[physical education 101]

[sevenhorrorsmods]

Who: transfer students
When: July 1̷̝̤̳̙̫̭̻̝͓̄̇̾̀̕͝9̸̙̱̹͍̮̈́́̀̅͛̐̔̋ 20
Where: the. . . gymnasium?
What: an ice breaker
Warnings: moderate physical injury (not debilitating), psychological horror (absolutely debilitating)

[The school is empty. The school is quiet. The only sound that cuts through the silence is the soft ticking of the hallway clocks that mark the passing of each second.]

[. . .]

[At least. . . until a stiff breeze whips through the classrooms, scattering dirty papers and jerking the curtains aside. The clock strikes 6:00 a.m.]

[The school bell chimes.]

[ Team rooms | Endgame | Rewards ]

Comments

[candlestick]

[ Zuo Le wakes up with a jolt, going from sprawled out onto the gym floor to on his feet in a second, tail lashing violently behind him as he spins in spot, and--

Blinks in confusion as he founds himself in a new location, he's looking... a little more red than usual, his gym uniform sporting various cuts all along it, though his arms look like they received the worst of the damage.

He doesn't seem that concerned with his own state of being as his gaze combs through the crowd, trying to spot the people that he arrived with, stumbling forward a couple steps before managing to get his footing right. ]

[undefinery]

Whoa, how is this moving??

[ Mizuki, who is a bit of a slightly bloody mess, is still staring at the tail in both confusion and curiosity. ]

[candlestick]

[ He still looks like a cornered animal when he wheels around to face her, but calms down slightly when it's just a normal looking girl standing there gawking at him. One that looks like she's been through the wringer herself. ]

What?

[ How is what moving? ]

[undefinery]

The... tail. It looks so realistic!

[ Like, damn. Cosplay's come a long way. ]

[candlestick]

[ This is such a disorienting conversation for him after everything he just went through. ]

My tail?

[ Sorry, Miss Pink, he's only half paying attention as he looks around the room, relief starting to cross his face as he spots his teammates and realizes they're okay.

Or at least as okay as he is.

Either way, he's only half in this conversation right now. ]

[undefinery]

[ We call this coping-- ]

Your tail, yeah. I mean, you're the one wearing it.

[mogger]

[ another teenage girl staring at him.... ]

.... You good?

[candlestick]

[ He'll at least stop spinning in spot for a moment, jerking his head towards her as he tries to orient himself in all of this. ]

I... I'm--

[ "Fine". ]

No.

[mogger]

Yeah, that's what I thought.

[ thank you for stopping ]

[candlestick]

[ It admittedly wasn't by choice, but that's the least of his problems right now.

His expression is slightly pained as he straightens up, but clocking familiar faces among the crowd does seem to have him settling down. The tail is definitely swishing with less ferocity now. ]

We're not dead, are we?

[ The cuts are all throbbing with pain, and he would have assumed that would stop if he was. ]

[mogger]

[ she reaches out a hand if he needs help steadying himself, but doesn't insist if he doesn't take it ]

Hell no.

[ at least, she doesn't want to consider it if they are ] We're just kidnapped!

[ordimame]

[after having his own wounds tended to, bandaged in strips of torn cloth]

Hey! Don't try to walk if you're not ready. Sit down for a bit?

[candlestick]

[ He probably should get that done himself, but his own physical health is the least of his concerns right now. ]

I-- won't pass out from walking around like this.

[ Not quite the "I'm fine" he would have preferred, but good enough. ]

[ordimame]

There are plenty of things in between "walking just fine" and "passing out" that are pretty unpleasant, you know!

[sir!!]

Seriously, sit for a second. And let someone else look at you-- you're bleeding everywhere!

[he can only fuss because he has allowed himself to be nursed at]

[candlestick]

[ There's something sensible in what Edamura is saying here, but Zuo Le has never been particularly sensible on this front. ]

I have to make sure the people I was locked in a room with are alright first.

[ He'll let people treat his wounds after that. ]

[ordimame]

[. . . . . . nnnngh. okay, well. . . that he gets]

You won't be able to help them if you don't let yourself be helped first.

[parttimesoldier]

[Sorry dude, there is Yet Another teenage girl swooping in to gawk. This one in a torn up yellow track suit with one sleeve torn off to bandage up an arm.

Initially, this guy catches her attention with the unsteady way he's moving forward, clearly on the lookout for something. It's not until she makes a beeline for him that she catches sight of the tail. Of course.]

Hey, you good over th—woah. [Gaze lingers on the tail. Up to those pointed ears. Finally back to his face.] Oh, I get it. You're one of those cosplayers, yeah?

[candlestick]

[ He's still looking a little unsteady on his feet, but with her zooming over quick enough to keep him from continuing to charge forward, Zuo Le at least comes to a halt, and seems like he'll probably stay upright.

The tail is still going though, though admittedly a little less frantically than before. ]

A what?

[ He has no idea what she's talking about. ]

[parttimesoldier]

[Damn, that thing really is moving.]

A cosplayer. I'm pretty sure that's what Mayuri called it...

[She shakes her head, speaking up again.]

Y'know, people that dress up as characters from shows or comics or whatever.

[candlestick]

[ He looks down at the tracksuit he is currently wearing, then back up at the one she's wearing. ]

I didn't actually pick this out, and other than the color we're more or less dressed the same?

[parttimesoldier]

[She waves a dismissive hand.]

Not that. I mean like— [she gestures to the tail.] The tail is pretty crazy. Ears too.

[tiebroken]

[ Sorry, she's staring at the tail, brow furrowed... sometimes the only beings with any features like this are turbo aliens who don't look humanoid in the least. If he catches her staring, she seems taken off guard, flinching. ]

Sorry, I...

[ She seems to know it's rude to stare at least... even so, she doesn't finish her apology, trailing off, instead. ]

[candlestick]

[ He'll definitely notice, and he'll definitely look over to her.

Most of the members of his group gave it a glance too, though none of them commented on it, and at least a couple of people have now treated it like it's fake. A wild notion to him, but it seems like for some people Phidia aren't typical?

It's not like every country in Terra is crawling with them or anything, but they've never been that rare. ]

No it's...

[ The word "fine" doesn't come out, but his brow furrows, trying to figure this one out. So much happened that he hadn't really stopped to think about the situation or the fact that all of his companions seemed to look like Aegirs to him, who sometimes lack any obvious features defining what sort of animal they are.

It's starting to seem more and more like that may not be the case, which opens up a very different, stranger set of possibilities. ]

Is it that strange?

[ His tail, he means. It's starting to seem like it might be to people here. ]

[tiebroken]

[ She shakes her head quickly, wanting to communicate that it really is that unheard of for her. She's not staring out of disdain, or anything like that... ]

I've never seen a human with a tail.

[ Or pointed ears, for that matter. Maybe he's been experimented on? Or is the result of some DNA manipulation? She's heard about that in passing. If that's the case, she should have sympathy for him. ]

But, it sounds like it's normal to you.

[ A small nod, trying to extend an olive branch. If he doesn't think it's strange... he must know a lot of other humans with tails?! She doesn't want to make him feel like a freak, if so. ]

[candlestick]

[ The idea that he's unique here is really twisting up his thoughts something fierce. Never before has he deeply considered being this much of an outsider somewhere, but one more slow scan of the gathered group confirms how few people here have the sort of traits he's used to seeing. ]

On Terra it's fairly common.

[ Not all of the races of Terra have them, but most do.

Which is really starting to sink in the idea that he is not, in fact, on Terra. Or at least most of the people here are not from his world, and that is a very sobering thought indeed. ]