Locked in a room... (CodeKitsune)

[Anonymous]

It had been nothing too surprising to Aleis at the time.  She was being sent to be in the military, or rather, some part of it.  The doctor that had treated her injuries had told her that it was a "candidate" program.  She'd had a day to think over it, though it seemed obvious that she had little choice in the matter.

So here she was, being escorted through an administrative building.  She'd already been through the paperwork and whatnot, and so she was being escorted to someone to get a room assignment.  She wasn't sure if she was odd compared to others,because few seemed to be there of their own free will.  That didn't help the odd feelings she got from people as she walked with the escort.  She wore the standard 1st level candidate outfit, much to her dismay.  She kept her dimsilk cloak, but it was apparent that she would have little time to wear it, considering the uniform.  She carried it over a shoulder, having nowhere to put it at the time anyhow.  Because she didn't get to wear it, the short tan fur covering her body was obvious, as well as the ears that constantly scanned for sounds.

It had been bearable for a time, however, even she felt the sudden change in mood.  Tension was in the air, and her escort suddenly hurried her.  She complied, and they reached the door to a waiting room.  She was ushered inside, and then the door was closed and locked.

"That was... odd..."  She commented softly to herself.  She didn't bother sitting down, despite the fact that she could.  She preferred standing, , even though this didn't seem like a short thing, unless it was a drill.  She took a moment to assess the room, wondering who else was in it.  She spotted only one other person, a male.  She didn't look long, instead letting out a sigh and looking at her feet.

[Anonymous]

Crevan was sitting in the waiting room. Doing exactly what it was made for, Waiting. Roman always seemed to be so busy when Crevan very rarely happened to see him. Crevan felt bad for the guy. Till now really, when he was the one waiting for him to be not busy. Crevan reminded himself however that he really had no plans or anything. He had nowhere else to be. He was just sitting and reading at the moment. Making his way through books that Danica had left for him.

Brushing a hand through his hair he sighed. Then he started to scratch his ears and he closed his eyes slowly. He was distracting himself very well. No matter how old he was, the ear scratching always felt so very good. It never got old itself. He was trying not to think about the times he had a woman to do that for him. He sighed to himself again remembering past memories.

He was just about purring when the door opened. He dropped his book to the floor. He grabbed it quickly putting it on his lap. He would have looked embarrassed if he wasn't so skilled at keeping his emotions in check. Then he realized that it was a lady. He couldn't help but smile. Besides anything else he just loved women. He tried to make eye contact with her and smile but her eyes quickly dropped to the floor.

Eyes dropping to the floor. Heh. He had this image of her eyes just falling right out of her head, then both of them trying to chase them around and catch them. It was creepy, but very comical. He looked at her again as she sat down. Ears. He suddenly saw the ears and tail. Her eyes a sort of red.

He was very amused. It couldn't help but show on his face. It was good to see someone sort of like him. Even though he knew better than to assume just because a person or creature looked like you, meant they were friendly or that he would get along with them. Plus normal around here wasn't...normal the way way it use to be. He used to have to hide his ears.

His train of thought got back onto its track and reminded him to introduce himself. He held out one of his hands slowly.

"Crevan." Then his ears went back as the door locked.

[Anonymous]

She smiled as he dropped his book when she came in.  It was rather funny.  She hadn't expected to startle anyone, though she guessed he was also unknowing of what was going on.  She shrugged, and slipped on her cloak again.  It was warmer for her, and it would become apparent just what it was used mainly for.  The cloak's slightest movements seemed to bend and distort the light that hit it, making her seem a bit larger, smaller, taller, shorter, and everything in between as it moved even faintly.  Her ear twitched faintly, and she looked up at him, her eyes fixed on him, studying him.

A faint smile came to her.  "Aleis."  She replied, voice holding little emotion, though it was gentle.  A gloved hand reached out to shake his.  It was safe to assume that the fur that covered her body extended to her arms, but she had found that gloves were good for grip.  After all, while she could fight unarmed, it wouldn't be pretty.  She pulled her hand back slowly as the door locked.  "Well, not sure if it's a drill or not, but we're stuck here for the time."  She said.  She didn't even seem bothered by the fact that she was confined for the time.  In her left hand, she held a small black object that looked much like a handle to something.  One could never be too careful, she knew that.  "So... what exactly is here again?  I wasn't really told... they were in a bit of a hurry."  She said, making a brief gesture to the door, suggesting that she was talking of her escort.  She was much more talkative than usual, she realized.  Often, she'd just brush him off and not speak, but it wouldn't do well to alienate the only company she might have for some time, now did it?  Besides, he reminded her of her brother.  That immediately got a few points in Crevan's favor.

[Anonymous]

Lifting his ears up he gave a slight growl at the door, his teeth bared. He didn't get angry very often but this place was starting to get to him. It seemed no matter what he was trapped in one small room or another, and also completely alone. At least this time there was someone else with him. He still might develop claustrophobia if this sort of thing kept happening to him.

He was surprised to hear her say she had no idea where she was. He leaned back in his chair letting out a breath and ruffling his hair and ears for a moment, leaving it in a state of fluffyness like he had just woken up. He didn't want to be the one to give her the bad news. She could be someone who didn't want anything to do with Aedolis. To him it was just more time somewhere. Everything ended.

"Well I hate to be the messenger of bad news, but you are in the Aedolis ATC. Advanced Training Complex. Home of the Candidates to become Pilots, hopefully. which I assume now makes you one." Then he pointed at himself with rolling eyes. "Like me." He gave a sort of sad smile to her. He wondered for a second how old she was and how she would handle the news, or if she even knew what a Pilot was.

[Anonymous]

She paused as he explained where they were.  She simply smiled faintly as he went over what facility they were in.  The smile became a grin as he finished.  "I know that already... I was asking where here, like... this room, is."  She said, making a broad gesture, explaining her question.  "I wouldn't be here if I was as seemingly unhappy about it as you are."  She said, not making it sound bad, simply a statement of a fact.  "Though I have always wondered what ATC meant."  She added after a moment.  "And yes, I do believe I'm a candidate.  Hopefully, my brother will be too."  She added.  "Though he'd cause more problems with people, as per what he usually does."  She added with a soft laugh.

As she spoke, the black object in her hand disappeared into the sleeve of the cloak.  She was really going to have to find a new place for her weapon.  Her body relaxed a bit.  Why was he seemingly so unhappy about where they were, though?  It was a great thing to be part of a military.  Perhaps he was drafted.  That would make more sense.  She readjusted a black cloth that she had around her neck.  It had a small dagger embroidered into it in silver thread.

"People around here are a little twitchy, it seems.  And always in a hurry, whether or not something is going on."  She said.  Maybe he knew what was going on.  Maybe not.  Speculation never hurt.

[Anonymous]

Man, he felt dumb. She let him go through the whole damn explanation too! Smiling at him the whole time! Oh well. He'd done stupider things, that's for sure. He did blush just a smidgen though. He was surprised she was accepting being a candidate so easily. Maybe she had wanted to be in Aedolis's army. Maybe she was actually from Aedolis. That was who he felt sorry for. Mortals that had been drafted. They didn't have much life to give to the army anyway, not much time in their lives.

"Well this room is the waiting room for Pilot Rosales." He said the name like someone might announce a king. "He's in charge of the candidate sorting business. Things like that." He observed her closely, she was saying he couldn't get out of here. He wanted to throw a glamor out just to show his skills. He was sure the Pilots would have been no problem for him, at least most of them. The dragons would be the ones that were hard to trick.

"Most of us got grabbed up, without volunteering. I think that's why people are twitchy. For instance I'm not even from Aedolis, I was just visiting." He wasn't sure how he felt about being here. It was something different for him to experience. He figured he had plenty of time to give. Though he was sure it would get much more difficult than it was now.

[Anonymous]

Aleis wasn't aware of his inner monologue, but if she had been, she would have laughed.  She was a patient person.  She had to be.  Her profession- well, ex-profession - demanded it.  She hadn't been actively looking to be drafted, she'd just been picked up due to a hospital stay, particularly because it became known that touching her when she was unconscious would result in painful psionic shocks, which led most doctors to handle her with proper gloves.

She nodded.  "Oh, okay."  She said.  "Hm... he's probably busy now, anywho."  She commented.  "It's like a hornet's nest out there."  She added.  She looked at him again.

"Oh, so many were drafted.  And from other places, too.  Well, that's not a surprise, considering I'm here now.  I'm certainly not from Aedolis.  For some reason, though, I don't think it's the smartest thing.  Why would you want foreigners, especially ones that may possibly harbor unfriendly feelings towards the country, in the armed forces?"  She said.  "It seems like a recipe for disaster, to be honest."  She added.

[Anonymous]

He watched her carefully as she spoke. He had a tendency to sometimes watch people too closely when they spoke. Something most humans wouldn't really do. It told him about the person, sometimes people became uncomfortable though. He hardly realized he was doing it unless he was really conscious of himself around a person. She had an interesting way of talking, formal but not. She got grabbed up as well, isn't that the story for everyone here? It was hard to find anyone who was here of their free will.

He found her political talk interesting. There weren't many people who gave political debating a chance. He guess because they saw no point. They were owned, feeling a dragon's eyes always on their backs and in their minds. He was watching her listening intently. Everyone was always too scared. He loved finding new things to talk about with new people.

"It seems fear is a constant tool. I think they're fairly confident anyone who goes through the program will be loyal. Though it seems some people might not be." He pointed at the door, referencing to the lock-down. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair again. "I haven't quite figured out how they keep everyone in line. I think all the candidates are just trying to make the most of it."

[Anonymous]

She noticed him watching her as she spoke.  A little odd, but nothing too strange.  She'd had it happen to her before.  She generally kept her tone as neutral as possible, aiming to neither give or remove respect, hostility, or most everything else.  However, at the time, some of that was breaking apart, because gods, she was bored.

She nodded to what he said.  "Fear generally works as a tool, though it really does tend to make... strange people."  She commented.  "And as you said, there's quite obviously some people who don't seem to care much for this military, country, and so on."  She said, nodding at his gesture.  "How to keep others in line?  That can't be too hard.  After all, when you have heavily trained psychics, the fear of your superiors could be quite apparent.  After all, it wouldn't surprise me if some knew how to cause intense pain without even touching the other person."  She said.  She'd met someone like that once.  They'd disabled her, but her brother had managed to resist the effects and take them out.  She grinned faintly, a faint showing of fang in her grin.  

She paused, looking thoughtful for a moment.  "So... if you don't mind me prying a bit... what can you do with... er, your mind, I guess it would be?"  She asked.  She already knew, but she'd forgotten that it was perhaps possible that he had no idea.  She'd been forced to develop her mental powers and fortitude when she'd been trained as a Blade Dancer, and she occasionally forgot that others hadn't received similar training.

[Anonymous]

While Crevan was very talented with his mind, there was a side to him that tried not to invade people's minds and gather information right off. He always felt like he was going where he didn't belong. He knew he'd have to work on that. Probably one of the things his Mentor would help him with, or so he hoped if he ever met them. He had yet to tread into Aleis's mind and find out what was underneath.

"Pry away please!" He just loved questions and conversation. Though he did wish they had something else to occupy themselves in this room. His hands were getting fidgety. "Well, my laundry list includes the normal mind reading bit, I do pretty well but I try to mind my own business so it works at cross purposes." He pointed in different directions with his hands as an example. "I can also touch things and find out who the last person who touched it was, sometimes where they are at at that time and maybe if I'm lucky how they were feeling." He paused slightly for a sort of dramatic effect. "Then," and again "My favorite are glamors. Tricking the mind. It's the one I've had the most experience with." He leaned back looking pleased with himself.

"What about you? I bet you'll have something interesting, you seem sort of mysterious."

[Anonymous]

Aleis was pleasantly surprised that he didn't mind her prying.  After all, she was going to get bored without talking.  And he was interesting!  She'd never met anyone with the ability to find out about things just by touching them.  I mind reader, that wasn't too uncommon, it seemed... and an illusionist!  She smiled.  "Iluusions... mm, I love illusions.  They're so much fun."  She said.  She wiggled faintly, the dimsilk cloak she wore shifting in odd ways as she did, seeming to shimmer faintly, and somewhat exaggerating the movement.

She nodded.  "It's only fair, I'd say."  She replied to his question.  "I can move things with my mind, first off..."  She said, nodding.  "That's a lot of fun for me.  I can also create an electric field around myself."  She said.  As she did, her fur began to stand on end, and if Crevan was close, he'd feel a light tingle through his body.  Nothing bad, but it was more powerful near her.  It stopped after a moment.  "That's a lot of fun too."  She said.  She then smiled a bit.  "I can also use some magic.  Mostly weather or electric.  Would work really nicely with my field... well, if I could figure out just how to get it to do what I want..."  She said, laughing faintly at herself.  It was rather silly.  She'd known she'd had magic for some time, but she never bothered training it, probably due to the fact that Blade Dancers mostly employed whatever psionic talents they were gifted with.  There weren't many teachers for magic where she was from.  "On that note, if you know anyone who knows magic well enough, let me know."  She said, her smile becoming a grin.

She then paused.  "And being mysterious is... er, was my job.  That and, well, unseen."  She said simply.  She looked at him.  "Did you have a job before the program decided you really wanted to be a pilot instead?"

[Anonymous]

Her wigglin' drew him in closer. He sat up more in his chair and leaned towards her. It was almost a completely natural reaction. He'd have to do some illusions for her if it made her wriggle like that. He noticed the cloak she wore for the first time. How interesting, that was odd to wear a cloak in this day and age. He wondered what sort of life she could lead would call for the need of a cape. He wished he could have gotten away with a cape. It seemed like it would make you feel much more impressive. Though now, the cape would probably disappear, he doubted they would let candidates wear one of those. He was drawn back to attention when she said electrical field.

"Electrical wha...?" His question was cut somewhat short as the tingle spread up and down his body. The tips of his fingers tickled and he wiggled them a little. It was like the sensation of having your limbs fall asleep, but a little bit more pleasant than that. He shivered a little. "Wow, that was...tingly." She continued on to talk about magic. He felt insanely jealous. He had yet to be able to manipulate the blue flame his parents had claim to, it was one of the things he really wanted from his powers but he had yet to get it.

"I'm sure someone around here knows magic, but I have no idea who it would be. You might want to send an e-mail to Pilot Rosales, or when this lock down goes off hopefully he'll show up." Crevan gave her a mild grin. She was definitely raising his curiousity. A job that required mystery? He made a note in his mind to ask her what sort of job it would be before his train of though ran off without him like the cape thing.

Damn, capes were awesome.

Then she asked him what he wanted to ask her. He puffed out his chest and hooked his thumbs onto an invisible suit.

"I was a thief, with grand thieving schemes of schemelyness." He paused and gave a wide grin his chest deflating and he rubbed his hands on his pants. "I miss it now like I never thought I could miss a job. Bu I made this mistake of coming to Aedolis, got punished for it." He paused again observing her curiousity a spark in his eyes.

"So what sort of job called for being so mysterious?" He said mysterious in a low whisper for dramatic effect.

[Anonymous]

She was only wiggling because she was happy.  She had a bad habit of doing that.  She giggled as he seemed to finally notice her cloak.  It wasn't as much a cape as it was a full body covering, made to help her disappear into shadows, or during a conflict, to help her become harder to hit, as the cloak's light-bending properties often made her seem where she was not.

She nodded as he cut off halfway into a mention of her electric field.  She nodded.  "You got it very gently."  She said happily.  I've been told that it feels rather unpleasant upon contact.  I wouldn't know, but I'm forced to agree, mostly because of the expressions on the faces of those who have managed to somehow touch me in the past."  She said.  She prepared herself a bit, in case he was the kind of person that would try making himself one of those people.  She didn't think he would, but caution never hurt.

Aleis smiled as he said that someone around probably knew magic.  "Yay!  That will help me a lot!"  She said happily, bouncing faintly.  "I hope he does show up.  I'm supposed to talk to him sometime before I can do much more of anything else."  She said.  She listened patiently as he said that he was a thief before.  She grinned, fangs exposed.  She clearly found that quite interesting.  "I can see how you miss your job, much like I miss mine.  Mine was so... exciting, really."  She said.

She laughed again softly at his tone, mostly.  "Oh, me?"  She asked.  "I was trained in a place called the Tana, to become a Blade Dancer."  She replied, her response equally revealing and unknown.  Blade Dancers were probably an unknown force in this area.  "Seven years... and it's paid off."  She said, making a motion towards the black cloth she wore about her neck, as well as the blade on it.  "My brother is also one.  It's a long, complicated story."

[Anonymous]

"Actually it sort of tickles." He wiggled his nose as he withdrew his hand feeling the tickle subside. His curiousity almost pushed him to try and touch her. Crevan's one severe downfall was his curiousity. It was what always got him into scrapes and trouble at the worst times. But in this case he assumed it would be rude to just try and touch her. Maybe at a later time, plus he was sure he didn't want to get fried by accident.

She started bouncing again. He was surprised that she seemed so cheery despite her situation and despite that she had seemed serious earlier. He liked to find people that could spin moods quickly that did multiple ones with ease. Sometimes humans forced themselves into a box and only played one part. Though she wasn't human. He was also glad to find a cheerful person in the bland ATC that surrounded him.

Her grin showing her fangs got him back to what she was saying.

His eyebrow raised. A Blade Dancer? It sounded familiar to him. He just knew he had heard the words at some point in his life. He knew them, but couldn't draw the meaning out of whatever hole it was hiding in somewhere in his mind. He had a lot of memory to go through after all.  He had an image in his head of her dancing with swords, and while the image intrigued and pleased him he was sure that wasn't all there was to it.

"If you don't mind me prying, what is a Blade Dancer? It sounds familiar. Plus," He grinned flirting with his eyes. "I love long complicated stories."