Sorry Rel's POV took so long - @Moon Wolf, I hadn't seen that you'd posted :/ @Peri, it's fine! Don't worry <3

/Relven/

"Um, actually there's something I need to tell you. Or ask you. Or.... I don't know," Avi said awkwardly, signalling that they should come closer. "My best friend, Zinnia, over there with the wings, and I, are planning to escape. We can't do this anymore. It's awful. We... were hoping we could trust you to keep our secret and help us. So we were going to switch partners, just for today, so Zinnie could meet you and tell you more about the plan. So...? What do you say?"

For a moment, Rel couldn't even think of a response. What could he say? He wanted to help Avi, of course he did, but to be asked out of the blue to help out in an already-made plan for escape... And faced with the actual choice, he wasn't certain if he could do it. It would be lying to all the people who'd taken care of him for six years.

Leskie spoke. "I see," she said, calmly. "I don't mind, I suppose."

They were both looking at him. Avi looked nervous, the look that all the experiments had in his eyes. Relven blew out a breath. "Okay," he said slowly. "We can switch with Zinnia's students. But, Avi - escape? You know that that might really backfire, right?" Leskie was younger, and Avi was an experiment, but Rel knew just how much any scheme like this could be dangerous. "I'm on board all the way with helping you guys, and there's no way I'm telling anyone you're planning this. But... I don't know. It's not just anything." He hesitated. "But if you're fine with running that risk, then yeah, I'm fine with hearing more about it." He turned, scanning the room for Zinnie. It should be feasible to convince Lee and Aly to switch experiments. If he could be such a favorite of 50-year-old teachers, for gracious' sakes, he could do this too.

*Adine*

"Yeah," Cress said, her eyes holding tiny half-smiles. "Haven't seen her in a long time. I guess she was my first friend. She was funny. She had bright eyes." Then her brightening expression vanished. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. It doesn't matter. She's gone."

"Sorry," Adine said after a second. "But that doesn't mean you can't remember her... I mean, unless you don't want to. First friends are special." For a moment she couldn't think of anything else to say, especially since she couldn't remember a single time when she'd had a conversation this intimate with Cress. "But wherever she is, I'm sure she remembers you too. As her friend. And if you ever want to talk about here, I'm here."

{Aly}

"Sure!" Lee said, bouncing. "Like maybe camouflaging as different animals, or objects, even? Thought maybe our first idea with camouflaging with the forest seems to be the best idea...? Do you want to just work on how we could make that work?"

"That sounds great!" Aly replied, admiring Lee's brilliance and enthusiasm. She glanced briefly at the experiment, who seemed distracted by something. Aly turned back and said, "We could start with camoflauging with the forest. Would we have to change the colors manually or is there a better way?" 

<~Win~>/

"Altair," the experiment said flatly. "Though I'm sure you'd disagree." The experiment stared Win in the eyes, as if daring him to prove aem right.

Win shrugged easily, letting the challenge roll off his shoulders. "Hi Altair," he said. "I'm Win, if you couldn't already tell by the name tag, and that's Zia," he said, gesturing to Zia, who was standing slightly behind him with her pencil already poised over her experiment notebook. "And you're right," he continued, adressing Altair's point. "It's so unfair that experiments aren't allowed to even have names! If it helps any, I think the whole thing in general is horrible. I mean, but I'm not sure if there's any way to give all of you the freedom you deserve---"

Zia cleared her throat behind him, putting her pencil to paper. "Hi, it's nice to meet you Altair," she said. "I hate to interrupt, but all the other groups are already starting. The boy chatting away here," she threw a pointed glance at Win, "And I actually came here to ask if you would partner up with us?"

I think I'm just giving up editing these so i actually post them XD 

Altair~ 

Win’s reaction throws aem off-guard. Ae almost stumbles back, but manages to stop aemself. Ae runs Win’s words through aer head as best as ae can - anything ae can use?

“You - you realize nobody cares, right?” No, that can’t be right, too - too - something - “and unfair, perhaps. There’s not really room for many festivals in here, if you can -” No, that was a horrible pun. Ae should just stop talking.

Zia interupts. "Hi, it's nice to meet you Altair," she said. "I hate to interrupt, but all the other groups are already starting. The boy chatting away here," she threw a pointed glance at Win, "And I actually came here to ask if you would partner up with us?"

Altair shrugs. Ae’s breathing too fast, panicking for some reason, and now aer lungs ache, feel itchy like they’re full of fine sand. Ae tries not to let it stop aem from talking. “Evidently. There’s no other choice, is there?” 

***

Sorry peri that was a horrible conversation starter and i could have answered that.

Spiderwort~ 

Spiderwort grins. “Give Penny part.”

Via’s eyes widen. “Of the cookie? But I ate it all!”

Oh. Spiderwort shrugs. He has one last cookie in his pocket. He pulls it out - slightly crumbly, but not much. 

Via shares the cookie with her stuffed bunny, then hugs her and looks up at Spiderwort. “What are you doing to me today?”

“Eating cookies,” Spiderwort says. 

-Avi-

Avi's heart rattled against his chest, feeling like it was about to pound it's way through. 

Leskie spoke. "I see," she said, calmly. "I don't mind, I suppose."

Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. One down, one to go. He turned his attention to Relven, willing he would make the right choice. "Okay," Relven said eventually.

"We can switch with Zinnia's students. But, Avi - escape? You know that that might really backfire, right?" Avi narrowed his eyes. Relven continued, "I'm on board all the way with helping you guys, and there's no way I'm telling anyone you're planning this. But... I don't know. It's not just anything." He hesitated. "But if you're fine with running that risk, then yeah, I'm fine with hearing more about it."

"Fine? Relven, I'm not a child. I've had to deal with more than you could ever imagine." Even though it had gone his way, Avi was frustrated. "I'm not just fine with 'running this risk', I'm doing it. This is not the life I want. But I guess if it's fine with you Golden Boy then it's fine with me." He wasn't using the nickname playfully at this point. It was a taunt, a dare. If there was one thing he was good at it was getting under people's skin. Avi had done it all his life.

But a second of thought made him pause. Relven was agreeing to help. "I'm sorry." Avi added as an afterthought. "I guess I shouldn't expect you to understand."

/Rel/

"Fine?" Avi spat out. "Relven, I'm not a child. I've had to deal with more than you could ever imagine. I'm not just fine with 'running this risk', I'm doing it. This is not the life I want. But I guess if it's fine with you Golden Boy then it's fine with me."

Relven took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second. Avi didn't get it. This was Rel's whole life he was talking about, a lifetime of thinking he understood only to discover that he'd have to change everything and forsake everything.

But when you weighed it in the balance, obviously Avi's problems were bigger than his.

"I'm sorry," Avi added before he could speak. "I guess I shouldn't expect you to understand."

Rel opened his eyes. "I used the wrong words for what I meant," he said bluntly - when was the last time he'd been blunt?? "But whether I understand or not, you need to understand this. You're not someone I can use however I want, which is why you're escaping. But then neither am I something you can use however you want. I understand that there are things in your past that I don't understand, and I get that you need to do this. But there are things in my past that you don't understand either. Obviously what you've gone through is more than what I've gone through. And obviously there shouldn't be that difference between us, because we're just two boys and we should be able to act accordingly. But if we're going to be friends, we need to respect each other, and accept that there's that difference. I said something wrong, I know I did. And I'm sorry for it. And I want to be your friend. But we need to work together if we're going to do this, Avi, not let our differences make the difference." He paused, trying to slow himself down. "But, Avi - I really am sorry. I didn't mean it like that, and I'll help you however I can."

He glanced around; luckily, the lab teacher didn't seem to have heard any of this. "Leskie... want to see if we can switch with Zinnia's students?"

&Leskie&

Relven was much more indecisive, which made Leskie question her decision. She had said yes on an impulse...she was a rather impulsive person sometimes, but also because it was a chance of adventure. And all she wanted was to become a scientist. She didn't entirely care about BCAftV, as long as she could get the grades and certificate or whatever to become a scientist. 

"But, Avi - I really am sorry. I didn't mean it like that, and I'll help you however I can," Rel was saying.

Leskie turned to Avi and said, "As long as it doesn't endanger us too much, I suppose. So do we need to ask Mx. Frost(?) to trade experiments?"

^Lee^

{Aly}

"Well, it takes a while to do it manually, but I think that'll be okay if soldiers do it before they go into the forest..." Lee looked up at Aly, who looked back, thinking about how intelligent and pretty she was. Aly briefly thought of the Spring dance, but thought that surely someone as amazing as Lee would already have a partner. After a pause, Lee said, "Hey, Aly? Um, would you, uh, do you... maybe wanttogotothedance with me?"

Aly felt surprise for a moment, then immediate joy. Lee was such a cool person and Aly couldn't believe that she had asked Aly to go to the dance with her. "Yes of course!" Aly replied.  

@Blackfooted Bobcat lmk if you need me to come up with a better conversation starter! I couldn't come up with anything good 

Sorry this took so long 

-Cress-

"Sorry,” said Adine after a little pause. “But that doesn't mean you can't remember her... I mean, unless you don't want to. First friends are special." She paused again, then added, “But wherever she is, I'm sure she remembers you too. As her friend. And if you ever want to talk about her, I'm here."

“Um… well, thanks,” Cress said awkwardly. She was extremely embarrassed. She hated feeling weak like this. But it was nice of Adine to put up with it. It wasn’t as if Cress could ever talk about this to Lee or any of her other friends. “I guess we should get back to class,” she sighed. “I kind of want to just skip it. I’ll probably get in trouble, but I just… don’t want to be in the lab right now.” 

Though that probably wouldn’t be fair to Adine, who wouldn’t have a partner if Cress skipped. “I’ll go back if you need me there, though. Or I can do whatever parts of the notes I'm supposed to do right now later tonight.”

>Via<

“What are you doing to me today?” Via asked.

“Eating cookies,” Spiderwort said.

“And taking notes,” Colin added from his spot a few feet away. “We won’t be doing any additional experiments today. Just take it easy while I check on the effects of yesterday’s work.”

“Well, okay,” said Via. “Spiderwort, I want to be an artist like you,” she declared. 

aerona-- 

aerona's fins dropped slightly as she watched them both leave the room, one after another, her hands still pressed to the glass on the tank.

it got lonely, you know.

lonely. so, so, so lonely. unbearingly lonely. alistair was there... but she was just one person. one "experiment", as they were supposed to be called.

the ghosts of a complaint left her mouth and the bubbles floated up to the top of the tank before popping.

"i miss home," she whispered into her hands and the water carried her wishes to the top of the tank before they disappeared.

-Avi-

Avi felt bad after his little outburst. He was too impulsive sometimes. He sighed inwardly.

Avi watched Relven's face to look for signs of emotion. Relven opened his eyes. "I used the wrong words for what I meant," he said rather directly. "But whether I understand or not, you need to understand this. You're not someone I can use however I want, which is why you're escaping. But then neither am I something you can use however you want. I understand that there are things in your past that I don't understand, and I get that you need to do this. But there are things in my past that you don't understand either. Obviously what you've gone through is more than what I've gone through. And obviously there shouldn't be that difference between us, because we're just two boys and we should be able to act accordingly. But if we're going to be friends, we need to respect each other, and accept that there's that difference. I said something wrong, I know I did. And I'm sorry for it. And I want to be your friend. But we need to work together if we're going to do this, Avi, not let our differences make the difference." He paused, trying to slow himself down. "But, Avi - I really am sorry. I didn't mean it like that, and I'll help you however I can."

He glanced around; luckily, the lab teacher didn't seem to have heard any of this. "Leskie... want to see if we can switch with Zinnia's students?"

It seemed the conversation was over. Relven did have some good points, however, some of which Avi might have liked to discuss further.

Leskie turned to him and said, "As long as it doesn't endanger us too much, I suppose. So do we need to ask Mx. Frost to trade experiments?" 

Avi had no idea. But they were both looking at him and he had just made a rather long powerful speech so he said, "I'm not sure if it really matters. I mean, as long as both groups follow the instructions and take adequate notes I think it should be okay?..." He beckoned Zinnia over, hoping their group mates would follow naturally and the question could be slipped into conversation.

@Peri, out of curiosity, where do you think Colin and Spiderworts' relationship should go? I feel like both of my characters are pretty tangential to the plot at the moment and would like them to be a little less so, if that matters. also i just realized i've kind of completely forgot Spiderwort's character and how he relates to the plot and the plot in general oops XD so i'll probably have better things in the future. 

also @anyone, let me know if the teacher has a name; i feel like they do but i'm not certain. also looking at the opening, how long has BIG had the experiments?

Spiderwort

~

Colin adds that they'll also be taking notes. He's already scribbling in his journal. Via doesn't seem phased. "Spiderwort, I want to be an artist like you."

Spiderwort grabs a piece of paper and a pencil from his bag. And then, behind him, the teacher clears their throat. "Spiderwort, I was just informed that you were passing out cookies. And I know they didn't have any properties. Or are you surprising us?"

Spiderwort turns around slowly and shakes his head. He steps back. He doesn't like the teacher. Maybe he should have stayed by the rosebush he was deadheading. He never wears gloves; he still probably has a tiny thorn or two stuck in his fingers. 

The teacher sighs. "Look, you can't waste the resources on our experiments, honey. You must mean well, but we are very careful with what we feed them. We can't let a stray food source affect any test results."

Spiderwort scowls. He doesn't even care about the test results. He just wants to go outside and take care of all the plants on campus.

He likes BIG, as a place. He knows this. There's no better option. 

Maybe there could be, for Via. But maybe, if he says that, he'll just get in more trouble and maybe Via will too. 

All the options tighten around him. He opens his notebook and traces one of his favorite pictures of wisteria.

"Spiderwort. Don't ignore me. You can't give them any other food."

Spiderwort ignores them. He'll give Via the paper once the teacher goes away, and he'll bring food whenever he wants. At the very least, she can draw.

@Peri, help this took so long :00 I haven't really been keeping track of this RP. Profound apologies :{

*Adine*

"Um... well, thanks," Cress said, sounding as if she wished she were more or less anywhere else. "I guess we should get back to class. I kind of want to skip it. I'll probably get in trouble, but I just... don't want to be in the lab right now." She hesitated. "I'll go back if you need me there, though. Or I can do whatever parts of the notes I'm supposed to do right now later tonight."

Adine felt a flicker of surprise, but she probably should have guessed that Cress was like that - that she could be cold and shut herself off from other people, but she also had her own code of how it was acceptable to act and what it was acceptable to do. Adine shook her head. "No, it's fine," she said. "I can tell Mx. Frost that you're not feeling well or something. There shouldn't be any trouble." She hesitated. "...You'll be all right? I get it if you need some space, but otherwise, like I said, I'm here." Maybe the last thing Cress wanted was to have her sticking around, and right now she really did need to go back to class. But for the first time ever, it felt like she and her roommate were actually connecting. Like there wasn't a whole world of ideas and differences between them. And she didn't quite want to cut the moment off short, because who knew if it would ever be like this again.