the gauntlet discussion

Academy always does its best for the little gauntlet-runners-in-training! You'll find everything healthy to be had here!

Ebiza's stomach had been rumbling for well over ten minutes, and he assumed that it was time for him to get something to eat. He stepped into the kitchenette, using his shirt to wipe the water from his face after dowsing himself by accident in the bathroom earlier — he'd been shaking after reading the results of the competition. He could have done better, he knew that much. — but he was glad he wasn't a sopping mess as he looked through pantry for something appetizing.

The competition went well. Dae was a few places off from being in the top five, so that was disappointing, but he wasn't walking around half-asleep like the rest of them. In fact, he was pretty awake. So awake, in fact, that he was walking around the dorms barefoot -- which was probably a bad idea, maybe he'd step on some unmanned dagger and be unable to run -- in a pair of lazy pants and a jacket. The kitchenette was empty save for a fine piece of ass (himself) and some other slightly less fine piece. But still pretty worth his while. "Hey, hot-stuff," he trailed his fingers over the other boys shoulders on his way to the water cooler. "Rough morning?"

If he didn't nearly scurry away from Dae, Ebiza didn't know what to call it. He was much better at watching the other man from a distance, or rather observing him knocking Pierce down a few pegs. It was interesting enough to see, but to be the subject he was flirting with? Downright unnerving. His brows rose with his shoulders. "Yeah, not so great," he replied, hoping his voice didn't crack. "Not so much for you, though. Congrats?" Was that the right word to use? Ebiza wasn't sure at this point, but went with it. He offered up a smile, trying not to think too hard about his own placement. Which, he could have done better.

Dae's swiped some water, and took a swig. He twisted around, eyebrows risen inquisitively. "Much appreciated," he put in vaguely, not caring so much about his ranking. So you have one bad morning, Dae was sure that some of the lower level students would shoot up now that they've gotten over the first hurdle. Oh well. He came over to Ebiza, leaning against the counter. "But coming in towards the end of the reel gives you a pretty good view, doesn't it?" he was tapping his water bottle now, testing the waters, but looked undeterred.

Ebiza could appreciate the joke in that, he really could. Would he take part in it? Probably not. He wasn’t exactly great at that. But it wasn’t like Dae was talking strictly about himself. There were plenty of other people that had been behind him that Ebiza could have been looking at. He scratched the back of his neck, shrugging. “Yeah, I guess,” he replied, “I would have liked the view from the front, though.” He was making this a passing conversation, yeah. “So, what do you plan on doing today?” He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back against the counter behind him.

Dae crossed his arms, chin lifting. Ah, he thought knowingly. For being someone who had never struggled with his sexuality (even if it brought him a hell of a lot of shit), he was terribly good at picking out a closet case when he saw one. "Making some rounds. I wanna see the gallery... check out my competition." -- literally -- "Going to the gym first, though." He tipped his head. "Wanna join me? You can watch, if you wanna." He shrugged nonchalantly.

He would lie to watch, really. He could watch for hours. But that wasn’t what he was here for. “I could join you, yeah,” Ebiza responded, before quickly adding, “Not to watch, though. I could use the workout.” He had a basic idea of what Dae was doing and he was trying to do his best to avoid it. Honestly, he was. It was kind of hard not getting sucked into, though, all things considered. “I really should get more training in."

Dae, being the world's most charming personality, watched him quietly. The only comment he made in the midst of his thoughts was a vague hum. Yeah, he wasn't buying it. Not usually one to doubt himself, Dae tapped his chin, "You are gay, right?" he questioned bluntly. "You can tell me, I already know," he added, looking unperturbed. "That feeling you get when someone's watching you? I get it a lot, and I know your eyes like to take part in the fun and games." Dae shrugged. "I'm flattered."

"No." The response was immediate. So conditioned, it might as well been instinctual. Not to mention the smile and furrow of his brows. Just a little bit of teeth showing, not too much, but enough to add to the confused effect. Like he was wondering what gave Dae the idea that he was gay ( which, if it weren't obvious before, he was about as straight as a circle ). And he wasn't going to admit that fun little fact. "I'm not; trust me. I can be straight and appreciate someone having good looks." Someone stop him, now. Or better yet, kill him and tell no one.

Dat stared at him, very obviously trying not to laugh. That, it turns out, didn't go over very well. He let loose a little something, grinning with affection. "Right," he chuckled humoursly. "That's funny. I'm sure that's exactly what you said after kissing your first guy," he poked some fun, unwilling to believe that this guy was that bad of a liar. Dae'd seen so pretty shit ones in his day, but if this guy actually thought he was selling it ... Dae would give him personally give him acting lessons. "You know what they say: once you realize you're gay, it's there to stay."

"I haven't kissed a guy before." Not a lie. How marvelous it was to tell the truth for a change. Ebiza wasn't as brave as running the Gauntlet might make him sound. The risk of his parents finding out — of even his cousins hearing because he knows how loose lipped they are around family — was far too great. The Gray family had eyes and ears everywhere, particularly in the most unlikely of places. Minus Ainsley, he'd found. He'd been thorough in his vetting of others, dropping the few words that would give them away. Iza had been close once, just once, to getting that coveted first kiss with someone he'd liked — actually liked, not the pretend kind he did for his family — but had chickened out. Partly because he'd seen that tell tale sign of someone watching ( thanks, familial paranoia ) and partly because he was that much of a coward to actually go through with it. So, no, he hadn't said that after kissing his first guy because there was no first kiss with a guy.

Dae stared at him blankly. What? He'd never ...? There was a kind of smile on his face, the edge of his lips tilted vaguely, but his eyes looked struck. As if he took this personally. His aghast reflection fell away -- he was as good an actor as he'd bragged to Jamie about being -- replaced by a mischievous look. "You've never kissed a guy before? Ever? Oh, baby, you're missing out. We're so much better than women." Dae hopped up onto the counter, taking Ebiza by the front of his shirt and dragging him in. He was quick enough to lay one on him before Ebiza could protest, smoothing his hands up the boy's chest and around his neck. When he pulled away there was a hazy twinkle in his eye, and a lilt to his lips. "Fun, isn't it?"

Ebiza wasn't sure if he'd expected part of Dae's reaction. The man had been onto him to begin with, but didn't a lot of obviously closeted people not have kisses with the same gender? Unless it was just Iza; that wouldn't surprise him. What did surprise him was Dae pulling him for a kiss. His immediate reaction was to brace himself against the counter, seeing as he had been dragged forward. He'd be lying if he didn't for a second focus in on how soft Dae's lips were or how nice it felt, but the sensation was gone soon enough and there were words being said. For a split second, he thought his brain had short-circuited. And then he thought of how bad it would be if someone had seen them just now. If there was a witness to this kiss, he was going to kill them and then himself because there was no way anyone else was finding out about this.

Brain finally working, though probably not in the direction Dae might hope for, Ebiza pushed away from the counter. "No, not fun. Don't do that again." He hoped his voice was as even as he thought it was. "Not cool."

Dae smirked knowingly. That is definitely not how he'd reacted the first time a guy had kissed him. Little Ollie made him who he was - thank God, he couldn't imagine being like Ebiza. "Yes," Dae laid his cheek into his palm, eyes half-lidded as they watched the other boy. "That's exactly how straight people act after being kissed by a guy for the first time." First, of course, implying that it wouldn't be the last. If Dae's lips never found their way back to Ebiza's, than he was sure someone else's would find a home there. Someone, preferably, who didn't have boobs. That would be disappointing for Dae and for Ebiza, but especially for Ebiza who knew he'd be happier in a different kind of relationship. "Don't worry," Dae assured, sliding off the counter. His feet found the ground silently. He swiped his water bottle from where he'd left it, sitting on the counter, and gave Ebiza a wink. "I won't tell anyone. It'll be our little secret. But if you find someone you like, let me know and I'll make sure you get what you're looking for." He started out of the kitchenette.

Ebiza caught Dae's wrist just before he could fully turn away. He kept his expression neutral, as blank as he could get it to be. It wasn't that he didn't trust Dae specifically — he didn't trust anyone, really ( thanks, mom and dad ) — it was more like he wanted it as a precaution. An assure that he wouldn't tell anyone. "You swear," he inquired, brows raising just so. He was probably more agitated about this than he should be, but old habits die hard.

Dae came to a very abrupt halt. He swiveled his head around, eyebrows rising with surprise. He watched Ebiza quietly, searching his eyes. He didn't know why he was hiding this part of himself, obviously it was painful, but there was a very real fear in those eyes. Deeply pained, but far away, like he was always imagining what life would be like if he were out of the closet. Dae turned to face him, pulling his hand away. "I swear." he said seriously, never taking his eyes from the boy. After a moment, Dae gave his chest a little pat, graced him with a flirty smile, and left.

( i just realized i never closed this up on my end so )

Jaw clenched, Ebiza nodded. That would have to do. He could begin to trust Dae with the serious look on his face, the one that flitted away once the moment was over and was replaced by his usual flirtatious smile. The nervousness was there, yes, but it had ebbed at his strong convincing that Dae would uphold his word and everything would be okay. Suddenly not so hungry, Ebiza trotted out of the kitchenette and back to his dorm.

Food was supposed to be a cure-all kind of thing, right?

Sad. Angry. On your period. Happy.

Food was a good solution for all of those emotions and for every moment; so when Juliet had been storming back towards her dorm and had seen Kaneki turn the corner into the hallway she'd simply strode up and grabbed his arm with an excuse about how she was hungry and wasn't about to eat alone. She honestly hadn't given him much of a choice, since she figured that he'd probably be fine with eating anyway. He'd gone through major trauma in the past couple of months and honestly if Juliet had gone through something like that she probably would've been about three-hundred pounds by now.

"Damn. They really don't keep anything non healthy in here, do they?" Juliet had already scavenged through three pantries and each one was healthier than the last. "Do you think they let us get care packages here? Do you think you could get your mom to send that chocolate cake she makes, cause I'm going to need one of those weekly if I'm going to have even a chance of not killing Artemis this year." What a fucking joke, making Artemis her damn roommate. And no, the Academy refused to let her switch rooms with someone else. Maybe they were hoping one of the girls would kill the other- less competition for the Gauntlet that way.

Finally she settled on a bag of trail mix. There was chocolate chips in that- even if they were sugar free. "But you know, enough about me, how are you." Cause nicky here kind of looked like he'd been hit by a deer, sort of bewildered but not damaged.

About the entire time that he had been walking back from the Apple Orchard, Kaneki had been feeling pretty garbage-like about himself. He still wasn't sure what had made him crack on Althea like that, but he wasn't happy with himself for it. He could see the way she felt about him, yet he couldn't really seem to explain why he didn't want to reciprocate those feelings. Even as he could see why he had fallen in love with her, he found himself pulling away and not wanting to get trapped like that again. Well, he wouldn't say trapped, since obviously he had been happy about it the first time. But things were different now... that just wasn't what he wanted anymore.

Kaneki looked up at Juliet in that moment, realizing she was waiting for him to respond to something she had said. "Oh yeah, you're totally right." Something about Artemis? He hadn't really been listening... she had kind of just pulled him down here and sat him in one of the chairs, basically so he could watch her run around the kitchen while he was lost in his own head-drama.

"Finally found something to eat?" he asked, reaching into the bag because sharing was caring. KC tossed some trail mix into his mouth, pleased with her find. "Me? What about me? What happened with you and Artemis anyways? Did she try to smother you in your sleep again?"

Juliet was more than willing to share with Nicky, maybe it would help him open up to her, after all. "Sleep? What's that?" As if she'd slept a full night ever since she first found out she was rooming with Artemis. Ha. Good one. She pulled herself up onto the counter, sitting and turning with the bag held out towards him so he could still mooch off her snack. She rolled her eyes at his inquiry though, figuring if she answered then maybe they could move on from her problems, but it was a good natured roll of her eyes - not the kind of hate filled ones she gave Artemis. "Oh....she just got confused and thought that I was some sort of fancy meat that had to be put on a shish-kabob. To be fair I should have left when I first saw her there but I thought maybe I could handle being around her without all hell breaking loose."

No big deal.

She nudged Kaneki with her knee then, prompting him with a shake of her head. "Nuh uh, you can pull that 'im fine' nonsense with everyone else, but you're not fine. You wouldn't be here at Ainsley if you were fine, cause newsflash Nicky, no one at Ainsley is even remotely right in the head." Yeah, maybe the right thing to do would've been to sit back and wait for Kaneki to tell her what he was thinking on his own time. But Juliet had known him long enough to know that sometimes you just had to freaking push. Although, she already had her suspicions about what this was about: Leggy brunette with puppy dog brown eyes?

Who was so obviously here at the academy to win back the heart of the moody doofus eating trail mix here- obvious to Juliet that is.

Kaneki highly doubted that Artemis confused Juliet for meat, but she knew that was just her way of skirting around the truth. He knew the relationship the two girls had, if you could even call it that, since Juliet had spent a good deal of time talking to him about it. And because he knew Juliet, he also knew the fight was primarily her fault, or at least that's what he guessed. Not that he wouldn't defend her if it came down to it, he would take her side, but all the while secretly knowing she had probably been the one to instigate it. "I'm not at all surprised you thought you could handle it," he replied, reaching for the open bag yet again, "Equally unsurprised that you couldn't."

If anyone else had said that to her, it probably would have been read the wrong way, but coming from Kaneki, she would knew he was just teasing her lack of self control. Normally it would be a lot more obvious, but being that he was stuffing his face with trail mix, and still hung up over his talk with Althea, it might not have read through to anyone else but her. He and Juliet alike knew her temper, after all, he had been on the receiving end of it. It didn't deter him from pissing her off though, he was especially good at it.

He jerked to attention when she hit him with her knee, though he had to take a few seconds to register what she had said thereafter because he was too busy staring at her leg that she had just thwacked him with. "If you must know, you greedy girl," he paused, snatching the bag of trailmix and beginning to pace around the kitchen, "I was walking through the Apple Orchard coming back from my punishment, and I ran into Althea. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to tell her... I don't know, the gist of it was I basically told her she had no shot with me, because I wasn't getting my memories back, and I didn't feel that way about her. And yeah. She got all... awkward and left and I was just thinking about it."

Of course, Juliet knew that Kaneki was teasing her- besides she couldn't be too mad when she knew it was the truth. But that didn't stop her lips from parting into a small 'o' of surprise. "Damn boy, tell me what you really think of my skills. I mean I did get here to Ainsley. And I was a big enough threat that someone felt the need to injure me during the race," Her chin tilted up slightly in arrogance, as though she truly had been the best runner there. Doubtful. She probably would've gotten a crappy placement even if she hadn't been injured, but she'd never admit to that. "At least I didn't sleep through it like some people," She threw a smirk his way, because hey two could play the teasing game. And it was better to focus on this than on how badly she wanted to wring Artemis' neck.

"Hey!" Her gasp was more of an instinct than actual offense, but now that he had taken away the only edible snack she found herself pouting for a moment, before he actually started talking. Which was enough to silence her outrage over the loss of food- he definitely needed the snack more than she did. "Holy Shit-" Like ummmm holy fuck? "Kaneki! That's- I mean- holy shit! So what? you ran into her and just said 'yeah so im not interested, and im not going to be'? Of course she got awkward, idiot!" Damn, Kaneki could be so thick headed sometimes. It was a miracle- I mean he was her friend and she loved him but seriously he needed to fire up the neurons a little more. "Besides, you don't know that, you could get your memories back any day. You could bite down on one of those peanuts there and boom memories of your fiftieth date or whatever. I mean, I get it, you don't have the memories so you can't have the feelings, but like....harsh." Shaking her head Juliet pursed her lips, the total representation of 'i'm not mad im just disappointed'. She wouldn't even know how she would have reacted if it had been the other way.

If Kaneki had forgotten her. Granted he would've had to forget like years of his life rather than just one. But still, if she lost him she'd be devastated. She wasn't even sure how she befriended him in the first place, let alone how she could do it again. Of course, some part of her understood. She couldn't imagine how hard it was to lose a year of your life....to just literally get a reset button like that. "Come back over here so I can smack you for being so insensitive. Not all girls are like me and will forgive you no matter how many dumbass mistakes you make," Anyone else probably would've thought Juliet was scolding him, and sure part of her was, but she was also smiling, because it wouldn't be Kaneki if he wasn't making some kind of mistake she had to tease and berate him about.

Oh haha, it was so funny that he had slept through the alarms. He was the running joke of the room -- everyone thought he was just a super heavy sleeper, but in reality he couldn't hear anything at all. He didn't make that a well known fact though, he didn't want to see what lengths someone would go to so they could see exactly how many thwacks in the head they had to give him to make him deaf permanently. He threw a few pieces of trail mix at her for that one, not too impressed with her jokes.

Kaneki had felt a lot less guilty before Juliet's reaction, and now he just ate a mouthful of trail mix so he didn't have to reply right away. The longer he had to chew, the shittier he felt about what he had said. "I knowwww." he finally said, dropping the bag onto the counter and leaning on it in defeat. "Looking back on it, I can see how little game I have, okay? It just... it seemed like a good idea at the time. She was just looking at me, and I could see it on her face how hopeful she was, and I'm just not interested in leading anyone on, you know?" KC looked up at Juliet, begging her to understand.

He followed her command, coming to stand near her -- but bringing her the bag of trail mix, because he knew that was why she really wanted him closer. Kaneki wasn't sure if he should continue talking, but he just... "Okay, this is going to sound really bad... but even if I do get my memories back, I'm not sure if that.. well, she, is what I want anymore." He looked up at Juliet, before quickly looking down again. "It's just different now. And I might just be saying that because I can't feel what she does... like you don't need to lecture me again, but as of right now, when I don't have those feelings to reference, I know I'm not settling to be a farmer for the rest of my life. That's just not me anymore."

Uh-oh. Juliet could sense that he was about to throw the trail mix even before his hand left the bag- so she had a moment to debate whether she wanted to try and catch some with her mouth or not. She decided not. Which was fine since a couple pieces landed in her lap anyway and she picked them up before popping them into her mouth. She shrugged her shoulders then, a tiny grin playing at her lips, "Hey, maybe I'll just start sleeping with you and then I can make sure you wake up for any surprise night challenges, and in turn I get to sleep without worrying about a bimbo blonde trying to claw my eyes out with her manicure. Sounds like a win-win to me," She was joking....sort of. Honestly she wouldn't have minded being able to sleep without the rage that Artemis inspired with her mere presence keeping her awake all the time.

Little game? Juliet rose a brow at that, biting back her own teasing comment because ha- seriously Kaneki had game? It was just too challenging not to say anything though, green eyes lighting up with amusement, "Game? You? We are talking about game like in the womanizing sense right? Cause I definitely need to see a demonstration of you having any amount of game." Not that Juliet had any game to speak of either. Please, she had no game what so ever.

Why did he have to do that thing that he did? the puppy dog pout that had her sighing and reaching her hand into the bag of trail mix rather than thwacking him like she had threatened. "Look, I get it. I'm not exactly Thea's number one fan right now either," Since it was pretty obvious that long-legs-McGee was only here to win back her man- and KC definitely seemed like he needed the time at Ainsley to try and figure out who he was on his own without big puppy eyes imploring him to remember what he couldn't. "Look, you know I'm in your corner no matter what, but I just want to say you were happy with her. And she's a nice girl, decent and all that jazz." She popped a handful of the mixed dried fruits into her mouth- who knew strawberries could be freeze dried and put in trail mix? "So Guardian now? That's the new objective? Cause you know, the world is going to miss you doing all those farm chores all shirtless," Ha, she remembered those days. Sometime during puberty all the girls in town stared showing up at KC's farm early in the morning to get their groceries and fresh produce- to you know gawk at KC as he lugged stuff around the farm or tilled the fields.

"Although, you could probably do your Guardian tasks shirtless, it'd be a real service to the community," She smirked at him, tossing a few raisins his way.

Kaneki was personally insulted by her comment about game -- him, with his dirty blonde hair and award-winning smile didn't have game? She still couldn't figure out which way to point her chest to get what she wanted, but Kaneki, with the smoldering gray eyes didn't have game? If he was so bad at picking up chicks, why did girls come to his farm like it was a gift from the Gods, even though their strawberries were subpar at best? If she wanted a display of showmanship, Kaneki was more than happy to oblige.

He chose to ignore all of this talking about Thea entirely, and decided to focus on the part where she was talking about him being shirtless and sleeping in his bed. Those two things had been a compound sentence, right? As in, she had said them in the same breath? Because that's how Kaneki was choosing to hear it. If he had gotten it wrong, he would just play a little game of 'sorry I'm deaf' later.

"I could be shirtless right now, if you wanted." he commented, straightening up his posture so he stood directly in front of where she sat on the counter. It was mistake for Juliet to knock on his game -- this kid was the heartthrob of their entire middle school, and quite the catch in high school too. He rested his hand on her thigh and stepped into her, running his hand up it a little further before pulling her forward slightly. Kaneki had his head dipped a bit, just enough that he could trail his lips along her jawline if he had wanted.

But did he? No. Because this was Juliet, and he knew she wasn't interested. So what did he do instead? Swiped the trail mix from her hand and sat down on the counter next to her, far enough away to be polite to her personal space, but close enough that if someone walked in they would know the two were friends. "In all seriousness, you can come sleep with me if you want. You don't even have to knock, just climb in -- my bed, make sure it's mine -- I probably won't even wake up. I'll even cuddle you if you're in the mood, platonically, of course." Of course.

Hmmmm what now?

Juliet had barely looked up from digging in the bag of trail mix for the little strawberries before her gaze was being snapped back down to her leg where Kaneki was running his hand up her thigh. Naturally she looked up, smile on her lips and a laugh in her throat to tell him it was a nice try but she wasn't believing any of it. That was her intention, honest. But he had tilted his head and suddenly the warm breath of his exhale was dancing across her throat and fuck her up because was that a shiver she was fighting to keep from running up her spine? Obviously not. This was Kaneki. He was.....her friend. Her house had been the closest thing to his farm, his mom had babysat her and Matt when their parents had to go far away to help with a home birth or something in the next city.

That laugh about his lack of game definitely had gotten stuck and died in her throat.

She was so caught up in trying to stop her heart from racing that she didn't even put up a fight for the trail mix. Wait...what did he say about his shirt? She just kind of pushed past that comment since her brain had been a little foggy. Oh well, couldn't have been too important since it was about his shirt. "Worried that if I crawl into the wrong bed, I could seduce one of your roommates and break their heart?" She smiled at him as she reached over for the bag in his hand, grabbing a handful from it and picking out her favorites first. "Platonic cuddling? Are you going to be shirtless during this cuddling? Might send the wrong message if you're just going to be shirtless around me all the time." Ha. What was even the right message? What message did she want his presence around her to even send- the one that they were friends. Yeah. Obviously that one.

Friends.

Nothing more.

Because he had Althea. Even if he didn't remember that.

Kaneki hadn't really been focusing on her reaction to his game, he had been looking at her lips too much to notice how red her cheeks had gotten. Because you know, she had game without even trying -- he had to put effort into his. KC popped some more trail mix into his mouth, thinking to himself how unfair life was. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic, since he was still mostly just thinking about Juliet's lips, but it was whatever.

"I'm not worried about what you would do to my roommates, I'm worried about what they would do to you." he replied, being honest in his answer. Of course Kaneki liked Juliet, but he liked her enough that if she found happiness with someone else, he would let her have it. He might be a bit salty at times, but he had to think that he could love someone else... I mean, he had been with Althea for who knows how long? So he was capable of moving on. It just... didn't feel like it so much when she was sitting there next to him, and he could practically feel the warmth radiating off of her body.

KC turned to smile at her, though it was more mischievous than kind. "I wear as much or little clothes as your little heart desires, my dear Juliet." He did normally sleep in a shirt and shorts, but he would most certainly put on longer pants if she requested... or you, less. Not that it would ever happen -- Kaneki and Juliet were so far into the friend zone, they had no chance of escaping. He could kiss her directly on the lips with a hand up her skirt, and she'd still think he was teasing her, with his luck. "But really, it'll be just like the sleepovers we used to have when we were what, like five? Just as platonic as two five year olds sharing a bed." If he could keep anatomy from playing a role.

Worried what they would do to her? "Hey now, don't you think I could handle myself? I mean I did make it here to Ainsley, I do have some skills," Good thing that Kaneki wasn't focusing on those lips anymore, because right now they were pulled into a downright childish pout. Sure, she was the height of a child, but hey she had some skills, enough that Ainsley thought she could win the Gauntlet. Surely she could handle herself against a defenseless boy in his bed if she did crawl into the wrong one. Funny though, you would have thought with the new acceptance of girls there would have been a rule about girls being allowed in the boys rooms, but nah, Ainsley was all about keeping it equal apparently.

No rules about the genders interacting. Communal bathrooms and no limit as to who could sleep where.

Huh, that was appealing though. Being able to sleep without having to worry about Artemis or the tension that Jo and Lyca brought into the room whenever they were within a fifty foot radius of each other. Honestly, Ainsley had picked the four most hateful girls and just stuck them all together. At least that was how it seemed. For a moment the trail mix was forgotten and Juliet scooted closer to him instead, resting her head on his shoulder and tilting her chin up towards him as she batted her eyes. "Are you going to make sure there are no monsters under the bed too? Be my strong, heroic, Guardian again?" Back when they were little, he'd done that. He'd also been her hero in pretend games, of course he never would be her prince, because he said that was lame. But it was still fun. The two of them running around playing at Guardians, chasing the crows out of the field as if they were fighting monsters and keeping the world safe.

Yeah, she had skills enough to get her into the school, or the school like to admit weaklings to make the big kids feel better about being able to beat someone. Or, maybe they took in a bunch of weak girls to prove that no girl could win, since they didn't train any with legit potential. Of course those were just a few of Kaneki's theories, nothing personal against Juliet, it was just... she was quite small. And he had seen those statues of the Guardians, if they were anything like their cement selves in real life... well, a lot of the girls Kaneki had seen around the Academy didn't have a chance, and neither did he.

Kaneki was all for her leaning her head on his shoulder, but then his smile stopped dead in his tracks when he realized that she was making fun of him. He slacked his shoulder so her head fell off, and he threw some more trail mix at her face. "You're in Guardian school, now, Julie. You'd better be looking under your bed for your own monsters, because I am officially off the job." He slid off the counter, going to look in the fridge for something to drink. All sugar free juices? Disgusting. "And you know," he glanced over his shoulder, "I wouldn't be worried about monsters so much as Artemis under your bed, hiding there with a pocket knife or something."

Juliet's face scrunched up when she got a face full of trail mix, watching as he slid off the counter and shaking a few stray pieces out of her hair. "Oh ha-ha. Tease all you want, one of these days I'm going to kick Lennox's ass and you're going to eat your lack of faith in me," Ha. Or you know. She'd end up in the infirmary again after Lennox and that pocket knife turned her into a pin cushion- or maybe she'd just end up in that patch of earth under the tree next to Matt. Her hand lingered slightly on the stitches at the edge of her hairline before sliding through the dark brown tresses and freeing the last few pieces of trail mix.

She'd barely been here a week and already she'd been to the infirmary, and her roommate could easily kill her. How the hell was she going to make it through 'Guardian school'. Her eyes lifted from the trail mix in her hand, focusing instead on Kaneki and checking him out. Not in a romantic manner - although perhaps her eyes lingered a little too long on his ass for simply friend status - but just checking him over. In the past few months he'd gotten in a life changing accident, she'd thought he was going to die and she was going to lose her best friend. But here he was, walking around like nothing had ever happened.

Okay there were side effects- like he'd lost nearly a year of his life. But he was alive. He was alive and he was here.....

She slid off the counter then, maybe if she complained about a headache, she could get a couple hours of sleep in the infirmary. "Well if you find any monsters under your bed, or anywhere...I'll have your back. I'm still willing to play at being your hero, KC." She smacked Kaneki's ass as she walked over and grinned at him, practically daring him to do something about how she just smacked his ass.

"It's not that I don't have faith in you, I just think the odds are not in your favor." he replied, not wanting her to misunderstand. KC wanted her to win, because out of a lot of people here, she deserved it. He was just trying to be realistic about this whole thing, and acting like she had a shot was just kind of... weird. I mean, she could win if she really tried, but like there was a lot of trying that needed to be had. And probably a lot of dirty work on the sly. He'd been to the training center, he'd seen the ridiculousness for himself. And if this first competition was a good mark for how any of the others were to go, they both needed to step up there game.

All either of them had proved so far that one was easy pickings, and just needed a swift hit to the head -- and the other couldn't even wake up to blaring sirens, so he clearly wasn't a threat.

Kaneki straightened up when she smacked him, almost hitting his head on the freezer since it had been so unexpected. That's exactly what he needed, another concussion. Good to know she was going to be his hero -- what was she going to do, kill him first so it was less painful than a death in the Gauntlet? "Glad do know you'll have my back, but are you sure you didn't mean backside?" he asked, grinning at her snarky little smirk. She was just begging for it, wasn't she? Kaneki closed the fridge, settling on a bottle of water.

"Here, let me walk you to your room, I'll even check under your bed if you want? Or at least make sure the coast is clear from an Angry-Artemis." he put his arm around her waist and steered her towards the direction of the door, letting his hand dip a little bit to grab a handful of her ass before jetting down the hall before she could retaliate.

Making it back to the dorms had taken a bit longer than Dan had expected. Even though he had regained his ability to breathe, his lungs and ribcage had not taken to the idea of walking easily. He’d had to force his way though much more pain and discomfort that he had expected. As he walked into the Kitchenette and pulled open the cupboard with the med kit in it, his shoulder screaming in protest, there was no doubt in his mind that’d he’d bruised a few ribs. He wasn’t sure how bad the bruising was, since he still had his shirt on, but a glance down at his shoulder told him that that damn rock pile had defiantly broken skin.

Dan dropped the med kit onto the table, and used his other arm to grab a couple ice packs from the freezer. He dropped those onto the table as well, and then carefully peeled off his shirt and draped it on a chair before sitting himself down. He grabbed the med kit, pulling out a couple sanitary wipes and started tending to his shoulder. Just like he’d suspected, he had a nasty scrape on his shoulder, and the bruising was starting to show in his shoulder and chest. The wipe stung the broken and bruised skin on his shoulder, but he’d survived worse. Dan grabbed an ice pack with his free hand and held it to one off the areas of his chest that was smarting the worst as he continued to pat his shoulder with the wipe.

Audrey was in a rather pleasant mood today. Her prank had been all planed and worked out, only awaiting results now. She broke off from her group of friends and rounded the corner that led to the kitchenette, stopping in her tracks as her eyes fell upon the guy sitting at the table. Shirt off, cut up shoulder, and bruised in different places, though she was behind him so she didn't think he noticed her approach him.

She cleared her throats and held out a hand, "need help?" She asked, thinking back to when she did this helped a friend awhile back. He couldn't possibly want to do both at the same time. Audrey looked him over. Sturdy guy, maybe she could have some fun with him too. "Looks like you can take a beating." Audrey said, a small smile tugging at her mouth. Her hair was tied back, her clothes a bit dirty from the prank set up.

Dan didn’t hear anyone enter until the girl was right behind him. What was it with these girls materializing out of nowhere? Were they trying to give him a heart attack? “Oh, hey.” He said, glancing up as he pat his shoulder. It was cleaning the blood up, and he just needed to slap some salve on it and maybe a bandage after he showered. He was about to respond to her question about help when she offered up her observation.

Looks like you can take a beating. Uh….had she meant that as a double entendre? What had made her…Dan glanced down at himself. Was being shirtless really all it took to get girls to do that? Cool. “This isn’t from any BDSM, if that’s what you’re asking.” He answered, pulling the sanitary wipe off his shoulder and dropping it on the table in favor of a clean one. Falling on a pile of rocks for being a stupid, arrogant competitor most certainly did not file under that, but if that was what she wanted to think, she was entitled to her opinion.

"No, this is from an unfortunate encounter with a rock pile." Dan offered by explanation, just in case she was put off by his first comment. He smiled tenderly as he applied the clean sanitary wipe to his shoulder. "As you can see, the rocks won."

((Traveling between states, will reply later))

Audrey waited until he dropped the wipe on the table, she picked up a new one and torn it open, pulling a chair up next to him, sitting down and handing it to him. Audrey wanted to make up for the comment, realizing it was a bit rude. She hung out around a lot of guys, so she knew how to hit the right spots when she wanted too.

"Anything I can help with?" Audrey asked looking between the cabinets, there had be something here that would help. She returned his smile with one of her own. Everyone seemed to like her smile. "You're luckily I didn't pick you to prank this week. Most people would choose a run in with rocks then be my target." She said standing up and being it rummage through the med kit. Her brown eyes going back and forth between the contents and his injuries. They didn't look to deep...

Dan couldn’t help the way his eyebrows twitched up at the word “prank”. “You don’t say.” He mused, taking the clean wipe she offered. Another prankster. Dan gave her a quick once over, trying to size her up. She didn’t look like a threatening presence, and her smile reminded Dan of his own. One with a plan behind it. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He said, amused, and turned his head back to his shoulder. It was pretty clean, and he was pretty sure there wasn’t any more dirt or anything in it.

“”Is there any ointment in there?” He asked, seeing her rummage around in the med kit. She obviously wanted to help, so unless she was out to kill him, she couldn’t cause him too much harm. And if she like pranks, maybe he could scrape…ah, bad choice of words.. up another ally. “I’m surprised, I was starting to think I was the only prankster around here.” He said, deciding to test the waters.

((Okay now I'm going to drive between states, so I will reply when I can. I will have a good reply though))

((Girl, take your time! I'm just sitting in my room doing homework. Do what you need to do, I can wait, honestly :) ))

She smirked, he spoke with an amused tone. Great to find someone who liked the idea of messing with people. Audrey felt him size her up, and gave a small laugh, "Never judge a book by its cover." Audrey spoke with such confidence, knowing that it was a common thing people did when they met here. Yeah people who judged her for her size and appearance got a visit later on, in a prank or in person.

Her fingers drummed against the table a moment, while she looked him over from the front. "Ointment? Sure." One hand grabbed the ointment and the other uncapped it. Misdirection, that was the key to getting ahead, she had plenty of people who disliked her cause of that, but she left them behind when she joined the academy.

Audrey returned to the seat next to him. "Of course not." She said scoffing, why would she let all the guys have fun. Her pranks placed her up towards the top of the 'best pranksters' list. Though that wasn't a real thing, yet. "Can't let you guys have all the fun." Audrey said dripping some ointment on his shoulder, and began to rub it in. What was this kid capable of? Did he hold any potential in being her ally?

"I guess not," Dan responded, still trying to get a read on this girl. He'd been trying his best not to jump to conclusions with people here at the Academy. Everyone who was here had earned their spot one way or another, so jumping to judgement would only harm him.

He went to extend his hand to accept the ointment, but she beat him to it and started it apply it for him. That was nice of her. "Oh, thanks." He said appreciatively, letting his hand drop to rest on his thigh. The pain in his shoulder was beginning to subside, but the bruises would only get more purple in the next few hours.

Dan worked his jaw for a moment. The last time he'd asked to prank someone, the twins had gotten into a fight, and Mitch ended up with a broken nose. But that hadn't been his fault, so why the heck not. "What kind of pranks do you usually pull?" He asked, adjusting the ice pack he was holding to his chest.

Good, she had gotten him to contemplate on her more than taking just a glance. She could tell his face features. Audrey smirked and looked at him carefully, flashing a mischievous smile. One, she didn't want him to have to spilt his attention between the ice and the ointment. After capping the ointment and tossing it back in the bag, she pulled out a sticky bandage wrap, a new technology that stuck on uneven surfaces.

Audrey peeled of the wrapper and applied the bandage to his shoulder. "Type of pranks?" She asked as a build up to the answer, "anything really, depends on the person I'm pranking." She said giving a wink, and smile. Literally anything, harmless pranks, and even harmful ones, nothing to permanent though. "What about you?" She asked returning the question while leaning back in her chair.

Anything really, depends on the person. Dan nodded in understanding. Huh. A small voice in the back of his head told him to slow down and think about this, but there was too much potential for fun in it. “Oh, well,” He started, thinking back over all of the pranks he had pulled in his life. “usually physical gags, sometimes telling someone the wrong information on purpose to confuse them, stuff like that.” He rolled his shoulders as she finished applying the bandage. His shoulder didn’t shoot pain in protests, so that was a plus.

“A couple days ago I swiped a guy’s clothes while he was showering as a favor to his brother.” Dan said. If she knew what had gone down between the Raemer twins, then she could connect the dots on her own. If she didn’t, then he was safe by not using names. “Towel and all. Made him walk back to his room sopping wet in his birthday suit. It was pretty priceless.” Dan said with a chuckle, reaching around him for his shirt that was on the back of his chair. It was sweaty and covered in dirt, so he’d have to go back to his room and grab a clean one. Darn, he’d just done laundry too. Were all of his clothes going to get this gross this fast now?

That was a lot of stuff he did, she made a mental note never to anger him, and end up on his 'to prank' list. Yeah her list was getting really long. "I've done a few pranks that end up changing a feature for awhile." She crossed her arms and tapped her chin, "like she in shampoo, itching powder in makeup or lotion..." she listed a few more things before trailing off. This guy was going to be fun to be with, if he'd let her hang about.

"Ah favors," Audrey said with a smile, "those are either the best or worst pranks ever." It was true, either everyone got a good laugh about it, or everyone hated each other for months. Truly spectacular to watch. Audrey smiled when he chuckled, beginning to think they should work together for the next prank. "What if we pranked someone together? Double the pranksters equals double the fun." She looked him over one more time, coming to the conclusion she wanted him as an ally, who knows, it might work out or not.

Dan nodded in agreement. If you were doing the favor, those pranks could be good, since you could collect later. Although it was highly improbable that Dan would ever “collect” from Mich. Knowing that Micah had to walk back to his room butt naked was reward enough. “I think they’re the best.” Dan said with a shrug. All pranks were the best, no matter how big or small, or who they were done too.

Now this was something he could get behind. A joint prank? “Who did you have in mind?” Dan asked, a mischievous look creeping up into his eyes. Double trouble was twice as fun, she was right. Dan slung his dirty shirt over his unscratched shoulder, and looked up at her, waiting for a response. If she had something, perfect. If not, he could work with that too. There were more than a few people he could stand to see have their feathers ruffled.

Audrey returned his mischievous smile with one of her own. "I don't care who we prank, you can choose." Audrey said looking at him carefully. She could already tell that the wheels in his head were turning, thinking of ideas, hers was too, since the prank she just set up was so fresh in her mind. She reached over and returned all the items back to the first aid bag, zipping it up.

She placed a elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand, facing him. "Anything in mind?" She asked getting pumped. "How's your shoulder feeling?" She asked, her eyes flickering between his shoulder and his face. Audrey had a feeling that they were going to get along well.

Open invitation, his favorite kind. Last time it's been Mitch's idea, now it was his turn. Jamie and Micah were at the top of that list for sure, but those would involve a little more commitment than he was willing to ask of a new acquaintance. "Oh, it's fine," he said offhandedly. His shoulder would survive. Although something told him he wouldn't be hearing the end of it from Nora, but that could wait. Dan tapped his fingers on the top of his thigh, needing only a moment to think of the next best thing.

"You know room 1?" Of course she did, they were all numbered, and that entire room basically screamed tension every time you walked by it. "I have a friend in that room who could probably use a prank or two." Or twenty, but he wouldn't push his luck just yet. Apparently Artemis was in that room too? It was like everyone he'd grown up with had decided to run in the same year. Which just made it easier for him to prank them. "What were you thinking of?" He asked, since he could practically see the grinding of the gears in her head.

"Room 1?" She asked thoughtfully, she hadn't done a prank on that room, or anyone in it yet. This would be a great way to meet new people... "sounds like this person needs double the trouble." She said nudging his arm, "tell me about this person, you gotta know them before you can prank them." It was true, it is a lot easy to think of the best possible prank when you know what the person is like.

A thought occurred to her, if they both pranked the same person, it would be harder for them to figure out who did it, and that would be hilarious to watch. A smiled appeared on her face.

"Well, there are actually two people in that room who could stand to use a prank." Dan said, pushing himself gently out of his seat and over to the counter. He pulled open a drawer and searched for a pad of paper and a pen as he continues speaking. "I've known them both since I was young, and it just seems like they're having a bit of trouble settling in." Looking at you, Artemis. Trying to kill a girl in the Armory over (seemingly) nothing? Girl, we gotta talk about that. Dan's hand connected with a pen and paper, and he moved back to the table and lowered himself back into his chair.

"So," he said, uncapping the pen and starting to write a small note. "For one, I think we should find all of the pants she brought here and leave them on the floor." Dan glanced over at Aubrey before adding, "She'll know why, trust me. For Artemis," he said, ripping off the sheet of paper he'd been writing on and placing it face down in the table. "That's where I need a little input. How do you prank someone who might come after you with a trident at the ready?" After all, Dan needed to be able to sleep safely at night.