info gathering [open]

[transparentis]

WHO: Shelke [transparentis] and anyone who wants to bug the newbie.
WHEN: Lunch time.
WHERE: The cafeteria.
SUMMARY: Shelke is still adjusting to life on the Sub, so she does one of the things she's best at: gathering information. (More commonly known as people watching.)
NOTES: Let's get this place active again!

Comments

[catchyourheart]

Unlike most mornings where Ikuto usually spend his time sprawled out on a bunk with his hands behind his head, and listening to his roomates idle chatter, Ikuto had for once decided to make an appearence at the training retenee that morning.

Of course, he never actually moved an inch or lifted a finger. He merely watched, perplexed.... quite frankly bored. He saw no point in training if there was nothing on the horizon to train for. And as such, had quite openly welcomed the prospect of food.

He'd entered the caféteria in silence, everyone naturally giving the enigmatic teen a wide berth. He was usually known as someone silently intimidating. It didn't bother him, and picked out the most appeatising thing on the menu, before slinking in the direction of the table he usually sat at.

That's when he paused. For sat there, was someone he didn't recognize. A newcomer, then. She clearly wouldn't know about seat preoccupations (which weren't formal, but would happen in any caféteria, anywhere). He started walking again. Whatever. He wasn't going to bother finding somewhere else to sit. Too much effort. He started walking again, and stopped at the table, settingly himself silently into the seat opposite the girl.

That was when he recognized her. "You're that new girl," he said slowly, picking at the apple he was holding. "Shelke, wasn't it?"

[transparentis]

Shelke looked up at him, less concerned than the average teen might be that some random person had just come to sit with her, despite the fact other tables were free. "Yes," she replied matter-of-factly, recalling the brief conversation she'd had with him. "And you are Tsukiyomi Ikuto."

She fell silent, watching him, waiting for him to ask whatever it was he wanted to ask of her. After all, it was why he'd come to sit with her, wasn't it? It was how things had always worked in the Tsviets; conversation for conversation's sake barely occured to her.

[catchyourheart]

If Shelke was waiting for him to talk to her about something, she was going to be disappointed: Ikuto wasn't exactly known for the conversation type. He just nodded with a slight, disjoined smile at her statement before he finally stopped messing - toying would be a better word - with his food, and started to eat.

It didn't really occur to him to fill up the silence with chatter. He never really did - not to strangers. Just to a few people... but those people weren't here.

The fact she was staring at him didn't escape his notice, though. "Why are you watching like that?" he asked slowly after swallowing. "Something you want to ask?" he tagged on, the slight smile-resembling-smirk still on his face.

[transparentis]

"No," she answered. "You sat with me, Tsukiyomi Ikuto, which implies you wanted to speak with me." Her expression was still entirely blank, not quite questioning. "What did you want?"

[catchyourheart]

"Does it?" Ikuto's expression very nearly crossed boredom - save for the fact that he seemed, for a moment, mildly curious as to where she'd got that deduction. Shelke was an interesting one, he couldn't deny that. "You're mistaken, then." He paused for another mouthful of food. "I always sit here. No other reason."

[transparentis]

Shelke picked up the possible hint, and stood. "Then I'll move."

[catchyourheart]

His face harderned for a moment - usually, he'd just shrug it off, which he was half inclined to do. It didn't bother him, did it? For a moment, he almost felt bad with himself. Then he wondered for a moment - he had actually requested she move. To be frankly honest, he didn't mind.

Ikuto spoke. "You don't have to," he shrugged. "It's not like anyone else sits here. Always space."

[transparentis]

She eyed him suspiciously, half wondering if he was doing it to make fun of her, and sat back down. However, she didn't voice it, instead answering, "Very well." She then looked away from him, back to watching the throngs of people.

"Is it always this busy?"

[catchyourheart]

Half back to concentrating on the plate of food in front of him, he looked up when she voiced her question. "Usually," he replied, scanning the room as she had done. "At mealtimes, it always gets busy. I usually come later on... but I was training, for once. So I ended up with the rush."

[transparentis]

"I haven't seen this many people for a long time," she murmured, mostly to herself, looking away to her knees. "But the Dorms were much bigger."

[catchyourheart]

"In the Dorms no one knows anyone," Ikuto speculated, still staring out into the crowd, whilst resting his elbow on the table and placing his hand under his chin. "You live, you die. No one really keeps to mealtimes."

[transparentis]

Shelke couldn't say she remembered that well. There had been Shalua, and other people... who all disappeared in the end. But there had still always been a lot of people there, she remembered that much. It didn't feel like that had been ten years ago.

She fixed her eyes on him again. "How did you get out, Tsukiyomi Ikuto?"

[catchyourheart]

His wandering eyes seemed to finally fix on a point: Shelke's face. "You really want to know?" Ikuto debated on what to tell her for a moment. He decided truth, save for the cat claws part, would be his best option. Randomly having cat ears might freak somebody out if he demonstrated. "I cut out the tracer with my change power. Then I escaped after a Drone noticed I didn't have a tracer.... and came here."

He was silent for a second, before he added, "Yourself?"

[transparentis]

"Ah... Change Powers. I've heard most get out that way," she nodded. As for herself, she'd barely even considered escaping at the time. Her sister always took care of her, and she'd always kept some strange notion everything would be fine, if Shalua was there. Looking back on it now, she realised how stupid it had been. "I was taken out when I was nine."

[catchyourheart]

"It's to be expected. The Overlords or the Drones don't guess half the powers that come about," Ikuto shrugged. Which was true: who on earth was going to guess cat claws as a change power?

"Nine?" Ikuto commented, looking curious to an extent, though one of his eyebrows rose. She didn't look much older than nine right now, if he was honest... but then again, it would do not good to judge anybody by their appearence. That would be almost hypocritical (case in point: his cat ears that came coupled with his change power). In this world, nothing was normal. There were others who looked young for their age... probably failed experiments, or drugs that didn't work. The thought trailed off and he added, "I escaped when I was ten. Seven years..."

[transparentis]

"I didn't truly escape until just recently. It was the day before I arrived here, which is approximately five days ago." She paused, and nodded to herself, as if mentally confirming it. Normally her calculations on time would be automatic, but the past few days had flown by in a confusion of new places and people. She'd have to remember to keep her focus in future.

Shelke folded her hands in her lap. "Seven years. Does that mean you've been here working with that uploaded consciousness for all that time?"