Frost Bite. (open)

[Stray]

((I’m not sure what to do here, but here goes nothing, Lol.))

A pair of cold blue eyes stared out into white abyss of the Antarctic skies; the teen who owned those eyes frowned slightly as the machine moved along. Subconsciously he reached up with pale fingertips to upturn the collar of his felt jacket. Almost as if the chill of snow and ice really bothered him, on the contrary he was oddly comfortable with the swirling winds and cold gray sky. He wished he could say the same about the ‘bug fighter’ he was on, or the situation he was in. He hadn’t spoken a word yet, he found no reason to speak or ask any questions, he would rather study and watch. See how these people operated and functioned together, then act accordingly.
The bug fighter pulled into the hangar and landed steadily, he turned to the door as it opened.

Strands of white-blonde hair falling into his eyes before stepping down the ramp without so much as a nod or glance to the pilots. His expression a neutral cold mask. From what he had learned this was where ‘animorphs’ were trained to fight the ‘controllers’. He wasn’t happy about this idea of fighting in a group, it was something necessary he had to do to reach his own goals. One person couldn’t even hope to succeed in something like fighting off an entire alien race.

As soon as his punk-combat styled boots hit solid ground he stopped, staring around the hanger with mild disdain, the small battered suitcase in his hand stiffly held.

[gabriel]

Gabriel fought the urge to hug himself as the hangar doors opened to allow the bug fighter in. Dressed only in jeans and a stylish t-shirt he was ill prepared for the rush of antarctic air that accompanied the ship in. He had been put on greeting duty today though he didn't know why. He'd been greeted by Seiya when he first got here and so had Xander and Stevie so why didn't Seiya just do it? But whatever. It was an afternoon he didn't have to spend running Kovu's obstacle courses and for that he was grateful. The arms master was quite a piece of work for all that he was 17.

The bug fighter came in for a smooth landing and the doors opened to reveal a young...Gabriel had to look twice to try to figure out what the kid was and he still didn't have a handle on it by the time he heard the dull thud of boot on hull. Male or female the person was beautiful though not in a way that Gabriel found attractive at all. Considering he found most girls attractive (read all) the reaction was an unusual one for him but there was something about the kid's sculpted and distant beauty that put Gabriel on edge. It was very austere and foreboding and the hostility glaring out of his/her eyes did nothing to counter his first impressions. And the black clothes and large, combat ready boots rounded out the person's uninviting look.

For all of that Gabriel was a pretty friendly person and he had been assigned here. "Hey," he said as he walked up to the individual, eyes still searching for a clear gender marker he could latch onto. "My name is Gabriel," he said, holding out his hand as he stopped in front of the new recruit.

[Stray]

Sable looked at the taller male before his eyes went down to the offered hand. The silence stretching on as he slowly blinked. Introductions, a friendly gesture. A common one, he would have to get used to it. Of course he was tired from the trip, not that it would have changed much if he wasn’t. His emotions didn’t vary much from antisocial to a cool indifference. At first it appeared that he wasn't going to return the gesture. Almost as if he suddenly changed his mind he reached out with his own hand, cool fingers light but firm.

He saw how the other looked at him, Sable was familiar with that look all too much. He knew his appearance confused others and made them uneasy. As a child he always felt a slight wave of hurt at those glances. He was flesh and blood, and as far as he knew was completely human. Growing up he learned to ignore it after all, appearances didn’t really matter when it came down to performance or value.

“I’m Sable,” He spoke simply in a mild New Yorker accent, as he caught Gabriel's gaze. His voice had a tenor-like tone to it. After a pause he raised a slim eyebrow at the other. What would happen after introductions?

[gabriel]

Gabriel shook the boy's hand, %90 certain now that it was a boy after hearing him speak. His voice was still somewhere in the middle but it was closer to male than female and, getting a closer look at him, he seemed to have a boy's figure as well. It made him slightly less nervous. He acted a certain way around girls, it was just habit after all these years. He felt obliged to flirt and flatter but he didn't want to try to figure out how to flirt with such a standoffish individual. Around guys he could be a bit more relaxed and down to earth.

"Nice to meet you and welcome to Antarctica, the coldest place on earth," he said as he let go of his hand. "I'm your friendly, neighborhood guide, sent hear to get you squared away with a room and all of that. I don't know about classes or anything, I guess Seiya will tell you more about them. He's our leaderesque person. How old are you and where are you from? I'm from LA and you sound like a genuine American too."

[Stray]

Once Gabriel released his hand, Sable pulled it back to rest in his coat pocket, his other hand still gripping his suitcase. The changes in view seemed immediate as the taller male talked on, bewildering the otherwise silent boy. First he digested the questions, before just closing his eyes briefly.

“I’m...very..tired,” He spoke again in a cool tone as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other letting his eye wander around the hangar as the snowy winds were heard swirling outside. Gabriel seemed to be pretty informative about things; it would be something that might be useful later. For now he just wanted to be alone to think.

He let his gaze slide back and set on Gabriel, expression remaining emotionless. It wasn’t anything personal; he had a lot to figure out. Besides he was certain that the other was just curious, He did say 'friendly neighborhood guide'. Regardless, Sable was too on edge to even humor the thoughts of conversation.

[gabriel]

"Alright," Gabriel said with a shrug. "Food and chow first. Can't say I blame ya. I'd do the same thing. I see you don't have many bags," Gabriel continued, looking down at the suitcase. "Probably for the best I guess. They make us where our tighties here," he said, pulling up his shirt to show the morphing suit underneath. He had yet to morph but Jullian had assured him that the suit was necessary and that it would be best if he got used to wearing it 24/7.

"So where do you want to go first? Your room to drop off the bag or to the mess hall for food or to your room to forgo food and just crash?" He wasn't sure what he hoped the answer would be. On one hand the kid unnerved him a little and if they went to the mess hall it was more time he'd have to spend being a good host. On the other hand Sable was a new recruit and they would be class mates. Better to get to know him now.

[Stray]

Sable stared at Gabriel as he mentioned his luggage. The term ‘tighties’ foreign to him until the taller boy lifted his shirt to show some skin-tight fabric underneath. He had only heard rumors and had never witnessed why the ‘Animorphs’ were called that. But what did clothing have to do with it? He supposed he would find out soon enough.

He let out a slight sigh as he shifted his weight slightly again, moving his suitcase from one hand to another as he thought. He was hungry, but he probably wasn’t as eager to be in Gabriel’s company as much as the taller boy was. It was a little uncomfortable, not that Sable ever admitted that to anyone. Half the time he brushed it off. But if he just went to his room and had to find the mess hall by himself then he’d most likely get lost..and.. He mentally grimaced, have to ask someone for directions likely.

Making his choice he scratched the back of his neck before speaking.
“Sure, let’s go to the...mess hall,” He spoke as he started walking around Gabriel to the door that lead into the ship. He was expecting Gabriel to lead the way, but standing in the hangar was making him even more restless.

[gabriel]

"Alright little dude," Gabriel said bowing a little and sweeping his arm towards the hallway Sable had started walking towards, pointing out the fact that Sable had already pushed past him even though he was supposed to be leading him around. "It's that way."

He set off walking towards the hallway, his sneakers falling softly on the metal hub of the ship. "Getting around this ship is a pain until you learn your way around," he said over his shoulder, "took me forever. The yeerks have no sense of organization or nothin'. Lucky for you and me," he said stopping for a moment and facing Sable, "Seiya came up with a bit of a clever fix."

He pointed to the tubes that were set in the ceiling above them. The tubes were glowing a soft, sullen red reminiscent of lava lamps. "These things carry energy around the ship. To conserve energy not all parts of the ship are up and running so if you ever need to get to a working part of the ship just follow these. If they are dead then you're in no man's land."

He turned and set off back down the hallway. "Right now the only working parts of the ship are the hanger bay, which we just came from, its also our training area. Then there is this hallway that has been turned into classrooms, one where the teachers live, one where we live and the mess hall. Everything is pretty close together except for the mess hall which is all the way across the ship from the living ship for some reason," Gabriel said with a shake of his head at his bad luck. Getting a midnight snack was much harder than it had been back home.

[Stray]

Sable fell back in stride with Gabriel as they walked down the hallway, listening attentively. Glancing up he stared at the tubes of light, realizing that was a pretty good idea. If a person just followed the actively glowing ones then there were only so many places they could end up. Then admittedly if they didn’t then it’d be much easier to get lost. The ship was pretty big.
Glancing around as they walked he made a mental note just in case, memorizing small differences on the ship walls.

“What kind of food is there?” He asked curiously, his tone no less cool than it was when Gabriel had introduced himself. His expression however blank held no distaste as it did in the beginning either. He wondered how they kept food; did they have adequate freezing and refrigeration? Staying in Antarctica he knew that there was no other way to find food. Then again, back to the original thought. Sable didn’t eat junkfood but it still would be nice to know what kind of food was available. The effeminate make knew that if everyone was around his and Gabriel’s age then junk food might be the most ideal thing to be delivered.

[gabriel]

"Um..." Gabriel had never given thought to what type of food they had. He had just eaten what had been put in front of him. "All types of food..." he answered unsure. "Like, normal food." He knew the teachers took turns cooking. He thought some of the students may have even gotten into it. He didn't like to cook and no one had asked him to so he'd managed to avoid that duty.

But now that Sable brought up the topic of food he tried to summon a clearer idea of what they ate. "Like, we had pasta last night. And oatmeal this morning and uh...sandwhich stuff for lunch. No one make's lunch it is just there all day to pick up when you want it. And um...we had...I think we had some sort of bean and rice dish the other night and uh...you know food." He shrugged.

He realized he didn't know much about how the Academy supported itself. He knew he hauled boxes of canned goods and dried stuff like rice and pasta off the Bugship sometimes. They got frozen meat less often and sometimes some fresh fruit though that was rare. He wasn't sure where they got it all though. He assumed they bought it like they had in Union, the city under Los Angeles where he'd come from. But what did they buy it with? He decided he would ask Seiya more about it when he next saw him.

"Sorry I couldn't be more of a help man," he said over his shoulder, feeling slightly guilty about it since he'd been appointed Sable's host.

[Stray]

When Sable’s question had been met with an awkward “Um..” He looked up at Gabriel with a blank stare. They kept walking but it seemed the other male honestly didn’t remember what kind of food there was. Of course “All types of food” and “Normal food” Didn’t clear anything up. When the other shrugged Sable let his gaze stray around the hallways again uninterested. He resisted the urge to dryly laugh or scoff. He had asked a simple question but granted, the business that they did here apparently was very serious and took one’s entire focus.

When Gabriel apologized Sable merely waved it off. He was sure he’d find out what kind of food they had there. He wondered, since there wasn’t very many people on the ship, if they did take turns cooking. While on his own for school abroad, he had learned to cook many different dishes. Sometimes he used it for stress relief when his music or his art didn’t suffice... Looking around he was sure there wasn’t any musical instruments or pain and canvas.. And one glance outside revealed no local art shop nearby.

Again he kept the silence, really finding nothing to talk about with Gabriel. As soon as he had eaten he would be finding his room and catching up on a bit of sleep before anything else, hopefully. He was used to little sleep but even he wasn’t unstoppable.

[xander]

Xander kicked one of the fridges closed and cap off a cold apple juice. Wasn’t the same as the fruit he grew up with but it was closer than what he was used too. He used his arm to slid the remains of his meal into the trash and set the coffee mug in the sink. Before heading out he grabbed a power bar from one of the cabinets and ripped it open with his teeth.

In the hall he resealed the juice and dropped it into one of his deep pockets. Those pockets enforced his love of cargo pants, even if they weren’t the best for running through the cities. He rationalized that he wasn’t having to run at the moment and if they let him turn into animals he wouldn’t have to worry about something like his trousers snagging. He’d have much bigger problems.

He took a bit out of the power bar as he walked. Xander stopped at the sound of a familiar and recognizable voice. Looking around he spotted Gabe and a new kid. Xander held up a finger asking for time as he chewed and swallowed. Some of the manners his mother had instilled him were still there.

“Hey Legend,” he smiled, “Who’s your new shadow?”

Tilting his head he gave the boy a once over before raising an eyebrow, “So what’s your story Boy ‘O?”

[Stray]

Sable looked at the other who was walking towards them, ready to just walk past only to glance back when the other stopped and raised a finger. He set his jaw slightly as they stopped in the middle of the hallway. His expression blank and smooth. It was a bit difficult but Sable noticed the other male was older by a bit more, and he held a slight accent. He met the other’s raised eyebrow gesture with a still, frozen blank look. The question made him pause and now it was his turn to size the other up, with more focus and judgement.

Obviously the other knew Gabriel, so then they both were ‘Animorphs’ then and fought together. Meaning they were all on the same side and would eventually fight together as a team. But that didn’t mean he had to trust any of them at that moment. His blue eyes were slightly guarded.

“Story..?” He spoke out his gaze still fixed on Xander. For one being very confused at the question. No one really cared about stuff like that right? ,“I don’t have one.”
Not one that he was going to admit to any of these people anyways. His past was a weakness to him, he’d rather just forget about it.

((writer’s block, sorry. ^^;; ))

[gabriel]

"Yeah, no one seems to have one," Gabriel said rolling his eyes. Everyone around here seemed to want to hide their pasts. Well whatever, maybe they had been nerds in high school.

"This is Sable," Gabriel said with a tilt of his head towards the smaller boy. "He just arrived. Fresh off the boat." Gabriel smiled a little, laughing. It was a term for immigrants and it implied foolishness and ignorance of the native country they'd come into but it was normally said in good humor and by people who were willing to help you find your feet, at least where he had come from.

"We were going to get some chow. You haven't eaten the whole kitchen have you?"

[xander]

“Right,” Xander drew out as denied a story, “Evs, dude…”

“Or we could all be secret agents,” he smirked at Gabe, “if we told you about our past lives, you’d be put in danger. And we’d have to kill you. Personally I would see you death as a lose to the community, far to amusing and I need someone to distract Seiya.”

He gave glaring boy a quick wave, “Pleasure, name’s Xander.”

“Left more than the Grinch, that’s certain,” he rolled his eyes, “We’re do you get these ideas in your head mate?”