Nervously glancing over at Connor who'd just walked in as he was doing his best to hide near the shelves of food and ingredients, he meekly raised his hand.
"U-U-Um, t-that would...p-probably...maybe b-be me. Um, there's s-still some, um, p-pancakes, if you l-like them..."
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day.Dorm JHWL
Yan woke up that morning, rolled out of bed, and right off the top bunk and onto the floor. He got up, shakily, and went to the wardrobe, taking out his new uniform and sitting on the bed.
Still somehow half-asleep, Yan threw his undershirt and uniform blazer on. He picked up the lower half of the uniform and noticed that something was distinctly off. He held it up to his face and allowed it to register. He immediately woke up.
"What the hell is this?" he said. He was clearly holding up a skirt. "Did something get mixed up?"
Kitchen
Adjusting his glasses, the youth shook his head and tried his best to smile.
"N-Not at all, um, s-sir. Something e-else entirely that's, um, making me a b-bit uneasy, i-is all." He nodded, serving up a stack of pancakes on a plate and putting them on the table.
"T-There's, um, jam or maple syrup o-or honey if you w-want any of those."
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day.The Specter of the Past — 1:30 AM
Mint could feel the rain pouring down on her in sheets. She opened her eyes almost immediately, just in time to see lightning flash around her. A few seconds later, the thunder came crashing down and she jumped slightly. She looked down. Grey granite. On a hunch she turned around and saw the infamous belfry that housed the Bell of Lost Souls. Just as she thought. She was back at the old school wearing nothing more than her uniform and a pair of thin leather gloves, and standing before her was that girl. Mint could barely make out her features through the driving rain but the lightning occasionally silhouetted her tall, leggy frame and the wicked cudgel she wielded. She could feel the condescension rolling off that other girl.
Mint shook her head slowly, "No, this can't be real. You're just a memory."
The girl didn't smile or show any kind of mirth. Her mouth moved but no words came out. It didn't matter; Mint's memory filled in the gaps for her. Weak and unworthy of being an officer. She was trying to goad Mint, as she had countless times over the past year, just so that she could demonstrate her superiority with that custom weapon of hers. On this night, however, things had been different. Unbidden, Ginger Snap appeared on her hands and the two of them fought, just as they had on that night. All of the feelings came flooding in. Humiliation, shame, and pure unadulterated rage. She seized the other girl's cudgel as it came forward for a jab, yanking it forward. The girl stumbled forward and Mint hit her in the head with a haymaker, sending her to the ground. Mint leaped onto her and began pummeling her head, her vision turning into a red haze. Lightning arced around her as she landed blow after blow.
"You're gone! You can't hurt me anymore!" she screamed, "I'm better than you!"
"I'M BETTER THAN YOU!" she screamed, clawing her way to wakefulness. Her hands were balled into fists, never realizing that Ginger Snap was under her pillow instead of on her arms. Tears streamed down her face.
"I'm better than you", she whispered brokenly, "there's nothing you can do to hurt me anymore..."
Slowly, painfully, she drifted back to sleep.
Wakeup Call, 9 AM
"Connor why are you bullying my team leader?" Mint slurred as she stumbled into the kitchen.
In contrast to her usual sharp dress and appearance, she was completely disheveled with dark shadows under her eyes. Her hair was wild and unkempt, and she had made only a passing effort to straighten out her uniform. Tear streaks still covered her face.
"It is way too early in the morning for me to have to do my job."
Grabbing a jar of strawberry jam off the shelf, he nearly dropped it when hearing Mint's voice and noticing the state she was in as he went from being rather flustered and uneasy to looking concerned.
"...I-I'm quite alright, Mint, he's not...giving me any trouble, really." He quietly replied, putting the jam down next to Connor's plate and turning to his second-in-command.
...am I the only one who got a decent night's sleep? I was too worn out to really think so I just collapsed, so...
Walking over, looking rather shy but determined, he allowed Mint to lean on him and helped her to a chair so she could sit down.
"...You look like, um, a bit of a mess, Mint. ...S-Sorry. ...Just take it easy for today, okay? I'll try to take c-care of everything, so don't push yourself, a-alright? Please?"
Grabbing another plate and serving up some pancakes for Mint, he tried to give a reassuring smile...and glanced at Suzune out of the corner of his eye.
"U-U-Um, is there s-something you need...?"
edited 2nd Mar '15 8:32:16 PM by TheRealWren
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day.Kitchen
"Dinnae call me sir" Snapped Connor in response to James "I'm nae a knight or noble, so you dinnae need tae call me anythin' other than Connor."
In response to Mint, Connor simply said "I'm nae bullyin' the lad, I'm just wonderin' why he's actin' like he's scared o' me."
That said, Connor poured a healthy amount of syrup on his pancakes and began digging in.
Mint nodded and sat down, taking the proffered plate of pancakes, but didn't really hear what anyone was saying. Her mind was still on the nightmare. Why now? It's not like the night on the rooftop had ever really caused her to lose sleep, so why did it feel so raw?
Come to think of it, why couldn't she remember everything that had happened?
Her hands moved mechanically, cutting up pancakes into tiny little sections and putting them in her mouth. She completely neglected the condiments on the table.
Scarlet finished moving the sleeve onto Selene's arm. "Nope, No, nothing. I just....forgot something in the room is all." The biker then exited the room at speed and hurried up to the bedroom, quickly entering before throwing herself face down on the bottom bunk she had selected. Finally I can get away from her and take some time to sort out this stupid crush bullshit and.... She heard someone else shift on a bed in the room. Lily is still in here isn't he...dammit I need a new sanctuary to clear my head it.
-dramatic music ensues-Cringing at Connor snapping, the boy jolted upright and nodded.
"Y-Yes, o-of course, I-I just didn't know y-your name, um, C-Connor, s-so I was just, um, trying to be polite, i-is all." He quickly replied, doing a poor job of keeping composed as he timidly nodded and put his jacket on Ullioc's back as a blanket, trying to let him sleep.
...Of course, he was oblivious to whatever else was going on until Suzune's reply snapped him out of it.
"A d-drink? Um, well, t-there's water, milk, coffee o-or if you really n-need a jolt of energy t-to wake up, um, I've got some f-fancy strawberry flavored m-milk." He replied, holding up one of his flasks and offering it to the gynoid.
Glancing at Mint, his nervous smile sort of faded as he just tried to give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before nodding at Suzune.
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day."Oh, Ullioc, you okay?" Halle walked backwards, innards still lewdly exposed for the world to see, and leaned over the boy. "Now, I know seeing all my inner workings is provocative and probably excites all you lucky folks here, but I'm sure we can all stay mature as I charge, right? No shame in eyeing me up, though..." Halle flicked one of her eyes around and pulsed it on and off... a wink...? Halle switched her eyes back around to the table after a moment, though, and pulled up Ullioc's designs to look over. "That poor boy; he didn't need to work half as hard as he did. Now I kinda feel guilty for asking him, I didn't know he'd work this hard on a request like this."
Mint felt James put his hand on her shoulder and looked up. She gave a faint smile. At least he cared about his subordinates (unlike some of her other classmates). If only something could be done about his tendency to want to do everything himself...
She dug a little deeper, trying to put on a better show. She even tried to straighten out her hair while she ate.
"So", she said, suddenly more businesslike, "has anybody got a copy of the schedule for today? I'm guessing lots of briefings, not so much classwork."
...is she for real? I mean, she's a robot, but did she r-really have to say it like that...? The youth thought to himself, facepalming and glancing to the side.
You like faunus more anyway. But I wonder why that is.
Going red from embarrassment and anger, he nodded at Halle, trying to focus.
"I-I'm s-sure we'll be fine. ...A-And yes, h-he did kind of w-wear himself out, b-but he looks l-like he got a l-lot of designs a-and ideas done. M-Might want to give your opinion w-when he wakes up." James quietly responded.
Smiling back at Mint, he blinked at her comment and folded his arms.
"C-Can't help with t-that, I don't have, um, o-one of those scroll...things, so I'm c-clueless. Parents d-didn't really give me one before s-sending me here, you see."
Either way, he got started on getting ready to clean the dishes and tidy up the kitchen.
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day.Halle clicked her fingers together as James spoke. "You know, that's interesting; I get that it's hard to talk when you've got something else on the mind, or when you're tired, but, I've been thinking..."
Halle swiveled herself around the room, watching each person in turn. "Can we get a total count of everyone who has a persistent stutter? I just think it's interesting how many people in this house have one."

Kitchen
Selene just stuck her tongue out at Scarlet in defiance, a rather childish end to the topic. "It's too early in the morning to defend my side of things."