Twisted Gifts

Rachel Rider

Smol Turtle Girl
The quiet morning in the kids quarters was interrupted by the blaring of the wake up bell, caretakers coming in to help get the kids up for the day ahead. Researchers and overseers looked down on the slow bustle from a one way glass outlook, as well as from several monitors getting a feed from the many cameras spread around the facility.
 
Vinny's eyes snapped open. It was an instinct he hadn't lost in the facility, despite the routine that threatened to make him complacent. Wake up bell. He sat up, cracking his neck to the sides as the blanket fell to his waist. Pausing, he took a long look around the room. He didn't need to-he knew there was nothing there. But still, he remembered more than enough times where someone had failed to check their surroundings and suffered for it. Nevermind that no-one could hit him anymore, it wasn't a habit he was willing to let go of. Getting to his feet, Vinny threw on some clothes, his clothes brushing against the forcefield over his skin. That was alright. He was used to it by now.
 
Ellen woke up early, and felt tired. So very tired. But it was a new day, and she had to wake up. She slowly got up as always, and took a deep breath. Concentrating on her power, she tried to disable it, so she didn’t have to take too long to do anything. It didn’t work, and she was stuck it a low-power field instead, good enough, she thought. Better then one that caused her to take ten seconds to even do reflexive things. She put on her clothes on and tied up her hair at a sluggish rate.

“Is breakfast ready yet? Is..it still early?”
Goodness, it took her too long to even speak, this was why she woke up much earlier in the morning then she usually does. She was hungry, and not looking forward to the day. What will it be this time, she thought? Stopping rubber bullets? Slowing down time until she faints from exhaustion? She knew her free time was going to be interrupted, she just knew it!

But first, she needed some energy, and then she could get through the day, alone.
@Rachel Rider
 
Melody walked through the hallways in the kids quarters, with a messy ponytail and and fake polite smile. She wasn’t a morning person. She was sure that she’ll cheer up once she’s met the kids she though. She loves kids, especially the young ones who need help. She saved birds with broken wings and dying animals, and kids are no different. Of course, that means they need breaking first, but that didn’t matter, did it?

Stopping at a door, she had no idea which door it was, but she knocked on it anyways and tried to get the kid to come out.
“Come on now, The morning sucks, I know, but we’ve got breakfast. And don’t you want some free time?”
She had no idea who was behind the door, really.
@Rachel Rider @Anyone wants to be the kid that Melody’s calling out
 
Vinny grunted as a far too cheery voice echoed through his door. Melody. You learnt to recognise the scientists pretty quickly in this place. Melody wasn't too bad though. Running a hand through his hair, Vinny felt it fall back against his cheeks. Some waves actually hit his chin now. It was probably time to cut it soon. He wondered if they let him do it on his own this time or they'd make him go sit in that awful barber station again. Shaking his hair back out, he went and opened the door, fixing Melody with his usual hard stare. "What's for breakfast?" he asked. As if it wouldn't be the same as always.
Free time? He wouldn't get that. Even if he did, everyone knew how he would spend it. Vinny spent every spare minute practising. He made his walls bigger, stronger, practised making little bullets. Anything he could think of to make him as strong as possible. And he looked for Kira. If the scientists wanted to watch him doing that, then fine.
 
“Mmhm...” Shohi grumbled, moving his wings off of his head. He had wrapped himself up in his wings, which had the side affect of muffling his hearing. Great for blocking out snoring and crying, not so good for getting up.

He plodded to the door, opening it by pushing with his wing. It was hard, but there was little else he could do to open it until the scientists decided to get him a new door. He looked around for a caretaker, since he couldn’t exactly change easily on his own. Luckily he just needed help changing the weird shirt he wore to accommodate his wings. He could change everything else on his own using his wings.
 
Who was this child again? Melody the scatterbrained had trouble remembering. Checking her phone, she looked through her notes. Oh right, it was Vinny. Melody wasn’t the biggest fan of him, she must admit. He was too mature for his age, it made him just like an adult. She liked the little kids better, must be a motherly instinct, that’s what Melody thought.

She knocked on the door again, and tried to open it. Trying to sound as cheerful and not awkward as she could, as much as she could be in the morning, she replied.
“Same as always, I’m afraid. I know it’s disgusting, but skipping breakfast won’t be an option. Come on.”
@_BB_
 
The day was just beginning and yet Irene Giles was already finding it difficult to keep her eyes open. But then again, she'd only gotten an hour of sleep the night before. This was nothing unusual. Sure, staying up so long may not be the best choice when it comes to efficiency but the woman was the type to lose track of time once she got started on something. Anything.

Oh, well. She squeezed her weary eyes shut, opened them up. Still not feeling any better. The researcher looked up from the monitor on her computer and at one of the monitors on the wall, watching the rest of the facility stir to life for the day. Somehow, watching the security camera feed was relaxing.

She was still going to need her caffeine though.
 
Vinny kept his gaze on Melody. She was trying to be far too cheerful. Why had she even knocked on his door? Still, he was up now, and he had no intention of skipping breakfast. It wasn't exactly gourmet, but Vinny thouggt you'd be hard pressed to find a kid in here who was going to turn down a meal. For most of them, three meals a day was a complete luxury.
Vinny moved through the doorway past Melody, nodding. "Sure thing, doc," he said.
He moved to the side, moving to knock on the door next to his. He rapped it with his knuckles. "Breakfast time, Ellen. Come on out."
He turned again to watch Melody, leaning on the wall beside the door. Ellen took a while sometimes. Vinny liked to make sure she made it to meals. He said nothing more to the scientist, just watched, and waited.
 
Melody rolled her eyes as Vinny walked past her. This was exactly why she didn’t particularly like older kids, too much attitude! Anyways, she replied as normally as she could, despite being both annoyed and not a morning person, unfortunately, Melody wasn’t good at keeping emotions down.
“I’ll..You just go to the cafeteria, alright? If you have any questions, I’ll be at the hot water machine.”
Noticing Vinny going for Ellen, Melody saw no point in staying, and went to get her morning drink. She had her tea bags ready, now she just needed hot water.
——————
“....Huh? Vin? Is that you?”
Ellen had just finished with her clothes and hair, and she unwillingly took her time getting to the door. Opening it and beginning to go out, Ellen was still trying to disable her power just a little. Why must it be it turns back on when she wakes up?
“It’s breakfast time, I know. It take me a little while to get ready though, sorry.”
Closing the door behind her, she stared at Vinny, with no obvious smile.
@_BB_
 
Having already changed everything but his shirt, Shohi headed out towards breakfast. He could return to change his shirt later. Noticing Melody, one of the caretakers, at the hot water machine, Shohi tried to wave her over.

“Uh, Melody? Can you give me a hand?” He asked. She seemed pretty nice, definitely one of the better caretakers.
 
Melody had just gotten her hot water, and was placing a tea bag in it, when she noticed Shohi calling for her. She turned over to him and gave a warm smile. There is a reason she became a caretaker instead of a researcher after all, after the experiments and the money of course.

“Sure, what is it? What do you need, do you want me to change your shirt?”
Must be hard to have wings, that was what Melody thought out of pity. Still, they still get food instead of suffering outside.
“If that’s the case, give me a second for my tea to cool down, and I’ll help you out in a few minutes.”
@Rachel Rider
 
Ashton groaned, eyes still shut tightly as he rolled over in bed and pulled his covered up over his head. After a few seconds of the bell not stopping Ashton threw off his blanket and sat up with a groan, eyes still shut tightly. He didn't see the point of opening his eyes until after he had his glasses on as either way he was just as blind. Reaching his hands forward and feeling around, he finally found the small table stand beside his bed along with his glasses and carefully picking them up he set them a top his face. Stiffly he opened his eyes, his bland room finally coming into view. Ashton's room was very empty, due to him constantly cutting and bruising his legs on the things there, so it was reduced to his bed, a small table and a dresser. Climbing off his bed Ashton didn't even bother to get changed from his Pj's instead focusing on the door on the other side of the room, and trying his best to get there without falling. Normally he could walk okay as long as he didn't look at his feet as doing so often psyched him out making things much harder. Using his elbow he pushed open the door and stumble out into the hallway, his feet tripping over each other as he almost hit the floor.
((Ashton is open for interaction :D ))
 
Vinny's quickly looked Ellen up and down as she emerged. She looked tired, but she always did. Other than that, she seemed no worse for wear, so he nodded to her as she made her slow way through the morning task of getting out of the door. Vinny was pretty good at jumping straight out of bed, but he got that not everyone was possessed of that ability. Ellen had it worse than most. She couldn't get out of bed quickly even if she wanted to. "You ready to go?" he asked.

His head shot to the side as a door opened further down the hall, eyes searching, ears pealed. He didn't throw a hand out to cover Ellen or anything too over the top-he'd gradually learnt to curb that-but he didn't need to move anymore to make it impossible for anyone to get to either of them. His energy buzzed around the constant forcefield, just in case he had to use it. But he never did, not here. Only in the afternoons when scientists started throwing things at him to see what could get through. But that was just training.

Still, there was nothing obvious that exited the door, just a clatter and the noise of the door swinging shut. Realising what had happened, Vinny relaxed slightly. "You coming to breakfast, Ashton?"
 
Using the wall Ashton managed to brace himself, thankfully saving himself from adding another bruise to his collection. From a a little ways down the hall he could see the form's of Vinny and who he assumed was Ellen if her speed was anything to go by. "uh..Yeah, one second let me just..." He trailed off, using his forarms against the wall to prop himself back up, standing shakily on his feet. To anyone else though, all they would have seen was a seemly empty pair of Pajama's and floating glasses go from being diagonal to straight. Having successfully gotten past the hard part Ashton quickly made his way over to Vinny and Ellen, one forearm pressed hard against the side of the wall for assurance.
@_BB_ @MelodyMeister
 
“Yeah, ready.”
Ellen steeled herself for the walk. Because of her irritating power, she has to exert the power needed to run to even catch up to Vinny. Wasn’t anything that she couldn’t handle though, as long as no one asked her to a race. Of course, no one would, who would race her? Even a fat couch potato would be able to catch up to her.

When Ashton opened the door and nearly stumbled due to his invisibility, The girl didn’t seem to react at first, but then yelped and clasped her hands around her mouth after a few seconds. She calmed down when she realised it wasn’t a ghost or anything, just Ashton, still it’s kinda weird to just see a pair of PJs in the air...

“Good morning. Have you...ever considered...wearing gloves and socks to see..where you are? Or maybe paint?”
That was the most logical solution, if Ashton wanted any sort of hand-eye coordination.
@Beebasaur @_BB_
 
Vinny glanced between the two lame ducks he'd ended up with. Even now, his instincts were flared to life, keen, and ready. He wondered idly whether he only looked after people to give himself the illusion of danger, to keep those instincts alive. But he knew it wasn't true. He just didn't want them to get hurt. It had always been his flaw. Vinny had no time for those who didn't try to keep themselves out of danger if they couldn't protect themselves, but he had far less time for those who would attack those vulnerable people. Right now, these two wouldn't be much use in a fight. Oh, sure, he could see plenty of ways they could do some amazing things if they wanted to train for it, but right now, both were suffering from their gifts more than anything else.
Vinny rubbed the fingers of his left hand together slightly at his side, glancing down the hallway and starting them off towards the dining hall. He could feel the forcefield wrapped tight around each finger, each joint malleable and impregnable. But he couldn't feel his fingers. He felt the stretch inside, but the touch of skin to skin was something he would never feel again. That was ok. Not feeling other things, like bullets, helped make up for that.
Nevertheless, as they walked, Vinny watched Ashton move. It certainly was awkward, and Ellen made a good point. Having some shoes and gloves would make day to day life far easier, but the more he wore, the harder it was for him to vanish completely. As they came up to a broader space where Ashton would have to go without the benefit of the wall, Vinny rounded on him, holding a hand out to stop their progress.
"Ellen's right. You could at least get some socks or something." As he spoke, Vinny focused, and reached down to slap Ashton's shins. He couldn't see them, but he could make an educated guess through the pyjamas. He wrapped small forcefields around the boy's lower legs before standing. "Arms." He wasn't as finessed with other people as he was on himself, but these would still do the trick. He focused as he wrapped more around Ashton's arms as elbow guards, and painted forcefields on his palms. He let them become imperfect, and the forcefields seeped into the visible range. Most of the time his forcefields were invisible, except for a tiny shimmer like a heat wave, but if they were big enough, or imperfect enough, they glimmered with a faint white light. Enough for Ashton to see his extremities by, anyway. At least he couldn't bash them into anything now. "Don't hit anything too hard or they'll break." His forcefields broke sometimes. Never his inner one, of course, but the projected ones, especially when he intentionally made them flawed so they were visible. These ones would fade over time. "Let me know when they run out." It wouldn't be long once Vinny stopped thinking about them. Maybe an hour, because they were weak.
Stepping back, Vinny drew a critical eye over Ashton, and shrugged, stepping back into line and moving into the dining hall. He ran a small forcefield alongside Ashton as they walked, giving him something other than the wall to hang onto. It was more a mental exercise than it was anything else. He couldn't help Ashton permanently, but he could make this morning a little easier. And test his own limits at the same time. "You two got free time?" he asked.
 
Before Ashton even had a chance to defend himself Vinny spoke up, agreeing with Ellen before wrapping such things as his arms and legs in visible forcefields, along with on e on his side to lean against. Gratefully he pressed his fore arm against the make-shift wall and continued walking, considerably less shakily. "I tried gloves once you know, but I gave them up because I had to constantly take them off to eat, plus they were impossible to get on by myself." He explained, tone only slightly defensive. "I don't think I have anything I need to do other than eat breakfast" he then added, only pausing a moment to think it over before nodding to himself in agreement.
@_BB_ @MelodyMeister
 
Ellen stared at Vinny and Ashton. While it was hard to tell what she was thinking, she did look a bit surprised, and what seems to be a smile appeared on her face. She knew Vinny was jaded and overly tough, but perhaps there was a heart of gold inside?

Or just pity, formed by pragmatism?
Well, regardless of intentions and empathy, Vinny helped Ashton to stop crashing into everything, and that alone was enough.

“I see..Oh, I don’t care much for free time and games, breakfast first I say. And then I can find something like a book and stay inside for the rest of the day.”
What was the point of playing games? It was pointless.
@_BB_ @Beebasaur
 
Shohi bounced a little on his feet, his stomach growling. He walked towards the breakfast table, deciding to bother Melody later. She was rather nice, and he felt like he was intruding on her breakfast. Shohi ran a little bit and took off, forgetting to tell Melody. The ceiling was high enough he could fly pretty well, but the hallway to the mess hall was narrow.

Not watching where he was going, his wing hit the side, causing him to fall rather. He panicked, mainly because this had happened before and he ended up breaking a leg. As he fell he moved his wings trying to break his fall but was unsucessful.

"Ow..." He muttered. He looked down, checking to see if anything was broken.
 
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