"They're sitting at my table."
The statement was so sudden and so non sequitur that Exusiai did a double take. "What?"
But W simply repeated herself, this time gesturing to the cafeteria table right in front of her face, several dozen meters away. "They're sitting at MY TABLE."
"That's—you have your own table?"
"Yeah! I wrote my name on it," W reasoned, crossing her arms. Then she smiled slyly. "Let's go get it back."
Exusiai winced. "Uh, does it really matter where we sit? We're just refueling before we hit the training room again, right? I don't think this is worth—oh and she's gone." Exusiai sighed and shook her head, watching W march straight to the trio of operators who were unlucky enough to be sitting at W's table, apparently.
By the time Exusiai drags her feet over to the nonsense that's unfolding before her very eyes, it's operator Fang who dares to raise her voice at the Sarkaz from Kazdel.
"Well your name is NOT on it! They wash the tables every night, you should know that! You've been here long enough," Fang told W, pointing at her chest with a probing forefinger. "Stop acting like a bully and just sit somewhere else, there's tables everywhere!"
W slammed her hands on said table, causing Beagle to flinch since she's sitting closest. "Why don't YOU take your SQUADRON OF LOSERS somewhere I don't have to see you? Get a move on, before I kick your ass back to whatever colony you came from."
"What?!" Fang's tail frizzes up; she's growling and clenching her fists. If Kroos hadn't put her hand on the Kuranta's shoulder to ground her, there was no telling what she'd do - aside from punching W in the mouth, that is.
Exusiai gives an apologetic smile as she puts her own hands up, defensively. "Hey! Sorry, we were just leaving! She's cranky without her greasy food." The poor Sankta tried to defuse the situation, but no dice.
"Please just go," Fang said with a sigh, "I just want to enjoy my lunch with my team."
"We're going, we're going!" Exusiai smiled anxiously, looking at W. "Right, senp—"
W did not go and move on. As a matter of fact, W didn't do much of anything except stand there… silently.
Staring.
Straight at Fang, without moving a muscle.
Exusiai's lip wobbled. She gave everyone, W included, a confused expression. "Umm… W? We're gonna go…?"
W was unresponsive. She just stared straight at the other operators, unblinking. Unfazed.
In the next few seconds, her expression changed from one of complete neutrality, to one of complete malice. Her eyes almost double in size, and the straight line beneath her nose that had once been her mouth had started to grow wider, and wider, and wider.
Like a Cheshire cat of sorts, the corners of her lips looked as though they were about to reach her ears. Her discomforting smile appeared like it was about to split her face in two. Her fingers twitch, and it's a gesture that doesn't go unnoticed by the Perro sitting closest to the horrific display happening before her. When she sees W's eyes shrink down to mere pinpricks, she decides it's time to leave while she still has her arms and legs.
"I'm sorry!" Beagle quickly stood up, and she turned and ran, tears beading at her eyes. "I'm sorry!"
"Beagle, wait!" Fang's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. She stood up next, eyes locked with W's, and she was now visibly sweating. "Ugh… you can have your stupid table!"
They scattered. No one could bear to be in W's presence any longer. And so they fled, leaving behind an empty table, a very satisfied Sarkaz, and a very frightened angel.
"Wh… wh—" Exusiai's knees shook. She chewed on her lower lip to grow her resolve; to steel herself. There's an odd sensation of something crawling up her back, playing her spine like a xylophone. The evil that practically radiates from W - like a wicked furnace - is as palpable as it is nauseating.
And then… W's expression returns to one of utter neutrality, and she sits down.
"Anyway, go and get us something to eat. Right now." She claps her hands together twice, sealing her eyes and smirking superiorly. "High protein, and some greens. Then we can train again."
Exusiai was stunned. She turned on her heel and left to the lunch line, and five minutes later, she came back with trays of food, and stars in her eyes.
"What the HELL was that?!" She looked awestruck, to say the least.
"What?"
"What what!"
"What?"
"What's what?"
"Stop saying what!" W snatches a banana from the tray and wields it like a baton. "Before I shove this up your—"
"That… THING you just did! Fang and the others - they just left! Because of your scary look! It was super scary," she added, getting chills just remembering that expression. In the short time since W had made it, the anxious feeling that overcame Exusiai - the dread and the loathing - had dissipated. And in its wake was pure fascination. "How did you do that?"
"The face?" W shrugged her shoulders with mild disinterest. "It's The Look."
"The look?"
"No." W emphasized her words deliberately. "The Look."
"Okay… how can I do The Look? Can you teach me?" Exusiai's question was a hopeful one. She took big bites of food in between her chattering, hoping to finish quickly so they could get back to training.
"You?" W scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "You can't do The Look."
"Aww, why not?"
"You're not bad enough. You're too cute," said W.
Exusiai perked up noticeably. "Gun senpai thinks I'm cute?"
"Okay first of all, I told you to stop calling me that. It's embarrassing! I mean, really? This isn't fiction," W reminded, "this is real life."
Exusiai nodded at the audience.
"Second, when I say you're cute… that's NOT a good thing. It means you're weak. Foolish. Like a kid. You get it? You don't have the edge to pull off The Look. And to be honest, Exusiai? I don't think you ever will."
The Sankta deflates. Her shoulders drop, and she hangs her head low. "Please? At least give me a chance! I can be evil! I can do bad things! I could use The Look to make people do my bidding!"
"You think I'm evil?" W smirks knowingly. "You wanna impress me so badly? You can try The Look. We'll see how you do. But… I get to choose who you try it on."
"It's a deal!" Exusiai gave a thumbs-up, grinning. W smiled in return, though there was something just a little bit sour about her expression. She seemed to be scouring the cafeteria. All around her, seated at various tables or walking across the hall, were various viable targets. Some alone, some grouped, but all equally saddening in W's eyes.
Then, of course, she spotted little Suzuran. And her expression changed to one of pure elation. "Oh, her," W told her Sankta pupil, pointing to the nine-tailed fox walking carefully across the cafeteria with a small tray of food. "Try The Look on her."
Exusiai followed W's gaze, and she winced. "Her? Aww, but why? She's so cute and small! I don't wanna…" Exusiai trailed off when W glared back at her.
"If you can't even scare a little girl, then what good are you as an operator? As my student?" W crossed her arms, hoping to goad Exusiai into at least trying to frighten young Suzuran. And fortunately for W…
"Nngh… I guess… I can… give it a try," Exusiai mumbled.
…it works.
W leaned up, watching with rapt fascination as Exusiai stood up from the table and walked right over to Suzuran. Exusiai, meanwhile, tried to remember the exact sequence of cues that W had done herself, in order to put The Look together, and strike fear. It was one of the most frightening displays that Exusiai had ever seen, and she wanted to emulate it as best she could.
"Oh! Good day to you, Exusiai!" Suzuran beamed, smiling radiantly at the taller operator. Exusiai almost smiled back at Suzuran - almost! - but she had a job to do. She had a face to make! She had to work on The Look, and The Look was exactly what she was going to do.
And so Exusiai took a deep breath… and she tried to make the face. She knit her brow, first and foremost, and then she puffed her cheeks, straining dearly to make even just the briefest notion of a scowl. She clenched her fists and they trembled; her entire body became rigid as she forced the corners of her lips to curve downward, and she bent forward slightly to loom over little Suzuran, hovering above the child in a manner most strange.
Suzuran blinked with confusion, tilting her head as she stared up at the Sankta in front of her. "Umm… Exusiai? Are you… okay?"
"Hhghh…" Exusiai continued to shiver and shake as she scowled straight down, her pupils shrinking and growing as if she didn't know what they ought to be doing. Exusiai stuck her butt out, like she was getting ready to dance with Suzuran there, in the middle of the room. Suzuran shuffled with obvious discomfort. People were staring. W was holding back a giggle.
"Exusiai… are you… are you sick? Do you need medical attention? People are watching us…" Suzuran whispered with a frankly pained expression. She wanted this encounter to be over already.
"J-just a minute… I'm t-trying to… freaking…!" Exusiai growled, raising her fists, giving all surrounding operators a cause for concern. Her face went cherry red, just as her eyes, and the Sankta halo above her head started to twinkle and flicker like its power was about to go out. Her eyes were bloodshot. She was grunting like a beast, and heating up.
Suzuran cleared her throat. She reached into her little knapsack, and she started rummaging around for something. "I think I know what's going on here, miss Exusiai. It's probably your diet… and it's nothing to be ashamed of."
"H-huh?" Exusiai slowed down with her gestures. She felt like she was about to pop a blood vessel, although her movements stop altogether once Suzuran reaches up to give her a small plastic bottle. "What's this?"
Exusiai looked it over. It was a bottle of stomach medicine.
"Forgive me, Exusiai… it's just…" The nine-tailed fox looked down at the floor, her expression unreadable. "You looked c-constipated, s-so I thought… m-maybe the cafeteria food… did something to you."
"What?!"
W slapped the table, from all her distance away, and she started cackling like she'd heard it all. "BAHAHAHAHA! Nice job, dumbass! Bad touch!"
Exusiai opened her mouth to speak, but she was immediately taken aback once Folinic entered her line of sight. "What's going on over here? Excuse me, Exusiai, but just what are your intentions with Lisa here? Are you bothering a child?"
"What? No!" Exusiai put her hands up. "I was just—"
"Lisa, is everything okay? Is this Sankta bothering you?" The medical operator knelt down to be more level with Suzuran, who could only shrug her shoulders with a befuddled expression on her face.
"I don't think so? I thought she might be sick, so I gave her diarrhea medicine…" She mumbles that last part, suddenly ashamed to be saying it so casually.
"I don't have diarrhea! I was just giving Suzuran The Look! You know?!" Exusiai regrets saying that as soon as the words leave her lips.
"The WHAT?" Folinic stands back up, jabbing a finger into Exusiai's chest when she points at her, aggressively. "I don't know what The Look is, but you'd better leave Suzuran alone if you know what's good for you!"
"Louisa, it's f-fine…! Don't make such a scary face!" Now Suzuran looked and sounded like she was about to cry, much to Exusiai's growing anxiety. "I'm sorry if I caused any trouble!"
"This is all W's fault!" Exusiai panicked, turning her head to look at her gun senpai sitting all by herself at her table. "W, help me!"
W held up a V with her fingers, flashing Exusiai a peace sign. And then she disappeared, just like that. Like originium dust in the wind.
"Hey! Come back!" Exusiai groaned. "I hate it when you do that!"
"And anyway, that's why I have to wear this," said Exusiai, lifting up her pant leg to show off her brand new ankle monitor. "And I'm not allowed to come within 50 feet of Suzuran anymore. It kinda sucks… but I guess it's kinda stylish?" The angel pursed her lips, her eyes going up from her locked tracking device to Texas's unreadable expression.
Texas, for what it was worth, didn't laugh at Exusiai or make light of her plight. She just stared, taking a few moments to put her response together before she rest her hand on the Sankta's shoulder.
"Don't take this the wrong way," she told Exusiai, gently, "but you're really stupid."
"Oh okay." Exusiai deeply frowned. It was no Look, but it would be just enough for the time being.