The Maze Runner (Role Play) discussion

Where the Gladers gather to have their meals. Food is also prepared here. The Gladers often prefer to eat outside, however.

Kai dragged Lena into the mess and sat down on a table waiting for Lena to follow suit "so, what do you want? I'll probably just get a sandwich." He started bouncing his knee not impatiently but many people interpreted it that way.

Lena smiled. "The bread's probably past it's best..." She laughed. "The TrackHoes harvested it a couple weeks ago... But I'll go for one too, if that's what your getting." She smiled, making a beeline for the counter and the grumpy assistant-cook that sat behind it with a large ladle.

He nodded agreeing even though it made no sense to agree with her. He shook himself. "Hey," he said to the cook behind the counter. "Could we have two sandwiches, or is that too much for his royal majesty, would running all day be more to your liking?" He said mockingly as the cook shot him a dirty look at the request. "You are a cook."

Lena laughed. "Sorry, man. I'm afraid you signed up for this," she said, sympathetically, taking her sandwich when it was thrust at her. The boy behind the counter grunted.

"It's supposed to be bloomin' self service," he grumbled, banging a second sandwich on the counter. "That'll be five pounds, dollars, whatever you choose to go by," he muttered, throwing his hands up in an irritated gesture.

"Yeah, like I have any money," Lena rolled her eyes. "Let's leave him to it," she muttered to Leo.

"Ok " he smiled " wanna go somewhere?"

"Yeah, ok," Lena glanced up at him, smiling slightly. "You have anywhere in mind?"

She grinned as she turned to walk away with Kai, not before shooting a dirty look at the kitchen boy. He was a such a lazy, crabby little piece of klunk. Well, to be fair, he had good reason to be, what with being a Glader and all. But everyone in the Glade was in the same situation, and the rest of them weren't useless idiots.

((Argh, I'm so sorry I haven't responded... I just moved lol, soo... Kinda caught up with new school and stuff. Also, we had had no wifi... lol. Anyway, I'm sorry.))

Hamsiidris ☠Never Trust a Duck☠ wrote: ""Yeah, ok," Lena glanced up at him, smiling slightly. "You have anywhere in mind?"

She grinned as she turned to walk away with Kai, not before shooting a dirty look at the kitchen boy. He was a su..."

Sooo sorry too Iv been on holiday.))

"Erm... The gardens? I dunno maybe the forest, one way or another outside I think." He smiled raising one eyebrow questioningly.

"Yeah." Lena nodded, enthusiastically. "Want to go to the forest?" She asked, with a smile. "That's always more peaceful than the gardens. Besides, I'm not in the mood to see Rihanna again." Lena rolled her eyes, thinking of the slightly bratty head gardener. Track Hoe, whatever. Lena didn't think she deserved a title like that anyway. "But it's up to you," she added, her expression clearing as she glanced back up at him, smiling slightly.

"Ok let's go," he said smiling back at her wondering if anything could happen between them.
((To the forest, can you post first.))

Steven walked into the Mess Room and started cleaning the floor with food crumbs and spit on it. "Meh. Being a Slopper is hard work. At least it boosts my strength." He said to himself when he was close to finishing putting the crumbs in a bucket. When he was done, he sat at a table with the bucket across the table and started eating some food someone left there a minute ago.

After the small ordeal in the Forest, Steven came back to find the Mess Room in an even bigger mess than when he left. "Tch!" He grunted angrily as he grabbed a dustpan and broom.

Lena watched him, trying not to feel so bad about the situation. Jeez, she had come here for a bite to eat, and he'd rushed back to clean the place up... This somehow made Lena feel startlingly inadequate. But it was his job, as she reminded herself.

"Well then..." Lena cleared her throat. "I've got to get back to the weapons room - need to make sure everything's set for the runs tomorrow. See you around?"

"Yeah yeah. Also, did you see that one blur pass by? Went in the boys dorm. Alex followed it. Whadda ya think it was?" Steven responded, trying to keep a conversation wth someone who actually noticed him.

Lena laughed. "It was a kid. A fast kid." Lena tossed her hair, grinning. "Not as fast as me, obviously, but..." After a moment, her grin faltered a little and she glanced down. "I was joking. Okay. Well, I am pretty fast. But..." She shrugged.

The patterns of oil stains, crumbling plaster and caving roof tiles held Lena's attention in the brief, awkward silence, before she glanced back down at Steven. "You ever wonder what the point of this whole thing is? Not the maze - but that too. Just... The point of running day after day, risking everything, and gaining nothing? We're no closer to finding out how to get out than we were seven years ago." Lena stopped abruptly, knowing that she really shouldn't be talking like that. As Keeper of the Runners, she couldn't afford to think like that. "Look..." Lena sighed. "I'm sorry. Just - just ignore that. All of that."

"Okay. I think mentions from some Gladers say that I forget things easily anyway since I'm a dumb Slopper." Steven responded as he finished cleaning the floor. "Hey, it's getting pretty late. We should go to bed while the doors close." He realized.

Lena hesitated. After a moment, she found her voice, quiet and steady in the silence of the night. "I don't think you're a dumb Slopper." The words hung between them for a moment, thick and awkward and confusing. Lena felt her cheeks warm slightly. She wasn't good with words, but she couldn't help but feel a spark of...not sympathy, exactly, but more like empathy for Steven. She didn't pity him, but there was something about him that she understood, more than she understood many of the other Gladers. "You're a smart guy, Steven. Don't listen to the others."

"Speaking of me being smart, I have a few ideas about this maze place. But-" Steven was interrupted by the sound of the doors closing. "Yeah, I guess I'll tell you tomorrow. I'll go out into the field to sleep. See ya." He said as he waved to Lena and walked out.

Lena wanted to call out to him, race after him and ask him about his 'plans.' She was fast - she knew she could catch him before he got to the field. But something held her back. She had done enough for today. She had interacted more with a living person today than she had since the nightmares began. She had shut out everyone, even her close friends like Alex and Eowyn. So why had she spoken to him.

Lena had the feeling it was precisely because of who he was, or even what he was. As he had said, he was a 'nobody' in the Glade. Someone that no one noticed, no one paid much attention to. Even she had failed to notice him. Just like her, he was alone.

((Steven has entered the Field. Also, it's cool that you're responding more frequently now. :)))

((Lol. I just have an unusual amount of free time... I'll be going to bed soon, though, so...))

((Oh man...))

((Yeah... I'd stay up but I'm already pretty much falling asleep. And school's starting on Monday. Really don't want to think about that -__-))

((And it's SO LONG UNTIL SUMMER for us to start more frequent RPs. 3:))

((I know. I'm sorry. I'll reply as much as I can, but I'm starting GCSE work as well so I'll have even less time -__- anyway, I'll do my best, but sorry if I don't have time to respond...))

Archie sat at a seat and remembered that Alex told him about this Running thing. It seemed interesting, and he wanted to try it. Then he remembered that Alex said it was dangerous. Archie put his head on the table as some Gladers were pointing and gossiping.

"That's the kid..."
"Gave Alex a run for his money..."
"So fast..."

Alex eyes the kid from across the room, where he was talking to Lena and Wendy. He was nothing special - in fact, he was a little on the short and scrawny side. Still, he was fast, and looked like he'd have decent stamina, as well. They needed him for the Runners. Without people like him, they'd never find a way out of the glade.

"Excuse me for a second," Alex said, suddenly, cutting Lena off in the middle of a sentence. She looked momentarily offended, before following his gaze and breaking into a smile.

"That kid's something new, isn't he?" Lena grinned. "You recruiting?"

"Trying to," Alex admitted.

"That's good." Lena, who was Keeper of the Runners herself, straightened. "I'll keep him in good shape. He looks like a quick one, we can send him in wide and still have him back in before sundown."

Alex smiled fondly. He had long since accepted that he would never understand Lena's Runner-speak, and had given up trying to make sense of it long ago. This time, though, he caught her drift.

"Yeah, he'd be a valuable player. Runner. Whatever." Alex glanced at him. "Archie... Funny name, that. Don't think we've had one of them before." He ran a hand through his hair, glancing at Lena. "You want to talk to him, or should I?"

Lena looked slightly taken aback. "You should probably do it, mate. I'd scare the kid off so badly that he'd probably become a Track Hoe instead."

Alex laughed, knowing that she was right. "Right. Well, here goes nothing."

He took a deep breath, slowly picking his way across the room to where Archie sat.

Archie looked over at the sound of footsteps and saw Alex. "Oh, hey. I've been thinking, and I've decided something." He said, getting up from his seat.

"I've decided that I want to be a Runner, no matter the danger. If all the others are as nice as you, I can't let them suffer for much longer."

Alex smiled in relief, glad that he wasn't going to have to give the prep talk, filled with a load of crap that made Running seem a lot safer and more desirable than it was.

"That's great news." He smiled. "We need you, Archie, seriously. Thanks." He couldn't help but smile slightly at the boy's additional comment about his personality. "They're all good kids, at heart. Kind of difficult for the best in people to shine through in such harsh conditions, though."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Anyway, thanks again. You can start tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it, or you can take another day or two to recover and settle in and things... It's always a little rough, arriving in the Glade. Just take your time. The Runners'll be waiting whenever you're ready. That's the Keeper over there. Her name's Lena. You don't want to mess with her, but she's fair. She'll take good care of you." Alex glanced at the slop on the plate in front of Archie. "Anyway, enjoy your food. Or, uh, try to. I'd better go."

[What did he mean by "Enjoy your food. Or, uh, try to."?] Archie thought as he took a bite of the slop. His eyes widened and he flashed to the bathroom and barfing sounds were heard inside.

"He was there a second ago..."
"Bathroom?"


"Ah great, another one." said Steven, a tall guy with brown hair as Archie came out of the bathroom. ((I'll just mix Steven into this line since I never continued since my last post with him.)) Steven slightly pushed him aside and went to clean up his mess.

Alex laughed, watching the scene unfold. The Glade food was always...difficult to get used to. Alex didn't even think that he was used to it, although he had been in the Glade longer than anyone else. Sure, they had some form of meat, usually grilled or roasted, twice a week for dinner, and those meals were generally pretty edible. Sometimes they were even enjoyable. Most days, though, food was just anything that the Gladers could find, tossed in a pot and cooked for about half an hour. Alex didn't want to know the details.

"Thanks, Steven," Alex said, briskly, smiling at the boy in front of him. As a Leader, he felt that it was his duty to know at least the names of all of the Gladers. "I'm sure he'll warm up to it in no time. For now, though, do we have any bread from the last elevator day? I know we need to maintain rations and all, but these are special circumstances. He needs his strength up, if he's going to head out into the Glade."

Bread was a rare delicacy, and no Glader was allowed more than his fair share, so Alex knew it was a bold request.

"Yeah, I actually didn't finish my sandwich from last night. Here." Steven said as he took out his 1/4 eaten sandwich that still looked good enough to eat and held it out. "I also heard that the kid they're all gossiping about wants to be a Runner. Man, I remember when I was a Runner. Shame that the Griever snuck up on me. But I remember bashing its head in."


"Wait, a Griever? What are those?" Archie had appeared next to Steven, almost suddenly.

"Aah! Man, I see what they mean, you're pretty fast." Steven said in response.

"Ah..." Alex trailed off, not quite ready to explain Grievers to this kid, just before bedtime on the night before he was set to become a Runner. "Lena'll cover that. All of that. Don't worry about it for now." He paused. "You know, there's is still a lot you don't know. I can't hide it from you, kid, not for long, if you want to survive." Alex decided to leave that thought hanging. "Anyway. Sandwich?"

He held out the slightly-squashed piece of bread that Steven had given him, offering it to the boy in front of him.

Archie took the sandwich, faintly remembering that these actually tasted good and how his mom made them for him frequently. "Thanks. I hope I don't let the fellow Runners down tomorrow." Archie said as he took a bite.

"I think you won't, Greenie." Steven said as he pat Archie on the back.