyes were clearly dry. “They’re trying to pick us off one by one and play us for fools, Dakota. That’s why Todd threw the bucket at Jill, and Ry crushed my foot. It’s you or Gaile next, and I just can’t let you get hurt.” Ashley was rubbing Dakota’s back mechanically, around and around in circles. “But together, as a team, we can be stronger than them. But that means we can’t have you talking to Ry anymore. A one-on-one conversation with him? It’s practically guaranteed to get you injured, especially now that he thinks he has your trust. And if Ry gets started, he’s so emotionally unstable that I don’t think he’d know when to stop. Last time, I barely got away, and it scares me to think of what might have happened if I had stayed.” Ashley had stopped rubbing Dakota’s back now, and had begun tracing her fingers over his small shoulders and along his thin cheekbones. “I know it’s hard to think of, after him saying you were friends and all, but he was just trying to get you to trust him completely so he could tear us down,” she said soothingly. “It’s hard to believe someone could be so cruel. I’m sorry.” Caught in the moment, she pulled the boy into a soft hug, less repulsed about the idea than she thought she would be. It was because he was so small. She knew from reading that humans always had the urge to protect their young, and even though he was only a year or two younger than her, his smallness tricked that part of her brain until she really did almost want to protect him. But of course she didn’t have any real attachment to him. She quickly released him from her light grip, remembering at the last second to be gentle and not just push him away from her.

Dakota quickly shot up, stairing at her with tears in his eyes. “N…no….” He muttered. “I’m sorry… but no…. I’m NOT going to ignore Ry. I….” He paused, looking back down. He thought of Ry… telling him that Ashley was a manipulative person. Was this her manipulation at work? Dakota chose to be friends with Ashley rather then completely listen to what Ry had to say… it was only fair to do the same here. Especially since he didn’t REALLY know who he was able to trust. It was Ashley’s word against Ry’s. And he liked them both.

"Ry is my friend…. m..my best friend even! I don’t believe he’s a bad person…. Maybe you just saw a bad side of him… b-but until I see that side of him for myself, I’m sticking with him……. Same goes for you, Ashley. He says you’re a bad person…. but I refuse to believe that until  I see it for myself…. And if trusting both of you gets me eliminated, that’s fine! I don’t care!"

When Dakota refused to believe her even after all of her effort, Ashley’s back stiffened. She couldn’t believe she’d been hugging him a second ago. It was completely disgusting. Yeah, sure he was small, but now that she thought about it, he was more like the small weak one in the litter who gets some horrendous disease and inevitably dies. There was hardly any point in trying with someone like him, the disease would get him either way. Ashley felt herself closing up, reverting back to the way she always acted. “Fine then. Have it your way.” Ashley said, a bit of ice cutting though her words. “And when your ‘ best friend ' Ry pulls a knife on you like he's threatened to do with me, then you can just come crying back to me and see who was telling the truth. You can't say I didn't warn you.” All sympathy was gone from Ashley's face, though she forced her cold expression into a more mild one. “It was nice of you not to believe him about me, though. At least you've got one thing right.” Leaning down, Ashley pulled back on her shoe, making sure Dakota got another look at the bruise. She stood up to leave, facing the still seated boy. “I'll see you in the challenge. Unless you'd rather talk to Ry, that is.” With those words, she walked out of the room, still wearing Dakota's hoodie. Well, too bad, she wasn't going to return it. He could come and get it sometime if he wanted. Otherwise, she could always use a new hoodie.

Gaile:
Dakota stepped out into the winter cold, pulling his purple hood over his head and tightening his black scarf around his neck. However, he was still immediately chilled to the bone from the crisp winter air. He didn’t really think much of it and just made his way down the city streets, his hands…

Gaile turned the corner and left the park. She had just finished her morning walk as she did every other morning. But today was a bit difference since there was a random cold front that came in overnight. Gaile was glad she had packed her winter windbreaker, and her high-waisted blue jeans. She had on a thick, white mickey mouse sweatshirt on under her pink and blue jacket, and brown combat boots on her feet. She had white earmuffs protecting her prone to freeze ears. She was used to cold mornings but after the heat from the fire challenge, her body was reacting oddly to the sudden cold.

"Achoo!" Gaile sneezed and put her cup of hot tea up to her lips. It wasn’t as good as hot chocolate but it was helping her feel better plus she could only drink milky beverages on occasion. As she continued walking along, she saw a bench that looked ok to sit on and decided to take a little break. She’d been walking for about an hour. Taking a relaxing breath and tried to rest her legs. She looked over the streets which much to her surprise didn’t have a lot of people walking by. She cocked an eyebrow at this, as she was used to seeing people busily walking the New York streets. Finally a person walked by that she knew. She smiled a bit as she recognized her teammate Dakota.

"Dakota!" she cried out to him with a friendly wave.

Dakota looked up, seeing Gaile snapped him out of his thoughts and a smile spread across his face. He raised his hand, waving back at Gaile as she approached him. “Hey Gaile!” He replied, quickly stuffing his hands back into his pockets to keep warm. “How are you doing?”

Gaile grinned very excited to see her teammate and friend.

"I’m pretty good! Just still in shock over what happened during the challenge and during the elimination." Gaile said.

"What about you, dude? You seemed like you had a bit on your mind back there. Everything good?" she asked with concerned eyes.

Dakota’s smile faded slightly, and he began to rub the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t say… ‘good’…” He sighed softly, “To be honest, all I really remember from yesterday was Ashley and Ry fighting…. I really don’t like my friends fighting, you know….?”

Gaile nodded in understanding at how Dakota was feeling.

"I totally get it dude. It’s no fun to watch people you care about fight. I’m sorry you’ve been affected by it. I’ve just been kinda preoccupied lately to really notice it." Gaile replied.

"Is there anything I can do to help you feel even like, a smidge better?" she offered.

"I don’t really know. I just want to do something fun…. but I don’t know anything fun to do around here." He said, gently kicking a rock at his feet. "Do you know of anything fun we could do…? "

A big smile spread across Gaile’s face as she thought of something that they could do.

"I think I do.I wanna show you something." she said and grabbed lightly onto Dakota and began pulling him behind her.

She led him across streets, and down roads, past restaurants, shops, and hotels. Some were abandoned and dilapidated, while others still had people buzzing in and out the doors. Finally she turned a corner and found what she was looking for.

"You’ve gotta duck a bit when you enter. This was probably once a little kid’s" Gaile said.

She then ducked under the entrance and walked over to old shed she’d found the day before. The outside was covered in smearing sidewalk chalk, and there were 3 lawn chairs, a small table, and a hammock inside. She hung her purse on the hook she’d set up the day before and took a seat in one of the lawn chairs.

"This is just a little clubhouse. I made the hammock, but the rest was here. I’ve been here a lot and no one else comes here anymore. I just like to come here and think or sing or just be alone. But I think it’d be ok to share with you." she explained with a smile.

Dakota gasped as Gaile grabbed him, though he just let her drag him through what seemed like the entire city. By the time they finally arrived at their destination he was practically breathless. He looked around the clubhouse, a smile making it’s way onto his face as he took the scenery in, truly very happy that Gaile would share her special place with him. “Wow!” He breathed, a wide grin on his face. “This is awesome!”

Gaile grinned ecstatically when Dakota was happy about the clubhouse. She was thrilled she was able to share this with him. It made her feel closer to her shy teammate. Gaile shivered as another cold breeze blew through the town. She turned and shut the door to the shack as tightly as possible, shutting out the breeze. She then walked over to the two chairs in the room and picked up the thick blankets that were serving as cushions. She held one out towards Dakota.

"Would you like a blanket? It’s still kinda chilly in here." she asked him sweetly.

(missing response)

Gaile grinned ecstatically when Dakota was happy about the clubhouse. She was thrilled she was able to share this with him. It made her feel closer to her shy teammate. Gaile shivered as another cold breeze blew through the town. She turned and shut the door to the shack as tightly as possible, shutting out the breeze. She then walked over to the two chairs in the room and picked up the thick blankets that were serving as cushions. She held one out towards Dakota.

"Would you like a blanket? It’s still kinda chilly in here." she asked him sweetly.

Dakota smiled, reaching out to take the blanket from her. “Thanks so much.” he said, wrapping himself in it’s warmth. “So how did you find this place— oh! Do you mind if I take a picture?” He beamed, already reaching into his backpack to pull his camera out. It really was such a cool place, and he didn’t want to forget it.

Gaile nodded and wrapped herself up in her own blanket. She pulled the top up like a hood to protect her ears from drafts.

"Have at it, dude!" she said and plopped herself in one of the chairs.

"Oh, I found this place when I was wandering around the town after the first challenge! It was empty then too. I was feeling a bit anxious about the challenge so I just wanted a place to go and think and just be myself before I had to listen to Ashley’s orders again. Ya know? I just wanted a place." she explained with a small grin.

"It must be nice… just having a place." Dakota smiled softly, lifting up his camera and taking a few quick shots of the little hideaway. He shifted, setting his focus on Gaile. He glanced at her from over the top of the camera and then again through the view finder, smiling to himself softly as he took a picture of her. "Cute." He muttered, before quickly blushing and stammering awkwardly. "I-I-I mean, like, uhh… the blankets and stuff! You made this whole place look cute!"

Gaile smiled contentedly. For the first time since she had gotten to the city, everything seemed calm and just right. That’s how she felt with her friends there anyway. She had Dakota who now shared her special place in the city, Ry who was slowly starting to open up more to her, and as far as she thought, Ashley, who was looking out for her. It was just great.

She laughed to herself as she watched Dakota take picture after picture of their little hideaway.By the grin on his face it was obvious that he was totally in his element, and Gaile loved witnessing it. The girl’s eyes widened in surprise a bit as Dakota turned the camera to face her, but laughed it off and smiled for his picture anyway.

As she blinked away the colorful lights in her vision from the flash, she noticed Dakota smiling a bit. Gaile’s heart fluttered with joy. He had such a cute smile.

"Is it a good one?" she asked jokingly in repsonse. But as Gaile made her comment, Dakota spoke at the same time. Gaile froze in her seat, blinking in shock.

* Did he just say…what I think he just said?* Gaile pondered to herself. She felt her pale cheeks begin to flush and a little smile began to form uncontrollably on her face.

She could see Dakota blushing too and decided not to comment on his remark. he started to backtrack and “fix” his statement anyway. She would just keep the fact she knew or hoped she knew what she heard to herself. And she would also enjoy it very much.

"Thanks, Kota! I tried to make it cozy enough for anyone who wanted to use it. I figured it’d be a good place to go when the stress of the game is too much." she beamed.

"I hope it can also be your place for that too." Gaile finished sweetly.

Ry(second starter)
Ry’s feet calmly walked down the sidewalk toward the ruins of the abandoned hospital he’d come across the night before. He’d seen it when he was getting the supplies he’d hidden from Chris’s line of sight and knew he’d just HAVE to check it out. The very idea of going somewhere that was abandoned and creepy was just too enticing.

He’d heard some rumors about abandoned places being haunted, and he was wondering if this place would be any different. Hey, a little ghost hunting to grab some inspiration could be fun…even if it turned out to be a hoax.

He’d changed his clothes to go on this hunt and he felt really comfortable right now. A nice zip-up Angel jacket from Lilo and Stitch, black skinny jeans, and his rainbow sneakers. His hair was tucked behind his ears, revealing his cross earrings, and the back was pinned up with a hairclip shaped like a flower.

Slamming the flashlight he’d picked up in an old store against his hand, he glanced around, wondering if he was really alone here. Somehow, he’d always managed to run into somebody when he was doing everything alone.

Moving along, he stopped right outside the doors and glared up at the sign above it, noting that it was completely scratched up and deluded from erosion and lack of maintenance. “This place just reeks of interesting deaths, morgues, and great places to draw from.”

‘Maybe I can find some ghosts, demons, or even some random noises…’ He thought to himself, doubting it. “Wouldn’t mind having a spiritual encounter…” He said out loud.

Taking a deep breath, he checked his satchel. “Batteries, phone, flashlight, sketchbook, pen, bandages…” He mumbled, checking around inside the bag. “Yep I think I have—…” He was interrupted suddenly when he heard a loud and obnoxious clanging noise right behind him.

Snapping his head around, he turned himself around, glaring fiercely. “Who’s there? Were you following me?” He inquired, crossing his arms delicately over his chest.

Mallory:
Mallory looked up from the spot where she had fallen facefirst, scraping up her poor face on the pavement. “Aw, hey Ry!” She yelled, completely forgetting about the pain of falling down and scratching your face pretty badly as your side gets assaulted by the trash can you knocked over. “Ry, man, I had like, totally seen you walkin’ over here to this hella bitchin’ rad abandoned buildin’, and I’m thinkin’ why the Hell would ya wanna go here? Totally big and freaky place, and you’re kind of a tiny dude. Y’know? But if you’re like, plannin’ on goin’ all Ghostbusters on that building’s ass, then I am right behind ya, bro.” She said all of this as she picked up the trash can that she had knocked over, a big smile plastered onto her face. “Or are ya like, gonna blow it up? I could help with that, y’know.” At the mention of blowing something up, a glint flashed in her eye. Her fingers started drumming on the rim on the trash can as she imagined all the bombs she could build. A glint in Mallory’s eye and fingers drumming were not good combinations. Now she wanted to blow something up. And it’s very obvious that with some of the things Chris has around the city, The Demolitionist was practically surrounded by all the right materials.

Ry felt a twinge of annoyance seep into him from the fact that she’d been the whole reason his team had lost when they were so close to victory. If she’d of just kept to herself and NOT blown up their building, then the Pandas would be celebrating a nice dinner, a… Well, he was going to say reward, but they had been horrible and made him want to tear Ashley a new one… They’d have had a better standing, but she’d ruined it for them…

“…I’m not going Ghost Hunters,” he informed her, putting his hands into his bag to retrieve his camera. “Per se… I’m here to see if the rumors about old places are true, not here to grab some fame. Tch… I’m already on a show for that part. And just because I’m short and thin, doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself!” He retorted, checking on the flip screen to see if night vision worked. “I’d be in as much danger against any kind of spiritual activity as a big and buff person would be.”

The idea of blowing up the building had crossed his mind, but it was a creepy, old hospital and he could use this place to hide from people when the drama heated up. Hell, it was tall enough for him to jump off of if he needed. “No, I’m not blowing up this building, Mallory. This is a place I need to explore fully, asbestos or not.”

Moving backward slowly, he creeped  up the steps. “If you’re going to come with me, then you’d better hurry. Once the doors close behind me, then you’re shit out of luck.”

Mika:
Mika twisted and rattled the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. “Why would an old hospital have fucking doorknobs like this anyways?” she pondered aloud to herself.

Having been wondering aimlessly through the abandoned hospital for at least a couple of hours now, bursting through random doors in the hope of finding something interesting to post on Vine, Mika was slowly losing motivation. She’d filmed herself entering at least 30 or so rooms and poking around in them a bit, and was now feeling almost deflated at having uncovered mostly storage rooms and tiny doctors’ offices.

Considering turning around to find an unlocked passageway, Mika backed away from the door, scrunching up her hair and breathing deeply. Suddenly, her head snapped up as she heard a murmur from the other side of the door. “Who’s there? Were you following me?” the voice asked.

"Alright," she began, head buzzing as she surveyed the door with the dim light radiating from her phone in the otherwise pitch black room (she had turned off the lights prior to pressing the record button, for ambience). "This is the one. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare your minds to see some fucking jacked up shit."

BANG.

In one hefty kick, the hinges gave in and the door slammed to the ground. Mika jumped into the new room, swinging the camera around wildly, exclaiming, “Stop bein’ a pussy and  fight me, ghost!” and completely failing to notice that she was now standing in the hallway she first came into when entering the hospital.

Ry sighed softly, watching a raccoon go scurrying across the street, making him relax a bit more. Was he really on edge after the whole stomping-Ashley’s-foot-into-the-sidewalk ordeal? Well, he certainly wasn’t enjoying the possibility of revenge.

BANG!

Ry quickly turned around from the streets in shock, wondering what the hell he’d just heard from inside the hospital doors. It sounded like someone was kicking down doors in this place, but he’d remembered sooo many signs around certain areas of the city with ‘condemned on it,’ so he’d always been careful when he’d explored the city’s layouts. He, honestly, wasn’t one to judge a book by its cover, but some places looked sturdier than they actually were.

Whoever was inside was obviously not taking that into consideration, making Ry question their sanity. Was Dennis in there? No, he’d heard him cackling about something when he’d left… Was it—?

“Stop bein’ a pussy and fight me, ghost!”

…What? Was that the Vagina painter he’d met on the first day here? What was her name? Mendel? Michelee? Mika? Yeah, Mika. He remembered, making his way up to the front door of the hospital and opened them, making the air fill with an awful creaking noise from the door.

“Erm… I may look like death, but I assure you: I’m not.”

"FUCK!" Mika yelled, spinning around and squinting slightly at whoever had answered her as her eyes adjusted to the light. That… guy. How’d you pronounce his name again? Like Ree? That sounded wrong in her head. Rye made more sense. But that wasn’t right, was it? Whatever.

Turning her phone off and unceremoniously throwing it in her pocket, Mika shot a glare at Ry. “Oi! Ry! You totally ruined my shot! Why couldn’t’ve you been a ghost or some animated corpse or some shit? I could’ve gone viral. Fuck.”

''Bugger. Bloody fucking'' titballs, she thought to herself, kicking up the dust that had settled on the filthy hallway floor. She was sure that this had been it, and yet it turned out Mika had just spent her time walking in a giant circle.

"And what’re you re you doin’ in ‘ere anyway?" Mika asked, her head snapping back up. After a moment’s pause, her eyes lit up. "You lookin’ for ghosts, too?"

Ry’s mouth tightened slightly as he came into contact with the horrific amount of dust particles floating in the air and softly let out an adorable sneeze. He hated his sneezes since they always came out as ‘chu’ instead of the normal ‘achoo.’

Sniffling softly from the air, he shut the doors behind him, making the obnoxious creak return to both their ears. “Well, sorry I couldn’t be a fucking Tim Burton character for your amusement,” Ry snapped back to her, concealing the last bit of light from outside, excluding the windows completely caked in dust. “If you’d like, I could put on a sheet and run through the hallways, screaming ‘ooooo’ for your video.” His voice dripping with the cyanide called ‘sarcasm.’

"And what’re you re you doin’ in ‘ere anyway?” He heard Mika inquire of him, making his eyes go around the room really quick to examine the interior of this place; it was crap hole with what looked like floors completely caved, hole riddled, or only passable by lifting another on to your shoulders and having them lift you or using a bunch of stacked objects.

When he finished his surveying of the area, he raised an eyebrow, wondering the same thing about her. When she brought up ghosts, both his eyebrows raised in slight surprise. “Heh, I thought I’d meet someone who would call me ‘crazy’ for wanting to look around a place where a bunch of people met their grizzly deaths! I’m actually hoping to find more…negative entities if you catch my drift,” he stating, motioning toward his bag, which was containing an Ouija board.

"You wanna climb up this place and do a...summoning?"

Baroness:
The Baroness laughed loudly as she zipped around the inner city pond in the boat Ry had mentioned to her a few days ago. The cold front over the city had come to pass, at least, pass enough so that the water wasn’t frozen over like Snowball Earth. Thankfully, the boat had a motor engine that, with a bit of elbow grease and gasoline, The Baroness got up and running again.

Grinning ear to ear, The Baroness, decked out in the pirate garb she wore when she first arrived into the city, controlled the wheel and the helm of the small metallic motor boat. Mist from the boat’s wake blew up into the air, putting on a fabulous show for anyone that would happen to be watching her.

Truth be told, she might have been enjoying this a little too much, but as a girl who’s heart lays out at sea, who could blame her? Especially after not having gotten a chance to have even been in a boat for the past few months, impatiently waiting for her audition to have been accepted.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone watching her spin around the pond like a car on a race track. Not knowing who it was, she pulled over towards them and shouted “Ahoy!”

Ashley:
Ashley walked out of the hotel, wearing Dakota’s hoodie and looking a little tired. It felt like it had been so long, but she was still so far from claiming victory. She was really going to have to push it to make it at this rate. She fingered her locket in her hands as she walked absent-mindedly.

As she neared the lake, she saw someone out riding a boat, spinning around at speeds probably a bit too fast for such a small area. As she got closer, the boater started to maneuver the motor boat closer to the shore.

"Ahoy!” She heard from across the water, and everything finally clicked together. God, it was that freak pirate girl again. She rubbed her head in her hands, feeling very tired  again, but she stopped quickly as she saw the ‘pirate’ approaching. In an instant, she had completely switched and a scoff came out of Ashley’s  mouth as the pirate got close enough to be within hearing distance of her talking at normal volume.

"Oh, look who it is,” she called, her traditional mocking smile appearing on her face, “the little pirate freak on her toy boat.” She looked at the boat as if completely unimpressed. Honestly, she had no idea how she had managed to get a boat on the show, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was working on finding this girl’s weakness so Ashley could start to grind her under her uninjured foot. "Off finding some more treasures in the great blue?” She asked, performing a mocking pantomime of looking through a telescope, getting up on one foot and peering through her curled up hands. She put her hands down and raked a hand through her hair with another cruel smile.

As soon as she realized it was Ashley, the Baroness’ cheerful demeanor turned into a scowl, as if to say “Oh, it’s you…”. In her mind, the Baroness was screaming louder than a Banshee; she didn’t like Ashley, especially after the way Ashley treated her the first day she was there. Was the Pirate too quick to judge? Possibly, but in the end the small grudge would be justified.

The Baroness gave a scowl in disgust. “Ye may be thinkin’ ‘m a freak, but begad, least I got a lil’ jollyboat.” She spoke through gritted teeth, retorting what the mean girl had to say. She was not going to let Ashley get to

her and break her, even if it costs her dearly. She already dealt with

being broken once before, and that was an experience she never wants to relive.

"Yar-har-har, that be funnier than a barkin’ shark." The Baroness spoke, rolling her eyes, obviously not amused with Ashely’s attempt at sarcasm. "Are ye off t’ be tryna’ throw petty insults at me lass?" The Baroness snarled with a glare. She put the boat into park and stood her ground…er…boat.

Ashley set her hands back at her sides with a sigh. “Yes, I see your little jollyboat .”

Ashley said the last word scathingly, ridiculing the pirate’s choice of wording. “So lovely… where did you get it? From the junk pile at the

top of the mountain?” Ashley gave a cutting laugh, once again completely

blowing off the Baroness’ large motorboat.It was a little intimidating

to be mocking someone who was standing so far above her on a boat, but its not like the Baroness was going to be driving the boat overground, so Ashley wasn’t really in any danger.

“And yeah, I am throwing insults at you, pirate.What’s wrong, you have to ask for clarification to understand when someone’s being mean to you? I would’ve thought you were smarter than to ask silly

questions, but I guess I was wrong about you. I shouldn’t have had such high expectations from a girl who thinks she lives in the 15th

century.” Ashley pressed her hands into her hoodie pocket, looking up at

the Baroness as if daring her to say something.

The Baroness rolled her eyes at how Ashley pronounced “Jollyboat”, obviously not caring how the girl felt about the pirate’s life style. “I’d tell ye where I plundered this vessel from, but I know ye don’t care, so I’ll save ye the details.” The Baroness said Chidingly. She knew Ashley wasn’t going to do anything; the girl could just throw petty insults at the pirate for all she cared.

"If ye be thrownin’ the insults ye need better aim! Must be addled in the brain t’ be missin’ as much as ye be!" The Pirate laughed, flipping her curly hair. " ‘Sides, much rather be livin’ in the wrong century than spendin’ a day in yer shoes! How be the limp? Get it cause ye can’t belay yer bilge!?" She then shouted, glaring her eyes at Ashley, placing her hands onto her hips.

“Addled in the brain? At least I don’t think it’s ‘Talk Like

a Pirate Day’ every day of the year. You do know that holiday is a

joke, right? I guess that makes you a joke too!” Ashley laughed, as if this revelation was just the best thing she’d ever thought of.

When the Baroness mentioned her limp, however, the smile died on Ashley’s face. Ry must have been spreading the news to everyone: ‘Ashley has a limp! I gave it to her! I’m a hero among men!’. Absolutely disgusting. She’d have to teach that rat a lesson the next time she saw him.

“Limp? What limp?” She called up to the Baroness, raising an eyebrow sceptically. “You mean this ?”

Forcing a casual expression onto her face, Ashley straightened her

stance and shoved all of her weight onto her injured leg, grinding her hurt foot into the ground. The sudden spike of pain almost made her cry out, but she settled for a hissing of breath through her teeth, something that the girl wouldn’t be able to see from on the boat. Ashley

would break her leg before she’d show the Baroness that this hurt. “Is

that another story Henry made up? He seems quite good at making up lies,

it must be his one talent.”

The Baroness gave a split second of a furious glare at Ashley. She wasn’t mad at Ashley dissing the pirate life style; The Baroness was used to getting that. Much rather, she was furious because “International Talk Like a Pirate Day”, aka September 19th, happens to be The Baroness’ birthday. Still, she couldn’t let the anger get to her, and tapered her glare off with a scoff. “Laugh all ye want wench, ‘least I know how t’ stand on me own rather than trickin’ people into thinkin’ I be someone I ain’t.”

"Don’t play fool with me ye addlepate, ain’t take a genius er use of me deadlights t’ have seen ye limpin’ durin’ the ‘limination ceremony." The Baroness hissed. "Don’t actually know if yer still hurtin’ now, but the fact ye be castin’ the blame t’ Ry almost ‘mediately says somethin’ bout yer character." The Pirate taunted the girl, not going to stand for her insulting one of her friends. She was prepared for a long battle.

Ashley shoved her hands back into the pockets of Dakota’s hoodie as the Baroness talked about her tricking her team. “Yes, standing on your own. I‘m sure that’ll go great until your next elimination ceremony. I’m just playing the game, pirate, so I recommend you do the same and get off your moral high horse before everyone realizes that you’re of no use to them. I mean, a pirate? What do you do in the challenges, man the ship? Boss people around while you pretend to be captain? Play with your toy boat?” Ashley rolled her eyes. She didn’t really know how any other team functioned, but she didn’t need to. She’d be able to figure it out soon enough.

“Oh, so I’m casting the blame on him ??” Ashley laughed harshly, giving up her facade of not being injured. “You clearly

don’t know anything about Henry, pirate, and its high time you learned. He’s practically a psychopath. Cornered me before the elimination,

crushed my foot into the ground and though he was just so clever. He’s going to pay for attempting to blackmail me, and if you side with him, you’re going to pay too.”

The Baroness couldn’t help but scoff a laugh when Ashley accused her of not actually doing anything on her team, stretching her arms above and behind her head as if she was bored. “If ye actually be payin’ attention, ye could be usin’ yer deadlights t’ see what I can do. But naw, ye be much more focused on screwin’ with yer own team. Fakein’ a smile n’ a friendship ain’t the way to go ‘bout things, cause yer gonna get flogged in da end.” The Baroness explained, not wanting to let Ashley get under her skin and hoping that the girl would wise up and take some helpful advice.

"Well he just be playin’ the game Ashley, like ye said. Ye both be thinkin’ all’s fair in love and war; so take yer own advice." The Pirate growled, finding Ashley’s statement to be horribly hypocritical. "And if ye wanna duel wit’ ‘em, that ain’t me business. Ye don’t get involved in a battle that ain’t yer own less ye wanna kiss the gunner’s daughter." She then added, putting her hands back on her hip. Truth be told, she was more than likely going to side with Ry and try to forge an alliance between The Pandas and the Penguins, but Ashley didn’t need to know that.

“I don’t pay attention to what you can do because, guess what, I don’t care.” Ashley said this as if it were obvious, which it really should have been. “I have my team wrapped around my little finger, pirate. I could protect any of them, and I could eliminate any of them, and they all know it. I’m sure I won’t be getting flogged anytime soon.”

"Alright, don’t listen to me. But if he stomps on your foot next, then you can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Ashley shrugged casually, as if she couldn’t care less. On the Baroness’ next retort, Ashley scoffed. “Oh, I didn’t know it ‘wasn’t your business’ after you pulled that whole stunt with the paint last challenge. I would have thought you

two were really close. Sure felt like you wanted to be involved.”

Ashley was honestly getting a little tired of the whole conversation, which seemed to be going in circles with Ashley throwing an insult and then the difficult girl not even caring and just throwing one right back with her almost impossible to understand pirate lingo. It was a waste of time, and Ashley would much rather go work on someone from her team who would be easier. If the girl didn’t give her something she could use or show some cracks in her seemingly impenetrable armor soon, Ashley might just leave and go after another target. She sighed and waited for the pirate’s inevitable retort.

T:
  —T had exited the hotel a few minutes ago and decided to  go explore the city. Where were they going, T really didn’t know— they figure they would just wander around a bit. It was better than staying in the hotel, after all, considering there wasn’t really anything to do there. Walking provided good exercise, too, which T was probably good for T, considering they rarely exercised. Not to mention, walking aroundsituation!      ” O h, hello!” Is what they say in response to her greeting, giving her a warm smile as they waved their hand.  

Derby:
Derby hummed along to his 7th Symphony CD as he dried his hair, not that it could be heard over the hum of the machine. Deciding his hair was dry enough, he shut off the blow dryer, returning to the main room of his suite. He crossed to his window, peeking out through the curtains, and frowned. No matter how often he checked and re-checked, the moon refused to come out. He knew, of course, that it wouldn’t, but he couldn’t help but hope he had just missed it the first 3 times he’d searched for it. Derby had always had trouble falling asleep in the dark, and while he had a night light at home, he wouldn’t have dared to bring it with it. Stepping away from the window, he stopped the music coming from his alarm clock and checked the time. 12:36 AM  glared back at him, eliciting a soft huff of defeat from the boy. Kneeling beside the bedside table, Derby shifted through his unpacked suitcase before pulling out a comfortable sweatshirt. He pulled it on over his tank top, the pale yellow of sweatshirt clashing with the dark blues and purples of his loungewear-style pants. He stood and instinctively reached for his glasses and the notebook they were perched on, but stopped himself. Trying to write would only keep him up, which he knew well from the nights he’d written until his alarm rang out, telling him it was time to get ready for school. And his glasses? Unnecessary. They were really just for show, and he didn’t think he’d be seeing anyone else up at this hour. He picked up his phone, adjacent to the book, opting for some games from the app store to tire his mind out, and quietly slipped out of his room.

His first stop was kitchen. As he waited for Unblock Me to download, he scoured the cupboards for cocoa powder. After a minute or so of opening and closing doors, he finally found it, and happily prepared himself a mug of hot chocolate, topped with a mound of whipped cream. He stirred his drink slowly as he exited the kitchen and continued to the lobby. Upon arrival, Derby noticed the lack of staff, but didn’t pay much mind to it. He took a sip of his cocoa, licking the froth and whipped cream off his lip as he put the cup down on a low coffee table, then curled up into the corner of one of the nearby couches, ready to immerse himself in a game. Within minutes, he was engrossed with the problem-solving puzzle game. So engrossed, that he didn’t hear the other contestant enter the lobby.

Ry::
Ry’s hand swiped across his forehead as he stood back in admiration of his newest project: The Hanging Tree. The giant cherry tree was towering over him at nearly seven feet and his eyes wondered around each and every object he’d drawn in. It was almost as if he’d been able to capture each contestant’s traits just by interacting or observing them, albeit dumb at some moments in his landscape.

In the picture, eyes would follow suit to three of the main objects: the bloodied cherry blossom tree, a noose, and a deteriorated table. All three objects played a vital role in each of the contestant’s favorable trademark items. If he hadn’t talked to them, then he’d seen them do something that sparked an idea about what to place on the tree. All items, excluding two, had been outlined and not colored in.

At the base of the tree sat a lone guitar, stabbed through the F-hole by a sword, which had a biker’s helmet dangling off the very end of it. All three of those items played off each other well, representing: Matt, Bailey, and the Baroness.

On the noose hung a simple locket, dogtags, and a tomogachi, gently seeming to blow in the breeze, representing Ashley, Kiki, and Gaile.

On the table, located just a few feet from the tree, sat an overturned bucket with three different things spilling out of it: feathers, origami stars, and music notes. This was creative to Ry as he thought about the first time he’d met Dennis; a laudable moment him, but he repressed that idea. The items naturally represented Dennis, Ry, T, and Alice. Leaning against the table was a red and white cane, representing the Blind Girl, Arizona.

Also on the table, sat a book opened up right in the middle with a words floating off the pages from an Edgar Allen Poe poem: The Pit and The Pendulum. Next to the book, sat a mirror with the words reflecting in the surface and a few speckles of something Ry would get to in a few moments. Next to the mirror sat an iphone, slightly leaning on the book to show what was on the surface: a text message with #Hobbles on it; a personal favorite to Ry. Slightly in front of the iphone on the table sat a pair of shiny sunglasses, naturally representing the Living Snooze Button: Benny. Looping through the sunglasses was a bit of needles and thread linked to a spool, making up for the needles and spools of thread he’d seen sticking out of Jillian’s suitcase from that afternoon. The last item on the table was an almost perfect replica of Dakota’s camera, a little bit of flash coming off of it.

Under the table was an overturned garbage can with an empty package of beef jerky flowing out of it, which obviously represented Selene from his first encounter. Inside the trashcan was also a bomb with a lit fuse, representing Mallory from the first challenge. He figured it would be a decent place to put it since nowhere else really felt as nice. Besides, it was like an Easter egg to find, and Ry loved including those.

Above the tree now was a wand, which was blasting out the glitter seen reflecting in the mirror of Lavender, which obviously represented the Penguins’ ‘Favorite’ member, Alexandria. Last, but not least: in the middle of the painting, spraying a cloud of red paint toward the tree was Mika’s spray can bottle from when he’d first met her.

Ry drooped his shoulders in success, feeling like he’d just accomplished the biggest feat in all of history. Bending down, he picked up two empty buckets of paint and headed down to the lobby, mostly because of habit and forgetting his pipes were now fixed. Plus, he didn’t want to stain his bathtub.

He left behind in his room two painted items: Alexandria’s wand and glitter and Todd’s cellphone. They were both reminders that he was bound to be eliminated soon.

Stepping into the lobby, he noticed someone sitting on the couch and also smelled something as well: hot cocoa. The smell almost made his stomach churn but he remembered that it was something he’d enjoy, if not for the sugar.

Making his way past Derby, he stopped in the kitchen and quickly rinsed out both cans of paint and filled them with water right after. Begrudgingly, he tried to make his way back out of the lobby but found himself dropping the buckets on the floor and sitting on the couch right next to Derby, almost invading his personal space, panting loudly from the sheer fact they were just too heavy for the Skagemo to carry.

Derby glanced down at the water buckets then back to Ry as he spoke, listening to him list off things one by one. “That’s.. a lot of information..” Derby responded as he blinked at the smaller boy, trying to comprehend everything he had said. He then glanced down at Ry’s hand over his chest, hoping that he was okay. “Don’t forget to breathe.”

Derby furrowed his brow, confused by the question that seemed to come out of nowhere. “A hipster?” He repeated. “I’ve heard that before,” the boy thought, “from Lyle. But he only called me that when I started wearing.. oh.” “No, I don’t think so,” Derby answered, having realized that Ry was probably referring to his lack of eyewear, “I just wear my glasses aesthetically..”

Ry’s gaze shifted to Derby’s when he told him not to forget to breathe. Sarcasm was starting to brim in his mind but he chose to ignore it for a few moments while he finally calmed his breathing down. Sitting up and crossing his legs on the couch, his body posture told that he wasn’t going to be moving for a while. “Breathe? What? I can’t…remember…” He said, stopping every few words as if he was confused and losing his breath, then held his breath for a moment or two, releasing it afterwards with a raised eyebrow.

Unnecessary? Probably, but Derby was asking for that with telling him not to forget the basic human function. It was as basic as dying of the plague in the 1500’s; you just did it.

“Aesthetic? Oh, I see…” Ry said, looking over toward the doorway, clearly not interested in his side topic. “….Why are you up anyway? It’s late for you to be up, fanfiction.net” Ry was using a more joking tone when he said this, not in the mood to handle misinterpretation this late at night. Plus, he’d just completed his wall of art. Glancing down at himself, he glared at the paint splatters on his apron, shirt, and colorful shorts. Though, his hair was pulled into a relieving ponytail still, making him feel much more relaxed and less hot.

Derby watched straight-faced as Ry pretended to forget how to breathe. Waiting until the other boy was finished, he sighed and rolled his eyes. “I only reminded you to  breathe  because the way you spoke reminded me of a second grader writing a run-on sentence,” he said in response. He picked up his mug, enjoying the warm radiating through to his fingers.

"Why am I up?" Derby repeated, putting the ever-so-creative nickname to the side. "Just having a bit of trouble sleeping.. Not used to being here yet, I suppose." He yawned before taking a sip of his drink, hoping the warm liquid would tire him more. He swirled the cup in small circles, watching the liquid make a small whirlpool. "And what about you, KidPix," he asked, grinning at the nickname he’d thought up after doing a once over of the boy next to him, "why are you still up?"

The look on Ry’s face became much more annoyed than anything else and he moved his arm out to shove on Derby’s causing the liquid inside to nearly spill on to the taller male’s lap. “Excuse me…? If I were a king back in the 1200’s, I would have had you put to death for telling me I sound like a fucking child.” He quickly slid his finger across Derby’s throat, then crossed his arms with a raised eyebrow. “I’d of hired the WORST executioner to do yours, making you face a botched one and suffer a bit before you slowly bleed out in excruciating pain. Now…tell me if I STILL sound like a second grader.”

Moving on from that, he yet again became annoyed at the nickname Derby gave him. “Okay, at least with MY nickname, it produces a wide variety of stories, ranging from Dennis wrote it to Edgar Allen Poe wrote it.” He glared at Derby, looking down and pulling his mini-sketchbook from his pocket and flipping it open, revealing a well-drawn deteriorating statue. “Anyway, I’m up because I was working on The Hanging Tree.” He stated as if it were something Derby would just know off the bat.

Baroness:
The Baroness yawned a loud yawn as she shuffled down through the hallway and into the Hotel Lobby, wearing a pair of purple pants, a white tank-top, and grey socks. The pirate girl hated being up this late at night, especially if woken up from her peaceful slumber. Actually, peaceful is not the right term; she tosses and turns as she sleeps, nearly crushing the last person to share a bed with her. The stomach of the girl growled just as fiercely as she yawned; she was famished. As she sauntered into lobby and towards the kitchen, she completely failed to have noticed Derby curled up on the couch, engrossed on his cell-phone. With another loud yawn, she walked into the kitchen.

The slam of cabinet doors sort of woke her up from her zombie like state. At least, it woke her up enough to the point where she could get a bag of salt and vinegar flavored chips and a glass of water. Loudly munching on the chips, The Baroness shuffled out into the lobby where she finally noticed Derby sitting there on the couch, still engrossed in his game. She thought how he didn’t even hear her walk in and slam the cabinets in the kitchen was somewhat unusual. The Baroness walked up towards Derby, chips and water still in her hand, and spoke. “Derby me matey, what ye still be doin’ awake in the wee hours of the mornin’?

Derby’s fingers slid along the phone screen quickly, darting back and forth as his brain tried to decipher the puzzle on the screen. He pursed his lips in frustration, the current level perplexing him. As he pressed the button to restart the level, the familiar voice of his teammate drew his attention away from his device.

"Hm..?" He blinked up at her, taking a moment to transition and process what she’d said. "Oh, I just.. had some trouble sleeping," the boy admitted to his teammate, rubbing his eye. "Thought I’d try to tire my brain out with mind-numbing apps and stuff.." He waved his phone, the screen now darkened, before placing it on the table and picking up his mug. "And what’re you doing up?" he asked in return, taking a slow sip of the drink.

The Baroness watched the boy fiddle with his phone with a dull look on her face. She had never really understood the typical teenage obsession with the phones, iPods, and other electronic gadgets. Then again, The Baroness was no where near the level of a typical teenager. After-all, she was a pirate. She exited her thoughts when Derby finally noticed her.

"Ye got issues with sleepin’?" She asked as a reply, starting to yawn but catching herself at the end. "Well, if this keeps happin’n ye best be askin’ the lad Benny fer help! Lack of sleep be a bilge sucker if ye ask me!" The pirate chuckled, albeit a bit unenthusiastically. You could tell she was exhausted but was at the very least attempting to cheer herself up and talking to her Teammate.

"And what’re you doing up?" Derby asked as he took a sip of whatever drink he had sitting on the coffee table. The Baroness glanced down at the bag of chips she had in her hands as if the answer was fairly obvious. "…I be wantin’ some grub." She replied with a shrug, grabbing another chip from the bag to munch.

Derby nodded when asked about sleep issues, running his fingers through his still damp hair as the pirate spoke. When his sleepy teammate was mentioned, Derby shook his head with a small smile. “Heheh, it’s not quite the same, I don’t think..” he answered, stifling a yawn himself. “I just.. have trouble falling asleep in the dark,” he confided in her, thinking her trustworthy enough to tell the truth, “and there’s a new moon tonight, so there’s no moonlight in my room, and.. yeah.” The boy trailed off lamely, not knowing where to go from there.

“Some grub..” he repeated, almost to himself as the Baroness took another bite of her food. “Well, I can see that, but it’s after midnight. I mean, midnight snacks are a thing, but…” he trailed off again, recollecting his thoughts. “I guess I didn’t expect anyone else to be up..” The boy stretched his arms over his head as his spoke, looking over as his phone vibrated. He picked it up, looking at the notification of his game begging him to come back. He gave a small “hmph,” of amusement before re-locking the screen and placing the phone back on the table. “Can I ask you something?” Derby turned his body towards his teammate as he addressed her, his eyes looking up at her with a tinge of curiosity. The Baroness nodded in understanding when Derby explained he had issues sleeping in the dark. “Arr, I be understandin’ ye matey. Me lil’ bro Markus be havin’ problems with darkness when he was a wee lad…” The pirate began to ramble, thinking of good memories from back home. “Ah, good times…” Continued to pirate as she munched on a couple more chips. “So ye be needin’ the moon t’ sleep?” She asked, a little more enthusiastic from thinking about home. Her face, albeit still looking as tired as she was, managed to regain her normally cheerful demeanor.

"I ain’t ‘really ‘xpectin’ t’ be findin’ anyone else up either, specially not this hour in the night…" The Baroness tapered off with a yawn, stretching her free arm away from her body. "Glad’ t’ see it be me own ‘and though." Continued the pirate girl, watching as he re-locked his phone, confused as both why he was doing that and as to what he was doing.

“Can I ask you something?” She suddenly heard Derby then ask her. “Ask away.” She replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

Derby felt his cheeks warm a bit, being compared to the Baroness’s brother when he was “a wee lad”. It wasn’t the most comforting thing to say, but he saw that thinking of home made her a bit happier, and that seemed to make up for the minor and unintentional insult.

“Yeah,” he replied with a nod, “the moon just makes me a bit more comfortable. I enjoy the natural light, I suppose.”

When the Baroness said she was glad to see her own teammate, Derby’s expression brightened, the feeling being very much mutual.

Derby took a sip of his hot chocolate before asking his questions, leaving a small coating of the liquid on his upper lip. “What was.. all that at the elimination ceremony? It was quite an outburst..” He quickly licked his lip, ridding himself of the hot-chocolate-stache.

The Baroness nodded slightly when Derby replied he enjoyed the light of the moon. “ ‘Be fair lad.” She spoke, munching on another chip. “ I be usin’t he light of the moon n’ the stars of the sky t’ help steer me way ‘cross the ocean!” The pirate girl spoke up, pep finding it’s way into her voice.

Of course, that was when Derby asked about what had happened during the elimination ceremony. That was when her face contorted to a look of displeasure, a bit of anger twisted itself into her expression.

“….Do ye have time fer the explanation lad, cause it be rather…long.”

Derby smiled contently when the Baroness brought up using the lights of the night sky as a way to steer her ship. He made a mental note to ask her about that when he had a pen and notebook on him.

When the Baroness’ expression fell, Derby’s quickly followed suit. He nodded in response to her question, ready to listen to whatever the pirate gal had to say.

With a slight growl in her voice, The Baroness began her explanation. “That wench Ashley be up t’ know good lad; She be a connivin’ bilge rat, she be!” The girl started. “She might seem a bit friendly on the outside, but I be knowin’ from personal experience the wench be more cold than Davey Jone’s locker! She be pullin’ that bloody mean lass act behind the backs of all these fine lubbers n’ me own crew! But I be seein’ through her act; she be nothin’ more than a blaggard; a bloody coward, n’ she be plannin’ on makin’ damn fish bait outta me, Ry, Todd, n’ anyone else that be wantin’ t’ stand in ‘er way!”

Derby listened intently as the Baroness ranted about Ashley, taken by surprise by her allegedly harsh nature. “Wow.. she seemed pretty good about keeping it a secret..” Derby scratched the back of his neck, contemplating this. Would other’s be hiding their intentions like this, too? Was he really good enough to be here? He mentally shook those thoughts away - they were thoughts for another time.

“Thank you for the warning,” Derby said with just-barely-there smile. He let out a yawn, covering his mouth as he did so. Finally, he might be tired enough to get some sleep. But he had one more question for his teammate..

“Do you think we could have an alliance?” Derby blurted out. “Y’know.. vote together, avoid voting against each other.. whatever else alliances do on these shows?”

Derby listened intently as the Baroness ranted about Ashley, taken by surprise by her allegedly harsh nature. “Wow.. she seemed pretty good about keeping it a secret..” Derby scratched the back of his neck, contemplating this. Would other’s be hiding their intentions like this, too? Was he really good enough to be here? He mentally shook those thoughts away - they were thoughts for another time.

“Thank you for the warning,” Derby said with just-barely-there smile. He let out a yawn, covering his mouth as he did so. Finally, he might be tired enough to get some sleep. But he had one more question for his teammate..

“Do you think we could have an alliance?” Derby blurted out. “Y’know.. vote together, avoid voting against each other.. whatever else alliances do on these shows?”

Another scowl formed on The Pirate’s face once Derby said Ashley seemed rather good at hiding her evil intentions. “Arr…. she be crossin’ me since she be layin’ eyes on me, she did!” The Pirate girl spoke with a growl. She did not want to remember the first incident that had occurred between her and Ashley, and for good reason - It made her blood boil more than a pot of water on a hot stove top; she didn’t need that at this moment.

Her anger subsided, however, when Derby believed her, thanking the pirate for warning her. And of course, his yawn riled a yawn in her. After the loud - and somewhat mighty - roar echoed around the empty room, she nodded. “…Ye be more than welcome lad; hate seein’ ‘er manage to get one of me own hands….” She explained. The girl was glad she got to Derby; the more she could protect, the better.

When Derby suggested an alliance, a bit of a smirk made it’s way on her face. “… begad, an alliance be a fantastic idea!” She said pridefully, a sense of pride from Derby suggesting it coming over her face. “I don’t be knowin’ if I should be sayin’ this but -eh, what the ‘ell; Me and Ry currently be in an alliance against Ashley.”

Ashley:
Ashley woke up with a start, grabbing for her locket on her bedside table. Once she had it safely fastened around her neck, she relaxed and sat up. Ugh, it was still dark out, but maybe it was close enough to the time that the contestants had to get up that she didn’t have to worry about getting back to sleep. A glance at the clock showed that it was 12:45, way too early to hope of being functional tomorrow without going back to bed. Her mood soured, Ashley got out of bed and ran her fingers through her hair. She wasn’t tired at all, and she really didn’t feel like going through the long process of going back to sleep. Her fingers caught in a tangle in her hair, and the yank on her scalp made her mood even worse. Maybe she’d go downstairs and get some coffee or something.

Ashley trudged downstairs to the kitchen, now quite crabby. When she entered the kitchen, she noticed that the light had been left on. Someone else also apparently had sleeping problems. Ashley stalked over to the coffee machine, then stopped. If she drank coffee now, there was no way she was going to be able to fall back asleep by the time she was back in her room. Letting out a growl of frustration, Ashley almost hit the coffee maker before thinking better of it and just leaving the kitchen, too crabby to get herself something to eat.

Now feeling hungry as well as exhausted and grouchy, Ashley walked out into the lobby, trying to take the long route back to her room. As she walked into the lobby, she saw someone else on one of the couches. Upon closer inspection, she recognized him as being from another team, that one writer kid who was so full of energy all the time and tried to impress everyone with his “great” vocabulary. He hadn’t noticed her, and appeared to be engrossed in some stupid game on his fancy phone. She could probably get past him without him noticing her at all, but he was from another team, so she didn’t worry about his opinion of her, and she was feeling really crabby. This boy looked like the perfect person to vent on, and maybe if she made him feel lower than she did, she’d feel better herself.

"Hey, little writer boy," she called to him with a bite in her voice, hopefully loud enough that he’d look away from that game. "Or, should I say, little blind boy. Where are your glasses? Don’t you need those to see?”

Derby, his focus devoted to the game in his hand, paid no attention to the anger boiling in the adjacent room. As his found himself stuck on yet another level, he huffed before resetting the stage for what felt like the umpteenth time, when it reality it was only the fourth. He went grab his drink when he realized just how curled up he was, tucked away in the corner of the couch as if the rest of the couch was already taken. The boy shifted, pushing himself up and out of his cornered position and sliding his legs beneath his butt. He picked up the mug with his free hand, bringing it to his lips and taking a drink. While he savored the sweet taste of the chocolate, Derby frowned. “It’s not hot anymore,” he murmured to himself as he put the mug back down, resuming his game. "Hey, little writer boy." At this, Derby’s head snapped up from his phone, looking up at the source of the voice. The girl wasn’t someone he’d talked to before, and didn’t seem the type he would befriend, based on the not unfamiliar tone she addressed him in. It reminded him of people from his school, and not the teachers whose company he enjoyed. “She’s probably just tired,” Derby assumed to himself, giving her the benefit of the doubt. “Oh, I don’t, actually,” Derby answered with a sheepish grin, “they’re mostly for show. Accessories.” The boy locked the screen of his phone, placing it in his lap and turning his body towards the girl. He offered his hand to shake with a lazy smile. “I’m Derby.”

Accessories. Accessories. If Ashley wasn’t already planning on berating this boy, she definitely would be now. He sounded so pretentious, wearing around glasses just to look smart or whatever.

“Oh, I get it. You’re one of those hipsters, who thinks they’re so special because they wear glasses and scribble poetry in their little notebooks and read classical literature,” Ashley said scathingly. Her dislike of the boy was just increasing more and more.

The boy obviously didn’t know who she was yet, which actually made Ashley feel insulted. “Ashley,” she replied, her one word response clipped, making it obvious to the boy that he should have known about her by now. She didn’t shake his hand, instead looking at it with disgust like it was contaminated. She remained a few feet from his couch and popped one hip out to the side, resting her hand on it to appear comfortable and in control of the situation. Hopefully the boy would remain in his position on the couch, the extra height difference between them made her seem more dominant in the conversation.

“What are you doing down here, anyway? Can’t sleep because of all the inspiration you have?”

The boy frowned, letting his hand drop before he clasped them together in his lap. He squeezed his hands together as he contemplated his response; he knew he’d heard in her voice what he’d heard in the bullies from school, and silently chastised himself for thinking she’d be nicer.

"I’m not a hipster," Derby insisted feebly, "I just like how I look in glasses.." He sighed and figured that the argument wasn’t one worth fighting, hoping they could simply move on.

"N-no, I’m just.. not tired." Derby replied to her questions before fighting back a yawn. "Why are you down here?” He asked in return with a raise of his eyebrows.

Matt
Matt was out for a jog through the empty streets of the city. He enjoyed being outside, and the music streaming from his Ipod helped him clear his head and focus. He hadn’t seen anyone on the sidewalks for most of the day, but as he rounded the corner on his last length of his run he bumped into someone. “Oh, sorry…didn’t see you there…” he mumbled as he pulled out his ear-buds.

Dakota:
Dakota stumbled back, falling onto his butt as the much bigger male accidentally ran into him. “Ow… Oh! I’m sorry!” He said, clutching tightly at his camera. Clearly, Dakota was a bit preoccupied taking pictures rather then watching where he was going. “I’ll be more careful, I didn’t mean to run into you like that!”

Ry:
Ry had finally realized that he’d begun to slack on his running regimen since he’d come here; the fact that he’d been dumb enough to run up the stairs after being a lazy bum all weak had proven he was getting soft and he had no intention of going home and being unprepared for his dad’s lectures and forced running schedule to start again. After taking a shower, he put on his sweatshorts, a pair of tennis-shoes, and a T-shirt with a piece of smiling tofu on it. Reaching back, he tired his hair into a ponytail, giving his neck some breathing room for when he began to sweat.

Walking out into the lobby, he stretched his shoulders, grabbed a quick snack of a banana, and headed outside start on his morning routine. He set his ipod in his pocket, turning off the shake shuffle feature to avoid any unnecessary changes in his music, and turned on some Ke$ha to run to.

Bending down, he made sure his laces were fastened tightly, and then took off at a reasonable starting speed, making sure his legs became used to the feeling of running again. The familiar smell of the air speeding past him with acrid scents made him feel nostalgic and he quickly fell into a rhythmic bouncy run to the annoyingly upbeat Ke$ha tunes.

Rounding a corner with his mind completely focused on the music, he slammed his face into someone or something, making him move back with his hands over his nose, cursing loudly at the pain. Moving back a few steps, he looked up, feeling horribly less embarrassed now that it wasn’t a wall or something.

“…Matt?” He asked, wrinkling his nose from the pain that was flowing up its bridge.

Dennis
It was the night before episode three, and all throughout the hotel, not a creature was stirring— Oh, what the hell?

The sounds of a small ball ricocheting off the walls of Dennis’ room could be heard. And lo and behold, the Black Cupid was actually doing something for himself that wasn’t causing absolute hell for everyone else. At least not directly.

He continued to smack the ball back and forth, a ping pong paddle in his hands. His usual grin was turned into a look of utter determination and focus. Everytime the ball bounced back, Dennis hit it again, causing it to bounce back off the walls again and then send it flying right back at the prankster.

He missed the newest swat of the paddle, the ball going flying past him. He frowned, before going to pick up the ping pong ball which had rolled near his bed. He bounced it once before bouncing it at the wall, continuing his little game; blissfully unaware of the noises it was making.

Dakota:
Dakota was wondering through the hallway, his camera in hand as he went around trying to see if he could find new things he could take pictures of. He’d found a single spider just chilling in its web up in the corner of the hallway, a chipped vase, a crack in the wall. Nothing exciting, but he took pictures of all of it, wanting to remember his time here fully. To remember the hotel from top to bottom.

The young boy was about halfway down the hall when he started to hear something smacking against the wall. At first he just thought one of his contestants was moving something around in their room. When it kept going, Dakota became curious so he followed the sound, landing him outside of Dennis’ door. Fidgeting just a bit, Dakota reached up and knocked on the door, waiting silently for a response.

Dennis was building momentum with each strike, but of course this did nothing but make his racket even louder. That was fine to Dennis. He was starting to show much greater improvement with each swing.

“Yes, yes, yes—”

A knock. Dennis swung too late. The ping-pong ball rolled under his bed. The Black Cupid stood there dumbfounded for a moment before groaning, “ShiiiiIIIIIIIT I WAS SO CLOSE.”

Lurching over to the door, he opened it to a crack to notice a boy holding a camera outside of it.

“…Oh, it’s the picture kid,” he mused outloud, “What’s your name…? Indiana? Colorado? Virginia?” Whether he knew or didn’t know Dakota’s real name was up in the air.

When the door opened, Dakota peeked up at Dennis, a friendly smile making it’s way onto his face, he couldn’t help but giggle when Dennis started to name off states rather then his name, it reminded him of how Ashley would joke with him. “Dakota. My name is Dakota.” He added, starting to fidget, looking down at his camera. “Though sorry to bother you, I just heard some noises coming from your room and… uhh…. yeah."

Dennis blankly stared at Dakota’s smile. Well, that… didn’t work. Hell, even Gaile showed some signs of annoyance with first impressions. To try and not be outdone, he matched Dakota’s smile with a grin of his own; of course, Dennis’ grin was a grin only a mother could love.

“Dakota… Hm… Gonna hafta call you Southie, HEEEEEhahahaha,” Dennis briefly laughed at his own joke before musing and crossing his arms, “Well, Southie; I, the Black Cupid formerly known as Dennis, killed a contestant. Don’t tell no one though, ‘ya light-sleeper.” He absent-mindedly tried to balance his ping pong ball on its paddle.

His nose scrunched for a moment before he inquired, pointing at the photographer’s “weapon” of choice, “What, were you gonna take a picture of the noise or somethin’?”

“Why would you call me Southie…” Dakota paused, looking thoughtful before it finally clicked in his head. “Oh! South Dakota, that’s funny!” He quickly noted, genuinely finding it amusing. “And I was just taking pictures around the hotel so I’ll have memories for later!"

When Dennis mentioned killing a contestant, Dakota’s eyes went wide, clutching even tighter at his camera. Quickly glancing down the hallway both ways before whispering. “D….Did you really kill someone….?” There was a bit of fear, but he leaned in a bit, staring up at Dennis. “….Can I see the body? I told Ry i’d take a picture of a body for him if I ever found one….”

Dennis paused and paled. Oh no. This kid was probably even more horrifying than Kiki or Baroness combined. Derogatory terms didn’t work and—

Shit, no no no no, kid! You’re supposed to go running off screaming!

The Puerto Rican-African descended boy stood there for a moment in absolute silence before finally mumbling under his breath, “God damn it, Ry Ry, why do you have to be so fuckin’ violent?”

"You’re a gullible one, ain’t ‘ya kid?” Dennis asked Dakota, “Hoohoo, you think I’d get caught with a dead body here of all places? But I like ‘yer spunk. Next person I see I’ll ship to you in fedex to let’cha take a picture of it. I’ll put it on ‘yer tab, heheheheheh!”

Dakota didn’t catch what Dennis had mumbled, and just gave him a curious look, tilting his head to the side. However he did look slightly relieved when he said he didn’t have a body in his room.

“Okay sounds good!” Dakota agreed, not exactly understanding what Dennis meant by it, just going along with it anyway. “So if you weren’t killing anyone what was that noise?"

Ry:
Ry’s eyes slowly creaked open as he lay on his comfortably made bed, face looking like he’d just been in a paint fight and his eyes noticeably containing dark circles. The air in the room was clinging with a deep steamy feeling and it bothered Ry that he’d somehow been woken up from his natural dreams.

Slowly sitting up, he swiped his hand across his forehead, moving damp bangs from his forehead. How long had he been asleep? Not long he knew since his hair could be dried and feeling like someone had blessed it with silk. His eyes quickly darted around the room, one playing the game of complete darkness, as per usual, and the other trying to find where he’d set his phone.

Grabbing the flip phone from beside him, he opened it to check the time, the cat charm merrily singing as he did so: one in the morning. Glaring at the screen, his eyes screaming in protest to the bright light, he snapped it shut.

What the fuck had woken him up?

Ever so slightly, he noticed that his left eye had begun to slowly twitch in rhythm to an ever-so-soft noise in the distance. The sound suddenly became much more annoying when Ry’s ears honed in on it; if there was one thing he hated, it was repetitive noises.

Quickly, he threw off the covers, draping his feet over the side of the bed, and sighed loudly. Why was someone up at one in the damn morning anyway? Well, he really couldn’t talk since this was the first time he’d actually gone to bed before two, but he still didn’t understand the necessity for repetition at this hour.

Fuck it; he was awake, so he was going to find out what was making that noise and stomp it into the ground.

Getting out of bed, he moved to his closet and threw on a green jacket, keeping the hood down and fuzzy red socks. Pulling his damp hair into a quick ponytail, he made his way out of his room, stopping a few feet from his room.

The noise couldn’t be coming from upstairs since Mika’s music was on and the rest of the hall way eerily silent, so he proceeded down to the stairs, stopping at the entrance to the second floor, glancing around slowly.

He could hear the soft snores from Benny’s room and the silence of Baroness’s room, so he quickly made his way down the hall, passing by four rooms, until he stopped dead, hearing the obnoxious repetition once more. Turning to face the two most suspected rooms, he nearly smacked his forehead when he realized the two suspects: Jill and Dennis.

Obviously it wasn’t Jill, so he was left with…Dennis.

Sighing loudly, he marched forward and quickly rapped on Dennis’s door, not bothering to shout at him since he was right across from Matt’s room. No sense in waking a sleeping giant for an imp’s mischief.

“Damn it!”

Dennis’ usual smile contorted into a sneer as he missed once again. Had he really gotten this rusty at table tennis? In a fit of annoyance, he purposefully threw the ball at the door and grunted.

He inhaled and exhaled. Clapping his hands together once or twice, he attempted to center his mind and begin to calculate what was off. Was he swinging too early? No, that couldn’t have been it. Was he not calculating the trajectory of where the ball was going to return to him? Maybe it was the old hotel that was keeping him from playing at his best.

He was brought out of his thoughts by someone rapping on the door. He looked over at his window which he had blocked sunlight from coming in with cardboard. Great. No idea what time it was. What time was it anyway?

He turned towards his alarm clock. Oh, right. He didn’t set it. That didn’t help.

His focus turned to the door as he lumbered over in his usual lurching pace. Opening the door to the crack, he saw none other than one of his teammates; Ry. He opened it slightly wider and asked.

“Sup, Ry Ry? It mornin’ already?”

Ry’s eyes momentarily shut as he waited for Dennis to come answer the door. He’d been trying to keep himself from falling against it in the first place since he finally realized just how exhausted he was from doing all the crap he’d been up to.

Every morning he got the chance he: woke up, worked on refining the Hanging Tree, ate a quick lunch, worked on the Hanging Tree some more, turned on some music and tried to figure out how to put more detail in it, imagine the world burning, and then a quick run either just after he woke up or right before he went to bed.

Honestly, he remembered showering, then he remembered lumbering over to get his running shoes on…and then black.

Opening his eyes and glancing down at himself, he noticed he was still wearing his sweatshorts and long sleeve shirt…it probably looked all wrong with the fuzzy red socks, but he was in the middle of something else.

Heaving yet another sigh, he tapped his foot in impatience, wondering if maybe all the noises were just in his head and this place had finally driven him insane, but he door opened ever so slightly, revealing the menace’s face.

Ry’s mouth turned downward from its neutral stance as Dennis ignorantly asked him about the time.

“Oh, yeah, it’s fucking morning. Chris is up in his bedroom, snuggling next to Chef as he cooks him escargot, and I’m down here because we’re best friends, you and I.” Ry spat out sarcastically, letting his tapping foot stop and obvious crankiness show.

Setting aside his sass and sarcasm, he raised his tiny eyebrow at the tall male. “What the fuck are you doing at one in the morning?” Ry asked, then added: “You woke me up.”

A subdued, but still slightly maniacal laugh left Dennis’ lips. “Keh-huhuhu. I know that the first one was s'posed to be sarcasm, but was the last one?” Before Ry could say anything, he opened the door a little wider and wagged his finger, “Don’t answer that, keheheh.”

“Surely it’s mornin’ by now,” Dennis pondered aloud, “I mean come the hell on, we set houses aflame like a jillion hours earlier!”

Now that his door was more open, Dennis wasn’t wearing his normal garb. Even his hat was missing. He was just in a simple, oversized tee and grey pajama pants. But he couldn’t sleep, he’d tell himself. It’s not a big deal.

When Ry said that he was woken up, Dennis’ eyes trailed from the artist to the ping pong ball in his hands. Tossing it up once, he answered, “Playin’ a game of ping pong. Like I have time to have any fun in the day with Mc-Not-So-Lean’s challenges. Might as well do a little prac– have a little fun, kyahahahaha!” He didn’t necessarily want anyone to wake up but the annoyance on Ry’s face was too good to pass up.

Ry only raised his tiny eyebrow higher when Dennis didn’t even allow him to answer his question. Then he let out an exasperated sigh and walked forward and leaned on the door frame because his body was bound to fall over if he didn’t lean on something.

“If by morning, then you mean one in the morning, then yeah, it’s fucking morning time…” Ry moved his hand down to his pocket to retrieve his phone, then realized it was missing and groaned. Instead he settled for pushing his bangs off his forehead and pinning them back with the bobby pins in his pocket, revealing his two brown eyes, one missing a pupil. He looked too exhausted to care, though.

Ry regarded Dennis’s attire with a single check and then noticed the patchy hairs at the top of his head once more, making him mentally want to lob off his teammate’s head.

Ry’s mouth tightened at Dennis’s explanation of playing a game that required more than just one player. Actually, Ry wasn’t sure if it was a four player game since he’d never played ping pong before. “…Ping pong? Why the hell are you playing a game that requires multiple people alone, at one in the morning, and AT ALL? I swear…” He paused, head falling against the doorframe momentarily, then he snapped it back up an instant later.

That’s it… He really needed to wake up.

Moving off the doorframe, he pushed past the prankster and entered his room. “Since you had the idiotic nerve to wake me up….” Ry yawned, his hand covering his mouth. He didn’t bother finishing the thought as he made his way into the bathroom.

“And why do you need to practice?” He asked, turning on the water faucet to splash his face with cold water. “You going to do something to Chris with balls?"

Dennis blinked at Ry a minute before looking back over at his unset clock before turning back to face him again. It might’ve been because he was off in his own world, but he never noticed Ry’s lack of pupil in one eye. But then again, his hair was always down. But how the hell did Ry even lose it? He was an artist, right? Maybe he accidentally stabbed himself in the eye with a pen? Dennis winced at that thought before shaking his head.

"Why does Mallory make bombs?” was Dennis’ reply with an amused chuckle, “Hyuk-kuk. I know you gotta lotta serious biz in your tank, but sometimes ‘ya need a hobby from the hobby! Get me?”

He watched Ry brush past him and shrugged, going back to his spot in his room facing the wall. He bounced the ball once before beginning to strike it back and forth from the wall once again. But when Ry spoke up again, the lanky teen lost his focus and missed once more, the ball knocking his alarm clock over.

“…Well, did that answer your question? I’m rusty, keheheh,” Dennis rubbed the back of his neck before adding, “Look, man. Chris is on the bottom o’ the list o’ people I wanna touch my balls to. You or Chef can have that, mm–keheheh?”

The cold water did its job and stimulated the nerves in Ry’s face, instantly causing his senses to become five times more alert at each splash of the water. He didn’t really know why this was working for him when he was so damn tired, but it was doing its job to keep his mind from losing itself in lala land. He would be damned if he fell asleep in here or the hallway.

Straightening himself out, he stretched his body and moved to wipe his face on one of the towels in the bathroom, smearing a bit of the paint that was on his face. He honestly didn’t give a shit about the towels since they had Chris’s face on them.

His body stiffened when he heard the sound of the alarm clock fall over, making him leave the bathroom and stop to watch the ball roll over to his feet where he propped his foot on top of it. “I’d say you’re rusted,” Ry remarked, bending down to pick up the ping pong ball.

It was then he heard Dennis’s comment and shot him a glare fit for Medusa to turn to stone. He was actually not sure how to respond to that. It was downright disturbing to hear something like that thrown at him and he felt a little bit insulted.

“I’d rather make out with a cactus than touch balls with any of you three,” Ry stated, crossing his arms and continuing to glare pointedly, making sure to lock eyes with Dennis to address how this may or may not come back to bite him in the ass later.

Instead of threatening him with blood and vengeance, he made a soft noise equivalent to a scoff and walked over to his teammate, raising his eyebrow. “So you have a list of people you wanna touch balls to?”

Dennis watched the ball roll and then get captured by Ry. Not as surprising as he thought that would be since Ry did the very same thing to his skateboard. He propped the paddle over his shoulder and shrugged.

“Hey, the dick wants what the dick wants,” he continued to tease before adding, “Although, I’d rather put my head in a wood chipper before I did it either, keheheheheh!”

He then blanked at Ry for a moment, before wondering, Do I? Really his only emotion on this show was chaos and satisfaction in being… well… him.

“Don’t you, Ry Ry?” was his answer after a few moments of silence, “Everyone does! Well, except for people who hate genitals to touch I guess. Wonder what kinda list they’d have… Hand touching list…?” He began o muse under his breath.

“You know, I know a perfect place where we could find a wood chipper for you to stick your head in,” Ry offered, half-jokingly. “Though…I heard feet first is the best method for someone like you. The pain would make it worth it AND I could use your leftovers for some of my art. I’ve painted with my own blood before but it was in short bursts, so I could always use some donations.”

Then Ry paused at this, face looking a little thoughtful about the question of if he had one. He knew he didn’t have a…list like that, honestly… He’d done favor for people; he’d done tons of favors for people. Momentarily, he lost eye contact and moved back a few feet. “I don’t have a list…but I’ve done some dirty work in the past.” He told him, not really caring about his reaction much.

“I had to pay for lessons somehow, you know? My parents aren’t big on me stealing two-hundred dollars, so a pervert got what he wanted and I got what I wanted.” Ry shrugged his slender shoulders, walking over to take a seat on Dennis’s bed. “Though personally I would have rather just used my hand rather than my mouth… Hm…”

He lifted the ping pong ball up and flicked it, hitting Dennis square between the eyes. “Though I’d prefer we stop talking about balls…and discuss the fact you still owe me a quill pen. But…I figure you can make it up to me in another form.”

“I won’t ask why you use blood for your art, dude,” Dennis snickered before shrugging, “Eh. Might as well. I got very fucking little to do anyway, might as well go out with a bang."

He arched an eyebrow at Ry’s revelation before saying, without changing any tones in his voice, "Okay…? Ya gotta do what'cha gotta do. Name many people who do anything without sucking a few dudes off, keheheheh! Although if you’re gonna steal two-hundred dollars to get away from that? It ain’t as hard as ‘ya’d think. Just takes a lotta fuckin’ long ass plannin’ stages.”

Dennis grunted slightly when the ball hit his forehead, but didn’t say much in response. He bounced the ping pong ball twice to regain his focus before tossing it towards the wall, starting his game once more.

In between quiet mutterings and focused grunts, he asked, “What 'another form?’”

“More like a…jarring whirring noise accompanied by your screams, but I guess it’s all the same thing.” He paused, then shrugged, grabbing on to his circular necklace with the strange symbol on it. He gently pressed the side of it, after turning it so it was parallel to the ground, and flipped open the lid of it, revealing an inscription on the inside of the lid and a small screw cap lid on the bottom. “Well, I sometimes run out of ink and I have too much inspiration.” He muttered, then flipped it back shut, letting it fall against his chest once more, keeping the symbol facing outward.

Ry’s mouth tightened for a moment, then went directly back to its neutral state. It was clearly a mistake to have told Dennis anything about his past. “Right.” He stated, crossing his legs on the bed.

Ry almost immediately felt like he might rip off Dennis’s hands once the annoying, continuous repetition began once more. If someone else woke up and decided to kick his ass, Ry might offer to make popcorn.

Closing his eyes momentarily, he took in a deep breaths, then reopened them. “Well, I actually have something I’m trying to get back that I left behind.” He explained, falling back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling, hoping he’d not go crazy from the repetition. He made a soft noise as he felt his ponytail get yanked from the sudden motion.

“I took the Walking Snooze Button to the movie theater on the first day we came here because it I figured I could scare him with some stories about ghosts… Long story short: I found something I liked, put it down, then we got attacked by some robot. We had to escape and I’ve tried to go in there twice before…but the damn thing always finds me ten minutes in and I get chased back out.

“I guess you could stay here and bounce a ball off the wall all night, missing after you hit the ball slightly too hard when you reach a certain rhythm…” He pointed toward the wall, seeing if he could time it just right.

“Inspiration?” was Dennis’ reply, “That’s some wicked nasty inspiration. …Next time you do it, tell me.” He didn’t face Ry and instead continued to bat the ping pong ball at the wall in increasing speed. While he did listen to Ry’s disclosure, he didn’t seem to find anything relatively wrong about it. Although that could have been his own tainted view of the world speaking.

“A midnight run for some thrills, chills, and most likely bodily spills?” Dennis asked after he heard what Ry wanted to go get, “Keheheheh, you coulda just said so to begin with, Ry Ry!”

Just then, just as Ry predicted, Dennis hit a little too hard and the ball lost its trajectory, flinging back towards the Black Cupid. However, Dennis spun around, smacking the ping pong ball hard and with quick precision, causing the ball to fly over Ry’s head and smash through the window.

A grin crossed Dennis’ face. But not his usual grin. It was a proud, genuinely happy grin. “Keheh! I’ve still got it! The ‘ole Cruz Reset Spin!” Pocketing his paddle, deciding to use it for their upcoming adventure, Dennis turned to Ry, “Lead the way, Paint Splatter~!”

The fact that Ry had just said that it might be Dennis who he’d use the blood of made him almost wonder if he was talking to human or a skimming machine. If he was really curious about seeing Ry paint with blood, then he’d probably know just how crazy the guy truly was. “Will do, but it may or may not be your funeral.” He warned, voice actually deathly serious, even though he’d probably just cut a small slit in his arm…but he wouldn’t tell Dennis that.

Opening his mouth to reply to Dennis’s next statement, he watched the ping pong ball go soaring overhead, then an obnoxious crashing noise following suit.

Had the ball actually hit him, Ry would have shoved the paddle up Dennis’s ass but seeing It fly through the window, smashing a jagged hole right through the glass, he thought that would be punishment enough for the idiot.

Sitting up slowly, he ran a hand through his hair, causing some of his hair to fall back over his face. “You do realize that a cold front is comin—you know what? I don’t give a shit. If you get sick, then it’s your elimination. Although, I can’t believe I actually predicted something of you. I guess that means you better step op your pranking game or I’ll become the one who pranks you.” His voice was sarcastic, of course, because he had no real desire to meticulously plan something like a prank.

“And if you think I’m taking you dressed like this and you dressed like that, then you’re sadly mistaken. Find your darkest pair clothing that wouldn’t get you snagged easily and meet me outside in ten minutes…if you’re not scared by then, George Glass.” He made a gesture toward the window, knowing it wasn’t really clever, but it was nearly 2 AM; give him a break.

Standing up, he rubbed his eyes once more, then headed out of the room to go get himself his black skinny jeans, hoodie, and brush his hair out because it was still a mess from his nap.

Dennis just shrugged, “If I die, I die.” His absolute apathy was covered up by his usual crooked grin, but then again it was hard to tell if his apathy itself was real or not.

“Worry about you and the queen bee’s fascination on takin’ you down,” another shrug from the Black Cupid, “But I know for a fact I won’t get sick anytime soon, keheheheh.”

He just waved Ry off, a little annoyed at the whole “I’ll prank you,” thing, sarcastic or not. He quickly changed into a black t-shirt and black shorts, plopping his straw hat on his head. Digging around in his suitcase, he plopped a handful of small capsules from a case labelled Miniature Gumballs.

Crawling out the window and picking up and pocketing his ping pong ball and making his way towards the place Ry wanted them to meet up.

Ry hadn’t actually listened to a single word Dennis had uttered while he left the room. To be honest, he’d kind of zoned out and all he could think about was getting that damn gun now.

Pacing back up to his room, he stopped outside of his door, wondering about his decision. Would this end well for him? After all, he didn’t know if he could really trust the guy… They did have a mutual distrust of each other, so at any sign of danger, he knew that it was risky to bring anyone with him…especially one of three people he couldn’t even trust with an egg.

Pushing open his door, he entered his room and quickly changed his clothes, dumping out the contents of his hoodie, excluding his razor, grabbing a small Totoro bag from the floor and filling it with the essentials: bobby pin, tension wrench, his knife, his iPod, a camera for extra lighting, a pill bottle he stuffed cotton in to silence the jiggly beans, and finally bandages in case something happened.

Sighing softly, he zipped the bag shut and reached up to touch his hair, remembering his fire truck red design. Taking a few moments to consider this, he went to his bathroom, grabbing his Ponyo designed hairclip and quickly pulled his hair up, then yanked his hood up to conceal the red.

Pausing for a brief moment, he examined himself in the mirror and put some concealer on his face to hide his dark circles. It was just for his own preference, though.

Truthfully, he still felt like death and exhausted, so he took a moment to grab his headache meds out and take some of the pills, which luckily were caffeinated so he’d feel energetic…or as energetic as he could feel later on.

Finally, he quickly grabbed his keys to his room, dropped them in his bag, and left his room, meeting Dennis at the rendezvous point. The night air was slightly cooler than he remembered but he didn’t seem to mind it much since Canada trumped any cold air he’d ever felt before. “Yo, Den,” he greeted, stopping a few feet from his teammate and possible sacrifice. “You ready to face the raven?”

Dennis had his hands in his pockets, swallowing the “miniature gumballs” when he saw Ry heading his way.

“The raven? We’re tryin’ ‘ta get past a fuckin’ bird?” Dennis snickered, before shrugging, “Maaan, I might as well be. You interrupted my table tennis for this so this better be a decent 'venture, Ry Ry.”

Ry opened his mouth, then shut it for a few moments to walk past Dennis. He had no idea what the other had been doing but he assumed he was eating something and just refusing to share.

He stopped a few few ahead of him and turned around, looking deathly serous. “It was a metaphor, but I’ll assume you knew that one. We’re going to be facing the ‘messenger of death,’ yes.” He concluded, making his way forward.

“Oh, and it’ll be way better than table tennis…at least for me.” His voice faded out at the last part as if he’d moved on to a new thought.

For the rest of the walk, however, he refused to respond to anything the other might say, not because he’d annoyed him but because Ry was lost in thoughts about how to go about this. There were so many holes that he’d discovered last time he’d done this, but he figured that having company might be his answer, even if it was with bonehead.

After a good five minute walk, Ry stopped in front of the movie theater and breathed a heavy sigh at the collapsed entrance, remembering that day like it was only yesterday. His hand slowly edged up and touched his neck at the memory of nearly being strangled to death by the hands of the robotic force inside.

Glancing back at Dennis, he decided to speak now. “The entrance is up top,” he informed him, which wasn’t much of a conversation starter but he didn’t figure it would have to be.

He ushered for his lanky teammate to follow him around to the side of the building, which revealed a fairly large dumpster, a concrete block next to it and on top of it, and a ladder that was about two feet away from the dumpster and three feet up.

Without a word, Ry rushed forward, stepped up on the block and propelled himself up where he grabbed on to the side of the dumpster and, without missing a beat, hoisted himself up on top of it. Then he rushed forward and did the same for the ladder, only this time he found no need to rush to climb a ladder.

Once up top, he dangled his feet over the edge and gestured for Dennis to follow suit.

Dennis shrugged, as Ry walked off before scowling annoyed at the back of his head when he turned. ‘Messenger of Death?’ 'For me anyway?’ This, of course, made the hidden mechanizations of Dennis to turn and reminded him of home in some of the worst of ways. Regardless, his grin returned, for the time being and he followed suit.

Using his long legs and arms to his advantage, he climbed on the block and pulled himself onto the dumpster. He scurried up the ladder and stood next to Ry before asking, “Is whatever the fuck this is really worth all this trouble, shortstop, keheh?”

Ry pulled his legs out from the ledge and pushed himself so he was standing on it like the feeling of being mere centimeters from a severe drop didn’t bother him. “To me, it’s worth a lot more than it would be to you.” Ry informed him, making his way over to a large piece of cardboard, covering the obvious entrance below.

“Anyway, even if it’s worth nothing, I’m stubborn as a fucking moose, so I won’t let it slip out from my fingertips….even if it means I die trying to get it. But, I mean, my death isn’t much of a downer.” Using his leg strength, he sent the cardboard a good eight feet from the hole, causing it to catch on the wall and sit up like he’d just placed it there gently.

“And since you haven’t ditched me yet, I assume you aren’t scared of what could be down there.” He gestured toward the entrance, revealing just a short drop on to a rafter thirty feet from the floor below.

“This is your last chance to turn around and leave with your tail between your legs, Den.” He warned, keeping his steely gaze locked on him. “If you’re serous, then go on and jump down.”

Dennis was quiet for a moment. Part of him knew and understood the feeling of having little interest in their own self-interest, but the other part of him thought this was ridiculous. What could be so important?

He mentally noted that he should test the waters.

“Like I said, an adventure’s somethin’ that’ll break the mundane bullshit of this place,” Dennis replied, before his grin softening into what was similar to a smirk, “But I’m out for number one. The Black Cupid himself, baby. So, we’ll both make the jump at the same time, keheheheheheheh!”

Only Dennis was going to let Ry make the jump first and go when he knew it was safe. He didn’t care much for his own safety perse, but he did care if his safety was going to be endangered willingly by someone else.

Keep stickin’ out for number one, he thought to himself.

Ry immediately shuddered at the word ‘baby’ and was half-tempted to cut him off. “Right. I’ve done this four times but I suppose the fear of doing it the first time for people like you…can be intimidating.” He half-joked, stepping over the ledge of the hole. This was something he’d done more times than he could count. If it wasn’t attempting it for own gratification, it was doing it to sneak into a movie, amusement park, or just any place he didn’t care much for the price. The only time he’d been caught was at the Fallout Boy concert when he snuck backstage….but that was another story. Biting his lip for a moment, he took the leap and landed right in the middle of the rafter, bending down to keep himself more balanced, and gripped the edges. Quickly, he moved aside enough for Dennis to hop down after him. “Come on, then, 'Black Cupid;’ spread your wings and fly or get them cut and die.” He called back up, not really taunting him for once. He was actually interested that Dennis didn’t actually wuss out.

Dennis watched Ry jump down and land on the rafter. It seemed safe enough so far.

“The Black Cupid never backs down from a challenge, Ry Ry, keheheheheh!”

He backed up slightly before running forward, using his momentum to jump down the thirty feet drop. He slightly overshot it, causing him to have to grab onto one of the edges. He grunted for a minute before pulling himself onto the rafter.

“Coulda gone better, hue,” he chuckled slightly before turning back to Ry, now beside him but still holding onto the edge, “Where’s that thingamajigger you want, anyway?”

Ry sat there for a bit, watching Dennis jump down had both terrified him and made him slightly giddy. It was like he’d just drank a whole bottle of tequila while driving. It was at that moment a malicious grin formed on his face the whole time Dennis struggled to pull himself up on to the rafter. “Nice one.” He sarcastically stated, swinging his legs calmly over the dangerous drop.

It quickly died away when he was next to him; however, the feelings still remained, giving him a more eerie glow…or it could be the lighting. “Welcome to the lion’s den.” He greeted, pulling his feet up next to him and standing into a crouched position.

When he asked him about the location of his item of interest, he looked back at him. “It’s 30 feet below us…in the middle of the floor.” His voice suddenly became a whisper as he moved toward a support beam.

“The drop’s a little farther than yesterday…” He mumbled, leaning against the beam. His eyebrows scrunched together in the dark, then he gestured for Dennis to move over. “It’s going to be about ten feet to jump down there…”

Removing his knife from his Totoro bag, he leaned about about foot down from the ledge and began to carve into the support beam as far as his arm could reach, carefully cutting a fairly large hole into the beam.

Getting back up, he shook some of the from his shirt. “Seven feet’s better than te—!” Right after he uttered those words, he quickly moved away from the edge and laid himself down as far as he could, waving his hand quickly for Dennis to do the same.

“Get down!” He hissed softly, glancing over the edge at something moving below.

“I could always push us both off~” Dennis teased with another of his signature cackles punctuating it. He then mused for a moment when Ry made his lion’s den line and said, “Bruh, what’re you talkin’ ‘bout? Lion’s den my black ass.”

Another thirty feet below. A ten feet drop to make it to their next landing. It made Dennis wonder just how gargantuan this warehouse was. In a way, it was absolutely exhilarating.

He watched Ry carving into the support beam and was about to make a comment, when he was told to duck down. He watched as, indeed, someone or something was moving about below them.

“What the fuck is that?” he whispered, partially in confusion, partially in more excitement.

Ry’s eyebrows raised momentarily at Dennis’s comment about shoving them both off, though he found it more amusing than he let on. If he died, though, he’d be stuck with Dennis for the rest of his afterlife. That, whether it in Heaven or Hell or Purgatory or blackness, would be torture enough.

He wanted to comment on it, but he sighed softly at Dennis’s other comment. “…’Bruh,’” he mimicked his tone, though it felt wrong even with the mimicking intention. “You have no idea what the fuck you’re getting into.” He mumbled, before he forced himself to lay low.

Glancing down at the robotic entity rustling around, stopping every few moments to move in a circular pattern for any irregularities. “That….is the ‘lion,’” Ry informed Dennis, moving his hand up and wiping away some of the concealer from his neck to reveal a large purple bruise. “And if you want to play with it, then be my guest; otherwise, shut your mouth.” He warned, glaring back down as it made its way past them, receiving a soft sigh from Ry.

“Just don’t…be yourself.” Ry told him, sitting back up and grabbing on to the support beam. “Any bit of you in here could trigger an attack.”

Dennis turned to Ry, eyes wide, and coarsely whispered, “Okay, don’t fuckin’ say bruh ever again, that sounded fuckin’ satanic!” Either way, the tall prankster ducked lower.

Dennis watched the robot make its rounds and turned back to Ry, “I don’t know how much pot you smoked today, but that is not a lion. Keh–” He quickly silenced himself.

He glared at Ry for a minute, his hand slipping into his pocket and fidgeting with his ping pong ball. A little bit of him would come out eventually, Dennis knew.

“So what the fuck are we even gonna do?”

Ry’s mouth moved down into a deep frown as he was told never to say ‘bruh’ again, but he decided that it was irrelevant to their objective and moved past it. “You say that to the person who’s been called a Satanist.” He mumbled softly, sitting himself up and moving toward the support beam once more, inching his hands back to his knife.

“The amount of pot I smoked today is irrelevant…” He whispered back to Dennis, pulling his knife out once more and stopping once he was pressed against the support beam. Unzipping his Totoro bag, he pulled out some of the items he stowed away, pausing on a few random rocks he’d stopped to pick up on the way here.

Glancing at Dennis, he pulled his arm back, rock in hand, and chucked it where the robot had gone off to. There was was a brief pause in the silence, the air filling with uncertainty if he’d done it right.

Then… CLANK!

The robot’s body stopped midstep, turned left, and rushed at inhumane speeds into the nearest theater.

“What we’re gonna do is use this moment to get down ten feet and find our next hiding spot.” He muttered, standing up on the rafter and straddling the support beam, using the foot hole he’d made with his knife to lower himself.

A few moments later, he wrapped his arms around the support beam and let himself slide down, stopping a foot from the next dropping point, which just happened to be right on top of the display shelves.

Dennis gave Ry a confused look when he said he’d been called a Satanist. That was… odd. Ry seemed extremely dark and morbid, but he wasn’t sure if that had any right to be synonymous. He didn’t say anything, however.

“So a lot, keheheh,” Dennis quietly laughed, before watching him throw the rock at the robot, sending in careening off for the moment.

“Man, talk about Mission Impossible~” he childishly sing-sang as he followed Ry’s lead, attaching his noodle arms to the support beam and following after. When he saw Ry stop he scrambled to stop, barely making it.

“So, we gonna parkour over there, shortstuff?” he whispered, curiously.

“For your information, I smoked ONE bowl, but I fell asleep so it doesn’t count.” Ry informed him like it mattered before he made his way down. Honestly, he hated not using Yorick for his ‘alone time’ but he’d been in a hurry.

There was a soft grunt from Ry below as he felt Dennis’s foot tap on his head, instantly regretting not telling Dennis to wait for him to maneuver off the pole before he came down. If he’d not been forced to keep quiet, he’d of torn Dennis a new sarcastic remark from Canada to Antarctica, but he restrained himself and let out a soft sigh, leaning his head against the beam.

Glaring up at the tree sliding down the wooden remains of his kind, he huffed. “If you wanna call it that, then yep. If you wanna call me shortstuff again, then you can play chew toy to the robot.” He muttered, using his feet to keep for support. “Just don’t screw up because we have a distance down to go.”

Leaning himself slightly, he propped his foot on the support beam and used it to propel himself on to the display shelf, barley managing to grab on to a handmade statue of an Oscar with ‘Leonardo DiCaprio’s  hopes and dreams’ written on the plaque.

“Be careful not to knock shit off here.” He warned him, leaning against the wall to sidle his way across the shelves. Hopping down from one display shelf, he managed to clear a three foot gap and five foot drop, landing with a soft thud on the shelf below that one, knocking a picture frame off the shelf.

“Shitshitshishit!” Ry hoarsely whispered, trying to grab the frame but missed it by a long shot. The air was stiff and filled with horror as the picture fell, but it luckily landed on a bag of old popcorn, concealing the sound indefinitely.

He sighed in relief and paused at the edge of the shelf, glancing down at a statue of some knock off movie that Chris probably didn’t want to risk copyright on.

The statue gleamed in the light eerily, showcasing some sort of black dragon with soft glowing eyes. The detail from the design glistened with scales and horns, which looked surprisingly decent for something Chris had put into the game for no reason other than discovering.

Glancing over, assuming Dennis had followed after him, he softly said. “The climb from that thing will take us to the floor level. If you haven’t screwed up yet, then don’t screw up on the last bit! This is the farthest I’ve made it here…” He admitted gesturing up at the other support beam on the other side of the rafters, which had a giant hole in it and looked as if it’d collapse soon enough.

“Only one?” Dennis teased with a cackle, before quickly silencing himself. He followed after Ry, but despite their majorly different body frames, Dennis was a lot slower and more uncoordinated than Ry was, his legs dragging slightly.

He began to awkwardly sidle after Ry, almost falling off once or twice, before givng Ry an amused look that read, “Try not to knock shit off of here.” Of course, he was barely hanging on for dear life, so he had little to say.

He stared at the giant support beam and paled. Well, this could end well. He could see it now. Innocent “angel” and Short Child killed by a rampaging robot. Regardless, he nodded and grinned,

“Keheheheh, let’s do it~”

Ry, at first, returned to Dennis’s mocking look an ice cold one, but he quickly changed it to one of mockery himself since he could see the way he was positioning himself. Here Ry thought he’d hired a professional. “Remember: don’t make a sound down there. Yeah, there’s carpet…but one wrong crunch and we’ll be high tailing it out of here.”

It was then that Ry leaped of the book shelf and grabbed on to the horns of the dragon statue, yanking himself up on to its head to take a few breaths, tilting his head back so they came out silent. Leaning his head back forward, he strared down the back of the dragon and scooted himself down the head, then closed his eyes like he was about to put put into the head hole of a guillotine, and slid down the back of the dragon.

Managing to stop himself from falling off the back by using the balls of his feet to stop him at the wall, he quickly hopped off the dragon’s tail and rushed to behind the counter of the popcorn stand, glancing back up at Dennis to make sure he did exactly what he’d done. One false step and he could make a noise loud enough to get them both caught…but this time, Ry had a chance to get what he needed.

“I know, I know already,” Dennis waved Ry off, “Thank you, Mama Ry Ry. Kehuu.” He watched Ry leap off the book shelf and swallowed some saliva. He watched Ry slide off the back of the dragon and barely make it without making a noise.

“Here goes somethin’,” he gave an uncharacteristic sneer and lunged, landing on the dragon statue. He grinned. He did it. He began to slide down the dragon.

Oh, yeah he did it.

He fell.

Landing on his ass, Dennis cursed mentally. He was fast and nimble, but his ability to overshoot things and have bad balance was a lifelong curse. He froze and looked at Ry, almost terrified. He was unsure what the hell he just did. For once in his eighteen years, Dennis Carlos Cruz was actually a little scared.

Watching Dennis tumble and fall actually was amusing to Ry, but he felt fear creep up easily after. The soft thud that was produced when Dennis fell to the carpeted floor softly echoed throughout the building, causing the air to suddenly drop ten degrees.

“I…” Ry began, eyes widened in shock at the fact that he’d just witnessed another detrimental event happen right before his eyes. He couldn’t tell if they’d just screwed themselves over or if the noise was soft enough to keep them safe.

Biting his lip, Ry poked his head over the counter, surveying his surroundings and almost breathed a loud sigh of relief. Dennis’s stupid ass didn’t just get them caught after all. Lowering his head, he took in some well-needed breaths, calming his pumping heart from exploding out his chest.

Until…

Ever so softly he heard the soft crumbling noise behind him, making him turn suddenly and rush over. He knew that noise well-enough from his experiences with old, decayed stones.

The statue was falling apart.

Speeding up to his fasted velocity, Ry looped his arm with Dennis’s securing a hold on him and yanked him away. If he hadn’t built up enough speed, he would have sat there, tugging on him like a child would a giant dog. The force, however, sent them both spiraling and tumbling down on to the ground and rolling for a few seconds…right out in the open.

The statue held back no force with the sounds of it falling apart. It clanged against the metal, the popcorn maker, and slammed into the countertop, smashing the glass of the display case of the various food options and small toys that they offered.

Ry’s heart was beating out of his chest once the room fell back to deafening silence for the brief moments they were alone. Taking a few breaths and some gulps, he craned his neck to peer around and extended his hearing in an attempt to see if they were royally screwed.

Thunk thunk thunk thunk 

Yep.

Dennis heard the crumbling noise from the statue and braced himself for it to fall on him, crushing him. However, just in time, he was pulled to safety from Ry of all people. He turned to face the shorter teen and almost asked, “What the fuck?” before noticing they were now completely in the open.

The noise of the robot’s footsteps made Dennis’ stomach turn. This wasn’t human like Dennis was used to outwitting. This was a monster. A robot of all things. It had no emotion or fear of his pranks.

He looked over at Ry again and then back at the sound of the coming footsteps. Through gritted teeth, Dennis ordered Ry, “Get. Whatever you wanted to get, Ry Ry. Keh.”

The six foot tall bean pole stood up and began to make his distance from Ry. At first, it looked like Dennis was running off. That wasn’t the case.

“HEY, VOLTRON!” Dennis pulled out his ping pong ball and paddle from his pocket, bouncing the ball on the floor, “How ‘bout you’s and me play some one on one!”

Dennis wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he did know, he owed Ry one. And he was willing to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

To Ry, this felt like the first challenge again when they were spinning out of control down the hill, but he felt gratitude that he didn’t slam his head into something this time. Sitting up and looking back over his shoulder, he could see the silhouette of the creature that had given him his neck tattoos.

Looking back at Dennis, he opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly cut off by the order, which would have led him to punt Dennis if he weren’t already planning to get this item AND they weren’t in so much danger. “Ri—!” He tried to utter but was completely astonished to see Dennis had just took off running.

‘Oh, fuck you.’ He thought, thinning his lips into a straight line, until he saw Dennis do something completely…off the wall. In the midst of a dangerous, rampaging robot, Dennis had decided to play the hero role and try to gain its attention.

The silhouette paused in a confused state at the sight of the straw hat teen as if it were analyzing the situation in front of it, prompting Ry to spring into action. He rushed back the way he’d originally came, jumping over the counter for gaining tickets and snack foods.

He held his breath, hoping he’d been sneaky enough to have avoided gaining attention, which his breath was able to be released when he heard the footsteps gradually speed up in the direction of Dennis.

As it came into the light, Dennis could see clearly all the damage from Ry’s visits here in the past: sparking wires sticking from its neck, some melted latex that once made it humanoid, dents as if a knife were used in a couple areas, splinters of wood sticking from different areas, and the head was tilted completely to the side. If it weren’t for the fact that it looked like it were well-functioning, one would have assumed that it was weak.

Sparking and twitching for a moment, it paused once more to regain some balance, then it sprang forward, reaching straight for the taller male’s neck.

Using that moment, Ry jumped right back over the counter and rushed toward the glittering object in the light, snatching it up from the floor and rolling on the ground to a kneeling position to aim it toward the robot as it raced for Dennis.

Not many things terrified Dennis Cruz. He was usually the type to laugh things off. To continue mouthing off towards his opposition.

But this was different. This was a life or death situation, possibly. He was scared to death. Yet here he was, standing down against a rampaging machine, to buy Ry some time. A momentary lapse? Maybe.

But Dennis was also stubborn enough not to back down.

“¡Ándale, Puta!” he called out at the robot.

Unfortunately, he did not notice the robot’s massive speed and was quickly picked up by the neck by the machine. Choking and making gurgling noises, only one thought came to Dennis’ mind.

I guess this is going out with a bang too, huh?

Tightening his mouth into a thin line, Ry wondered what he was doing here exactly. He HAD what he needed so why was he still here exactly? The exit wasn’t too far away and he could easily get out of here without having to risk his skin; the robot was being distracted by Dennis anyway, so he could get out of here and feign innocence about the whole ordeal; however, he couldn’t just leave him, because he hadn’t left him.

Leaning his head down for a few moments, he took some deep breaths and then looked back up, eyes scanning the room for anything he could use to his advantage.

Then he noticed it: an oxygen tank. The tank itself was what he needed, but the oxygen inside provided him with enough fuel to get it going.

Pushing up off the ground, he rushed over to where it was lying. Grabbing at it, he pulled it up and laid it down on the countertop of the ticket bar, twisting it so that he aimed it right at the monstrosity’s head.

Taking a deep breath, he moved back a couple of feet, aimed his gun, and shot the tank, causing it to explode right in front of him, sending the tank right at the robot’s head and blasting it over to the side.

The force of it wasn’t enough to knock its head off but enough to knock Dennis out of its grip; however, the explosion was enough to send Ry smashing into the popcorn stand with a sharp yelp.

A choking, gurgling noise came from Dennis’s throat as the robot had him in his grasp. However, before he ended up possibly losing consciousness or getting his neck broken from the robot, he was knocked out of the robot’s grip by an explosion. He landed on the floor and rubbed his back before looking over at Ry.

Stumbling back up and taking this minute chance to run over to the shorter teen, he extended a hand down to him, his throat raspy, “Dunno what the fuck you did, but glad you did it, keh. Let’s blow this popsicle stand if ‘ya got what ‘ya come for!” Every few moments he would look over his shoulder at the robot, just to be safe.

Ry groaned softly, feeling like he’d just been hit by a semi-truck from TEXAS, assuming they were bigger in Texas since that’s all he ever heard from Americans. He couldn’t even process what had happen, but he was glad he’d kept his hood up as he heard little tinkles of glass fall on the floor behind him. Had he not been careful, he’d of surely gotten a surprise throat piercing to show off at his funeral.

Admittedly, Ry had actually begun to fall asleep while he was sitting there, having become exhausted since it was probably three in the morning by now. Before his mind completely relaxed, he heard the voice of Dennis above him, prompting his eyes to crack open. If he was stupid enough, or tired enough, he would have turned over and told Dennis to give him five more minutes or to go back to being strangled so Ry could get some shut eye; but he knew that would be a grave mistake on one of their parts.

Instead of being a stubborn mule for once, he grabbed on to the Dennis’s hand to get some help to stand up again, hand grasping the gun tightly and eyes looking disoriented from the hit. Yanking on Dennis’s arm, he managed to pull himself up on to his feet and rubbed some glass off the back of his hoodie. “FUCK!” He finally said, realizing just how painful that had been to both take a hit to the back of the body and to forcefully pull himself up in a hurry. “Oh, shit that fucking hurt worse than a fucking moose ramming into you!”

When he finally got his head to stop spinning, he stared at Dennis with raised eyebrows before saying, “Gaile called. She wants her 90’s lingo back.” Even though this probably wasn’t the best time for his sarcastic quips, Ry was not about to let this moment pass.

“But…yeah, I don’t want to stay around for Mr. Faye to stop processing.” With that, he rushed over to the counter and attempted to jump over it, stopping when he felt half his body scream in pain. “OH, FUCK!”

Dennis’s slightly panicked eyebrows smoothed out when he noticed Ry was at least alive. Thankfully, he had only dosed off. Dennis brought his free hand up to his bruised neck and frowned. How bittersweet.

Helping Ry back to his feet, he noticed the gun in Ry’s hand. That’s what he came here for? A gun? If he wasn’t so ready to skedaddle, he would have been moderately pissed at the situation.

“No shit, sherlock!” Dennis exclaimed before snickering at Ry’s obvious assumption, “You went flyin’ like a fuckin’ rag doll! Kehah.” He then noted that Ry was back to his sarcastic self. Well, he obviously wasn’t dead.

Dennis watched him attempt to jump the table and cursed under his breath. The one thing they didn’t need right now. Joining Ry, he hissed:

“Make your choice. Either piggy back and hope I have the speed not to get us killed or try to get help walkin’ and hope our coordination don’t get us in hell.”

Watching Dennis’s hand slide across his throat, Ry felt obligated to be a smart ass. “You know, right now… I have something I’ve been itching to say: I told you so.” He’d warned him this thing wasn’t to be messed with and he told him not to act like himself. What did he do? He took a paddle ball to an insane robot-that-destroyed-a-support-beam fight.

After unsuccessfully trying to jump over the counter and screaming out obscenities under his breath, he leaned against it, eying their attempted murderer machine. Every time he came here, he got a new reason to come back, but he didn’t want to stress killing the thing. Maybe it was only programmed to come here anyway.

With that in mind, he slowly ran his hand across his side, then lifted up his hoodie to reveal his stomach. A large bruise had started to form in the shape of the valve of the oxygen tank. Of all the times he could have that happen… Leaning his head down, he let his hoodie drop back down and looked back at Dennis, who was now by his side, making him jump slightly in surprise. If he had a bell, he’d put it on him because him being able to sneak up on Ry was getting annoying.

The options that Dennis displayed to him were both horrible in Ry’s mind. On the off chance that this thing reactivates, both of them could end up being slaughtered to death before they even got to the escape route; however, Ry didn’t want to play a hero role in this, nor did he want to get left behind until he felt better.

Letting out a long and exasperated breath, Ry tried to come up with a compromise to this. He could just say ‘I’m fine,’ but that might just get him lifted and then Dennis would regret that out of Ry’s reflexes. Grunting in annoyance, he decided to climb up on Dennis’s back. “This never leaves here, got it? I still can and will break your kneecaps,” he warned him, wrapping his arms around Dennis’s neck for support.

Really, Ry was the only one who knew the way out, so this was a better option than Dennis slapping his sandals on the floor and getting killed…he guessed.

Then remembering the last thing Dennis said, Ry glared at him. “If we both go to hell, then you better stay on your side of hell and let me be on my side.”

Dennis didn’t seem to care, about either almost getting killed or Ry snarking at him and shrugged. However, he did grin and lift his middle finger, saying, “And somethin’ I’m now itchin’ to say: Fuck off.”

He looked down at Ry’s bruise before asking, “…You tell yourself so too? Keheheh…”

Dennis bent over to let Ry get on his back and grunted slightly. His bones weren’t as strong as most teenagers, but he had enough strength to hold him.

“Yeah, yeah, get in line,” the black cupid amusedly replied to the shorter teen’s threat as he situated his arms around his neck, “Play GPS or somethin’, I guess. Don’t know what the fuck this warehouse’s exits and shit are.”

Despite this, he walked forward to get some testing on if he could keep Ry on. He settled on yes, but he knew he’d be definitely sore in the morning. He grimaced for a second before saying, “So. Get yappin’, keheheheheh!”

A hint of malice and amusement struck across Ry’s eyes as he watched Dennis’s middle finger greet him. If it weren’t for the fact Ry could appreciate the quick response to his wit, he would have grabbed the long finger and broke it off. It could go on his necklace and check the amount of ink left inside the compartment.

Shaking the dark thoughts from his mind, he refocused on the situation at hand, muttering out a simple “You’re a fucking prick.” Before getting himself situated on his back.

Hearing him say to get in line, Ry clung to him tightly, wrapping his arms tighter around his neck. “There’s no line right now, you know?” He mumbled before loosening his grip and peering over his shoulder, staring forward in concentration. Where were they in correlation to the exit?

Deciding that he was really in an asshole mood, he muttered, “Turn right, then walk five feet and your destination is our death.” He ignored the discomfort that came from him being Dennis’s back and also the fact that he knew Dennis wouldn’t be able to hold him for long.

After a few moments to let Dennis get his quip in about Ry’s sarcastic comment, he finally began to be serious, eyes narrowing as he glanced around. “Head back to the support beam and keep going past that. Remember the theater the robot went in when we first came in? That’s where the exit is located.” Every few moments, his eyes would look over toward the robot, wondering if it was bound to start moving. “Just don’t stop moving no matter what.”

“True,” Dennis couldn’t disagree with being called a prick. It was as true as the sky was blue. He gave another coughing wheeze at Ry tightening his grip, before breathing out when Ry decided to let up.

When Ry first said go towards the robot, Dennis turned on his heels and took one step forward. “Okay, bother you in hell~” However, he did decide to step back how he was and take some steps towards the support beam.

The theater. Yeah, he vaguely remembered that. He began to talk, every once in a while turning back to see if the robot was moving at all. So far so good, but then again, he knew things could quickly get worse at any time.

Ry, at first, let his eyes widen when Dennis moved toward the robot, then relaxed when he stopped. “Piss off… If you even come near me in Hell, then I’ll shove you down further into it, you fucking dart.” He muttered, watching the robotic entity wearily. Activation was creeping up on them any moment now and he didn’t know if they would make it halfway to their destination before the activation took place.

Every moment mattered now, so he dropped his sarcasm and ignored the pain from his bruise on his stomach. He really hoped tomorrow they weren’t doing anything with a lot of stretching or he’d be screwed. He’d need a pretty laid back and boring challenge to keep him tame, but he wondered how awake he could stay in a challenge like that.

Watching the support beam go by, Ry felt relief rush over him and he relax, letting his head fall on Dennis’s shoulder. He really needed to sleep but if he fell asleep now, then he’d be leaving Dennis to use his wit to help them get out of here, and Ry doubted Dennis’s wit…greatly. “When we get in there…” He mumbled softly, yawning loudly and rubbing one of his eyes but stopped.

Glancing over his shoulder, he raised both his eyebrows as he saw the twitching of the robot’s limbs. “Hurry the fuck up…” He ordered, kicking Dennis’s sides like a horse, albeit lightly.

“You fucking what?” Dennis asked, continuing to walk but furrowing his eyebrows, “Bruh. I don’t speak Canadian bacon. Member? Keheheheheh.”

The prankster felt awkward for a minute when Ry laid his head on his shoulder. Did he have to pick now to go to sleep? Of all times?! Regardless, he kept walking. He noticed out of the corner of his eye the support beam Ry mentioned. Closer, but still a while to go.

“When we get in whe– Hey!” Dennis exclaimed, after he was kicked lightly in the sides, “I ain’t no ho–” He turned to see the robot beginning to twitch and paled. Saying no more, he sped up, his walk becoming something between a fast walk and a jog. Of course it wouldn’t be easy.

“Oh, sorry,” Ry apologized sarcastically, then went on to translate for Dennis. “I said, ‘Piss off… If you even come near me in Hell, then I’ll shove you down further into it, you fucking’ idiot.” He corrected himself, looking more exhausted now, blinking momentarily to keep himself awake. “I should speak like an American, right? Football, Mountain Dew, Yankees… Fried Green Tomatoes…”

Sitting his head up, he watched the support beam some more, then looked up from where they came in from. There would be no way that they’d make it back up to that in time before that thing came back alive. He’d tried it when the thing was stalled in caramelized soda stains. He’d nearly fallen thirty feet to his death but had been spared when he landed on the support beam. This was going to be either the death of them or Ry would get to keep his gun. Lifting up his hand slightly, avoiding hitting Dennis in the throat with it as he did so, he stared down at the shiny metal of it, admiring the view of every detail.

Was it worth it to Ry? Hell fucking yes. To Dennis? Maybe. He’d wanted adventure, so Ry delivered it for him so if he tried to bitch Ry out, he could turn it around on him, saying that he cared about Ry’s safety. Nodding his head to himself, he felt confident that would shut the other up as showing concern for Ry might ruin his reputation of being a bastard. At least that’s how Ry thought.

Ry nearly made a comment back about Dennis technically being his horse when he remembered how severe the situation was. Then the running began and Ry made unsatisfied noises about being bounced around on his back, prompting him to tighten himself around the other, hissing in pain as he felt the bruise light up in pain. “Oh, so now you see the severity of our situation,” he snarked in regards to his face visibly paling.

“Do you want me to drop you or not?!” Dennis hissed. While usually he would have taken Ry’s snark in stride, they were kinda… trying not to die here. Dennis knew he’d go out sometime, but by a psychotic killer robot wasn’t his plan. He’d go out by his volition in a blaze of glory.

“…Who the fuck eats fried green tomatoes?” he then asked, his annoyance shifting to amusement. While Dennis wasn’t a newcomer to soul food, he usually passed up the chance to eat that.

“I’m going to fucking drop you if you don’t shut up, Yankee Doodle Dandy, keheheheh!” Dennis took a cheap shot at Ry’s feather-adorned hat and tried to speed up. He gave a wince every few steps, but decided to keep attempting to head forward.

Ry actually wasn’t sure who the fuck ate fried green tomatoes or exactly what they were. Were they when the tomatoes were still small and greenish before they were ripe? This thought process distracted him for a good bit before he realized that he was supposed to be doing something other than thinking. Well, honestly, all he could do was be the lookout or be an ass. Since he’d already checked over his shoulder, he felt the obligation to continue being an ass creep up on him.

“If you drop me, then you’ll regret it as I’m your personal GPAss,” Ry commented, looking back over his shoulder again and ducking his head down as he saw something fly past them, slamming in the support beam they were going, causing his hands to fly back to protect his head from unwanted debris. “And you’ll need me more than you think now that Mister Roboto is active again…”

When Dennis told Ry to shut up, he almost felt obligated to do so, then narrowed his eyes wanting to hit Dennis upside the head…or knock his straw hat off, but he felt like either one would just inconvenience them or Dennis might actually drop him and that’d be a pain in itself. “What the fuck is that even supposed to mean?!” Ry asked, eyebrows raising up at the—he speculated—made up words that just rolled out of Dennis’s mouth.

“You know what? I’m glad I have free healthcare, because I have indigestion from that!” At this point, Ry was more spouting off sarcasm as a way to relax from the stress-filled situation that was behind them.

The air was suddenly silent as they ran, causing Ry’s hair to stand on end. Whatever the thing had planned was obviously different than anything else from before. He breathed out a misleading sigh with the sudden silence but it was replaced by a surprised noise as he realized something: he’d dropped the gun.

He didn’t know whether he should mention it or not, because now he’d just lost the whole reason he’d fucking come he–!

Bang!

“…G-Pass or GP-Ass? I mean you kinda fit both, shortstop,” Dennis snickered, as he continued to run. He ducked slightly when some debris flew near him. Great. Their personal Voltron was up and running again.

“You don’t know what the fuck Yankee Doodle Dandy is?! What are you, Canadia– keheheheheheh!” The Black Cupid continued his run towards the theater, when a familiar noise caused his gut to sink some. Beside him, he watched a bullet ricochet off the floor. He thought now would be a good time to leave Ry for dead, but he also was his ticket out of here.

“You better have a good idea from your perch, Ry Ry!” he exclaimed, trying to run faster. His winces of pain was becoming more frequent and he wasn’t sure how long he could keep this up. But at this point, he was only running on pure adrenaline.

Ry’s eyebrows scrunched together and he almost asked if he meant ‘Gay-pass’ for it or if he meant something sexual, but he decided against it as he’d probably just get a flurry of laughs or a vague answer around it. “The latter, dart!” He informed him, not sure why he needed to clarify that but it felt important that he not tell people he was a ‘g-pass…’whatever that meant.

“I swear that my entire team is full of Americans!” He yelled, running a hand through his hair, letting his hood fall off his head. “But I’m not surprised since Kiki has an accent, T is obviously American, Lavender is from Miami, and you’re…quoting gibberish! What the fuck is a Yankee Doodle? Is that the equ–!” He was cut off when he realized that asking Dennis about his culture would have to wait.

Closing his eyes in momentary annoyance, not that he hadn’t reached that point for the first time tonight, he let out soft sigh, then slapped the side of Dennis’s head. “That’s Canadian for turn left!” He ordered, ducking his head down as he heard another gunshot go off behind them, the bullet barely missing their heads by a centimeter. “We’re going to have to play a game of hide-and-seek…I think there’s an exit in every theater…but he might follow us outside if we’re not careful…or the alarm goes off… Eh, either way.”

“KEHEHEHEHEHEH, this dart thing makes no sense!” Dennis burst out into another spell of laughter.

“You know,” he mused for a second as he continued to run, “That makes little sense, since this show’s like Canadia–” He was silenced as well by the gunshot, before getting slapped upside the head.

“Wanna know American for ‘smashed into robot oil?’” Dennis burst out into another spell of “KEHEHEHEHEHEHEH”s before quickly making a left turn. A game of hide and seek? How exactly could they hide from a giant, rampaging robot when Ry was injured and Dennis was slowly running out of steam? It seemed pretty impossible to the black cupid.

“It just means idiot, dumbass!” Ry lividly told Dennis, feeling like he was repeating himself more times than he ought to. ‘This is what you get for being on the worst team on the show! Out of all teams, this is the only one that hasn’t won. Well, the Parrots haven’t either, so it’s not like we’re too far behind.’ He thought to himself, hoping the challenge tomorrow would give them a chance to actually win for once. “Plus, it also means to go at a fast pace, so it makes more sense than you’re giving it credit for, you redneck hillbilly!”

When they entered into the theater, the place horribly lit with only a sliver of moon light come from a gaping hole in the ceiling. Had it not been for the fact that it was too high up, one would have assumed it was the way out; however, Ry quickly pointed toward the seats in the theater, but he couldn’t get a word in before the sound of a gunshot cut him off.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that the noise had caused a ringing sensation in his ears, he would have assumed he’d been shot, but he felt no pain or blood on him and just heard the trickling sound of the bullet fly through the theater. “We need t–!” Before he could finish he was quickly snatched off the other’s back. Obviously, their efforts to run from it were in vain too fast.

“I live in Florida, not Alabama or Arkansas!” Dennis replied, as they entered the theater. Although, Florida wasn’t the best place to live either. Annoying people, hot temperatures, and gators everywhere. But hey. It built character, in his opinion.

Before he could turn to run towards the theater, he felt his load get lighter. He paused, before turning around to see Ry in the robot’s grasp. His eyes widening in fear and disbelief for a moment, they quickly settled down as his wicked grin returned.

He could just leave Ry. Hell, he deserved it about as bad as Lavender or The Baroness did, in Dennis’s opinion after this night.

But where was the fun on that?

He dug in his hoodie pocket.He pulled out his ping pong ball and paddle. Bouncing it once, he decided to bounce it off the robot’s head, striking it expertly with the paddle, and causing it to continue in a motion. He dug his hand in his hoodie pocket. A water balloon. If he could get the robot to be annoyed enough by the ball tapping on its steel, he could splash it with a nice douse of water.

Plus, Akinari would be really interested to know that Dennis fought off some robot if he succeeded (read: have a nervous breakdown). Of course, he was unsure if it’d succeed, but it’d be dying in a blaze of glory, he supposed.

Ry’s mind went from confusion about the states’ names that Dennis just listed off to complete and total hysteria as he felt himself suddenly get lifted off the tree’s back. It was a surprise to him that they’d been actually caught again so soon, but he’d always been caught off guard with both the robotand Dennis, so he couldn’t really surmise that he was too surprised by this.

The robot had successfully grabbed on to the hood of Ry’s hoodie, which he’d put up for both disguise and to avoid another situation like this, but he’d been stupid enough to pull it down to shake small shards of glass from the fabric. A stupid decision on his part since he wasn’t in immediate danger of glass bits being in cased in the hood anyway. Gagging and struggling in the grasp of the robot’s vice grip, he reached up and quickly clung his hands to the hoodie acting as a noose around his neck. Yanking down on the collar, he tried to get at least a small margin of space between his neck and the collar but failed inevitably to do so.

Half-expecting Dennis to hightail it out of there, he almost gave up until…Tink tink tink… At first he was confused from the strange noise he heard, then he realized that it was the same repetitive noise that had woken him up from his slumber in the first place. If he’d had any air to yell, he’d of told Dennis to just fight for the gun or stop being annoying and do something that would help them. “D—augh…” was really all he could get out, which sounded more pained than annoyed at this point; honestly, Ry was more annoyed than worried about his neck snapping.

It was then that he realized what was going on inside the robot’s processing. Instead of turning to face Dennis and drop Ry out of some feeling of annoyance, it simply lifted up the gun in its other hand and pointed it straight for the tall teen’s head.

It was in that moment, Ry realized that he had three options and he didn’t know which was more farfetched in execution. With his vision starting to blur and his airway constricted, eh swung his body back and managed to swing his leg up and hit the arm of the robot right as its finger began to put pressure on the trigger.

BANG!

The bullet flew over Dennis’s head, scarcely touching his straw hat, knocking it off his head and sending it floating gently to the floor. The gun, however, flew out of the robot’s hand and was sent skittering across the floor, leaving the robot to turn to Dennis and reach for him now, planning to kill them both through crushing their windpipes.

Dennis’s eyes widened when the gun raised towards his head. His grin widened. Well, this would be a way to go out. Killed fighting a giant robot. This would be the literal going out with a bang he had always hoped for.

He closed his eyes.

However, when the gun fired, he was surprisingly alive for the aftermath. He re-opened his eyes to see that Ry had kicked the robot at just the right time, instead causing his straw hat to get shot instead.

Dennis’s emotions wavered from oddly serene to furious. Abandoning his ping pong ball and paddle, he looked at the tall robot, whipping the water balloons out of his hoodie. If he was correct, anywhere that the robot could hold a processing chip or any kind of microchip telling it what to do, it’d be in its head.

He launched the first water balloon towards the hand flinging towards him, ducking down just barely in time. The second, he launched toward the robot’s torso. The third, and final, water balloon was tossed further upwards, towards the robot’s head. Not giving himself time to see if he hit or missed, he reached up and grabbed ahold of Ry’s legs, trying his best to free him.

“You damn fuckin’ bucket o’ bolts,” he seethed, his voice raspy from exhaustion and anger, “Let go of him this instant, you got me?!”

The expulsion of all his energy to kick the gun out of the robot’s hand left him too tired to struggle any longer. Was he going through the five stages of grief right now? He really couldn’t tell. This was probably how he was going to go out anyway, not by a robot but by something he’d wanted to do that had occupied his mind for a while. Last time he’d nearly died, his mom had intervened, pulling him up the beach in Hawaii, then leaving him to the sand when he’d tripped over his own feet. Of course he’d survived the encounter…unless he was actually in a coma right now and didn’t know it. Truth be told, this wouldn’t be the nightmare he’d thought he’d have.

While in his own little world, he felt something slap against his face, causing him to refocus as best he could with his tunnel vision. Was it water? Was he hallucinati—there it was again right on his face but stronger this time, until the third time he’d felt the water hit him, he didn’t realize what was going on.

The robot, though completely animatronic and emotionless, seemed to reel backward for a moment, stopping as Dennis took hold of Ry’s legs. The sensation left Ry clueless as to what was happening. This was it, right? He was finally being dragged down to hell. And for a swift moment, he mentally cursed upon hearing Dennis’s voice. He better not be his own personal hell nuisance.

As his tunnel vision increased, his body shakings doubled, and his face turning a solid blue from lack of air, he felt something relieving happen: the robot’s hand released Ry’s hood and sent him toppling to the ground as it started to sputter and shake from the water dripping inside of its circuits. Instead of moving or getting up, Ry began to wheeze, hack, and cough to revive his lungs from the crushing carbon dioxide that had been stuck in them.

When he’d finally managed to be able to speak again, he looked up to try to find where Dennis had gone, not sure if he’d been saved by some stroke of malfunction or him. “…D…ennis?”

Despite the robot no longer moving, Dennis shot a lingering glare at the hulking machine. Part of him was glad that he was able to finally stop the monster, while part of him was utterly annoyed that it had single-handedly broken his consistently grinning facade.

Walking over to where his straw hat was, his scowl deepened. First it was burned, and now it was shot. Grabbing the straw hat and placing it on his head, he returned back over to Ry, trying to fix himself back into his usual wide grin.

“That’s the name, Ry Ry; don’t wear it out, keheh.” While he was successfully able to slip back into his normal disposition, his voice was tired and ragged. At the very least, unless the robot got a second wind, they had finally succeeded in their late night quest.

Glancing up at the robot, he gave it a wary look but seeing it so motionless, he felt himself relax as best he could. Reaching up to his throat, he felt the heated bruise from where his hoodie had become his enemy. Who knew articles of his own clothing would turn against him? Then again…who knew Dennis would be the one who wouldn’t just ditch him and leave him for dead when it looked bleak.

Slowly and shakily getting to his feet, he let out a soft cough and finally looked at Dennis with his face, showcasing his own exhaustion and damage. It was then he noticed the strange look that Dennis was wearing and wondered if it was just the lighting in the theater. “…I’m fucking tired as hell…and you’re quoting the nineties again… Is this an American thing or…?” He tried to set out a joke to diffuse the mood, but he sensed that the straw hat was a link to something.

Instead of just standing there, he made his way over to the gun and bent down as best he could to pick it up, feeling like his body was exploding from how much damage he’d taken. “…Why’d you stay and help me?”

Dennis evaluated his own injuries. While he did have a bruise on his neck and his legs were hurting to hell and back, he was decently alright. He turned to Ry and surveyed his own neck bruise. At the very least, they weren’t dead.

“I have no fuckin’ idea,” Dennis replied with a shrug, “Didn’t you see some good shit in the nineties up in Canada? I mean, Nostalgia Chick at least has thatright.”

He walked over to Ry and extended a hand, something surprisingly different for the Black Cupid. He ignored Ry’s question and said, “’Ya came to get your gun, right? Get that shit and let’s blow this hellhole. I need as much sleep as I can to come up with my tour de force prank, right?” He grinned wider at Ry and closed his tired eyes. Well, he got his adventure. A tiring one, but at least it was something entertaining.

Looping his fingers in the trigger hole, he pulled the gun from the sticky and dirty floor, standing himself back up straight. This was actually a rather…interesting experience to say the least. Not something he was fond of since it was extremely messy compared to what he was normally used to alone, but it’d been ten times more entertaining and painful.

He turned back and faced Dennis, crossing his arms and placing the gun in the nook of his arm. “Well…actually… Canada didn’t go through the ‘normal’ nineties like America; well, it kind of went through the eighties during the nineties.” Then he paused, remembering his childhood and shook his head. “Plus, I was only five by the time the nineties was over, so I don’t remembertoo much… I guess my head was filled with something else.”

At the sight of Dennis’s extended hand, Ry’s eyes squinted and he tilted his head to ensure there was no buzzer button in his palm. When he laid no sights on it, he hesitated but took hold of his hand. “As long as your Warp Tour of Pranks doesn’t affect me, then do whatever the fuck you want.” He placed his hand up to his mouth and yawned softly, wondering if he could convince Dennis to just let them sleep in the theater seats instead of walking all the way back to the hotel.

Dennis stared at Ry like he had grown a second head. “Okay, Ry Ry, back it up. So you’re tellin’ me that… you guys are basically livin’ the early 2000′s right now.”

Eh, he’d experienced weirder tonight.

Once Ry had stood up, Dennis let go of the other boy’s hand and slipped it in his hoodie pocket. What time was it anyway? How far was it abck to the hotel anyway? Staring back at the deactivated robot, he shrugged and flopped his ass down on the floor beside Ry. He turned on his side and reclined his head on his palm, muttering, “Oh, fuck it. I’m too tired to go trompin’ my brown ass all the way back over there.”

He was silent for a moment, before speaking once more, “If anyone asks, you deactivated the robot. Dumb ole Dennis almost got his ass zapped by messin’ ‘round, kehu. You know. The truth.” While it wasn’t exactly the truth, Dennis was fine with that. He liked garnering everyone’s hatred and ire; and something like doing a good deed wasn’t going to tarnish that. With that, he said no more.

Ry shook his head tiredly and ignored the look he was used to. “Well, not anymore… We’re much more advanced than America right now, who I assume is still stuck in the fifties with how bad it is at everything.”

He placed his hand on his stomach, testing how it felt to take a full step, winced, and sighed loudly. He’d wanted to just stay here, but he wasn’t sure how safe it was for them around that monstrosity, though at this point, he’d be fine if it just stomped their heads in while they slept. Looking down at Dennis as he flopped on the floor, he leaned his head back and stared up at the hole in the ceiling, then at the exit not too far away, then back at Dennis, deciding to join him on the floor. Setting the gun in between them, he settled himself on the floor.

Not feeling too fond of his hoodie at the moment, he took it off and used it as a makeshift blanket to cover himself. “If I were a tech head, I would design that robot to carry me back, but…” He yawned, curling up. “I’m not…so we’ll camp out on…”

He let out a frustrated sigh as he realized he’d put his cheek in an old soda spill. “This disgusting floor…”

Slowly shutting his eyes and placing his head on his arm as a makeshift pillow, he enjoyed the moments of silence, then peered over at Dennis when he started talking. “Mm…? Whatever you say…” He mumbled, closing his eyes again.

“…Thanks…”

Dennis heard Ry talk about them staying in the cinema for the night. The Black Cupid wasn’t too bothered by the disgusting floor, being someone to engage in messy, disgusting pranks on a daily basis.

He closed his eyes and tried to get some shut eye, hearing a mumbled thanks from the teen on the other side of the gun.

He noted that this was the first time anyone had thanked him for anything in a few years. Not wanting to dwell on that thought, he soon found himself asleep.

Dakota (second RP)
Dakota stepped into the hotels kitchen, looking to make himself a warm drink. He really hated coffee and wasn’t much of a tea drinker so there was only one option for him— Hot chocolate. Luckily, he found some packets of an instant coco mix. He grabbed a small kettle and started heating up some milk on the stove, humming to himself happily.

However, the small moment of happiness was quickly interrupted when the kitchen’s fire alarm went off. Everything in the kitchen was so old and dingy and just heating up the stove caused smoke to rise. Poor little Dakota didn’t even take notice of that. Now he’s hunched over, trembling hands to his ears as the loud noise rings through the room and him not having the slightest clue on how to stop it.

Baroness:
The Baroness hurriedly walked down the hallway from her room to the kitchen. After that incident with Gaile and the kitchen sink, she had completely forgotten about her Lemon Squares! She worried in the back of her mind that someone had already eaten the lot of them. Oh, why did she had to forget them after Gaile flooded the kitchen worse than a tsunami?

The Pirate girl pulled into the lobby. Maybe no one had saw them. She put them in the freezer; so they likely weren’t moldy or spoiled. In fact, due to the usually cold weather, and the fact that most of the competitors seemed to have been American, no one would have dared to open the freezer to get something cold to eat…at least, they wouldn’t in her mind.

Her remaining thoughts were short lived, however. As she inched closer towards the kitchen, the pirate’s ears began to fill with the most annoying ringing sound you could ever imagine.

'''BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!'''

"Oh fer the love of Jack Ketch, what be this bilge?" The Baroness angrily groaned as she marched towards the source of the annoying buzzing. She stopped dead in front of the kitchen as soon as she saw smoke billowing from it’s entrance. "….Why the fook does this galley seem t’ be the fookin’ center of all disasters known t’ man?" The Pirate groaned once again, visibly displeased at the situation unfolding before her.

With the swipe of the hand, she took the do-rag from her head, causing her curly black hair to bounce as held the cap up to her mouth, protecting herself from any smoke inhalation she could receive. Of course, there wasn’t as much smoke as she made it seem, but better be safe than sorry.

The Baroness stormed into the kitchen for two reasons: to shut that annoying alarm up, and to get her lemon squares. Paying no mind to Dakota, she made her way over to the stove, where a container of some mystery liquid was currently heating up as smoke poured from the stove like a smoker’s pipe. Looking up, the pirate saw the source of the ear piercing noise; a fire alarm. Shutting off the stove with one hand to prevent any more smoke from coming from it, the Baroness waiting for the smoke to stop pouring out before stretched up with her free hand and pulled the fire alarm, a cheap battery powered one, loose from the wall.

Gripping the device angrily with one hand, the Baroness stormed over to the kitchen sink, now properly working, and dropped the alarm over the drain. With a turn of a knob, the sink soon filled with water and the fire alarm slowly died with a miserable bloop…..

Pleased with her handy work, the pirate girl turned around and finally saw Dakota crumpled over the floor.

"….Ahoy there lad…."

Dakota had his hands firmly over his ears, and his eyes squeezed shut. He figured if he stayed in that position, the noise would stop. He didn’t notice The Baroness enter the room at all, he was too shut down in his own fear from the noise ringing loudly in his ears. It wasn’t until the room fell silent and she spoke to him that Dakota snapped out of it.

He looked up to the older woman, blinking the tears out of his eyes. “O-oh… hello….” He muttered in slight embarrassment from the silly situation he was found in. It seemed like without his brothers around to guide him, he was always finding himself in sticky situations— falling out of trees, setting off fire alarms. It was bad.

"Thank you for… uhhh… helping me. And sorry if the loud noise bugged you or anything."

The Baroness looked down at the small boy, curious as to why he was curled up on the floor like a sleeping cat. She figured that maybe he was allergic to smoke and curled up on the floor to try and avoid inhaling it. After all, a boy his size could possibly die from all the smoke that was spat out of that old stove!

"Arr…it ain’t be no big deal…though that fire box was more annoyin’ than a squid wantin’ a hug…"The Girl began to ramble before noticing Dakota was still laying there on the floor. "…Be needin’ a hand?" She asked as she crouched down and extended her hand out towards Dakota.

When The Baroness extended her hand towards Dakota, he smiled ever so slightly, taking her hand in his and letting the older woman pull him to his feet. “Thank you…. ah… again.” He said, shifting on his feet now. Though he thought back to her metaphor, “A squid wanting a hug…? Oh no, has a squid tried to hug you before? That sounds really uncomfortable…!”

The Baroness gladly pulled the boy to his feet. After all, the kitchen floor was cold and uncomfortable. Even though he was a good couple of heads shorter than her, it more than likely would be best for the two to be standing.

When he asked about the Squid incident, the Baroness couldn’t but but chuckle slightly. “Naw lad, it ain’t be me it try to hug…Much rather, it tried to wrap itself against the face o’ one me ‘ands… trust me, it ain’t be too pleasant!”

"So you’ve seen a squid attack?" Dakota’s eyes widened in awe. He knew The Baroness was a pirate, however most would probably assume it was self proclaimed and he just took her word for it, but he never imagined things like squids attacking. He could only wonder what else she’s seen.

The Baroness nodded her head in a way to say “Of course I have!” The Baroness noted the look of awe in his eyes, and smiled smugly. She wasn’t a vain person, yet she always enjoyed telling tales about her adventures out on the high sea.

"It really wasn’t a squid attackin’, more less just it bein’ pissed we be fishin’ it out the ocean." The girl admitted, before shaking her hand to dismiss the thoughts. "But never mind that, long story short, one o’ me ‘ands wanted t’ get a good look of it, and, ‘em bein’ addled in the brain, got his face up close t’ it, and it be flailin’ it’s limbs ‘round ‘is face! Took us a couple minutes t’ calm ‘em down enough t’ pull the squid off n’ be throwin’ it back to Davey Jone’s Locker!" she then explained in similar tale to a story, watching as Dakota’s eyes followed her own, listening intently to every word like a student interested in a lesson at school.

A few moments passed in a bit of silence before the Baroness decided to ask another question. “So…what grub ye be makin’ t’ ‘ve caused such a mess so smartly?”

Dakota listened intently, fascination gleaming in his eyes as he listened to what she had to say. He found it absolutely fascinating and wondered what other fun stories she had to share from her life on the ocean. He just opened his mouth to ask but was too slow, finding himself being asked a question before he could get his out.

“Oh….” His face flushed as he glanced over at the stove. “I was trying to make hot chocolate…. but uhm… something… went wrong…"

"Avast!” The Baroness proclaimed loudly. “Yeah, somethin’ be goin’ wrong all right….that stove might be on it’s way t’ Davey Jone’s Locker!” The girl continued to say loudly, adding a bit of a chuckle at the end.

“If ye wanna be makin’ hot cocoa, It best not be on that anymore, less ye be wantin’ a repeat of what just happened.” The Priate then said bluntly as she pointed to the stove, a puff of smoke promptly being spat out of it.

Taking a moment to think of what to say next, The Baroness got an idea. “Say, if ye be wantin’ I could make up some…lemonade!”

“Lemonade sounds yummy!” Dakota said, beaming up at The Baroness. However, after a short pause he decided to back track just a little bit, giving the lady a curious look as he asked. “Who is Davey Jone’s and what does his locker have to do with anything….?” Dakota wasn’t very familiar with Pirate terms… or Pirate anything, so he certianly had a lot of questions for her.

“Aye, lemonade be like t’ water from ‘da fountain o’ youth t’ me!” The Baroness happily replied, getting ready to walk over to fridge to prepare a fresh batch. Out of the blue, Dakota asked who Davey Jone’s was, which got a bit of a chuckle from the pirate girl.

“Lad, Davey Jone’s locker be the bottom o’ the sea; a place where death resides.” The girl tried to explain in a way that Dakota would understand as she walked over to the fridge and pulled out a container of lemons. Setting them on the counter, the girl opened some cabinets  and gathered a juicer, two pitchers, and a sauce pan.

Finding a bowl of sugar, The Baroness poured a bit of sugar into the pan. Walking over to the sink, she then filled the pan with a bit of water, enough to mix the sugar and water into a fairly even mixture. Then, the girl set the sauce pan onto one of the eyes of the stove and, carefully, turned it on so that we wouldn’t get a repeated incident of what just happened to Dakota.

“What I mean lad…” The Baroness then suddenly said. “Is that this stove 'bout to be deader than a skeleton.”

The small boy puttered over to a stool and plopped down on it, happily swinging his feet as he watched The Baroness move around the kitchen to make lemonade for the two of them. He smiled as he idly watched her, now understanding who Davey Jones is and what the deal with his locker was.

“Well skeletons are pretty dead.” Dakota replied quietly, kicking his feet back and forth.

“That they be lad, that they be."The Baroness plainly said as she went over to juice the lemons. Taking one of the lemons and slicing it in half, the girl quickly placed it on the juicer and began to press the juice out of the lemons.

Turning around for a split second, the pirate looked back at the boy. "It almost be done, just gotta let the sugar melt.” She then told him as she went back to juicing the lemons.

After getting a fair amount of lemon juice, she went over to check the sauce pan and, upon noticing the sugar had dissolved into the water, she turned off the stove, moved the sauce pan to the empty pitcher, and poured it in. She soon poured the lemon juice into the same pitcher and looked for a long spoon. Upon finding one, she started stirring the two liquids together.

Dakota smiled as he watched The Baroness go about her business and make the lemonade, his legs swinging back and forth as he just hummed to himself quietly. However, as he watched the girl a thought occurred to him and as soon as the question popped into his mind, Dakota asked. “So is ‘The Baroness’ your real name or like a nickname?” he asked curiously.

The Baroness had gone over and started to squeeze yet another lemon when Dakota had asked her if The Baroness was her real name or not. The girl couldn’t help but give a light chuckle; although she thought that it was a stupid question to have asked considering no parent in their right mind would name their child "The Baroness”, yet she also found it cute how the young boy genuinely figured her that was her real name.

“Naw lad, it just be a nickname. Love it more than me own name though, so just be callin’ me ‘The Baroness’.” The Girl said as she poured a bit more lemon juice into the pitcher and stirred it together once again.

“Oh! Okay!” Dakota said, smiling brightly. “Can I ask you what your real name is? Though if you want to keep that a secret I don’t mind, just curious.” He added, hopping off the stool and waddling up next to The Baroness, looking curiously at what she was doing.

“Sorry lad, ain’t be wantin’ people t’ know me own name less they be family.” The Baroness said bluntly as she finished mixing the lemonade. Noticing Dakota was now standing next to her, the pirate girl stretched up to a Cabinet and pulled out two fairly tall glasses. Making sure she didn’t drop them, The Baroness quickly bounced over to the fridge and put ice into the glasses.

She quickly walked back over towards where Dakota was standing and poured the freshly squeezed lemon nectar into each of the glasses. “It be done lad!” She said merrily. “….Although it might be a wee bit too sour fer ye…” The girl then quickly rambled before shrugging and taking a big gulp of the lemonade.

“That’s fine, I understand.” Dakota said, finally taking his glass and taking a big sip, as the sour liquid went down he puckered his lips, making an obvious face of tasting something a little too sour, followed by a small squeak. He squirmed a bit, giving a slight grin up at The Baroness “It’s yummy…!"

The Baroness watched Dakota’s reaction to drinking the Lemonade and gave a hearty laugh. That reaction tended to have been a normal one for anyone who drank her lemonade, and it was always a reaction that amused her. Still, the boy enjoyed it and that’s all that mattered in the end.

"Thank ye lad!” The Baroness said with a chuckle as she quickly downed her own glass, grimacing slightly from the sour taste but savoring it at the same time. She soon set the glass back down on the table and quickly poured herself another cup of the lemon nectar. “Be me momma’s own recipe!” She then quickly said as the cup soon filled with more lemonade.

“Well it’s very…. uhh… tart!” He said, honestly finding it delicious but it reminded him of something his brothers would drink for some kind of competition between one another. The thought made him smile. He took another sip, making the same grimace as before, though it’s one of those things you get used to after the initial sip. “Thank you for making this, by the way!"

"Arr, ain’t be no big deal lad.” The Baroness soon said as she took another sip of her own Lemonade, showing no real signs of the sourness affecting her after having gotten used to it. “Was headin’ down here anyways fer-” She continued before realizing she had forgotten why she came down here in the first place. Setting the glass of the lemonade down on the counter, she quickly walked back over to the fridge and opened up the freezer.

She sighed with relief when she found what she was looking for; a carefully wrapped lemon square she had hidden away. After the recent challenge, she could really have used one of them. Shutting the freezer door and putting the package into her pocket, the girl soon made her way back towards Dakota.

“As I was sayin’, was headin’ down this way fer somethin’ I made.”

Ry and Ashley:
Ry hadn’t really been in the mood to deal with anyone or anything as he’d just been having the worst luck as of recent: his iPod died after an hour of him listening to music and roaming through vines, his mouth was aching from accidentally biting his gum too hard, and now he’d finally realized that instant ramen was disgusting after eating it for days straight.

Making his way down to the lobby, he stretched his tired arms over his head, having been taking a nap to try to get over the bad luck; unfortunately, that had just brought on a killer headache. With every step, a pounding thud radiated throughout his brain. “Shit… I swear if I see a cocky face, a bitch, or someone’s fu—!”

Before he could even finish his sentence an ear-piercing shrieking noise assaulted his ear drums, making him stumble a few steps and slam into one of the chairs in the lobby.

Propping himself up on it, he glared forward, noticing the flashing lights of the fire alarm. The fact that they light was a super nova of white made his head start to pound even worse.

Squinting his eyes in an attempt to locate the button to turn off the high up alarm, he noticed the tiny button placed neatly in the middle of the extreme annoyance. Well, he was a great shot, but he wasn’t in the mood to just wait here and try to throw toothpicks at it.

Rushing into the kitchen, he yanked a chair back and nonchalantly dragged it toward the wall where the alarm was hiding away up high. “Fuck you…” Ry began to chant as he made his way back into the kitchen, retrieving a meat tenderizer.

Flipping it in his hand so he was holding the hilt, he rushed back over to the chair, climbed up on it, and yanked his arm back.

Staring at the alarm for a few moments, hating every blink of the white light, he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do.

Swinging the meat tenderizer down, he smashed the alarm into the wall, sending pieces of it all over the place.

'''CRACK! SQUA—!'''

The alarm suddenly stopped mid-squeak, making Ry’s headache super flare out and made him stumbled in the chair, causing him to fall out of the chair and land on the floor with a noticeable

THUD!

Dakota was hunched over, hands on his ears waiting for the loud noise to stop. He wasn’t sure how, or why, but after a few moments that felt like an eternity, it did. The small boy slowly opened his eyes, looking up to see Ry, just in time for him to fall out of the chair.

"R-Ry…!" He quickly crawled over to him. Dakota looked visibly shaken, but right now he was more concerned with Ry. "Are you okay?"

Ry’s head was pounding and his arm, leg, and side was now exploding in pain as he lay there on the floor. His head was actually in less pain now that the rest of his body was also in pain. Wasn’t this a psychological thing…?

The feeling of some of the metal shards were poking into his side, causing him to make some whining noises of discomfort. This felt like he was being slowly stabbed by some guard in front of a queen.

Hm… That’s probably how he died in his past life; stabbed by a knight of the queen.

"Mm…” He moaned softly, slowly pushing on the floor to try to lift himself up. “Wha…Dakota? What’re you doing in here?” He asked, pushing himself up now and blinking away the bright flashes that still remained under his eyelids.

Noticing the boy in the over-sized hoodie now, he tried to pretend nothing was wrong and pushed himself into at least a sitting position, shard of the fire alarm falling off him in clumps. “Y…Yeah.”

Dakota was actually without his hoodie for once. He just couldn’t seem to find it, and the fact that Ashley had taken it was completely out of his memory. Though that wasn’t his main problem right now.

"Well….." He began to fidget a bit, looking off to the side with slight embarrassment. "I was trying to make hot chocolate and the alarm went off…. I’m sorry if it startled you or something…. B..but thank you for turning it off…. or…rather… thanks for breaking it."

Sitting up was putting a lot of strain on Ry’s body as he stared at the other male, head making Dakota look like he was full of bullet holes. “Hm…” He mumbled, placing his hand on his forehead to try to calm the pounding down. If it had been anyone BUT Dakota, he would have kicked them for setting off the alarm in the first place.

“It was being too noisy…and I HATE loud noises, especially when I’m carrying around a headache the size of America’s Texas in my noggin.” Ry replied to Dakota’s gratitude, knowing he should have just left it at a simple ‘you’re welcome.’

Looking Dakota up and down now, he noticed something off about his outfit, making his tiny eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. “Dakota, where’s your hoodie?” He asked, then mentally face-palmed at his idiotic question.

Who just wears their hoodie all the time? Ry didn’t do that because he had a bunch of regimens and projects he had to do that would ruin even the blackest of clothing. Plus, they couldn’t wear them over their stupid T-shirts for Chris’s challenges… “Stupid question, I know, but I’m curious because most hoodie-goers don’t usually wear anything BUT a hoodie.”

"Hey, I hate loud noises too. That’s something we have in common." Dakota added softly, cracking a soft smile. Since Ry’s head was killing him, he spoke very softly to not make it worse.

However when he asked about his hoodie, Dakota suddenly looked confused. He glanced down at his own torso quickly, then back to Ry. “I…. don’t really know….” He muttered. “I think I may have left it in my room….? No…. No it wasn’t even in my room when I left today…. Did I leave it somewhere? Or did someone borrow it…. Gosh darn it! I should have taken a picture or written a note to myself!”

Ry stared at the other male and nodded softly, not sure if Dakota should compare himself too closely to the guy who had only JUST made a friend. “I’d say we’re like two peas in a pod, but…you’d probably not want to relate to me that much…” He stated bluntly, dusting more of the shattered bits of the fire alarm off his side.

“Did you happen to leave it somewhere? Let someone borrow it…?” Ry asked, reaching back and pulling himself up from the floor to a squatting position. “Okay, never mind… How about this question: do you want me to help you find it? I know how it feels to lose something valuable to you, and I’d go nuts if I ever lost my most treasured item. Well, I know your most treasured item is your camera, but I think the hoodie is necessary for the cold weather coming in.”

Had it been anyone else on the show, Ry would have just made a sarcastic quip about them being stupid to have forgotten where they put it, but Ry was sympathetic to Dakota… Mostly because he was his first friend AND he had a memory issue. “Maybe I should give you a notepad to put down things so you don’t forget where you leave them…” He mumbled, sitting himself in the chair.

“What do you say: want me to help you?”

"Why wouldn’t I want to relate to you?" Dakota asked curiously, and then frowned. "If you’re going to be down on yourself again, don’t! I know you don’t see it, but I think you’re a wonderful person, Ry. I wouldn’t mind relating to you, getting lumped together with you, or anything to do with you." He reached over, gently taking Ry’s arm and pointing to the friendship bracelet he had made for him. "I made this for you because you’re my friend."

Though when the conversation went back to his hoodie, Dakota fell silent again. Ry was offering to help him find it, and that was nice of him. Especially considering there was going to be cold weather, and Dakota being used to Florida heat and Cuban summers probably wouldn’t fare well. He wasn’t that great with cold. “I’d really like your help, Ry. Thank you.”

Ry’s mouth tightened and he looked away from Dakota when he saw the frown. The feeling of remorse crept up to his mind and he kept his eyes averted from the other. Ever since he’d come on this show, he’d been shown kindness that he never thought he deserved or desired. In fact, even the most…unusual people here were kinder than him than even his own family was supposed to be, which neither of them were…actually, this analogy was farfetched and he regretted using it now.

"But…" Ry mumbled, wincing when he felt Dakota’s hand touch his scarred arm.

Touch.. It was just Dakota.

"But you don’t understand! At my school, I’m so undesirable and hated that if you even talked to me, the other kids would reject you completely, unless it was a joke to make you look cooler… You wouldn’t want to ruin your social life because of the emo under the willow… It’s…just not something you should have to force yourself into.

"Please, never compare yourself to me… You’re not disliked on such a large scale; in fact, you’re so liked, I could see you making it far here…I’m surprised I’ve made it this far!"

He quickly moved his arm back, hoping Dakota couldn’t see the light and dark scars of his arm. “I just…don’t want you to get put into a crowd that would make you feel as inhuman as me; a place where you feel like the wall is a better place to be at than…than in a group of friends.”

With that being said, he stood up and nodded. “We…should…check around the hotel first…”

"I feel like I keep repeating myself and you’re not getting it…" Dakota muttered, he only caught a glance of the scars on Ry’s arm, but didn’t think to bring them up at this time. "I don’t care. This isn’t your old high school, I’m not going to ignore you. And you know what? If people were to treat you the same way here, I would rather be ignored and isolated alone with you then socialize with mean people!" Dakota huffed, crossing his arms. He was so small he almost seemed like an angry hamster.

"I don’t care what people think of you. All I care about is what I think of you, and what you think of yourself. If I’m the only person in the universe who thinks you rock some socks off, then so be it! But you’re a good boy, Ry! and anyone who would actually take the time to get to know you could see that!"

"Yeah….. Maybe recheck my room a little? Just in case….." He mumbled, trying to think back to what he could have possibly done with the darn thing. "…..Maybe try asking around and seeing if I let someone borrow it?"

Ry’s eyes glanced at Dakota and then back at the wall as if it held more interest than anything in this room. He wasn’t used to compliments, and he kind of figured he never would be used to them…or given them, even his most sincere ones came off with an air of…sarcasm or sass. It drove him insane and he felt horrified that he was being called something he could never see himself deserving.

It struck him hardest to hear the first part of what Dakota said because it was something he always heard from his parents during lessons or whenever they were just being hard on him for his failure to make 100% on his test.

Biting back his tears, he mumbled out a soft and almost inaudible apology before stepping away, almost blacking out everything else Dakota said afterward.

He only came back in when he heard Dakota talk about not caring about being alone with Ry. This made Ry feel like he’d been slapped, but…in a strangely good sort of way? Why would Dakota actually say that to him?

He once more glanced at him, catching the serious tones in his eyes and opened his mouth, then a small small crept up on his lips. “Dakota…” He whispered rhetorically.

He straightened up and smiled at him, his normal frown melted away for just a brief few seconds before it slipped back into its neutral line. “…You’re so weird.” He finally uttered, though it was more affectionate than one might think.

"Thank you…for being weird for me…" He told him, rubbing his arm awkwardly. "I…I guess…we should go check now." He mumbled, moving down the hallway almost immediately after, not wanting to show just how happy it made him feel that his first friend admitted to wanting to be with him, even if it meant it was only him.

When Ry called Dakota weird, his face lit up. It was like he was reacting to Ry saying he loved him, or was glad he was his friend. But no, just weird. But that was good for Dakota. He was happy to be weird, just for Ry.

He said nothing else of it, he just nodded understandingly when Ry thanked him. “Yup. Lets go check. As far as I know, the only people I’ve really gotten to spend time with are you, Gaile, Ashley and The Baroness….. well… wait…. I spoke to Lavender that one time, she’s very pretty…” He mentioned, “So if I gave it to someone, it might have been one of them…. But I don’t see why I’d give it to anyone….”

Ry honestly felt touched by Dakota’s speech to him since he sincerely doubted anyone else would likely sacrifice their social life just for him. It was something…he imagined being in a fairytale or just something that wasn’t real. He honestly wanted to hide and go back to his original life of being hurt because he didn’t see himself deserving something like this from someone like Dakota. It made him wonder: was he a good person to Dakota like Dakota was to him?

Was Ry capable of being good…?

Glancing back at Dakota, he nodded quietly to everything he said. “Wait, you talked to those four people? Okay, so…maybe we should check their room and leave a note…signed by you, not me; Ashely won’t take kindly to me being in her room…” He mumbled, stopping at the entrance to the hallway.

Stairs or elevator?

Elevator.

He quickly turned and walked to the door, pressing the up button. “Do you want to check your room first or theirs?” He asked, watching the blinking icons move downward toward them. “I can do some lock picking, if needed.”

“I think we should check my room first. So that if it’s in there we don’t need to waist time looking around in other rooms.” Dakota said as he puttered after Ry. He looked to the other boy’s hand, half tempted to hold onto it. He had no idea where this impulse came from. He held his brothers hands sometimes, but that was different, they were his brothers so it was just something he did, Dakota was feeling his heart pound with nervousness at just the thought.

In the end he didn’t, knowing Ry wasn’t too comfortable with touching anyway he just let it be a passing thought.

“Though it wasn’t where I usually keep it…” He finally spoke again, “I hope I just placed it somewhere in my room and just forgot…."

Ry didn’t want to admit it, but he felt a little disappointed when Dakota said he’d rather just check his room. What was the point of him learning this stupid lock picking skill if he was never going to get to use it?

He could use it in the city, but all the shops were closed and throwing things through the window was just something he’d always enjoying doing to people–especially if they were dicks to him and he had a stone. He wondered if they ever reported it to the Mounties when he did it to them because he did it quite frequently…and now that he was in Total Drama, the ‘random’ attacks would be down.

"Well, alright… If you wanna check your room, then we can do that, but I still think we should pick Ash–all the locks on their doors to see if we can find it.”

“If it isn’t in there, then that’s what we will do!” Dakota said, beaming to Ry.

When they got to his room, the door was already unlocked, Dakota gave an easygoing chuckle. “Oops I guess I forgot to lock my door again.’ He said and proceeded to enter the room. It was like any other on the hotel. Rather tidy, a stack of a few photo albums sitting on one of the chairs, rolls of film scattered about randomly in the room and a picture of Dakota and his brothers next to the bed. All the rest of his clothes were in the suitcase he brought and didn’t bother unpacking, his memories and photography equipment is all that he cared about.

Ry nodded, though felt a little disappointed still because he doubted it wouldn’t be in Dakota’s room. Well, he’d force someone to let him lock pick something later on anyway. He had BIG plans for Bitchley’s room, after all… Nobody slams him into a wall and harasses him relentlessly without punishment.

He curled his fingers into a soft fist, then unclenched them to look inside of Dakota’s room, looking a little disheartened to see it was still standard. “You should really add a little more touch to your,” he told him, making his way inside and standing off to the side, not wanting to touch anything without his prior permission. “I mean, who knows when you’ll be going home, not that I hope it’s soon; but you could leave something here that just reminds the world that someone other than some tourist or tired travelers were in here.” Honestly, Dakota’s room was WAY better off than Ry’s room.

“Well everything I need is out. I don’t actually have much else besides my photography equipment anyway.” He noted, looking through his pile of clothes, under his bed, things of that nature. His hoodie was nowhere to be found. Dakota gave a soft sigh, turning to Ry, “I guess we’re going to have to start looking through other rooms now."

Ry watched Dakota go to work, searching through his room for the over-sized Hoodie he normally wore. It was kind of disheartening to Ry to see his first friend not find it in the first go, BUT now he could safely go about picking the lock on two of his most hated competitors’ rooms.

"Okay who should we do first? Ashley? Lavender? Gaile?” He asked, leaning against the door frame and awaiting an answer. He REALLY couldn’t wait to lay waste to their rooms… Perhaps, he could say he saw Dennis doing something sneaky and get off the hook if he were interrogated. Hm… Nah, he’d just Benny sleep walking or something.

No sense in blaming a teammate for something he’d of just laughed and admitted to if he’d done it; Ry would be caught in his lie because it’s pretty obvious that guy has no shame.

“Uhm…. How about Ashley!” Dakota said, standing up and facing Ry with a small grin. He wasn’t exactly sure how the two of them would get into her room. Actually, Ry DID say something about lock picking. That was something he’d only ever seen in movies, so it could be pretty cool to see first hand. Almost like they were spies or something.

Dakota grabbed Ry’s sleeve, tugging him out of his bedroom and into the hallway, eager to move forward with mission: find the hoodie.

Ry looked immediately surprised by Dakota’s sudden grabbing of his sleeve. He needed to get over this touch thing. Even though it slightly bothered him to be tugged along behind Dakota, he allowed himself to be dragged behind the slightly taller boy.

“Okay, Ashley first…” His face showed less temptation than he let on at this point. He REALLY wanted to trash Bitchley’s room and plant some stuff on some people who annoyed him… Maybe he’d do it to Mallory and Lavender… Yes, they would suffice.

Once they’d navigated up the stairs to Ashley’s room, he stopped and slowly moved his arm to retrieve his sleeve from Dakota, looking immediately relieved.

After that Ry bent down and reached up to pull a bobby pin from his hat where his old quill pen had been–Dennis was going to die if he didn’t get him his second quill pen to replace the one he’d burnt–and into his hoodie pocket to retrieve a tension wrench.

Looking back at Dakota, he held both up, bending the bobby pin into an L shape, then got to work, sticking the tension wrench into the lock with the bobby pin. After what seemed like ten minutes, there was a soft ''click! ''revealing that Ry had successfully unlocked the door.

He stood back up, took a breath, and turned the knob to open the door. “And voi la.” He said, voice monotone.

As the door swung open, the two boys peered eagerly into Ashley’s room, looking forward to seeing what was inside. Unfortunately, they were met only with disappointment. The room was bare, with no personal details other than one suitcase on the ground distinguishing it from how it had looked when the contestants had first arrived. It gave off quite the cold and hostile vibe, and the boys couldn’t help but get the impression that Ashley did not want them in there, and likely didn’t feel comfortable there herself. There were, however, a few features of note. The bathroom to the left (door naturally shut), mini fridge in the corner behind a table, nightstand with one drawer next to the bed, and a closet to the right (also with the door shut). Any one of these places might contain something that could make the room feel more personal.

Dakota watched with fascination as Ry set to work with the lock picking, he didn’t really understand how it worked, but it was still cool to him nonetheless. When the door clicked and unlocked, Dakota grinned excitedly, clapping his hands together.

“Great job!” He annouced and then puttered into Ashley’s room, taking a look around. “Lets see…. if I was a hoodie, where would I be….” Dakota turned to the right, heading over to the closet to take a peek inside of there.

As Dakota walked over the closet and swung open the door, he was surprised to find that it looked remarkably similar to the rest of the room. It seemed logical that someone with so clean of a room would have a large mess in their closet, but this was not the case. The closet contained only a clothing bar with 3 hangers on it, and a large chest of drawers which occupied most of the space. The drawers were arranged as follows: ————————— ​—————————- —————————- —————————- With two smaller drawers on the top, a large one in the middle, and two on the bottom. With a brief tugging upon a handle, a person could quickly learn that all five of the drawers were locked. Ry could either help Dakota open the drawers, or explore one of the three other locations in the room.

Ry followed behind Dakota, then paused, finding it useless to look over the other male’s shoulder while he looked through the closet. He thought about being more…productive while he was in here. Maybe he could take something of Ashely’s? Maybe.

He calmly made his way across the room and stopped in the middle of the room, glancing around and decided on heading into the bathroom to conduct his search for the hoodie and possibly something of value. He doubted he’d find anything more valuable than a hairbrush to take since he bet Ashely wasn’t stupid enough to leave anything she wanted safe around in her room, even if the door was locked.

Slowly, he opened the bathroom door and peered inside the room.

Ry pulled open the bathroom door to reveal, not suprisingly, a room that was extremely basic. The toilet, sink, and shower were all arranged identically to any other room in the hotel, and the vanity was clean of any beauty supplies like toothpaste, a hairbrush, or makeup. The only things that were out on the vanity counter were two huge bottles of shampoo and conditioner, a bar of soap next to the sink, and a large box that was tucked into the corner. It could be assumed that the only reason the shampoo and conditioner were not in the box was because they were too large, and the soap was likely too wet and slimy. The box, upon testing, was of course revealed to be locked, with a keyhole next to the handle that could be used to pull the lid off.

Dakota attempted to tug one of the top drawers open only to find it was locked. He frowned, feeling a little defeated and then tried the other one. Dakota ended up trying all the drawers, none of them working.

“Hey Ry!” Dakota called out, “These drawers are locked, are you able to open them?” It didn’t occur to Dakota that breaking into Ashley’s room and looking through her stuff could possibly be a bad thing, he just wanted his hoodie.

Ry turned around at the sound of Dakota’s voice and left the bathroom, gently shutting the door behind him. If there was one thing he didn’t want to deal with, it was Ashley being a mega bitch about him being in her room, though he would like it if she thought someone hated had been in here.

Making his way over to Dakota, he bent down, examining the locks  on the drawers and nodding in response. “They don’t look like they’re gonna put up much of a fight,” he told him, reaching into his pocket to retrieve his handy dandy lock pick materials.

Gently lifting them to the locks, he set to work, glancing over his shoulder every few moments to check the door to the room. After a soft click rung out, he moved on to the next lock, not bothering to stop each time. If anything, Ashley would think she might have not locked the damn things and just let it go later.

After several more soft clicks rang out in the room, he gently opened the bottom drawer, peering inside at the content, profusely hoping that he didn’t get to see something disgusting while peering in. He knew that some girls liked to have fun, but he figured that Dakota wouldn’t need to see that kind of shit.

The drawer slowly creaked open in Ry’s hands to reveal…

Absolutely nothing. For some unfathomable reason, Ashley had locked an empty drawer. It wasn’t too hard to picture the girl standing behind the two boys and laughing at them as they eagerly looked into the blank space, though the hallway remained quiet with Ashley nowhere in sight.

The other 4 drawers still beckoned, though at this point the suspicion had been planted as to if any of the drawers really contained any items.

Ry slowly let out an annoyed sigh, turning his head away from Dakota to roll his eyes at the stupidity that was Ashley locking an empty drawer. He couldn’t understand the need to do that anyway since… Oh. Right. Because she made an enemy out of people here and was scared someone would try to take her shit.

Ry wouldn’t bother taking her stuff, though…He planned to burn her stuff if she crossed him again.

“Well, that was a waste…” Ry muttered, grabbing the right drawer and pulling it open, hoping for something.

Dakota looked a mixed of confused and defeated as he stared into the empty drawer, not really understanding why something with nothing inside of it would be locked. “How odd…. try the next one…?” Dakota crossed his arms, shivering just a bit now as his protective layer of warmth was now gone. He was so small, it was easy for him to get cold.

“Why do you think that one is locked….?"

The dresser shuddered, threatening to lean forward and crush the two boys as Ry roughly yanked at the next drawer. The boys peered inside, admittedly a little less eagerly than before, to reveal…

A box of chocolate Pocky sticks, which Ashley had brought to her room after her first interaction with Ry. She hadn’t wanted the other boy to be able to eat them, so she had clearly been hoarding the box in a locked drawer.

Ry’s hand immediately flew into the drawer, snatching out the box of pocky and glaring at the drawer. "You little bitch… I knew there was another box of pocky in the damn kitchen…” He hissed under his breath, pocketing the pocky almost immediately.

Sighing softly, he rubbed at his head, remembering how he’d been searching for it the day the first challenge ended when he’d hurt himself on the rock. It’d been a blur, but he remembered falling off the counter several times while trying to search for the box he KNEW was in there. He restrained himself from uttering more profanities about Ashley, then looked at Dakota.

“Wanna take a break?” He asked, pulling the box back out and opening it. “Better yet… Wanna play a quick game?” He asked, pulling a piece of pocky out and sticking it in his mouth.

“Eva hearr o tha pockey gaee?” He asked, the pocky stick moving up and down as he spoke. He removed it from his mouth for a few moments, sitting down on his knees now.

[missing response]

Ry hadn’t actually expected Dakota to play this game with the idea that he’d have to kiss him in the middle, but he wasn’t disappointed when he saw him bravely go right for the middle. He was either like the French people during the Jacobean’s Reign of terror or the Americans during the Revolution: brave or reckless.

The problem with this situation for Dakota, however, was that Ry had shut his eyes during all of this and when their lips touched, he didn’t seem bothered by it. He just tilted his head and leaned into the kiss, making it clear he wasn’t going to lose; Ry was competitive by nature.

The lighting of the room actually worked quiet well for the situation, or bad for Dakota, making Ry’s face stand out much more vividly than before. His high cheekbones prominently stuck out and his tiny eyebrows moved up as if he were surprised and thinking of something, which was just that he was in shock Dakota hadn’t pulled away already.

Dakota didn’t pull from the kiss for many reasons. He didn’t want to lose, Ry didn’t seem like he wanted to pull away either, and he kind of really liked it. He slowly moved his hands up, placing them on Ry’s shoulders, mostly just because he didn’t know what else to do with them.

His thoughts began to wonder, thinking about how Ry’s lips were actually softer then he’d imagined. Well, not that he’d imagined what they felt like before. Often. And that even though this was his first kiss, it was nice to have it with his best friend.

Ry’s body stiffened and his breath hitched at the sudden contact from Dakota’s hands on his shoulders. This was something he had not expected to take place during this game and he shivered softly, not sure if he should pull away or not. It was then that he realized that he hadn’t taken a breath in what felt like forever.

Parting his lips momentarily, he breathed out a hot puff of air, then closed them once more to continue on the kiss, then breathed in through his nose. He wasn’t going to lose this game, even if he it meant he sat here for ten minutes.

A long time passed with the two just sitting there with their lips pressed together. This could hardly even be considered the pocky game anymore, but just kissing with a mission.

By the end of it, Dakota was the first to pull away and that was about fifteen minutes in. His face had a soft pink hue to it as he glanced to Ry, shifting in his place and smiling sheepishly. “y….you win…”

Ry pulled back after he felt the presence of Dakota’s lips vanish from his. Sitting back, he put his hands beside him to keep himself from falling backward from the light headed feeling he was feeling. “…I….I guess I did.” He told Dakota, panting softly from the elongated experience.

“Wow… That was probably the longest pocky game I’ve ever played, I think that was longer than the Hundred Years’ War.” he muttered, sitting back up and looking toward the middle drawer, the large one. Okay, but it was the first time he’d actually played the pocky game.

Dakota shifted, the whole flustered feeling hitting him again. He looked all around the room, everywhere but Ry. From what it sounded like, Ry had played this game a lot. Or at least several times. “That was…. my first…… ” He muttered softly.

Ry fiddled with the drawer and slowly pulled it open, revealing the contents on the inside. His mind was kind of on the mission once more, then he looked over at Dakota. “Well, I know it was your first pocky game experience. It’s kind of a fun party game, if I went to parties… I don’t see the appeal.” He paused, then looked over at him. “How was it for you?"

“I didn’t mean my first time playing the pocky game….” Dakota muttered, slowly rising to his feet and puttering over to Ry’s side, watching him as he fiddled with the dresser drawer. “I meant… that…… it was my first…. kiss….” His voice was now barely even above a whisper, getting bashful thinking about, let alone explaining it.

“But it was…. fun? …. I think….. I’d play it again…” Dakota cleared his throat. He never expected to get his first kiss so soon, let alone with a boy. If you could even count playing the pocky game on Ashley’s bedroom floor as an actual kiss. The fact was, Dakota did.

Ry turned his head around to look at Dakota, eyebrows raised up in slight surprise. He’d been Dakota’s first…..kiss….? He turned his head away from Dakota, irises visibly shrinking in slight terror and confusion. That was like he’d just taken the kiss virginity of a sibling! Turning his head back around, he took a soft breath. “Well…I mean, it doesn’t have to count since it was just a game.”

He let Dakota talk about wanting to play again and slowly nodded. “It’s a fun game, but you should not play it with siblings, because that would seriously be awkward…”  Ry quickly began to deny that it actually counted because it was a game…so it shouldn’t count. If things like that counted, then people would have lost their lip virginity to their parents, grandparents, or their hands…..

“I didn’t play it with a sibling…. I played it with you….” Dakota murmured, slowly rocking back and forth as his hands bunched up the bottom of his shirt, tugging at it nervously. He couldn’t explain this feeling if he tried. All Dakota knew was that he wanted it to be Ry.

Ry’s eyes darted back at Dakota, looking a little confused by his statement. He knew he’d never played it before; he was just telling him NOT to do it with his siblings. “Hey, ah,” he turned around, facing Dakota once more. “You okay there? You look like you caught the Bubonic Plague or something."

“I’m fine!” He added quickly, his face a deep shade of red. He didn’t understand anything that was going on in his mind at the moment. Dakota slowly took a few steps backwards, only to end up fumbling a bit and falling onto his butt with a whimper. It only made him even more flustered because he looked silly in front of Ry.

It seemed that Ry was always on his mind. Ry this, Ry that. He was sort of attracted to him. But was that possible? He liked girls, he liked them a lot. They were pretty and smelled nice and, well, he just liked them, But then there was Ry, most definitely not a girl, however giving him similar feelings. He clearly wasn’t heterosexual. Did this make him gay? So many thoughts raced through his mind, and this really wasn’t the place for it to be happening.

Ry’s eyes widened as he saw Dakota fumble backward and fall flat on his butt. “I…” He started, then his mind immediately went to the worst case scenario: Dakota hated him now. It must be it since he was acting like this… He had done something wrong now…and Dakota thought he was a freak. Maybe it was because he’d closed his eyes and Dakota thought that was some kind of advancement. But…Ry didn’t mean anything in it. He just didn’t like to keep his eyes open.

Biting his lower lip, he looked away and stared at the floor in disappointment. He was probably about to lose his first friend…because he was a freak like everyone thought, and now he KNEW Dakota probably felt that way now…

Taking in soft breaths of air, he tried to look at him and darken his features to avoid looking like he was hurt. “You…sure..?”

“I…….. w-well…….. No….” Dakota muttered. He never could really keep his mouth shut about his feelings, he just wore his heart on his sleeve. “I… I… want to know…. uhm… h-how did you… uhh… well… how did you figure out you were—” He paused, eyes darting back up to look at Ry. “How did you… know that you… uhh…. liked boys?” He finally managed to stammer out, Dakota’s face was as red as a tomato at this point.

Ry’s eyes widened even more than before, making him look like Dakota had just slapped him across the face. Oh no, it wasn’t WHAT Dakota asked that made him feel this way, but the memory that went along with it… The memory that ruined him for life…that made him the most unliked person to ever walk the Earth.

“I…I…” He paused, letting his shoulders slump down and he avoided eye contact for some reason. “When I was twelve, I got this crush on a boy… His name was Joey, a name that forever will haunt me…”

Once more he paused, looking at Dakota now, eyes filled to the brim with pain. “I never questioned my feelings because I was never taught about heteronormality in my family…they just let me grow, so my feelings cascaded around, until I met Joey.

"At first, it was just us being ‘friends,’” he emphasized his point with air quotes. “He treated me like I was someone important and for six months, the world felt…it just felt so unreal, amazing….until….”

–Flashback because yeah–

It took all of Ry’s courage to finally walk up to Joey, hands in his skinny jeans pockets and flowing gray over-shirt gently swaying as he went along.

Stopping a few feet behind Joey, he waited for his discussion with his friends to come to an end before tapping his bicep gently, causing him to turn around.

“Oh, hey, Ry,” Joey calmly said, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder, his letterman jacket scrunching up underneath the weight.

“Um… Hello, Joey,” Ry smiled at him, pushing a strand of his hair behind his ear as a way to calm his nerves. “I have to ask you something…”

“Is it important because I gotta do something.” Joey interrupted almost immediately, pointing over his shoulder at what Ry assumed was the bathroom.

“It’ll…just take a second,” Ry promised, smiling wider now, hoping wasn’t being too imposing. “Well, I just want to start out by saying that I’ve had a fun time being your partner these last few months…”

Joey just slowly nodded, not bothering to respond.

“And, to be honest, I’ve developed….feelings for you. I know it may sound strange, but I really, really like you, Joey, and I was just wondering….if… Well, if you liked me, too.” Ry took a small breath and smiled softly at him, feeling extremely happy about finally getting that off his chest.

Then came a long, unsettling pause from both sides: Ry waiting on Joey’s response and Joey just standing there with a shocked expression on his face.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Joey’s face suddenly took an unexpected turn and scrunched up in anger and disgust, much to Ry’s shock. “You fucking faggot…” Joey uttered, straightening up his back and glaring down at Ry.

“….Wha–?” Ry only managed to get out before he was violently slammed back against the lockers behind him by Joey and held there by his neck.

“I said you’re a FUCKING FAGGOT!” Joey exclaimed, leaning in close to glare at the struggling, frightened Asian boy below him.

“I always knew there was something wrong with you… You’re one of those stupid gays, aren’t you? Those fucking creepy guys who watch other guys bathe like they’re women!” Joey accused, pulling Ry forward and slamming him back against the locker, making the boy gasp in pain as well as he could with his windpipe constricted.

“You’re a fucking freak, too! You’re one of those gay guys, who’d take someone down to their basement and cut them up! Just like that damn frog when I first had to partner up with you! You’re a psychotic freak, you faggot!”

SLAM!

Ry’s body had begun to ache at this point and his head was pounding, yet no one stopped in the hallway to see what was going on between the two boys. No one even looked concerned about it. What was their mentality? ‘Ignore it’?

SLAM!

“S-S…St…op…” Ry wheezed out, gripping Joey’s hands to try to loosen their grip on his neck. The grip, however, only tightened. Tears had long sense begun to stream down his face from the pain in not only his head and body but his chest as well.

Was this what was supposed to happen…? It’s not what he’d read…about…

Suddenly, his vision began to blur from the tears and then it began to shape itself into a long stretch of black with only the face of the person he’d once called beautiful at the end of it.

“Joey! What on EARTH do you think you’re doing?!” A woman’s voice called from down the hallway, prompting Joey to let go of Ry’s throat, causing him to fall on the ground.

Gasping and panting, Ry only managed to stay awake and aware by focusing on her voice. It was like someone had finally cared about him. Maybe there was a God.

“Both of you in my office NOW!”

Or not…

After gripping on to the lockers, Ry limped his way to the aforementioned office, holding his throat. It only just now occurred to him that it was the voice of the counselor that had saved him from Joey’s brutal bashing.

Plopping himself down on to the empty seat located next to the door, he just barely heard the woman tell Joey to head back to call as if he’d just been gently patting Ry on the back. Her tone made it sound like HE was the victim here.

“Henry,” Ry heard her speak to him, her tone shifting down to a much harsher one. “How could you provoke a fight like that?!”

“Wh-What?!” Ry spluttered out in complete astonishment. “What do you mean?!”

“I don’t wanna hear that you have no idea what you did! You know that you provoked a fight by making Joey uncomfortable because you had to come out to him. It’s not his fault that he reacted so violently to that! He was just unused to something like that, you know? It’s YOUR fault this happened. Don’t you know that you can get AIDS from being gay?!”

“But I–!”

“No buts! You provoked a fight, therefore, you started the fight! The first punch gets punished here! And since you threw the verbal punch, you’re the one who is going to be suspended by the time I get back from the principal’s office!”

“Suspended?! But no–!”

But Ry was yet again cut off by her slicing her hand through the air and heading out of the office.

Ry’s whole body began to shake in terror. How could he be suspended?! He didn’t do ANYTHING wrong here! He was…He was innocent! What did he even do?!

Steady tears streamed down Ry’s face and he collapsed in the seat, covering his face with his hands in dismay. He didn’t understand how someone could be so cruel to him. What did he do wrong?!

–End Flashback–

Ry’s eyes welled with tears, which he quickly wiped away, after explaining all that. “It…it helped me realize who I was and…and it also…made me who I am now, I guess…”

As Dakota listened to Ry’s explanation, he began to tear up himself, his heart aching for everything that happened to his friend. “I…. I’m so sorry I brought it up…..” He whispered, it mostly coming out as a soft whimper.

Dakota stood to his feet, making his way towards Ry to gently pull him into a hug, his chin resting on his shoulder. It was something he just did without thinking. Seeing Ry begin to tear up gave him the overwhelming urge to just hold him.

“That’s…. it’s terrible…. I’m sorry……."

Ry shook his head at first and quickly moved his hand to wipe off more tears, hating the feeling of being vulnerable in front of him. "No, you…you’re obviously going through something about your sexuality,” he managed to whisper out, voice wavering with his conflicting emotions.

When Dakota pulled him into a hug, though, he just felt…nothing. His breath hitched but didn’t cause him to tense up…for once. Then it all hit him at once and he tried to keep from bursting into tears.

He couldn’t…

But he did…

Suddenly, all at once, his emotions burst out and he let out a slightly soft sob, which was better than he’d expected He suddenly was steaming a steady flow of tears, wrapping his arms around Dakota to embrace the hug now.

He tried to choke out an apology for suddenly bursting into tears. All that came out were hiccups and his broken apology, which actually went from English to Korean and back to English.

This was more emotion then Dakota had seen Ry ever express. It really was a shame it had to be such negative ones. Though it was also the first time Ry had completely returned an embrace with more then a simple pat.

There were so many emotions swimming inside of Dakota right now. He didn’t know what to do or say, but the shock of seeing Ry in such a vulnerable, emotional state had him crying as well. He attempted to keep his own crying gasps down, trying to remain a good pillar of support for Ry but it was hard. Seeing Ry so sad, thinking about all that he’d been through, it made Dakota sad.

The young boy gently moved his hand up and down along Ry’s back, holding him against himself in a warm embrace, allowing him to let out everything he needed to. “It’ll be okay…..” He finally whispered, “I’m here for you, Ry… it’ll be okay…”

Ry’s whole body shook as he embraced Dakota in the hug tightly, feeling like he’d just taken a hammer to his security and peace of mind. Ever since he was young, he’d been told to keep his emotions inside, so he did….but now he’d just revealed something he’d never told anyone else about, ever.

"I–!” He tried to choke out, voice quavering and cracking as he tried to even explain a fraction of why he was crying; he couldn’t stop crying and it was starting to make him feel like he was a burden.

He blinked rapidly, his tears dropping like a sea of pebbles on to Dakota’s shirt, and sniffled softly, trying to get rid of the tears as quick as he could; no one should have to see him like this; it was embarrassing and they shouldn’t have to hear him cry and bitch and moan!

“I-I’m…s…s….orry….” He choked out, then burst into a slightly louder sob, throat tightening with a lump that had long formed in his throat, now growing in size rapidly, nearly choking him.

“Shh… no…. d…don’t be sorry….” Dakota muttered, rubbing Ry’s back as he held him against himself. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Ry…. it’s okay…… it’s okay…..” Dakota did his best to assure him because it really was okay. In that moment, he thought back to how his brothers would comfort him and then moved to kiss the side of Ry’s head.

“It’s okay to cry….. let it all out if you need to."

Ry pulled back from the hug after what felt like an eternity of crying on his friend and quickly began to wipe away at his face. "N-No, it’s not okay to cry!” He gasped out, falling back down on his knees. “At…at least in my family it’s not okay to cry…” He added on, staring at the floor in shame.

“My parents told me to hold in my emotions… They….they just burden everyone else! Emotions…my emotions keep me from doing great in school or…or they just get me hurt! That’s all they’re good for–for me!”  He hissed out, trying to push away his feelings but ultimately failing to stop the steady flow of tears.

Dakota followed Ry down onto his knees, he refused to let him go, he just wanted to comfort him. “Well your family is wrong, Ry….!”  Dakota insisted. “You are a human being, you have feelings and you should be able to express them! Cry as much as you need to, you’re not a burden to anyone…”

Ry’s tiny eyebrows scrunched together for a few moments before he shook his head. “I…I can’t cry in front of people! I just…it’ll make me look weak!” He choked out, crossing his arms as best he could within the situation. “I-I can’t look weak….I can’t… Fuck…I just can’t, not here…not here…"

He softly took small huffs of air, trying to calm himself down enough. "I-I can’t…focus on myself…not me…"

out something that could possibly calm him down. One thought came to mind, likely because it was still leftover thoughts from the events that happened earlier. Without another word, Dakota leaned in, pressing their lips together. Even if it didn’t really help, it might at least get Ry’s mind off the bad stuff.

Ry at first was just surprised by the sudden action of Dakota, then he relaxed and slowly began to lean into the kiss, his eyes slowly shutting, but….suddenly his mind shot out a thought: “THIS IS LIKE KISSING A SIBLING!” It was almost like he his whole entire body screamed it as it coursed through his veins that this was not right; it would never be right.

Quickly, his eyes shot right back open and he yanked himself away in an almost terrified-like state, letting out a shrill gasp. He couldn’t even understand what just happened.

“I–!” He let out a soft jumbled mix of words and stutters, then tears resurfaced in his eyes as he realized what was going on: Dakota wasn’t randomly figuring himself out; he had a crush on Ry!

‘No, that’s….that’s just not possible!’ He screamed in his head, knowing he was just trying to deny the truth.

Suddenly, without warning, he jumped up to his feet, eyes widened in fright and tears streaming down his face, raced from the room of his enemy, not even bothering to shut the door….

He couldn’t think straight, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t handle what just happened! It was all some cruel dream, right?! A cruel dream to parallel his cruel reality that he faced everyday?!

“Wait Ry–!” Dakota called out, but just watched as his friend bolted out of the room. A pang of sadness and embarrassment filled up his heart, instantly regretting what he had done. “I… I’m sorry….” He murmured, shoulders slumped as he stayed seated in Ashley’s room. The tears started up again, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d made a giant mistake and instantly wished he could take it back.

Did Ry think he was  gross? Did he hate him? He didn’t understand why he would run away like that. It hurt, it hurt badly. Though the only thing that gave Dakota solace was that he’d be able to shortly forget this pain.

Ashley rode upstairs in the elevator, her usual frown on her face. She felt so exhausted, as she had felt constantly these past few days because of having to deal with Ry and the Baroness and their constant attempts to make sure she failed at everything. She rubbed the strap of her backpack with a hand and gave the faintest smile, before slipping back to her heavy expression. At least now she’d be able to sit down in her room alone and not have to deal with anyone for a while.

Then the elevator doors opened, and Ashley immediately knew something was wrong. Ry was currently running down the hallway, and a doorway was hanging open. A doorway that was the entrance to her room.

Ashley’s face instantly flushed a dark red with anger, and she felt a few tears prickling in her eyes. “You were IN MY ROOM?” she shouted at the boy as she rushed to her door. “I thought I told you to stay away from me!”

She felt violated. One of her enemies had been inside of her room, snooping through all of her personal belongings. And if he looked through the things she had brought with her, he would know that-

In more of a panic now, Ashley ran into her room to see what damage Ry had done. Instead of finding her clothes ripped up on the floor or her personal belongings broken, however, she saw the small form of Dakota hunched on the floor surrounded by crumbs on the carpet.

Harsh betrayal stunned Ashley for just a second, and then her anger came back, more tears threatening to force themselves out. She towered over the crouched boy and screamed at him.

“GET OUT OF HERE!!!” Her anger surged through her, making her face an even brighter shade of red. “GET OUT NOW!!!” As the boy left, the tears began to come out of her eyes, and she pushed them away. “How could you, Dakota?” she tried to shout, but her voice cracked. “How could you?” Not wanting to reveal anymore weakness to the boy, she slammed the door as soon as he got into the hallway, making a wall-shaking slam.

The true implications of what had happened began to set in. There’s no way she hadn’t locked her room, she always checked before she left, just in case. That meant one of them had picked the lock, and that meant they might do it again. Swiping at her eyes again, she dragged a chair over to the doorway and wedged it under the knob. That should keep them from getting in again.

She took a quick assessment of her room to see just what kind of damage the two had done. All of her drawers were unlocked, which meant that they had seen what she didn’t want them to most of all. Her tears started flowing faster and she collapsed onto the floor. She hated feeling this vulnerable to an enemy, he would probably try and lord it over her for the rest of the show. But maybe he was so absorbed in rifling through everything, he hadn’t noticed the difference at all.

The bottom two drawers were open, which seemed sloppy of the boys after the closed top drawers, and the box of pocky she had taken was gone. That had probably caused the crumbs on the floor, and she imagined the two boys sitting together, eating the pocky and laughing about how much they hated her.

Everything else in the room seemed untouched, so she had hopefully caught them soon into their break-in. But the damage had been done. The tears got too bad, and Ashley sat down in the floor in the center of the crumbs, just where Dakota had been sitting when she caught him. For some reason, his breaking-in to her room hurt her more than anything else. Even the thought of him made her sobs worse.

“I HATE YOU!!!” she screamed at the doorway, in case anyone was listening. It didn’t matter who it was, they were all the same.

She yanked her backpack off, pulling the zipper roughly with her hand. She pulled out the purple hoodie inside and threw it across the room, where it hit the wall and fell softly to the floor. “I HATE YOU!!!” she screamed at it, and then buried her head in her hands as she cried.

She didn’t even know why she had brought it around with her. It was a waste of space in her bag, and she didn’t care about it. Deep within her, a small thought surfaced, that she had taken it with her so she could give it back to Dakota if she saw him, and she pushed it away, knowing it was right. Well, she would never give it back now. He could freeze for all she cared. Ry could probably give him all of the hoodies he wanted, anyway.

Ashley rocked slightly back and forth surrounded by the reminders of betrayal, crying over something she didn’t know and had never really existed in the first place, and feeling more alone than she ever had before.

Gaile:
Gaile had been sitting in the lobby, writing her latest story in her notebook when she heard a fire alarm go off from somewhere in the hotel. She looked up as the sound distracted her a moment, but quickly returned to her work. She figured that it would stop soon. But after about a minute, it hadn’t.

"What in the world?" she pondered and got off the couch to investigate. She followed the source of the noise to the kitchen where she found a very distraught looking Dakota leaning over with his hands over his ears. The fire alarm was blaring away still as the smoke from the burned hot chocolate poured towards it.

"Oh shnikies!" Gaile exclaimed and grabbed a hand towel from a drawer. Since she was short, she climbed on top of a counter to reach the ceiling and began fanning the alarm with the towel. This made the smoke dissipate and the alarm eventually stopped. She then turned off the stove top so it would stop smoking.

"Are you OK, Dakota?" she asked her friend and layed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Dakota looked to Gaile, his brown eyes tearing up every so slightly. However, once the noise stopped and he saw her face, the small boy cracked a small smile. “Yeah…. I am now.” He said softly, looking over to the stove caused his face to heat up with embarrassment.

"I just… tried to make hot chocolate is all. The alarm went off and surprised me." He murmured, glancing back to Gaile. "But thank you though, for shutting it off and everything… I can’t really handle loud noises very well."

Gaile saw that Dakota was embarrassed over being scared of the loud noise and was a little hesitant to talk about it. She flashed him a friendly smile. "You’re welcome!" She said. "You know, I don’t like loud noises either. I’m like, way too jumpy for them. It totally ok to be scared." She explained. Sensing Dakota would probably not want to talk about the loud noise, she changed the subject. "Wait a minute… Where’s your hoodie?" Gaile asked as she noticed the purple hoodie Dakota normally wore was missing.

Dakota found Gaile’s words rather reassuring and he couldn’t help but smile. Being around her really did just make him smile no matter what was going on. The stress of the challenges, being away from home, loud blaring fire alarms, he was comforted just being around Gaile, it was nice.

Dakota was so distracted by his thoughts he almost didn’t catch what she had said. “My hoodie…?” He repeated, glancing down at his torso to find it was in fact missing. “Oh! …. I…. uhh…. actually I don’t know….” Dakota mumbled, trying to reach back in his brain of where it could possibly gone. “I think… .I let someone borrow it…..?”