Who wants some pie?! [calling all Pilots!]

[Rhi-Rhi]

[Yup! Open thread to any Pilots who wanna hop in! This takes place the day after the Axis Point probing. ;3]

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The lights were dimmed in the spaceous living room, but Gabriel insisted on wearing sunglasses, anyway, because gods be damned light still hurt. If ear muffs didn't look so stupid and he owned a pair, he would have worn some since every drawer and cupboard and pan Roman banged around in the kitchen made him cringe like nails screeching across a chalkboard, even if in reality the guy was probably being as quiet as humanly possible. At least the fresh-baked-pie scent that started to waft from the kitchen made up for the pain, and Gabriel was just glad that he was past the stage where the slightest whiff of food made him want to hurl.

Roman had promised him pie and ice cream, and damned if he wasn't going to scarf as much of it down as he could handle. After what he'd been through yesterday, he sure as hell deserved it and he was going to milk this for all it was worth. Silly as it was, he wasn't ashamed to admit that it had helped him get through the experience, though maybe it was a tad embarrassing that he'd wound up bursting into hysterical laughter at least once during the probing as a result. Not because the experience was pleasant--as Roman put it, it was like getting fucked up the ass without lube, only in your mind--but because the pain and mind-rapeage had made him a little delirious and all he could really think of was what the dragons must be thinking when the one continuous thought repeating in his head was something along the lines of, piepiepiepiepiepie.

It kept him sane, what could he say.

In any case, he could vaguely remember Roman being there to escort him back to his suite when it was over, shaking like crazy, hardly able to walk and feeling like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his head. The rest of the day and night was uneventful, half spent curled up in bed whimpering with an ice pack over his eyes and the other half spent curled up on the bathroom floor, worshipping the porcelain God until, finally, somewhere during it all he managed to pass out. In bed, thank goodness, because that's where he woke up.

Thus ended his first, and hopefully last, experience with the Axis Point.

Of course, it was too much to ask that he'd never be called there again, but dear Gods that had been a nightmare. He thought he did okay, though, for a first time, especially considering he'd been shittin' himself watching other Pilots go in and come out a mess.

Nasty, nasty, nasty...

He rolled over onto his side to face the kitchen, head resting on a pillow he'd dragged from his bed and propped against the arm of his couch and arms hugging a fluffy throw pillow to his chest. On the plus side, he got to be lazy and get waited on, since Roman had decided to take over his kitchen and he sure as hell wasn't complaining about that. That was nice. He hadn't even bothered to get dressed, just thrown on a shirt and some sweats, or fix his hair, which was sticking up every which way. Even better was the pie smell. His stomach gave a loud grumble to remind him that he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning, as if he really needed a reminder.

"Is it done yeeet? I'm huuungry," Gabriel called--quietly, because loudness still hurt. Yet another bonus: he had an excuse to be whiny and demanding. He waved a hand dramatically at the coffee table, at the empty drinking glass that he could have reached if he'd just scooted over on the couch an inch or so. "And can you get me more water, honeybunches? I'm out again."

Apparently some of the other Pilots had been invited over, as well, to what would probably be the most mellow get together a group of Pilots could have. Well, that is, if everyone else had gotten as messed up as he had and hadn't fully recovered. He kind of hoped so, 'cause noise was loud and lights were bright, but hey, he wasn't going to complain--too much. After all the unpleasantness, they'd finally get to have some fun.

Kind of.

Unless everyone wanted to moan and groan, too, but that was also fun.

[Anonymous]

Seiteki had gotten to see Roman all but carry Gabriel away from the Axis Point. Needless to say she was about to start cackling before she remembered that this was serious business. She'd save the laughing for later, like now. Of course she had felt a little bad for seeing him looking like he got well... Raped up the ass. By Dragons no less. The mental image that followed was not something Seiteki wanted to see. With all her mental blocks up, layer after layer, little bits of thoughts in between to throw people off. After that little thing Seiteki was feeling a little over paranoid.

Sure the dragons already knew everything about her, they didn't really seem to care about silly things like being alive for so long, but if other Pilots found out. Yikes.

Being old had it's upsides, well, rather, being immortal had its upsides. She'd gone through this little thing a few times, and it did get easier with each one. As she walked down the hall way, her thickly socked feet making no noise - She'd been to lazy to put on shoes, so she just doubled up on socks - Seiteki remembered her first experience with the Axis point. Two days of feeling like a dog, of course she hadn't been so alone then. A downside to being immortal. Everyone else died.

Gray wings waving slightly along with her movements she shuffled down the hallway to Gabriels room. She might as well check up on him he looked hor-... What the hell? Pie? Not bothering to knock or anything, her own headache would kill her if she did so she simply walked in after the door opened and walked in. Seiteki looked... Comfy. An over large purple sweater, gray sweatpants tucked into -both pairs- black socks. Her gray wings hung slightly, having them up and tight to her back made her brain ache.

"Heya, Gabby. Why does your place smell like... like a moms house?" Or what Seiteki could only assume would be a moms house, seeing as how her mother was far from... Motherly. Seiteki rolled her eyes as the thought of her mother and sunk to her knees beside the side of Gabriels couch, her wings stretching out and resting on the ground awkwardly. Then she heard it, oooh, someone else was in room. Seiteki smirked, leaned over his face, poked his forehead and lift an eyebrow. "Did I interrupt anything Darling? Is Mommy over or did you finally get a girlfriend?"

Another smirk and Seiteki sat back down and shook her head. Leave it to males to whine and complain about a little headache. Okay, not really little, but they seemed to be wonderful at whining. Seiteki felt like her eyeballs were going to explode, too, but that didn't stop her from walking all the way here, now did it?

[Anonymous]

"I don't wanna go anywhere Mr. Leech." Adalwulf was all but collapsed on the couch in his room, several ice packs on his head and the lights weren't even on. He had been there for two days now. Just sitting in the dark with an ice pack just continuously groaning to himself as he tried to just forget all the pain in his head. Which had been a lot. Wulf was in a big fluffy pink bathrobe with little dragon slippers on that resembled Tempest. He looked really sour, his arms crossed over his chest and a big pouty face on.

Dyerlich on the other hand had got to go through the Axis Point a time ago, when everyone was still in space. He had been affected. Not as much as anyone else. The pain had been exquisite, and he had made sure to open every section of his mind, using tubes and tunnels for quick access that the dragons could use. Linked every memory, every feeling and emotion for them to examine.

As if he would do something like kill a dragon.

That would jeopardize everything he worked for. Food, fun, power, all of that could have been lost. He could have told them they would find nothing after all. He would be surprised if they actually found anything. If Gospels could get through the mind-rape of the Pilots, the Axis Point probably wouldn't be any different.

"You know, I'll carry you if I have to Adalwulf. Roman is making pie, and I never miss a pie. Satori might be there too you know." Wulf looked up blearily, his face flushing a little bit. "Y-you am...you know about that then?" Wulf asked as he gulped uncomfortably. Dyerlich could only laugh and shrug his shoulders. "It's alright. Come on, we're going to get pie." Wulf groaned as the large Pilot suddenly pulled him to his feet, and then...pulled him up onto his shoulder. Awwww.

This wasn't fair.

Dyerlich was off and walking, humming to himself as he took Wulf into the light, which made the man groan even more. "You're feeding off me aren't you Mr. Leech?" Adalwulf asked as he tried to look over his shoulder at the man's head, but just gave up. Too much effort. Too much pain. "It's Dyerlich. And no. I'm not. There is pie at Gabriel's place, made by Roman. Though I'm sure your pain is absolutely delicious but...there is no way that I'm going to fill up on pain and suffering."

He finally arrived at Gabriel's place and headed inside with Wulf still strung over his shoulders. Everyone looked so...well...lazy? He had gotten dressed in his usual attire. Black long pants, nice shiny wingtip shoes, a long sleeved dark mauve shirt, and a grey cowl covering the lower half of his face. He even brushed and styled his hair into the usual spiky way. There was also something new however about his attire. He wore a strange golden sort of arm band that started at his wrist and travelled up his arm a little bit. It looked like a gold dragon wrapping about it. Kind of looked like his dragon Lartech actually. It was a computer...a little gift from Roman and Adalwulf. He didn't have the heart to tell the happy young Adalwulf that he accessed the VCN through Lartech...he was so excited about this gift. So he was going to wear it and use it.

"I heard Gabriel almost got a boyfriend in space." Dyerlich said as he set the grumpy Adalwulf down in a chair. "Didn't you Gabrielle?" Dyerlich was all but grinning as he took a seat on the edge of the couch, away from Gabriel of course. "Romance said he was a chick...it all seemed so perfect...He lied Mr. Leech." Wulf complained as he didn't dare look at Gabriel. Things were just a little...weird. Wulf was bisexual but still he had been tricked! It just wasn't nice. Besides, he had Satori to think about!

Ooo would she show up he wondered?

Dyerlich was busy looking at Seiteki carefully for a moment. He had some unfinished business with her didn't he? That could be dealt with later. He just smiled faintly under his cowl, knowing he would need to send a message to her later. When the time was right anyway. "Oooh...Tiki-torch is heeeere." Wulf looked over finally at the woman, just noticing her now. Another one of the little beauties running around the Pilot Program. The wings were a little off-putting perhaps...what with them being...well...um.. .wings.

But hey, he had a crush on a girl with a scorpion tail so really...they weren't actually that weird now. Though, the wings weren't as dangerous the scorpion tail.

"I thought we were promised pie..." Wulf muttered as he went back to looking sour and grumpy. He wanted pie and then to get back to the dark and quiet. Because...it was so bright and loud and that sort of thing.

[Tally]

"Don't get your panties in a knot," Roman called to Gabriel.  "The apple's almost ready."  It was already out of the oven.  Just had to cool.  Still yet to come were the pecan and chocolate mouse, but Gabriel had requested apple and so apple came first.  While the pie cooled, Roman set a carton of vanilla ice cream out to soften and filled up a water pitcher to bring into the living room.

Before he brought the pitcher out, though, he ducked behind the refrigerator where Gabriel and the others couldn't see him.  On the counter were a collection of oral painkillers from Gabe's medicine cabinet—he'd been administering them to his former candidate as needed—and Roman downed four of them in succession.  Three times now he'd been in the Imperial Seat.  Eight years ago, the first time he'd been up for the Imperial position, then four years after that when Elijah Lyre had disappeared and they'd interrogated every Pilot much like they were doing now.  And this time made three.  It wasn't any easier.  He rather thought the effects were getting worse.  It killed his head every time, and even though he'd had days to recover from it, it still felt like shards of ice were embedded in his skull.

Not that he'd let any of them know that.  He'd just take his painkillers and endure until it passed.

Taking up the water pitcher, he left the warm kitchen for the living room.  He wore his own particular uniform: white t-shirt, worn jeans, and white-socked feet.  His sneakers sat beside the door.  "It's cooling, princess," he said, sauntering over to stand at the end of the couch where Gabriel's head lay.  "Five more minutes."  He pushed Gabriel's sunglasses down so he could see who he was talking to, looking down at him with eyes of such intense blue they seemed to fluoresce in the dim light.  "Yeah, get it out of your system while you can.  'Cause I only do this the first time.  Next go 'round you make your own damn pies.  And when you're feeling better I believe there's the matter of your lockout to discuss."  He smirked as he said it, but it was a good-natured jibe really.

They would have a talk about that—probably consisting mostly of Gabe going 'please please please let me off' and Roman standing there silently with his arms crossed—but they'd worry about that later.

Roman refilled Gabriel's water glass, then set it upon a coaster with an annoyed twisting of his mouth.  "Coasters exist for a reason," he muttered.  The pitcher he left next to the glass. Then came Seiteki, Wulf, and Dyerlich, and to each Roman gave a warm smile and a nod.  He was in a good mood, in spite of everything.  Everyone was back again and the Citadel didn't feel so empty anymore.  It would be a stretch to say he'd been lonely but with most of the other Pilots away it had been too quiet around here.

He loved these idiots.  They were his family.

Which reminded him: during his own interrogation, the dragons had pressed for intimate knowledge of Temple's life and Roman...hadn't had anything to offer them.  Nothing.  For the first time he was starting to wish he'd bothered to pay attention to the kid all these years.  Temple was as a stranger to him, as he was to many of the others.  'Outcast' was too strong a word maybe, but Roman's little brother had certainly never found a place in this family.  Always alone when possible, and always standoffish when forced to interact with the rest of them.

Now he thought of it, Gabriel was near the only Pilot Temple was on familiar terms with.  The dragons must have drilled into him about that like all hell.  They'd have a talk about that too.

"Wulfy!"  Roman slung an arm around Wulf's shoulders.  "Good to see you back.  Sorry about the mix up with Gabeykins there.  I swear I thought he was a girl."

Releasing Wulf, Roman started to make his way back to the kitchen to check on the other two pies still in the oven.  "I'm not serving you lot," he announced.  Gabriel, yes, because Roman was deep in mother hen territory for his former candidate.  The others could get their own food.  "Glasses are in the cupboard, plates and silverware out on the counter.  Apple's done, pecan and chocolate mousse on the way."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel had been about to answer Seiteki and explain that, actually, she wasn't too far off about the mommy thing, but Seiteki was faster. He winced when she poked his forehead and he blinked rapidly up at her through his sunglasses--and then promptly choked. "W-what? Oh, right, yeah, I totally scored a girlfriend out in the middle of space. Her name's Rita and she has one eye. Gimme a break," he said, swatting at her hand. "No, my other mom's over. And you don't have to sit on the floor, y'know. I can curl up. There's chairs, too."

Though her wings were kind of an issue couch-wise, since he didn't particularly want a wing in his face, but whatever. He was just glad to see her, and it showed in the lazy smile he flashed her way. It was good to see she'd made it through the Axis Point, and it was nice to see that he wasn't the only one looking like they'd just rolled out of bed.

Then came Dyerlich and Wulf, Wulf slung over Dyerlich's shoulder. That made Gabriel arch an eyebrow. Good Gods, were all Pilot Royals like...invincible to brain rape? Roman was acting like his usual self, Dyerlich was carrying around a grown man, and Gabriel was jealous. He stretched out his legs before he curled up into a little ball, freeing up more room on the couch without having to actually sit up. Sitting up didn't sound like much fun, though he knew he'd eventually have to sit up to eat. Unless he could get Roman to feed him. Hmm...that was an idea, see how far he could take this--what?!

Jeebus! First it was moms, girlfriends and now boyfriends?! What was with everyone?

His face felt hot as he looked away, reaching around so he could push his sunglasses further up on his nose, and he curled his legs in a bit tighter when Dyerlich sat down. He was glad for the low lighting, otherwise he was sure there'd be some color in his face. "I was just messin' around," he muttered, hugging the pillow tighter. "I didn't think he was serious. I thought the flat chest would tip him off. Anyway, what about you, Dryer? Tiki-Torch? Had any scandalous affairs lately, since you're so interested in mine?"

Roman came out of the kitchen, then, and the defensiveness melted away. He perked up at the announcement and tilted his head back to look up at Roman, grinning. "You're the best, wifey. Or should I say 'my prince'?" he said, but his grin faltered when Roman pushed his sunglasses down. He had to squint, blinking and grimacing against the light, and his vision was a blur as his eyes tried unsuccessfully to adjust. Then he groaned out loud and went to shove his glasses back up when Roman reminded him about...something he'd been conveniently forgetting. No way! The lockout! He'd been hoping Roman would forget that, even if he knew how notoriously sharp his memory was. There had been the vague hope that the Dragons would probe just the right spot in his brain and wipe that memory clean, but like so many things it was too much to ask for, apparently.

"Aw, baby, don't be like that..." Gabriel whined, half joking and half meaning it, while Roman refilled his glass. He did have to chuckle, though, at Roman's OCDness. Such a neat freak, and Gabriel was pretty neat, himself. Not like Roman; he liked his own place to look lived in and dammit, he'd stick his feet on his table if he wanted to and forget about the coasters now and then. With a little snort, he rolled his eyes and then promptly shut them with a moan when he got dizzy as a result.

"Right, right. Sorry for putting my own glass on my own table without one of my own coasters in my own house," he muttered. Roman was such a spaz sometimes.

While Roman went to greet Wulf, Gabriel reached out for his water and managed to grab the glass, though not without sloshing some over the side and onto the table. He'd admit he did that on purpose, just to annoy Roman. He propped himself up on an elbow so he could sip at it, and he snorted loudly at their conversation and focused on his water. Yeah right, he was sorry. Bastard.

"You know you owe me big for that one, Romance. Gabrielle. Pah." He set his glass back down on the table, right next to the coaster and half in the little spill on the glass. "But enough about that, gimme some fooood, woman. You just said the pie's done, so feed me, dammit. I mean that, too, I don't think I can feed myself. I'm so weak and tired and I huuurt."

[Anonymous]

There was some trick to this, he knew it. The door had no handle, and it didn’t slide, so how the fuck did you open it? Marshal scratched his head, pondering what was, in his current state, quite a puzzle.

He’d been probed yesterday morning, that being his second time in the Axis Point, and since then marshal had been unable to sleep. Which of course meant Arrow hadn’t been allowed to sleep either. She was off in her dorm room now, allowed to get in a few hours while he retrieved the pie. For him, of course. Arrow would get no pie.

“Open damn you!” he shouted, banging on the doorframe and sending knives through his temples in doing so. The door slid open and Marshal stood with a dumbstruck expression plastered to his face. Oh, right, the button. Raking back some unruly strands of hair he stepped into Gabriel’s home. He was still in the mauve shirt and dark pants of the day before, which was crumpled and messy, only now not wearing any shoes. His eyes were bloodshot and his face gaunt.

Right, who was here? Gabriel-of course- Wulf, Dyerlich and Seiteki. Tiki-Torch. He laughed quietly at that. Her new nicknames had spread fast. He still preferred ‘Icy Bitch’ though. Not quite so clever, but it captured her personality so much better.

He grunted a hello at them and waved half-heartedly, then plodded into the kitchen. “Hey,” he grunted at Roman as he began searching the cupboards. Plates, no. Cups, no. Forks…why the hell was he looking in the cutlery drawer? Marshal shook his head, which only served to make it worse.

Ah!

He discovered what eh was searching for, a gilded bottle of dark amber liquid. Liquid gold. Malt whiskey, not the best brand, but it was free so he wasn’t about to complain. Gabriel wouldn’t mind….and if he did….well screw him.

Once he located the glass cupboard again, Marshal poured himself a very large glass of whiskey. He took a drink, then noticed the little collection of painkillers on the bench. He poured a handful of them out of one bottle and downed them with another mouthful of whiskey. That felt a little better. Painkillers and whiskey, nothing better for a headache.

[Anonymous]

Was she a bad person for having to bite back laughter at their pain? Gabriel was just so damn pathetic Seiteki almost felt bad for him, she wanted to be there when he thought back to how big of a baby he was being, but she had a feeling he wouldn't really care. Carefully she tucked her wings in, not wanting anyone to trip or pull any of her feathers out. That would be an unwelcome feeling, wings being torn our. Ouch. A light smirk played on her lips when she watched Dyerlich dump a grumpy Adawulf onto a chair.

Gabrielle? Seiteki tweaked an eyebrow, she was there in space! And she missed that? Damn, just her luck. Of course, Seiteki could only blink and let her blue eyes narrow. Why was he staring at her like that? She lowered a wing and looked over her shoulder, nope, no one there. Unless he was staring at her, which was likely. Creepy. Argh, what did Wulf just call her!? Tiki-Torch. That blog thing. That.... Argh. "Tiki-Torch." She repeated before getting up slowly and crossing her arms over her chest, wings hanging down to keep the strain off her upper back.

"Nah, I'm okay Gabby, I just have a bit of a headache." Seiteki let the corner of her mouth lift a little and she wandered over the stand beside Wulfs chair, flicked him on the middle of the forehead. "Stop calling me Tiki-Torch, dammit. If I had red hair it would be more appropriate, but as you can see it's weird and blue." He probably wouldn't, Wulf and Gabriel looked sick as dogs and Seiteki couldn't begin to remember what her first brain rape was like. Probably really sucked.

"Anyway, I only came to check up on you. I got to see your lovely self leave the Axis Point and you looked like shit. I didn't even know you were having a little get together." Seiteki smiled and wandered back over to Gabriel before leaning over him. "Besides, I don't like pie anyway." Words to put nails in a coffin. Though it smelled lovely, thanks to Mommy Rita, she just never liked pie to begin with. Then Gabriel took to whining again. "Good God, you're so pathetic." She shook her head and got up again, following Roman to the kitchen and... Someone great came in.

Most favourite person ever. Include Sarcasm.

Marshal.

Seiteki had to hide a sneer. Jerk, always nasty at her for no reason she could think of. When he came in, Seiteki pulled her gray wings to her back defensively and hissed when it made her head ache. Grudgingly, she left her feathers puff up in annoyance and lowered her wings again, bah, stupid male.

Hmm.

This was awkward. She felt so... Womanly. Probably happened when you were in a room with five grown men.

Blinking she rolled her eyes when Marshal found his whiskey, and the painkillers. Pursing her lips and looking around, Seiteki cleared her throat and wandered in behind Roman, far enough away for him not to back up into her, but close enough that she wouldn't have to yell at him. "So, Mommy Rita, how on earth do you deal with your poor, poor daughter Gabrielle while she's on her deathbed?" She shook her head, "I'm not having any pie, need any help in here?"

[Anonymous]

Wulf just looked surprised as she suddenly came over to him and flicked his forehead. That caused him to wince and close his eyes, whimpering. That HURT. why would she do that? "But it's nice....I like it." He whined quietly as he rubbed the spot where she flicked. That just wasn't nice fo her! It really wasn't. What had she done again?

"Behave." Dyerlich warned Seiteki as he watched her carefully. There was a little bit of animosity int he room, and he didn't much care for it. She was being mean, and it wasn't right at all. "That goes for all of you." He shot Wulf a look that made the young man look downward. The nicknames, while cute, sometimes weren't appreciated. Most of the Pilots knew that it was just Wulf's way of remembering names and what not, but still. He should probably tone it down just a little bit.

A new person showed up though. Marshal. He didn't know a whole lot about this man, he hadn't hung around the fellow that much. He wasn't sure why. He just had never really been around the man all that much.

Well, in time perhaps.

Outside in the hallway there was a little bit of commotion, it got Dyerlich's attention. It was still a little bit away, but the minds out there were alive. There was one that stuck in particular. It didn't...think in words but it seemed to think in vivid pictures. Dyerlich couldn't really figure out just what it was at this time.

That's when there was some noise at the door...like a scratching or something along those lines. An animal had gotten loose perhaps? However, suddenly there was a lull...and then the door opened wide.

Standing...or...som ewhat standing there...was...

A crab.

A Gods damned crab.

It was rather strange really. It stood about a foot tall but seemed rather wide...four metal legs on either side....large pincers, a sleek metal body, and two strange eyes. One was small and red, the other was large with black and grey with several little blue rings moving inward, getting smaller until it reached the pupil.

It was actually a crab inside too. He could feel the actual mind but...the mind was also...intelligent? Human level intelligence for that matter. This was just...well it explained all those times he had felt this presence run about. It just stood there for a moment, the large metal pincers snipping nervously as the eye seemed to focus on everyone in the room. Then it scuttled sideways into the wall before it squeaked and then ran forward.

"Seiteeeeki?!" It was a strange voice, electronic but almost child-like to a degree. Maybe a little high instead of child-like. Dyerlich was absolutely fascinated by this new creature. It was adorable. Even Wulf thought so. He seemed stunned by it. That was just strange to say the least.

"She's...in the kitchen." Dyerlich pointed toward it and the creature was off and running to the kitchen. Dyerlich leaned over to look into the kitchen to see what was going on.

"Seiteki!" The crab was suddenly at her legs, the pincers were wrapped around one of her legs and it pressed its face into her skin. "You told Bionic Crab Zero Four you would be there when I was doing recharging but then I disconnected from the power source and booted my systems up and you weren't there! I thought there had been trouble because your bed was a mess and I couldn't find out where you were so I had to send a message to Whiro and then he said that you were in this place so I came rushing over to find you and I couldn't because the schematics I had were outdated and I took a bunch of wrong turns but then I got Whiro to direct me." The thing just...seemed nervous.

Any thoughts they could pick up were just pictures of scary people and dragons, and him cornered with strange people trying to get him.

Indeed he had to scuttle around and through people's legs to get here. After all...

It was a god damned crab running through the citadel.

[Anonymous]

Fala's steps towards the room were very shaky- her skull was screaming at her, her muscles shook with every movement, and her face was contorted into what she was sure was the ugliest scowl she'd ever produced. But it wasn't without reason- yet again, she had been subject to testing, once again almost thrown out because she couldn't answer their questions.

She hadn't objected to their treatment of her mind, and opened her mind freely to the prying... and yet still, because she could not form her psychic projections into words, she'd almost been removed again from the Pilot program. To be quaint, Fala felt as if her brain had been royally, ruthlessly raped by a chainsaw, then left out in the sun to bake before being spattered once or twice by Roman's favorite sledgehammer. At this point, however, she felt too tired to feel much of anything- even anger.

Had she been in her right mind, she would have slapped herself and demanded that she'd get a grip. But being as she was, she didn't even have the energy to raise her own white-gloved hand to her face, let alone strike herself!

And so, dragging her shaking body through the halls one step at a time, she soon found herself staring at a single door, with the tempting aroma of apples seeping through into the entryway. There was never quite a scent like the aroma of cooking cinnamon, lightly complimenting the smell of apples and flaky crust that simply guaranteed a nice, comforting afternoon. Though her head ached royally, the thought of relaxation was a welcome relief.

...But there was always the problem of that damn button. Where was it?

Standing briefly in front of the door and not moving, Fala let her eyes do the work for her, moving up and down behind her ruby visor and cursing the whole while as she looked for that obtrusive little button. Rolling her eyes, she just banged on either side of the door a few times, hitting it after the sixth or so strike of her fist against the wall.

...Meaning that she didn't mean to dent the wall a few times on either side on purpose. She just wanted to get inside, is all.

The moment the door opened up and allowed her inside, she walked in, waving out of courtesy more than anything before plopping down on the floor, sitting on her backside and pulling her legs close to her chest. With a groan, she leaned her head forward, her hair causing her forehead to itch as she leaned against her knees, not really caring what she looked like, at the moment.

The others could drop dead, for all she cared.

[Anonymous]

A dragon's eyes staring at her.

Satori was leaning on the sink in her bathroom staring at herself in the mirror. She had on the shirt that Adawulf had picked out for her on the shopping trip where they first met, really met. The sparkly green dragon almost made her eyes hurt worse. The black fabric felt so good against her skin though, cool and soft. There was no way she would wear a different shirt. She held her brush in one hand and a hair tie in the other. She looked at each thing and knew that her normal pony-tail would be out of the question all that pressure on her head was just...dumb. Her pale blond hair was going to look so different but that was fine with her. She dropped the two things in the sink and pushed herself onto her feet her legs wobbling.

She wandered out into her main bedroom slowly. The only light was a small purple light it soothed her and helped her relax. She had barely slept since...she didn't like to think about the pain that had been in her mind. She had never felt anything like that. She knelt down pulling out one of the drawers on her dresser. She grabbed one of her favorite pair of pants. A pair of black sweatpants with little yellow shooting stars on them. She pulled them on and buckled the button around her tail with some difficulty. Since almost every time she moved a sharp pain hit her skull. She looked at herself in the mirror again and sighed as she saw the red squintyness of her eyes. She slammed the door to the closet and then grabbed her temples.

Stupid.

She thought she might puke again for a minute as her head throbbed the veins in her temples pounding. She steadied herself and stood up again. She looked at the shoes she had sitting out and opened the closet again sliding her feet into some black flip flops. She normally wouldn't wear them out of the house, they were worn out and the bottom of the shoe was falling apart some. The horrible throbbing in her head cut into the whole caring about anything.

Except one thing...she wondered if Wulf would be there.

She was sure she looked just...weird. She was wandering down the hall holding her tail over her left shoulder with the same hand. It seemed like it just wouldn't work right now. They must have broken the part that controlled her tail, every time it moved...it hurt...a lot. She stopped in front of the door and adjusted her aviator sunglasses. The lights had been way too much for her. She ran her long fingers over the door searching for the button slowly, doing anything fast was painful. Her fingers found the button and door slid open.

A smile crossed her face as she wandered into the room, her legs wobbling just a bit. She was glad to see the people assembled here. She pushed her hair out of her face not use to it being down. She spotted Adawulf and a bigger grin crossed her face.

"I heard something about pie."

[Tally]

Pulling a tub of vanilla ice cream out of the freezer, Roman almost shot back a scathing reply to Gabriel but thought of a better course of action instead.  Smiling to himself, he reached for a potholder—sunflower print, ugh.  Tasteless.—and pulled out the pecan and chocolate mousse pies to cool.  And that was that.  He was officially done baking.  He flicked the oven off and went about dishing a piece of apple pie into a bowl then scooping out some ice cream to accompany it.

To call the life of a Pilot stressful was to call a dragon a lizard; it was true, but it showed no appreciation for the true nature of the thing.  Live a life like theirs and you had to find ways to ground yourself, reclaim a semblance of normalcy.  You had to unyoke yourself from the all the problems of a nation heaped on your shoulders.  Some Pilots followed intellectual pursuits, others took up an instrument or painted or—like Gabriel—immersed themselves in pop culture.

Roman chose to bake.

He was good at it, too.  He didn't have much of a taste for sweets himself, but he enjoyed doing it for others.  His mother had taught him how.  "Sure," he said to Seiteki, pointing to the three pies with the wedge-shaped slicer in his hand.  "You can cut those up if you want and hunt down something for everyone to drink—hey, Marshal!"

Agh.  His old friend didn't look too good.  And already into the whiskey.  Actually that didn't seem like such a bad idea.  Maybe Roman would give in and drink something harder than red wine for once.  He gave Marshal a clap on the shoulder...

...and nearly leapt right up onto the counter as something scurried across the floor in the periphery of his vision.

Giant cockroach!! was his initial thought, but then he actually registered what he was looking at.  Was that a...a crab?  Made of metal.  A metal crab.  He leaned down to get a better look at it in the dim light.  Yep.  A crab.  Huh.  Words failed him so he just stared at it; what could you say to a bionic crab scuttling into a kitchen?  A tasteless joke came to mind—something involving Gabriel and crabs—but he bit it back.  Wasn't any fun if Gabriel couldn't hear it anyway.  Where had the crab come from?  Some weird new pet of Gabe's?

It seemed to belong to Seiteki, so Roman left it alone, placing the slicer on the counter and grabbing a fork and Gabe's pie and heading back out into the living room, giving the...the crab one last bemused look.  

In passing he reached down and ruffled Fala's hair by way of greeting and nodded to Satori.  He hovered at the head of the couch for a second, seriously contemplating upending the bowl over Gabe's face, but decided to be nice.  Relatively speaking.  He sat on the edge of the coffee table—not in the water, which he was absolutely not going to clean up—facing Gabe.  Kid wanted to be fed?  Roman would feed him.

Forgoing use of the fork, he selected a warm wedge of apple and held it up to Gabriel's lips, wearing the most indecent smirk he knew how to produce.  "Open wide, sweetness."

[Rhi-Rhi]

[ooc: Oh yeah! Posting order for sanity's sake: Tal, me, Choco, Draco, Shizzy, Kurai, and Kitsy! <3]

"Aw, tell me something I don't already know," Gabriel sulked playfully, not at all embarrassed about the Axis Point thing. He'd be the first to admit that it had left him a complete mess. He stretched a little and smiled up at Seiteki as she leaned over him. "Anyway, you know Tiki-Torch, don't be such a downer," he said, reaching up to tap her on the nose. "You're here now, Romance's slavin' away in the kitchen like a good housewife...you could at least try, y'know. Be nice. Eat pie. Pretend to like it just for tonight, you can fake it! C'mooon, you'll make Roman cry--ow, gosh darnit!"

Bang, bang, bang.

Gabriel winced and pulled his sunglasses off so he could rub his eyes, where his migraine was still lingering. Well, the migraine 'hangover', at least. It was still throbbing a little, dulled by painkillers, but jeebus if that banging didn't hurt. He wanted to shout at whoever was banging at the door to knock it off and press the damned button or go away but that would have only hurt his head more, so he just grit his teeth, slipped his sunglasses back on, and covered his head with the throw pillow he'd been cuddling. Ugh...there was a buttooon! It wasn't hard! Everyone had it!

The doors finally slid open and Gabriel lifted the pillow off of his face to see who it was...and Seiteki fled. Gabriel could see why as soon as his eyes landed on the man. Marshal. Those two never had gotten along. Gabriel? He was impartial. Didn't really know much about him, to be honest, other than that he was friends with Roman, but that didn't stop him from flashing the man a cheery grin and lifting his hand in a friendly wave. "Hey Marshland!" he called as the guy headed for the kitchen, flopping over onto his back and cuddling the pillow again.

People had been slow coming at first, but after that his apartment seemed to explode in activity. First Marshal came, and then...a freakin' crab. Gabriel blinked and lifted his sunglasses just to make sure he was seeing things correctly and not hallucinating or something, but yup. Crab. Squealing about Seiteki. Huh. He blinked several times and lowered his glasses again as it scurried off to the kitchen. That was kinda...surreal. Maybe he was trippin'.

More banging at the door--gyaaah! Were they just being intentionally sadistic?!--and Fala came in after, followed shortly by Satori, who was also wearing sunglasses. Poor girl. He waved at them both, though Fala probably missed it, seeing as she was sorta curled up in a sitting fetal position. "Hiiii Satori! Pie's in the kitchen! That goes for you too, Fala, you guys should get--Roman! 'Bout time! Sorry, guys, you gotta get your own pie, I called dibs on Roman a while ago and he's all mine tonight."

To Roman he flashed his most innocent smile as he hovered near his head, but the smile faded a little and was replaced by a quizzical expression when Roman sat down on the edge of the table instead of just handing him his bowl as he'd expected. To be perfectly honest, Gabriel hadn't anticipated Roman taking him seriously when he'd told him to feed him because he sure as heck hadn't been being serious, and even if he had he would have thought he'd just treat him like a child and spoon feed him, complete with airplane effects, maybe.

He could handle that.

But when Roman took a piece of apple in his fingers and held it to Gabriel's lips while wearing a smirk like that...

Gabriel's cheeks darkened and he stared at the apple like it was a viper, green eyes slightly crossed, and then looked up at Roman. For a second he considered shoving his hand away and making a grab for the bowl, but a second later and the impulse passed. That's what Roman expected him to do, and gods be damned it was pie! He wasn't passing up an opportunity like this, not in a million years.

Fluttering his lashes at Roman and putting on what he hoped was a sultry expression, Gabriel leaned up, opened his mouth, and closed his lips around not only the apple, but Roman's fingers, as well. I can't believe I'm doing this... he thought even as he sucked a little on those fingers, cleaning the last bits of apple stuff off them. He even forced out a low, "Mmm." You know, just for effect.

[Anonymous]

Marshal completely lost his focus and stared at the fridge for a while, sipping absently at his whiskey.

Mmmm…..single malt…

Only when the glass was empty did he snap back to attention and realise that Seiteki was in the kitchen too. He was surprised he hadn’t felt the room get colder actually.

After Roman got his slice, or Gabriel’s slice rather, Marshal took up the wedge thingy and placed a slice of the apple pie on a plate. Remembering he was still holding it, he set his empty glass down on the counter.

The stuff got weird.

A little…crab…thing suddenly scampered into the kitchen, blathering on about Seiteki. Right…

Other people might want pie too, so he cut another slice onto a plate and picked them both up. He could be nice at times too….just…not to certain people, namely the winged bitch currently cramping his space with her giant feather dusters.

Shoving past Seiteki’s wings, Marshal went back out into the other room, calling back at Seiteki as he passed her, “So starved for attention you have to have talking sex toy’s now eh Tora?” He gave her a mean grin and snickered to himself. Weird little crab thing…

More people had arrived. Satori, and what looked like a curled up Fala. He nodded and grinned at Satori as he passed, remembering that he had something to give her actually, though he hadn’t brought it with him. He took note of Roman feeding Gabriel with disinterest. Those two had done much weirder shit, he wasn’t about to stare over something as simple as feeing the kid.

He laughed on the inside, realising how foolish it would sound still calling Gabriel a kid. He’d grown up, but sometimes still acted like the pouting little candidate from years ago.

He plonked himself down on the one seater next to Fala, which she’d apparently missed. Leaning over, he held one plate in front of her face and said, “Faaaala. Pie?”

He wiggled the pie temptingly, grinning down at her. “Do I get a hug?”

[Anonymous]

A wicked smirk rested on Seitekis lips and she grinned at Gabriel  then called out, loud enough to be heard, but quiet enough not to hurt anyones brains. " Pretend just for the night? Fake it? Like those orgasms you give me? I suppose, I have enough practice with you." Seiteki stuck her tongue out and then nodded to Roman and tucked her wings closed to her back when he went past her, feeling oddly awkward.

This may have been the pilot family, but Seiteki wasn't part of it.

Seiteki cut up the pie, near perfect even wedges, ah, sharp things. Seiteki missed wielding sharp things instead of guns and lasers, no talent was needed in fighting anymore, a quiet sigh and she looked down and nearly screamed. She hadn't heard it's funny whine so getting something big with pincers on her leg made her jolt and make a funny squeaking noise. "Geeze, Four, you scared me." Seiteki said quietly before reaching down and picking up the crab and putting him beside her on the counter, eyeing the pincers.

Giving him a quick rub on the head after he spilled out his worries to her, which were rather sweet. It'd been a while since anyone had been worried about where she was. Giving a quiet snort and a opening her wings slightly, she was rudely pushed to the side, hissing when her wing went the complete wrong way and snarling at Marshal when he made his nasty little comment about Four, to her. She winced slightly, obviously her feelings were hurt, physically tough, of course, mentally? Eh, not so much. So she bit back, "Ha, at least my sex toys talk, yours are just full of air and made of plastic."

Pursing her lips Seiteki cut up the pie and went and put it on the kitchen table, followed by the plates and cups. After rummaging around in the a cupboard she'd found an extra pitcher and filled it with water from the tap. Damn sissys could drink tap water, she was not going to rummage through Gabriels stuff to find juice or.. whatever they had no-what the hell?

Seiteki blinked and leaned out of the kitchen slightly. No one else was there, and she didn't want to annoy anyone with her wings. Best place for her. Still though, Seiteki looked at Roman and Gabriel. Those two didn't seem to have... Boundries. Seiteki turned around for a moment and scooped up Four, holding him forward, slightly against her waist as she faced him towards Gabriel and Roman.

"See that Four? Those are what we call 'homosexuals'. Thats when two people of the same gender like one another as more than friends." She tilted Four so she could look down at his weird little face and then put him back on the ground then looked around awkwardly for somewhere to be. Roman was waiting on Gabriel, Satori was more than pleased to see Wulf, Marsha, yeuch, was waving pie at Fala, Dyerlich ... Was being Dyerlich, though technically he'd be with Wulf and Satori.

Chewing on her lip slightly Seiteki hoisted herself up onto a counter, her wings folded carefully back so they were out of her way and out of the way for anyone who wanted to go into the kitchen... Mostly.  Bright blue eyes watched the going ons of the group and she realised how out of place she really was, she shouldn't be here. This was their family, not hers, never hers. Carefully pushing some of her unruly curly black-blue hair behind her pointed ear she looked down at Four and stuck out her tongue. "We should name you Pi."

(( Yes, Pi. 3.14)

[Anonymous]

Wulf had for the most part been very grumpy and down, until of course someone walked in that just lit up his entire face. Satori. Now granted he had ahm...somewhat forgotten about her in space. Different areas and ships and what not...but he remembered her now! He'd have to get some sort of reminder on the Network for that stuff. Then he'd never forget! Not like they were...really serious yet. They'd gone shopping and hung out a lot...but that was about it. Still, even Dyerlich, who was still very new to the idea of deeper relationships that dealt with love could see that there was a bit of a spark between the two.

Which was good, since Wulf really needed something like that in his life.

"Saaatori." Even though there was a whole bunch of pain in his head he still managed to stand up and practically run to her, hugging her and being careful not to hit the tail...which didn't seem to be very...tail like. More rope like. Huh. Wonder why it wasn't being like...a tail. Well. That didn't matter. He had Satori.

Dyerlich just sort of decided he'd people watch at this point. Heh. Roman and Gabe's behaviour slightly confused him. After all, he didn't have much experience with that stuff so...they almost acted like Wulf and Satori but he wasn't sure if it was all just a game of 'Who will flinch first' but...even still it was amusing. Maybe it would lead somewhere.

In the kitchen Bionic Crab Four was trying to basically be one with Seiteki, since she seemed the safest and sanest person to him. When Roman bent down to get a better look at him he only tried to merge with Seiteki's leg all the more but...he was soon being picked up and moved to the counter, which made him let out a little noise that almost sounded like "Wheee" but no one could be sure at this point. However once he was on the counter he was rather happy. "Why did he call me a sex toy? That's completely inaccurate to what I am. Is he one of those people who finds animals a little too attractive? Those people weird me out. They say my creator was like that but he just wanted a new form of intelligent life." He didn't understand human culture that much because he had been away from it.

Once more he was suddenly picked up, which made him make that noise again. It really did sound like 'Whee' actually. Very suspiciously like whee mixed with a digital noise. Maybe he was masking it.

"Really? But what possible benefits could that give? Two males cannot mate. Unless humans are close to the order of Seahorse where a Male can carry the children." Yep. He didn't understand it. While Dyerlich had some mild understanding, BC just knew that male went with female and it was all about making the babies. Either that or you were a-sexual and you could bud off from yourself to make a child.

"Oh...back on the floor." He liked being held up where he was taller. Things were so much more interesting! Sure he could sneak around on the ground but...bah. It was though at this time he remembered he had gravitronic boosters. Heh. Anti-gravity basically. He wandered over to the counter where Seiteki was, trying his best to jump up onto the counter but when he failed doing that he just beeped.

"Engaging anti-gravity thrusters." The tips of his feet began to glow and suddenly he wasn't on the ground anymore, but instead he started to hover. He was rather coordinated as he landed on Seiteki's lap, disengaging the boosters and looking up at her. No doubt if he had a face he'd be grinning proudly. He'd made it up there all by himself. "Pie? or Pi? Because I think the numerical sequence would work better...unless you're talking about cutting the pie into four pieces...then I'd be Pie Four! Or Four Pie..."

"I think 3.14 Pi is a much better name." It was Dyerlich. He had decided to get some pie. Pi. Whatever. He helped himself to a slice and decided to stay there with Seiteki and the crab. He fit in better with these two anyway...oddly enough. Since he knew a few...things about Seiteki. "It's a younger person's game out there, isn't it?" He mentioned, not rather innocently at that. He had a twinkle in his eye, which meant he was smirking. "No room for an old geezer like me. So why are you hiding with your pet crab in here?"

[Anonymous]

Pie. Damn, that sounded good. The thought of food did little to assuage her headache, but at the very least, the familiarity of it all did some good in letting her feel just... just a little bit better. But only just. She could only hope that their mystery cook (she wasn't about to lift her head high enough to look!) didn't decide to poison the recovery pie.

As Roman went by, however, the wafting scent of the delectable pastry was just enough to get her to uncurl slightly, looking up with a curious arch of a brow before Roman's hand decided to descend on her scalp. With a ruffle and a small protesting groan from her own self, Fala scowled as Roman's hand quite effectively mussed up her hair almost affectionately as he moved to Gabriel's side.

Oh, the jokes she could have made, with Roman hovering over Gabriel so! Had she given a damn, Fala would have jeered about this for weeks to come. Imagine, the almighty, stoic Roman, virtually spoon-feeding the other Pilot pie!

But just as she pondered the possibility of laughing, the mere thought of it made her want to double over and curl up again. But since she knew that she would never get out of it again if she did, and also knew that the others were recovering faster than she, Fala attempted to shake it off, holding her hand to her head and looking up as the tempting aroma of pie wafted up to her nostrils again.

And there it was!

The odd, metal crab that had scuttled past her peripheral vision was quickly forgotten and dismissed as her eyes literally moved only to focus on what seemed to be a disembodied, floating piece of pie. Well, floating as well as a plate could, anyway. After blinking twice and realizing that she wasn't hallucinating, she realized that there was indeed a hand holding it up, and out to her.

Aww, wasn't that sweet? All that blog flirting, and now Marshal had come to offer her pie. She'd half-expected him to offer both sex and pie in the same sentence, and was quite surprised to hear him suggest something other than 'playing' with their food. God knew that comment about blueberries had caught her off guard, earlier.

Smirking at the gray-haired Pilot for a moment and holding out her own hand, she fought off the spots that were starting to fade from her vision and offered to take the plate from him. Of course, she knew he'd be wanting more than just to serve her pie- there was some payment she had to give him for it!

"You want a hug? Come down here. Just... gimme the pie." The last part came out as a blathered rush of syllables, something almost nonsensical... but she really, really wanted the pie. Roman obviously knew what he was doing, if Gabriel's reaction was a fair judge. Either that, or it was simply an accompaniment to a promise to wear toe socks and caveman loin clothes. One never knew.

Looking over to Gabriel looking as if he were suckling life from Roman's fingers, however, she saw fit to sit up on her own, her scowl quite apparent. Reaching up to detach her visor for what had to be the first time in days, she let her dark blue eyes look out to stare at the two pilots incredulously before that infamously bitter tongue came back.

"Whoo. Look, Gabriel, if you're going to suck him off, do it on your own time, mmkay?"

[Anonymous]

She squeezed Wulf into a one armed hug and felt warm all over again since the last time she saw him. It had been so long or at least it felt like it. She couldn't put a finger on a way to express how much she missed him, just him being around had been hard to be without. She darted her eyes to look at him then she moved her head to give him a quick kiss. She felt the warmth grow then pulled away from him some and leaned on him a little more. He still smelled wonderful. Despite the horrible, ridiculously throbbing headache...she still felt good.

Then she smelled the pie, that aroma and his scent mixing her nose smelled like heaven should smell. She still squinted behind her sunglasses as she looked up past Adawulf. She spotted Marshal and gave him a half wave with the arm squeezing on Adawulf.  Her eyes traveled around the room with a smile but...something was wrong. She needed more than just apple pie. Then her eyes found Roman and Gabe...she blinked behind her glasses and gave an almost undetectable smirk. She looked at Adawulf out of the corner of her eye. Maybe she could get him to feed her like that.

"There's chocolate right? Because after a mind boggle, and that whole scene I don't know if I can handle the apple." She looked over at Marshal with a smile then smelled something...better. "Marshal there's whiskey?!" She started to pull Wulf with her to the kitchen slowly but surely, taking moments to steal a glance at him, but still not move her head too much. "Escort me to the kitchen sir! There's a feast to be had."

She walked into the kitchen and saw Seiteki and Dyerlich, she gave them a small smile, and started to look for the cake and the whiskey...

Was that a crab?

Her eyes went back to Seiteki and she tilted her head at the other Pilot.

"That's...interesting. Who or what is that?" She asked as she detached herself from Adawulf and pointed at it. She let go of her tail and found that it had regained soem control she pulled it up close to her back to avoid whacking anyone with it. Turning she gave a small noise of triumph as she found the whiskey, she grabbed Marshal's left over glass and poured some for herself.

Aha! the chocolate...perfect .

She found a plate and cut herself out a piece. It looked...so delicious she thought she might go into a coma of yummy. She set the plate down on the counter taking a bite and her eyes rolled a little and she made a noise of appreciation. Her attention turned back to the other Pilots and she smiled feeling warm.

"It's so nice to have everyone here..." Her sentence hung in the air and she knew what everyone was thinking without her whole psychic deal. "Well almost everyone." She look down into her glass and her eyes turned a little sad and she took a gulp.

[Anonymous]

Valmont's confident swagger had lost a notch or two of confidence, his normal gait slowed and unsteady. His mind kept getting away from him, his focus shattered every few seconds as the pain echoed through him. It wasn't nearly as bad as in Axis, but like ripples on a pond, the clarity in his head would be taken from him. It was quite an annoyance.

What was he even doing here. He didn't feel much like socializing. He wanted to ram a large number of sharp objects into Soren, and then repeat the process on Roman and Dyerlich. Bad enough that he had to go through that agony at Axis yet again. Worse knowing that there were pilots that didn't have to go. Pilots on equal standing with him.

Bitter as he was, he did have to eat. The smell that came from the door wasn't the best he'd ever had, but it might clear his head quicker to have a full stomach. He approached the door, and felt and new spasm of pain come forward.

Where the hell was the panel to open the door?

Always another annoyance. His eyes wandered over the doorframe and wall, observing the dents against the wall and marks on the door, but no clue as to how the obsticle could be opened without force. Surely a diety had placed this in front of him as a joke. It was unfortunate then, that he currently didn't have patience to remember subtlety.

Reaching out with his mind, he grabbed the door, shaping his grasp around it. Valmont prepared to hurl the offending object out of everyone's way forever, when his eyes found the small button at last, glaring at him all along.

<Damnit. He's got that thing small on purpose.> The words floated out of his mind, not meaning to "think aloud". He slammed his fist against the button, the door opening and granting him passage. The sounds of the pilots inside socializing hit him like a bullet, almost sending poor Valmont reeling over in pain. He probed gently to see who all was inside, entering the residence.

Taking the closest seat he could, he plopped down, grace momentarily forgotten. One more minute to clear his head, and then he'd eat. Mmm, smelt like apple.

[Anonymous]

Pain. His entire world felt like a giant ball of....well pain. His head was throbbing. And for what? The knowledge that he didn't know anything. He could have told them that. Damn stupid mind probes.

But he had heard mention on pie. And Alaric so loved pie, all sugary sweetness. And a chance to socialize. He didn't get to interact with the other pilots nearly enough. And in his pain and hurt, Alaric really didn't like the idea of having to be alone.

He pressed one hand along the wall, helping steady him as he shuffled along. One down side to having three eyes was that no one made sunglasses for all three. And the light was making his head throb even more. Who's stupid idea was it to keep the hallway lights cranked up to super nova levels of light!?

The pilot hadn't even bothered to get dressed, still wearing him pajamas. Which consisted of a white undershirt and a pair of sweats that ended at his knees. Someone had told him that they were girl pants, but he didn't really see why. They had nothing to do with breasts. They were on his legs after all. Shoes had been far to much trouble. Instead he had pulled on a pair of fluffy slippers that looked like frogs.

Ahead of him he noticed someone else enter the room. His eyes hurt to much to make out who it was. But at least he wasn't the only late arrival. That was good. He hoped he could have a smoke inside, but some people didn't like smoke in their places. But damn, a cigarette sounded good right then.

A few clumsy fumbled with the door, the pilot finally managed to get in without causing any structural damage to the door. He then smiled brightly as he shuffled in, "I heard of pie. And I came to partake in some."

[Tally]

Somehow, the act of bringing Gabriel a piece of pie had become a contest between the two of them, and Roman was convinced he had won.  It was so gratifying to watch someone dig their own grave.  The blushing, the hesitation, the embarrassment—it was exactly the reaction he expected.

At first.

But Roman's smirk faltered when Gabriel mirrored the suggestive look, and it disappeared completely when Gabriel's lips closed over his fingers.  His eyes actually widened and his brows climbed up his forehead.  Hmph.  Well.  He pursed his lips and let Gabriel lick his fingers, even moving his hand this way and that to provide the best angle for Gabriel to get the last of the filling off.  He was impressed in spite of himself.  He hadn't thought Gabriel would have the nerve.

This was a rare moment.  He must immortalize it.  Roman set the bowl down and whipped out his camera phone from his pocket.  He closed one eye, framed the shot, and with the push of a button had a priceless memento. Oh no, Gabriel was not going to forget this anytime soon.  Just as quickly, Roman pulled the phone out of Gabriel's reach, just in case the kid made a grab for it.  He gave the compromising snapshot an appraising glance then returned the phone to his pocket.

"You must really want this pie," he said, picking up the bowl again and waggling it out of arm's reach.  He gave Gabriel a different kind of smirk this time, one with a little respect behind it.  "All right, I give.  You win.  I'm not actually prepared to sit here and feed you."  It was a little easier admitting defeat to a kid who was sick and couchridden than it might have been otherwise.  He passed the bowl to Gabriel and rose, heading back for the kitchen.

In passing Fala, he paused.  "Don't worry," he said, leaning down to add in a stage whisper, "he does."

There.  Let Gabriel deal with the fallout from that.

Upon entering the kitchen after Dyerlich, Roman found his own water glass and refilled it from the pitcher Seiteki had filled up, eyeing the painkillers without realizing it.  He rather thought he should take more, to stave off the persistent headache before it had the chance to get bad.  What he really wanted was to steal away to his own suite, dose himself into oblivion, and lie there in the darkness for hours.  But after this, the dragons would all brief their Pilots on what Roman had found and the real investigation would begin.  There would be meetings and more questions and the Seekers would go to work.  And the other Pilots would get their chance to have a look at that strange device.  Research and Development had already cracked it open and what they'd found...Roman just didn't know what to think of it.  Maybe the others would have some insights.

So there was no use fantasizing about actually getting to rest for once.  He noticed that...crab thing was still here, sitting upon Seiteki's lap.  Without Gabriel whining for pie, Roman had the chance to get a better look at it.  He bent down with his hands on his knees and looked it over.  Should he talk to Seiteki or to the crab?  He opted for Seiteki.  He was not mentally prepared to have his peers witness him talking to a crab.  "So, where'd you find your..."  Friend?  Toy?  Device?  What was the right noun, here?  "Where'd you find this?"

It was kinda cute, he had to admit.  But he'd rather like to know what in the world it was doing here and where it had come from.