Having gone to bed earlier then she was used to, Mia had awoken around 5 am.? She dressed herself in some work out clothes and remembering where the gym was from the tour Mr. Chord had given her a few weeks ago, went and had an hour work out. She worked all areas of her body and ended with a few laps in the pool.
When she headed out of her shower at 6:30 she found the clothing on the bed.? She grumbled just a little bit about the color.? All black.? She sighed and accepted it for now.? Her red hair she tied up with a red hair tie.? At least that was her signature color.? She was hungry and grabbed a small snack from her fridge and was reading a book when the announcement went off at 7.
She wondered if that meant they had an hour to get to Classroom B or that they would have an hour to ready themselves, plus eat.? Either way she was up and hungry so she finished the paragraph and closed the book.? Took hold of the messenger bag and made her way to the classroom.? Everyone was already there.? Hm, she thought, they must have all had busy nights as they all looked pretty tired compared to her.? Serves them right she thought if they can¡¯t keep it in their pants.
She got a plate of food and decided to sit at the end of the table just a seat down from Brandon.? ¡°Good morning, everyone.¡±? She said cheerfully.
(Ireland)
?
After she met with Raine, Ireland didn't go straight home. In fact, she didn't go home. She simply walked. Wandering all over the city. She walked to the park and sat by the fountain and watched as the large pretty spray play and danced. She meandered through the back trails of the park to find herself sitting by the edge of the lake that ran through it. She watched as the ducks and geese swam.
?
She wandered about thirty blocks to the heart of downtown. Watching as the hustle and bustle of the busyness of Port Vega slowly die down. The witching hour came and she found herself moving through the Riverview section of town--an area that if the men in her family ever found out she had been there alone at night, each and every single one of them would kill her¡and she didn¡¯t even want to think about what Imme would do. She scored there.
?
Ireland continued to wander with no clear direction of where she was going until she found her laying in the sand down near the beach at? 4 o'clock in the morning looking up at the stars wondering about the deep night sky taking a long hit of a dooby. Yeah they were all gonna kill her¡
?
She was being uncharacteristically destructive tonight¡okay maybe not uncharacteristically, both Brandon and Raine had stories about her temper and what destruction it could do when she unleashed it, but she wasn¡¯t made¡she felt terrible.
?
She had been the one to hurt her brother. She saw Brandon¡her was crushed and that had been her fault. Out of the three of them, Brandon had always been the most sensitive. Maybe it was that middle child thing she didn¡¯t know. But she knew Brandon and she knew his insecurities and she was responsible for playing into one of his major hang-ups. The feeling like he wasn¡¯t good enough.
?
She had taken his job. And the worst part about it was that she actually agreed with Chord.? Brandon wasn't the right person for the job of leader. Brandon, on paper seemed like the best choice and the most qualified one to be team lead. At 21, he was the oldest of them all. He had been the one who had been working with Chord the longest. But he was in no way competent enough to be leader, mentor or role model for this group. And it was because of his hang-up and insecurities that did it¡held him back¡kept him from being what Chord needed, what this group needed, what she needed.?
?
And she knew it and she felt terrible being the one to exploit that and point that out. It was never her intention¡but you know what they said about intentions.
?
Ireland looked up to see the oranges and pinks and purples and blues of the sky and knew she had to get home.? She couldn¡¯t be late¡not on her first day¡not before she did the unthinkable. God this was a bad idea¡but it was the only idea she had. Because she didn¡¯t want to do this.
?
Ireland had always been a private person wearing a mask to keep people out¡even her family didn¡¯t always see her real self if they didn¡¯t look deeper. And being raised with men, they tended to not look past the surface of what she showed them. And now Chord wanted her to share with them¡these people¡with a bunch of strangers. Now he wanted her to engage in something that she had never engaged in. Not since¡that only two people in her life knew she could do. Hell, she hadn't even told Brandon or Raine (even if Raine probably knew. He was observant like that) and now Chord wanted to baptize her by fire¡
?
As she walked in, she found Chord waiting for her, sitting on the floor outside her room looking every much like a dad. She smiled inside herself.? And that was why she loved him.
?
¡°Hey,¡± he said
?
¡°Hey,¡± she said back.
?
¡°You OK.¡± he said
?
¡°Yeah, I'm good¡± she said look at her feet, pushing a red strand from her face.
?
Chord sighed. ¡°Look, Squirt, I am wanna talk to you about what happened yesterday.¡±
?
¡°I really have to get dressed get ready. The sound of reverie is going to be playing soon and it would never do if I were late my first day on the job. And I need to take a shower and change my clothes so can we talk about this later,¡± she said moving placing her hand on the door to unlock her bedroom. The door opened and she stepped inside.
?
Chord face went sad but he nodded. ¡°Later,¡± he said giving her a tight hug.
?
Once he let her go, Ireland rushed inside taking a deep breath. The minute she was inside her shoulders slumped. Moving into the shower, Ireland found herself with her head against the stall as water ran down over it. Typically she only like to get her hair wet on wash day¡she simply had too much hair to wet any other time because it always took too long to dry but in this case she was trying really hard not to cry so she indulged.
?
When she was done, she stepped out the shower, towel dried her fluffy red mane of curls put in some moisturizer sealant to lock in the moisture and braided her hair into two French braids down the each side of her head in a style she called her Helga. The braids ended right at her breast and dripped making her shirt breast wet. She towel dried the rest of her hair hoping that the braids would stop dripping, put on the black high neck sweatshirt and the black jeans, grab the messenger bag and move to classroom B.
?
Before she walk she took a deep breath, her voice cheery like it was when she had meet everyone the day before. ¡°Hey party people.¡± she said thankful that Harry¡¯s back was too her because out of everyone in this room who would know she was out of sorts, it would be her. She took the last remaining seat at the oval conference table between Gen and Mia.
?
Once she was seated, Chord cleared his throat. ¡°So, A lot happened yesterday. There were some good things and there were some not so good things. I wanted to take this moment before we start our day to give you all an opportunity to express how you felt about yesterday. Contrary to what any of you may think, there is a method to Harrison and my madness. And we do care about you and your personal safety and well-being and mental health. You are not here to be our perfect little soldiers. You are here to be a part of a meaningful team which I hope will grow into family. So we do want to know exactly what's on your mind and how you felt about yesterday and what you went through and how everything ended up and how you felt about it. And while we ask that you do please speak freely. I'm also asking you to please be respectful and be prepared for any rebuttal that you may get. Be opened minded and try to see it from a point of view other than your own. Now with that being said, who would like to go first.¡±?
?
(Brandon)
Brandon didn¡¯t want to say anything but he realized nothing was going to go on until someone said something.
¡°I am open to following orders and understand my behavior was unbecoming of a leader and I apologize to one and all.¡± ?He said before sitting down.? He couldn¡¯t be angry about losing his job¡it was his fault. He couldn¡¯t be mad at Ireland for taking it.? She was deserving.? He was just not fit to lead.? He got that so he would go back to being the good soldier and following orders.? Maybe he would be better next time, he could deal with being a team player.
He would just be quiet for now.
He did look at Ireland, she didn¡¯t seem too worse for wear.? If anything she looked tired.? Was she up all night?? He sighed and moved to sneak his phone out of his pocket. ?<<I am truly very sorry.? I didn¡¯t mean to put you in this position¡I am not mad at you¡I am mad at myself.? And I am sorry for not being¡stronger when you needed me to be.? I love you!>>
He realized he sucked as a big brother, had he been more focused on getting through the scenario instead of focusing on how fair it wasn¡¯t or how tired he was or how his own mind kept him from truly excelling in the scenarios.? He kept seeing Raine as hold him back and he wasn¡¯t even here any more sure his brother was an asshat, but he definitely didn¡¯t kill him, but he truly remained in that shadow of inferiority of his.? Raine had taken his mind helping to make him insecure¡sure but it was still apparently his choice to remain there. ?
Yeah, Ireland was just a better leader in that regard¡she was more like Harrison in that vein just black and white so she could make the tough calls when he was a bit more emotional in his responses.? He was sitting there he was sitting up straight but in truth, there was a part of him that was¡mentally defeated by the demotion.? Something even he wasn¡¯t really willing to admit too just yet.
?
(Kat)
?Kat had felt her text go off before she had entered the room. She read it and it had made her smile. She had not had time to respond. So when Brandon came in she gave him a quick wink. She watched him sit and then pray. *Interesting.* she thought.?
? ?Gen came in next. The?androgynous collected his plate and then went and sat after he said hi to the bosses and both her and Brandon. Kat grinned, "Hello Gen." She could tell that he was in a better mood.?
? ?Kite made his way in and Kat could smell his pheromones instantly when he came and gave her a brotherly hug. "I will tell ya later little brother." She smiled. He was smitten. That was plain to see as he dropped the bag next to Gen, then went and grabbed some food.
? ?Mia seemed to almost waltz in. Kat watched as she made her way to the food, grabbed a plate and then sat down. She was very graceful. "Good morning to you as well Mia." Kat replied. Her tone was welcoming.
? Ireland was the last to arrive. Though her tone was cheery, Kat caught her scent and knew that she was not as cheery as she was letting on. When she said hey, Kat grinned, "Evening."?
? ?It was then that Chord spoke up. She listened as he laid out what they wanted as a whole. Despite what had happened yesterday he wanted to know what they were thinking. Kat had not thought that they would want yo know. She had had her own thoughts yesterday. Since then she had had time to think about it all. She had been about to start the conversation but Brandon stood up.?
? ?She looked to Brandon as he spoke about following orders, not being a good leader and apologizing for his behavior. He then sat down. Kat could smell his worry when he looked to Ireland. She would talk with him later.?
? ?Not seeing anyone standing right away she stood. She looked to Brandon and smiled. "I except your apology. Though I personally do not think you did to bad of a job. Seeing how none of us really knew each others powers that well before the tests. And none of us have ever worked together before yesterday either." She turned to look at Chord and Harrison. "I do understand what you were trying to do yesterday. Though I truly think that the last part of the testing yesterday was a bit overkill." She then sat down.
(Gen)
Gen busied himself with digging into his plates of food as the others drifted into the room. He winked at Kites when the winged youth chose the seat to Gen's left, but otherwise kept his display of affection to what he'd read would be considered a discreet minimum. And he smiled and said a cheerful "Good morning" to Ireland when she sat in the seat to his right. Glancing around the table, the androgyne made a quick study of the others. He knew he wasn't good yet at reading faces and body language but he could only learn by trying. Kat seemed upbeat, much like her usual self. Brandon seemed to be subdued. Mia gave the impression of being cheerful and yet disapproving, both at the same time.
Chord then gave a little talk, saying he wanted to know how they all felt about yesterday. Brandon proceeded to go first, so Gen just listened as the man stood, said his behavior had been unbecoming of a leader, and then sat down again. Gen wasn't sure what to make of that, except for the thought that it apparently took very little to shake Brandon's confidence.
Kat stood up next, said her brief piece, trying to make Brandon feel better and let Chord know what she thought of the test in fairly mild terms, then sat down again. Gen immediately wanted to chime in and stood up.
"Yesterday sucked, Mister Chord," the androgyne said. He nodded to Kat as he added "And 'overkill' is definitely the right word for it."? Looking back to Chord and Harrison, he went on. "I don't know much about a lot of things, but I do know something about training. I went through several different kinds at the lab. And I know that 'training' does _not_ mean putting someone in a Mars lander with no manual and telling them they've got five minutes before impact with the planet's surface. Which is kind of what you did to us yesterday. So it shouldn't be any surprise that we crashed and burned." ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
Gen paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, then went on. "I _want_ to be here. I want to be a part of this group. And I'll do whatever it takes for that to happen. But you need to do better too, sir. Anyway, that's _this_ lab rat's opinion, for what it's worth." The androgyne sat down again and listened to see what Kites and Mia might have to add. ?
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