Pheligian Falcon: Prison Break

"The name's Marius," Marius said in a pleasant tone, before he gestured to Kaz. "And this is my friend Kazimir."

Kazimir would not be wanting to introduce himself, he knew. His stare was getting fiercer and fiercer the more company joined their table. Marius hoped he wouldn't start a fight here-- if he did, food would go flying, and he didn't get to shower yet for several more hours.

Kazimir was staring down X'lian.

He'd seen her before. She was one of those types that could look more human, but looked so young when she was probably ancient. He couldn't remember if she was someone he'd been in a fight with before or if it was someone similar. He was beginning to question himself as he inhaled his food.

Whatever. He looked to the scrawny grey kid again. Ace.

"Do you need me to handle them for you?" he asked.

Ace took a moment to review the inmates' names again. The blondie was Rhea, the one that looked like a child (was she even old enough to be here?) was X'lian, the scary guy was Kazimir, and the other guy was Marius. Wow. It almost felt like they were a big happy family at the dinner table. In a way, it reminded Ace of home.

Ace's golden eyes shifted to Kazimir (the scary guy). The spoon was still in their mouth as they spoke. "Who? The Kavi trying to kill me?"

Ace raised a brow and turned over their shoulder to look at their old crew. There seemed to be skepticism in their gaze as they turned back to Kazimir, as if they didn't believe he could "handle them."

"Well, what do you mean by 'handle them?'" they questioned, taking the spoon from their mouth and leaning forward.

Marius had a pretty clear idea of what Kazimir meant and what it would entail, but he waved his hand around vaguely as if the details were fuzzy to him.

"Hopefully there's no need for you to find out," he said, giving Kazimir a look that encouraged some self-restraint. Just a little. Only enough not to turn the mess hall into a battleground-- again.

Rhea raised a brow in slight unease and apprehension at the unfurling scene and the obviousness of what Kazimir had meant, but she shook it off in favor of a smile. It was useless to be apprehensive about the aggression-inclined bloke when he had a friend like Marius to keep him calm. And maybe she'd been reading too many romance novels from the prison library as of late, but Rhea thought she might have picked up on something closer between the two cellmates... Oh, well.

She focused her attention on Marius, curious now as to what made the remarkably chill guy tick. "So, outside of mealtime, what is it y'all like to do?" She asked earnestly as she slid another spoonful of slop into her mouth. The question was directed at everyone even though her gaze remained on Marius, head tilted slightly at a curious angle that she picked up from the jungle cats she used to morph into back home.

Peace, peace, peace. Peace would be really nice to reach with this rather fun and intriguing band of people.

Marius let out a chuckle as he set down his spoon. "I mean, it's not like there's much else to do here besides eat and sleep. So, I don't know, I like to stare at the wall and get lost in thought for eight hours at a time?"

Rhea laughed, her eyes glittering with mirth. "Really? Not even a teensy weensy bit of reading or playing games when Recreation Time comes around?" She asked teasingly after she swallowed her spoonful of slop.

"I am quite fine. I ate last mealtime." X'lian waved away her roommate's offer, pushing the bowl back. "I thank you for the offer."

The Voidborn noted Kazimir's gaze, shifting her blank white eyes towards him thoughtfully. He was...familiar. How peculiar. She shrugged it away in the blink of an eye and smiled faintly at Ace before lapsing into silence, letting her gaze roam through the cafeteria.

Fine. No one wanted to start anything except Kazimir, so he decided to put a lid on it: only because Marius was giving him the look, and if he was honest, he really didn’t want to get put in solitary again.

But if Ace was worried about getting killed — solitary was the safest place to be, away from other prisoners.

He debated on telling the boy that, because that meant suggesting Ace throw himself into harm, which he seemed too chicken to do anyway.

He tore his eyes from X’lian and looked at Rhea.

“Sometimes we talk,” he said plainly.

Helrock ate his meal quietly, eavesdropping. He was almost excited by the idea of watching a fight, although it sounded like the idea was smothered. How disappointing. He was itching for an excuse.

"Talking is boring. They actually have a decent selection of books." X'lian popped into the conversation, fingers tap-tap-tapping away at the table, nails clicking ever so softly against the plastic.

"Lots of things from Old Earth." That's how she spent most of her Recreation Time, reading books and keeping a careful eye out for any surrounding creatures that may be a threat to Rhea.

Kazimir didn’t feel like admitting his trouble with reading because it only made people look at him like he was an idiot, so he kept his mouth shut.

How peculiar. Eclipse silently thought to herself as she swallowed another bite of sustenance. Well, it was much smaller then a bit really, more well classified as a morsel.

She continued watching the group that had oddly enough gathered at the one table. It was almost as if they all knew each other well. She could tell enough from some of their actions that some did indeed know each other, well too, but others seemed completely knew and as if meeting the others for the first time. It was as if they were trying to fit in.

This however wasn't some school playground full of social cliches. Everyone was here for some reason or another no matter how horrendous or simple. Whatever comradery this band of misfits had was already much deeper then some simple innocence fueled friendship. Nothing was ever that simple unless you were a child.

That brought an interesting observation to the forefront of Eclipse's mind. One of the inmates at the table did look nearly like a child, much more so then the obviously younger other two. The appearance was deceiving though, the way she moved and spoke- Eclipse could tell there was something deeply ancient about her.

It was similar to the way ancient Wyvers seemed to appear, there was just something that betrayed their age even if their mortal vessel had failed and they had adopted a new one. What a shame it would be if Eclipse herself wouldn't get that ability when her vessel failed all because she was half human. Although, such a thing could not be truly determined until it happened. Maybe she would get such a privilege. However, if she never got out of this prison, there would be no way to find out as she would have no new vessel to transfer to.

Quickly, she wrestled her thoughts back into organization. She would not get out simply by dreaming. These people she observed would likely be a determining factor of her eventual escape some way or another. Maybe she could frame them or befriend them, use one as a scapegoat or get them to cover something up for her. There were so many possibilities, she just had to figure out what tactics would work best on each...

The one, Kazimir she remembered from her mental book of faces and names looked like he wanted to start something. He almost always did Eclipse felt with the way he looked at people. She was beginning to wonder just when exactly it would sink in through his thick skull that if he did that it was bound to start fights. Or maybe he already did and that's why he did it though.

Either way though, if he started any sort of fight, Eclipse was slipping underneath the table and sitting crosslegged to consume her sustenance in a mild form of protection and would watch from over the bench. It had worked before, quite well actually, even when an entire person had been thrown towards her table. Sitting underneath the table was like her own personal bunker in times of need, just like the one she had had once...

Rhea tilted her head to look curiously at Kazimir, with a knowing empathy in her eyes. She was not illiterate, but she knew what it was like to feel incompetent in an area most others were so proficient in.

The Tertian nodded in agreement with X'lian, a grateful smile on her lips, but her eyes remained trained on Kazimir before flicking away and to the Xulian in the corner of the table who was brooding and looking like he wanted to start a fight. She fully took in the vibes (there really was no other way to describe it unless Rhea wanted to start yapping to herself about auras and all that jazz) from everyone at the table plus that one interesting solitary figure who was keeping to herself a little ways away from the table, but obviously paying close attention to them. Well, obvious to Rhea. The rest of the table seemed content to focus on the going-ons of the table (except X'lian, who seemed to be on the same mental track as Rhea, albeit a lot more suspicious one).

Rhea cleared her throat softly to get everyone's attention. "Well, I heard from E-17 the day before yesterday that the guards will let us do a new activity in our Recreation Time if we answer a riddle. E-17 couldn't tell me as much as they normally would because of a systematic block, but they said it's some kind of metal-folding. We can keep the products that we make in our cells if we behave well enough, and it's a new type of metal found in the mines a few months ago, if E-17's sources are to be believed. It's been kept on the down-low. Anyway, it seems interesting, reckoned maybe you would be interested in it." Rhea prattled to the criminals at the table and the singular figure watching them, somehow managing to make her blabber into a casual explanation in a low, captivating voice.

A new type of metal, hm? Well that might prove beneficial to get my hands on. Eclipse mentally hummed to herself, carefully tuned into every word of the conversation as it happened.

She could tell one of the younger ones at the table had noticed her now and almost seemed to be chattering to her as well as she spoke. There goes all elements of secrecy however it would be hard to pick up on physical cues if one were constantly trying to avoid being noticed by looking everywhere else around the room.

Luckily, it seemed the others hadn't noticed her yet and she was very much hoping they wouldn't. Particularly Helrock who she had spotted at one end of the table as he looked like he wanted a fight even more the Kazimir. She and Helrock hadn't been on good standing for.. well since they became cellmates really. He was messy, and loud, where Eclipse liked her silence and neatness. The habits of his that contradicted her own annoyed her to no end and in some time or another they would get to the point where some sharp comment or another had to be made which usually ended in a fight. However, she wasn't going to clean after him.

On another thought, maybe it would be amusing to see the two looking ready for a fight be pitted against each other. Maybe there was some way she could influence it in some outside way with no blame on her end. It would certainly enjoyable to watch, petty sure, but enjoyable nonetheless.

There happened to be one factor that would likely prevent her plan from happening so fast though. The ancient one, Eclipse had never gotten her name, seemed to have noticed her as well, however minorly, and did not seem as bright and welcoming as the other. She seemed dangerous. But dangerous was good. The dangerous ones were the important pieces, the rooks, bishops, and knights of the chess board. They were the ones that would do the most damage too from the opposing side and so she had to watch each piece carefully to see if their grey would become black or white.

Oh how she loved relating things to such an old human game. It just made everything make sense.