The Katlissa Chronicles Part 1 (Feat. Drake) (Warning: This title may be a lie)

Date: Friday, Week 4

Melissa entered the Cafeteria, looking to get a nice lunch after the tiring day she'd just had. She had to go to class! CLASS! For several hours straight! True, she slept through most of those hours, but still! Class! She had really built up an appetite pretending like she was listening, along with depleting a lot of her energy. She never had to go to class before! Although, she had failed every written part of class, she did well on the practical parts! And isn't that the most important part?

She sat down a little lethargically after buying some food, and began munching on handfuls of assorted candies, the energy and colour quickly returning to her as she did so, along with a bit of excess...

Things had been resolved. For the most part. Following the meditations...or more accurately the resolutions of the Indigo situation he had chosen to make his way to the cafeteria, realising that he could not subsist on a diet of pocky alone, though not for lack of trying.

The leg brace is still awkward, breaking his movement with the occasional cumbersome step and the clink of metal and with great care he brings a tray with him, loaded with what seems to be relatively bland, staple food. Just as his personality generally was...so too was his food. Serious. Restrained and organised.

There's a pause as he spots Melissa, frowning and he moves to take a seat...not quite next to her but near her. Perhaps opposite her.

"You can't dissect me when I'm eating." That statement is matter of fact, very little emotion heard in it at all as he takes a bit of the food, glancing around as though paranoid he was being watched.

Katy wandered into the cafeteria, having spent a good chunk of her time climbing all over the Emerald Forest to set up difficult to spot targets in various trees and other spaces. She had reckoned that, assuming there weren't any class trips happening, she could use the cliffs for extreme long range target practice without putting anyone else in serious danger.

Katy had, as of yet, never made a mile-long shot on her first try, so a good chunk of the targets were at, and past, that range. She planned to wait a few days so as to not remember precisely where the targets had been placed, and then go back for some nice, relaxing shooting.

With a stretch and a yawn, Katy began her food ritual -- getting huge amounts of a little bit of everything on a tray, and extra non-perishable goods getting stuffed into various pockets of her hoodie. After paying, she scanned the cafeteria and, having spotted her tour guide from the week prior, maneuvered to grab a seat nearby.

"Hello," she said, before immediately digging into her pile of food with enthusiasm. "I can't believe how big that forest out there is! It took forever to navigate," she added, her mouth only slightly full of food.

Melissa, her energy returning to her for real now as she demolished half of the massive pile of candy on her plate, shifted her position slightly. The burns and cuts on her back had mostly healed up by now, thanks to the efforts of the Nurse, along with her own aura lending a hand to the body's natural healing process, but it was still rather uncomfortable, being itchy and slightly painful at times. But it was nothing to complain about, and would likely be completely gone by tomorrow.

"Huh? What are you talking about, why would I dissect you? Are you sure you're alright, maybe still a bit sleepy?" Melissa said to the random guy who sat down near her. He seemed slightly familiar though, but she wouldn't have mingled with any crazies, would she? Of course not, although it was difficult to avoid bumping into too many crazies around here, so many people seemed to be crazy, especially in comparison to herself.

"Who are you anyways?! Are you a pervert, here to... be a pervert? You look like one!" She said abruptly, watching the man with a look of suspicion. She was interrupted from going further, however, by the new girl that sat down as well, with a large amount of food. What was her name again? Kater? Kati? Katy? Kitty? Melissa could not remember. Oh well.

The girl, however, was putting Melissa's own enthusiastic candy munching to shame as she dug into the food.

"Hi again! How have you been, do you like the school so far?" Melissa said, channelling the knowledge she had gained from a book called, "Starting a Conversation 101". She hadn't read it past the first page, of course, but just seeing all those pages had inspired her.

"What? No! I'm not a pervert. Seriously...Drake? The one you kept calling Alien? Remember?" He scowls just a moment, carefully chewing his food, glancing to the new arrival. Her again. The one he had been denied the opportunity to test a week back. This probably wasn't the best place to test someone's combat response anyhow.

He carefully cuts some of the relatively bland food up and takes a bit, watching Katy with slight concern at how she just dug straight in. Much like Indigo. Apparently people didn't actually chew anymore. They just deposited food and devoured it whole. Of course, while watching this his face would subconsciously shift to a position of amusement, completely without his own knowledge.

"You know...you can chew? The food doesn't run away here." A slight smile as he holds up a bit of a potato on the end of his fork, as though contemplating something. "Of course it could be the last meal you ever have if you mess up so...maybe a little bit of urgency." Urgency which he himself was not putting in.

He glances to Melissa's plate and then sighs, seeing absolutely nothing with nutritional value there. He shakes his head and then passes over a small bowl of jelly. "You may as well have this." Better to act now rather than have Melissa try to beg it off him later.

Katy wielded her fork, waving it around toward Drake with a true sense of urgency. "If something crazy happens in the next few minutes," she stated through a mouth full of.. some kind of meat, "I won't have a chance to finish this, but if I finish it now," she continued, shoveling more food into her mouth with a total lack of grace or manners, "I'm all set for if I gotta be out shooting stuff. Helps the rations last longer too," she added, pulling some older crackers out of a pocket, waving them around as much as she did her fork, and devouring them.

Slidind her gaze back toward Melissa, before returning some of her attention to her food, she took a moment to breathe and offered a small half-smile. "The school's.. nice. I like the forest better though. Reminds me of home," she said with a small shrug. "I wanted to thank you again for showing me around last week," she added thoughtfully. "I don't know many people who'd have been willing to waste their time on my account."

"Waste? Nonono! It was fun, usually people don't like to hang around me for too long! I've never worked out why..." Melissa said, pausing for a brief moment to contemplate the meaning of that, "And I didn't have anything else to do anyways! Except class, but class is boring, I'd rather ride around with a deathstalker stinger and give a tour of the school! Also you're cute!" Melissa said excitedly in between mouthfuls of candy.

"I haven't been to the forest much though, you should show me around some time! Actually I think the only time I've been there was for the initiation, and that didn't take very long..." She added with a smile.

Noticing Drake sliding over a bowl of jelly to her, however, she gasped, "Jelly?! Are you crazy? Do you know how unhealthy that stuff is? It's squishy, smooth and wet! That's a recipe for disaster! The only true way to get sugar is through hard candies like these!" Melissa said, tossing a few more in her mouth and crunching down on them, obliterating the poor balls of sugar.

He looked toward Katy, blinking as the fork was waved at him imperiously. "In the next few minutes? You are in a cafeteria. The odds of anything happening here are non existent! Chew! Enjoy your meal in the few minutes you have spare!"

The next time the fork was waved at him he'd put a potato on it, smiling as he does so. "Name's Drake. Team Discord. Have a potato." And then Melissa spoke.

He should have been prepared for this. Melissa's logic was something he had been warned about. It was non existent and of course her comment on it being unhealthy would cause him to snicker. "But think of all the energy you save not having to actually chew it!" Plus the fact it would probably be the most healthy thing she'd eaten all day.

Katy blinked at the potato, before simply depositing it on her quickly diminishing plate of food. "The odds are astronomically low, but they are not nonexistent. That kind of thinking can get someone in all sorts of trouble, precisely because they aren't expecting it."

Glancing off in the general direction of the forest, Katy offered another small smile to Melissa. "Sure, I could show you the forest. I've got a pretty good idea of the best trails already. I could show you where I've got all my targets stashed too, if you wanted. I found some pretty difficult to find spots out there, out of reach of most people and beasties that aren't specifically looking for them. I think. Maybe we could go soon? Before that Initiation thing happens again, I mean."

She half considered offering to maybe try and teach Melissa how to shoot at range, but she wasn't sure if Melissa had a rifle, and she wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of anyone else touching Bragi.

"What about you," she asked, tilting her head to look at Drake while still focusing on her food. "Go to the forest much?"

"Ooh, difficult, out of reach hiding position? Sounds like a great place to launch an ambush from!" Melissa said, already dreaming up situations where she jumped onto an unsuspecting Grimm, pierced its brain with Soothing Mayhem and boosted away before its companions could even react, "I don't think the next initiation is going to be happening soon though, the last one wasn't too long ago and I heard there might be a break before the next one." She added, almost as an afterthought.

"We could go some time today or tomorrow if you want! I have boring History class after this, and tomorrow I don't have class, so I'm completely free!" Melissa said, wincing as she thought of history class.

"If I don't chew it? You're trying to get me to choke now?? How could you! That's horrible!" She said as the random guy tried to get her to eat jelly. Was it drugged?!

Melissa logic was a special thing. Do not poke it. Let it happen in its own time. He shrugs and continues to eat at his meal with careful, deliberate mouthfuls, glancing toward the redhead at her question.

"The forest...eh. Now and then. When certain moods take me. Probably safer for others if I am there and not elsewhere at that time." And safer for the scenery as well. A few slashed and scorched trees and grimm weren't a concern compared to the earlier collateral damage in the week. He frowns at his food for a moment and pokes at it. "I should have asked for gravy."

He shrugs and continues to eat, and then sighs again before tilting his head toward Melissa. "How exactly do you choke on jelly? Could this be the event that makes Red there eat all her food like it's going to escape? Could we be witnesses to the one event of the cafeteria's lifetime this very day?"

Katy finished off her food and sparing only a passing second to wonder if maybe the potato was drugged, shrugged to herself and devoured it as well. With a contented sigh, she pushed her tray slightly away and readjusted her hood. Already she was running through locations in her mind of various spots in the school that would be ideal for naps. She had tested a few, but none of them were secluded enough to nap in for very long.

"Could be anything," she answered Drake's question to Melissa. "Could be criminals. Assassins. Mad bombers. Students fighting. Rampaging Grimm. The cafeteria isn't like.. neutral ground or anything." She waved a hand in some sort of all-encompassing gesture above her head. "Astronomically low, but there's always a chance."

Half slumping over, Katy laid her head down flat on the table and twisted slightly to still be able to see the pair of them. "I don't think I can afford to skip any classes," she said to Melissa with a small frown. "My parents would.. not be pleased if they ever found out. Maybe after classes, if it isn't too late in the day?"

"Aww, don't worry about class, the teacher's hardly ever seem to take attendance, I doubt anyone will even notice you missing! Especially on the first few days! The written part of learning to fight monsters is useless anyways, what's knowing the name of the general who won some random battle in the past that didn't even include the Grimm going to do to help you fight actual Grimm? Useless I say! Playing in the forest sounds like a lot more fun, and even better for learning if Grimm jump out!" Melissa said with the sound of someone who had experience in ditching class and BSing reasons for it.

"Don't listen to Melissa on that front. Probably wise to actually attend the classes you are meant to be attending and use free time as just that, free time." His tone was clipped, in a matter-of-fact nature. Of course he was one of the few people who actually paid attention to the classes. For him this wasn't a game...this was a purpose.

He finishes up his own meal, scowling at Katy's hesitation to eat the potato. Great. Now people thought he drugged food. His own plate finished he puts it to one side, tilting his head to look down at the half slumped Katy. She seriously wasn't thinking of having a quick nap here now...was she?

"Besides, if anything does happen I'm still capable of eviscerating it. Unarmed, but not unarmed as it may be." He smiles at that and then carefully takes out an armoured little case from his belt, opening it up and pulling a stick of pocky to freedom, nibbling on it.

Katy, to this point in her life had always been armed, ever since she first got Bragi. Her rifle was almost always slung across her back when not in use, and the only time it wasn't was when she was sleeping in a proper bed -- then it was beside her, safely within arms reach.

"I dunno," she said, still sounding uncertain. "I fully expect my parents to be checking in as regularly as possible to make sure I'm taking this seriously." She paused for a minute, thinking. "Though I might be able to get away with claiming I got lost if it ever came up. It's still early enough that that might work."

She sighed and stifled a yawn that was threatening to creep up on her. "But I do have all those targets set up out there. I bet I could raise a fuss about needing the space to practice shooting, if they checked up on me. Maybe we could go for a walk in the forest, after all?"

After a moment, she realized that the jelly was still on the table, as nobody had seemed to eat it. Slowly reaching her hand towards it, she stopped and quirked an eyebrow. "You guys, um.. aren't going to eat that, right?"

"If your parent's come I'm sure you can fool them easily! You only get to be young once! We should be out there playing around and enjoying life instead of studying dusty old books! Would you rather be trapped in a room with a bunch of kids as bored as you, studying boring books or would you rather go out to the forest with fresh air, adventure and freedom?! I'm sure you can make up an excuse if we get caught just fine, but we wont get caught! I told you, no one checks, I think I've missed more classes than I've attended!" Melissa said.

"Also nope, not going to eat the super unhealthy, health hazard jelly." She added.

He laughs, just a little and then takes a more serious demeanor as he considers exactly how strict the redhead's circumstances are. Clearly Melissa wanted to go now. Of course with the way her mind seemed to work she'd forget in about half an hour unless something was actually planned.

That, and the fact that there were potential threats would allow him to assess the redhead's capabilities with a perfectly acceptable reason. Of course he could always help this along in some way...

"We could always claim this excursion as being a field trip with another Team's leader...such as myself. That way no blame could be pinned on you. It could also be educational as well. Well...perhaps." He shrugs at that and nibbles the pocky, then raises his eyebrow at the hand questing for the jelly.

"Help yourself to that. Appears that one doesn't want to eat even the slightest healthy thing so it's pretty much free to a good home."

Katy pushed herself up off the table and scooped the jelly towards herself, producing a biscuit from one of her pockets to eat along with it. "Well.. I suppose we could go, then," she said slowly, as if still entirely unsure about the wisdom of the trip. "I probably won't get a chance to do my actual target practice for a few days, anyway, but I never say no to a nice walk in a forest."

Once she had devoured the biscuit and jelly, she stood up, brushed herself off, scooped her empty tray up and returned it before coming back to stand by the table. "I mean, if you guys didn't want to go now I'm totally OK with that too," she said, fidgeting in place slightly.

"Hooray!" Melissa said, moving to put her tray of candy wrappers to the magic place where trays disappear and turn into new trays at the same time as... Damnit! What was her name again? Kit? Kat? Kate?

"Let's gooooo!" She said, excitedly grabbing the girl's handing and attempting to drag her out the door, "TO ADVENTURE! AWAY FROM CLASS! TO FREEEEEDOM!"

He sighs and facepalms, standing and depositing his tray, watching Melissa proceed to attempt to blatantly kidnap the redhead. He then coughs, giving them both a very serious and stern expression.

"Surely we should get our weapons and other gear? I'd rather not hazard running around in a forest unarmed and ill prepared for whatever is out there. It is an...educational trip after all." That, and the fact it would also help pass this excursion off as something it clearly wasn't going to be. He frowns again and looks at Melissa.

Nothing. Huh. Clearly the muddled thoughts he'd had a few days ago were the results of the powder he'd gotten a face full of. That would be something he'd have to look into. But this could be good for him. Healing of sorts. Something to get over Indigo...

Katy blinked, looking back and forth between Melissa and Drake before rolled her shoulders slightly, causing her rifle to rock back and forth. "I always have my gear on me. It's just my rifle and spare ammo, which I almost always keep on me," she responded. "But if you guys need to go get weapons and stuff, we can definitely do that. I'm sorta useless if any beasties get right up on us."

Katy blinked, furrowing her brow in thought for a moment. "Hey, wait a second. I.. don't think I even know your name," she said to Drake, sounding slightly accusatory.

Melissa paused at Random Pervert's words. Weapon? What huntress doesn't carry their weapon around with them? An unprepared one, that's who! The pervert had probably prepared his perversion, stalker, spying gear instead of his combat gear! Disgusting!

"I have my weapon too! So let's go!" Melissa said, pointing to the Naginata on her back, before resuming her efforts to pull the girl out the door by the hand, not even intending on waiting for Random Pervert.

"You don't need to know his name! I bet he's just some random pervert that wants to get two girls alone in a forest where no one can hear them scream!" Melissa said, although she didn't seem to be bothered, nor did she seem to care too much about what she said.

"As I said already. Drake. Drake Ferrox. Leader of Team Discord. Pleasure to meet you." He scowls, just a little and glances to Melissa. Her moods went to and fro far too much for his liking. He laughs, just a little and shakes his head. "And no, that is definately not the case. More a matter that if you want me to cover for you two sneaking off...well, only fair I get to exploit the situation myself, hmm?"

He shrugs at that and carefully makes his way toward the door, heading in the direction of the dorms, to where the Talons were stored. "Besides...once you see the talons you'll likely understand..."

Katy sighed and tried tugging Melissa along to follow Drake. "I guess he's right, right? It wouldn't really be fair to use him as an excuse without actually having him there," she said to Melissa, smiling apologetically. Katy couldn't risk not having her bases covered for if she actually landed in trouble for skipping out.

"My name's Katy, by the way," she called at Drake's back, with a frown. She wasn't even sure he had asked.

"Nooooo that guy sounds really boring! Let's just ditch him and go! I have a thousand excuses prepared for if we get caught, and proof and evidence to back them up with! I'm not new to skipping class y'know, I'm very skilled at this! I've never gotten in trouble for it, and I hardly attend class!" Melissa said, trying to tug... Katy? That seemed to be her name, but it was boring! Melissa would need to think of a better name for her in the future, Well anyways, she began trying to tug the girl towards the forest and away from Random Pervert.