The descendants and adjuvants, with three exceptions, are asleep in a hotel-like building only across the street from Keystone Hall. It was originally built for high-profile visitors, and as of right now, is empty of everyone except the kids. Showers and a fresh change of clothes were offered to everyone. Whether or not this offer was taken is up to you, unless you're Quin and got knocked the fuck out beforehand. The ancestors supposedly slept in Keystone Hall, in their own befs. Beds. Close enough. Pythia, Etoile, Candra, and Parker are all standing about the halls. Rigel walks in, back from waking up the descendants, and joins them quietly. You're all welcome to join them too, however you wake up and get here. Sam bursts into the room, Quin only moments behind her, laughing lightly.

"Bullshit!" I scoff. "So no flying, but you get to use your cool ass wind powers?"

I show up a few minutes later with Finn, looking pretty disheveled, but not quite as exhausted as last night.

"That's right." She grins at you. "Good luck slowing your fall with anger, rage boy. Maybe try riding your spear like a magical broomstick next time."

I reach up and try to ruffle her hair. Her being half a foot taller than me makes it a little hard. "So all that fancy breeze footwork and you still can't fly? What kinda powers are those, huh?"

Parker looks over Hale and Finn arriving together with an eager smile, but makes sure not to stare for too long. He doesn't stop grinning. "Oh, I'll show you flying." She scowls, crossing her arms and raising herself up to her tiptoes, making it even harder for you to reach her head. "Is this flying to you, shortie? You're so small down there. Like a little ant."

"That's it." I grab her arm and try to wrestle it behind her back. "Someone needs to knock you down a few pegs, Orsa."

"Kick his ass, kid!" Pythia shouts from across the room. Sam laughs and pulls her arm around in front of her, wrenching it from you and flicking your forehead meagerly. "Go ahead, pipsqueak. Give it your best shot."

"It's cause I'm a rage player. Being short gives me more energy, it puts me closer to hell." I lunge at her.

I walk into the hall, looking around at everyone that’s already in the room as I enter. I move off to the side for the time being, waiting for everyone else to get here.

Sam takes a step forward as you move and grabs your wrist, using your own momentum to swing you around behind her, leaving you stumbling away helplessly. Pythia whistles loudly. Candra laughs lightly, almost nervously, you think. "Be careful!"

I hear her laugh and glance over, face softening a little. I look back at Sam and point two fingers at my eyes, and back at her. "I'll be back in a moment. Try to catch your breath," I say, and walk over to Candra.

She blows air at you and it feels like a full-on wind. "Don't need anymore breath." Candra smiles at you, hands clasped in front of her. "Hello!"

"Hi. I, uh. Sorry about last night." I shake my head a little and smile, reaching forward and taking one of her hands. "To answer your question from earlier, I don't know. I'm going to look for them after this all ends. And if they're out there, the first thing I'll do is bring them back here to be able to meet you like I could."

Candra smiles even wider, nodding slowly. "It's fine! I understand. Stay safe, okay? I want to find them too." She glances down at your hands, frowning. "Are you okay?? Here, let me see your hands."

I notice Parker's grin and file it under "things that won't make sense until I get context clues". I walk in with Hale, no theatrics.

She grabs them before you can protest, inspecting the damage you did while trying to pole vault on pavement from a three story jump with a metal spear.

"Oh! Don't worry about it, these things are pretty sturdy." I blush a little as she examines them.

I glance around the room. "Looks like we're early," I mutter to Finn.

She shakes her head. A soft glow envelops your hands, healing them quickly and without leaving any trace behind. "There you go. Be careful, alright?"

I peel my eyes away from Parker. "guess so"

Pythia laughs. "And you wondered why I said you'd make a good mother."

"Yeah. I will. Thanks, mom."

Candra's eyes go wide for a second and she drops your hands, but she grins widely and gives you a quick hug. "You're welcome. Always." Pythia awws quietly.

i yawn as i wake up, stretching a couple of times and gradually disentangling myself from a bedsheet configuration which actively transcends the mathematical concept of knot complexity. re-donning my hat as per usual in my very simple morning routine, i make my way to the ground floor of the hotel building before crossing the road, floating up the hall's steps, and walking inside, looking around at everyone. "morning"

I rub the back of my neck sheepishly, face very pink at this point. I turn to Pythia. "Speaking of last night, I really need to speak to Finley. Do you know where they are?"

"They're asleep!" Parker interjects before Pythia can, strolling over. "Sound asleep. I made sure they slept in." He grins, and Pythia frowns. "Well, they're gonna be pissed."

I nod. "Cool beans. I'll talk to them later, then." I squint at Parker. "You're the guy that made this city, right? You're a really good builder."

I open my mouth, then immediately close it.

"Oh gee, thanks." He chuckles lightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't build most of it. Just design, more. It was a group effort." Seth and Milo meander in, followed only a few seconds later by Flo.

"Yeah. That's awesome. I really like how the buildings... uhh. Look like that." Alright, I've exceeded my limit of embarrassing myself in front of figures of authority for a while. I give Pythia and Etoile a smile, before heading back over to Sam and cracking my knuckles. "Now, I believe we were in the middle of something."

Exactly sixty-one seconds later, Navy walks in.

After maybe a minute and a half of sheer confusion about where I am, I manage to wake up fully, get dressed, and follow Navy out into the hall. Not actually TALKING to her though, because god they kind of scare me.

Alright, fine, I notice Silas and decide to get back at her later, when she least expects it. I make a beeline over to him and clear my throat.

"Hey."
my eyes widen a bit, surprised. was not expecting this but you know what? i like it. "oh hi!"

I cross my arms and lean against a wall, if we're near one. "So I hear your mom is Candra."

excellent icebreaker! i sure hope you do, man, i kinda sobbed into her arms while calling her mom a couple times yesterday in front of everybody. i cross my arms in turn with a single nod. "that would be correct!"

"Cool. Uh. Me, too." I hold out a hand for him to shake.

i stop, then drag my hands down my face. "why are all of you like this," i complain, before taking quin's hand, shaking it, and wrapping him in a tight bear hug.

I give a small huff and hug him back, smiling. "Inexperience, I think." It feels nice to hug someone shorter than me for a change. Or just to hug anyone at all. I could get used to this. I pull back, and point to his horns. "Looks like we got the fucked up gene, huh?"

"definitely!" i say before tilting my head. "which one do you mean though?"

Okay, if my face was pink before, it's the color of my fins now. "The. You know. The horn thingies."

"ohhhh, the hook thing, right!" i say with a little facepalm gesture. "i thought you just meant in general"

I glance behind us nervously. "I don't think she got that one." "You... have a cowboy hat, right?"

"uh, yeah!" i say. i tilt the hat slightly, with a soft "yeehaw" that sounds kind of like i'm asking with anticipation more than exclaiming it.

I nod my head approvingly. "Looks really cool. I had a hat once."

"that right? must be a genetics thing too then! my- i mean, mom had a hat on her bed that i can only assume was hers," i recount. "i'll have to ask her about it. hope she won't mind i gave it to that kid" i shake my head. "uh, anyway. what kind of hat?"

My face lights up. "Shit, she did?? We can be the fucking hat crew! The, uh, muskhateers!" I make a vague outline of a baseball cap with my finger in the air. "It was like this. Red. It disappeared when I godtiered, though."

"aw, what? that sucks. i don't know why i was allowed to keep mine, actually," i say. i remove my hat and compare the color of its rim to the color of my godtier t-shirt. "probably 'cause it matched, actually, i guess," i shrug before sliding the hat back on, over and down my horns. "also. ABSOLUTELY on that muskhateer thing. well, once we find a way to get your and mom's hats back," i add. "in spirit 'till then"

"We'll have to find a few more, too. For Lirium, and R- ah." I clear my throat. "Right. Well. For Lirium."

i sigh, trying not to subconsciously let ryker thief-of-hope me. "once we actually get the hats, you know ryke'll come around to it soon enough. out of jealousy if nothing else"

My smile returns. "Hell yeah. He already has that flashy cape, I bet he wouldn't be able to resist." I uncross my arms and clasp my hands behind my back. "Do you have a favorite food, or something?"

i tilt my head and squint. "bit of an odd subject change there, but uh," i shrug, "yeah, i guess so!"

I rock slightly on my heels, nervous. "I think hotdogs are pretty good."

"i wouldn't know," i say. there is the subtle tonal implication of a longing to. "if there was a place that sold those back home, i didn't know about it"

My face falls, and I reach forward to put a hand on his shoulder, before deciding against it last minute and putting it back behind my back. "I'm so sorry, Silas. I think everyone deserves to have at least one hotdog in their life." I squint. "Unless they're a vegetarian. They can just eat the bun and some fries, maybe." I look at him imploringly. "You do know what fries are, right? Have you had those?"

i laugh because of but not *at* his genuinity cause i'm nice like that. "oh yeah! those things bang"

I let out a small sigh of relief. "We'll get hotdogs after this weird destiny shit ends. Ah. If you want to, that is." I chew on my lip. "So... what is your favorite food?"

i sigh. "well.. you're from earth, right? i don't know if it's just the people i associate myself with or if they just don't have it there, but i've never met someone from there who's heard of them. not that i've asked" i make some dismissive hand gesture. "regardless! they're called s'mores"

"Nope, I haven't heard of them either. What are they, chips or something?"

Candra and Pythia watch your conversation like it's a train wreck from the other side of the room silently. Don't worry about it. Candra whispers something to Pythia. The seer abruptly runs out of the room and outside.

i laugh a bit. "no, no. uhh.." i clear my throat. "the s'more, derived from the concatenation of the phrase 'some more,' is a campfire delicacy consisting of a- actually, hold on" i decaptchalogue the bag of marshmallows tylus left for me at the bakery, opening it, and handing quin one of them. i recaptchalogue the rest of the bag. "you probably haven't heard of these either. marshmallows? sucrose cylinder things. just sugar. anyway," i resume. "consisting of a marshmallow burnt ideally to the point of golding, though some so-called fans insist that it's better to burn them to the point of blackening," i roll my eyes at the thought. "while it is common among the fanbase to consider the s'more the sum of the burnt marshmallow, the chocolate and the graham crackers, the technical definition of the term refers exclusively to the marshmallow itself. regardless, when i say my favorite food is the s'more i do mean the actual s'more against branded chocolate with a graham cracker on either end of the amalgamation, which forms a s'more-chocolate sandwich, technically. the layman's s'more, as some call it," i say. i stop to catch my breath. "graham cracker, chocolate, burnt marshmallow, graham cracker. good stuff"

I stare at him in awe as he rambles. Wow, this guy is really smart. I take the marshmallow from him and squeeze it slightly between my fingers. It feels so weird. "You burn these things?"

"i mean, you can eat it as-is if you want to"

I take a small bite out of it. My eyes go wide and my eyebrows shoot up. "It's sweet."

"it *is* mostly sugar”

"OH. Right. I forgot about that." I stuff the rest of it in my mouth. "Holy shit. This is really good."

i chuckle. "yeah!" i take the bag back out and take a marshmallow for myself, squishing it by the bases a couple times and eating it.

"You should talk to Cashel whenever he gets here. I think he has fire powers."

"oh yeah, i met him! we were at navraxis with painon and lirium and cole and there were some guys that were gonna kill us with guns and he set them all on fire. it was cool! i probably would've made some, honestly, but we kinda had some other priorities at the time"

"Huh. Yeah. They'd probably taste weird if you roasted them over some dying guys, anyways." I hum. "Your hair looks really cool, by the way."

i have not looked at a reflective surface since godtier. "thanks! i like yours too," i grin.

I squint at him, and self consciously bring a hand up to my hair. “Are you making fun of me?”

"what?? no! of course not," i say, sounding more genuine than the line might suggest. i shrug. "i mean, it's a little messy, i guess, but i'm not blaming you for that! especially since we've all spent the past two days too busy fighting and stuff to make sure our hair looks nice or whatever," i add. "you look cool!"

I keep my eyes narrowed for a few more seconds, trying to gauge his sincerity, before deciding that he means it. “Oh. Um. I like. Ah.” I rub my neck again, completely at a loss of what to say. “Your freckles are cool. I’ve never seen them come in green before.”

i giggle. "me neither, before yesterday!" now it's war. i inspect his appearance more before deciding on "your fins look awesome! i'm the only one in the family with no fins or anything, which is totally unfair, by the way"

“I’d give you mine if I could,” I offer. “Neither of us have gills, though, which kinda sucks.”

"yeah," i frown. "well i didn't get any fish stuff but i did get some features from my anolid clerihew! he has spots kind of like these," i say, showing off my arms, "and a tail like this," i swish my tail out to the side so it's visible. "he's so cool! i really hope he's okay and all. i want all you guys to meet him sometime"

My eyes practically sparkle. I walk around him in a circle to check his lizard features out. “That is SO fucking awesome,” I mutter, reaching out unthinkingly and holding his arm to inspect it.

i let him, standing confidently. "don't sell yourself short! you're fucking awesome too. it's kind of a genetics thing i think"

I beam down at him. Wow. This family stuff is pretty cool. “Thanks. You’re, like, a really cool dude.” I pull him in for a quick hug. “I’m glad we’re brothers.”

i squeeze back tightly, smiling. "me too! i've, uh," i chuckle lightly, speaking a bit more quietly, "i guess i've kinda wanted something like this for a pretty long time, family-wise"

“Yeah.” I pull back and pat his shoulder. “Me, too.” “You’ve spoken to lirium, right? She’s really nice, we’ve been friends for ages.”

"yeah! she's the best. i hope she's doing alright, though," i say, looking in her direction. "i think this has all been a lot for her. i mean, it's been a lot for everybody, meeting our families and best friends and dying and everything, but.. i don't know. i care about her a lot"

“She’s really sensitive. I’ve been the most worried about her out of any of my friends, truthfully. But, uh, she was talking to that Sebastian guy, right?”

"yeah! cole's dad. i haven't talked to him yet but apparently he told her some stuff about me? so.. don't know how he did that"

I nod. “He’s Sam and Maia’s dad, too, so he must be a cool guy. I’m sure she’s in good hands.” I glance to the side, and then down at my feet. “I haven’t told her yet, though.”

"sam? you guys were friends before everything, right? i saw she gave you that pink cape. it was cool as hell"

I grin excitedly. “Yeah! We’re- well. We’re actually moirails now. I asked her a few days ago.”

"oh, awesome!! score"

“I gotta introduce you two sometime.” I frown, and look around the room. “I think we’re about to go do something though.”